This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Urban Arts area is where all the cool kids are hanging out at the Utah Arts Festival.
The big project is the Open Road Project, organized by students from Higher Ground Learning. It starts with a basic mural and is added to all day by anyone who comes along. Stencils are available, and spray paint can be purchased. (By the end of the day, the graffiti taggers kind of took it over.) And it's all being photographed in time-lapse, so you can see it change.
Spy Hop has created a "Found Sound Studio," where people can come and play a keyboard, strum a ukulele or bang on any kind of noisemaker, and it will be incorporated into a musical composition.
Adam Sherlock, one of the instructors at Spy Hop, said that they've had little kids try a ukulele — and then be amazed when the sounds they made were run through a synthesizer. They've also had some spoken-word and rap performers add their words and rhythms.
Elsewhere, Copper Palate Press is doing printmaking and silkscreen work, and wannabe rappers are dropping some rhymes at the Uprok DJ booth.