The Utah Arts Festival for Kids ages 12 and under. This festival within the Festival is a happy place where budding young artists get their hands dirty, their wiggles out, and their imaginations stirred. Here young children collaborate with on-site sculptures, create make-and-take projects with some of Salt Lake’s most creative nonprofit organizations and play an instrument!
Kids Art Yard: Frozen Places
Come join us in the kids art yard for winter in the summer! Travel back in time or even to another continent to visit some snow-loving critters and journey through frozen landscapes. Learn about the animals and places that freeze and cool off in the shade while you get your creative juices flowing!
Some exciting installations that all kids can work on:
- Snowflakes Everywhere!: It might be hot outside, but we’ll imagine it’s frosty out by making snowflakes and snowflake prints to adorn the Art Yard and flap in the wind.
- Creatures of the Frozen Past and Present: We have built cool giant creatures out of junk and you get to decorate them! Time travel to visit a wooly mammoth, and hop over to Siberia to spot the elusive Siberian tiger!
- Antarctica: Brrr! Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, and southern-most continent on the planet. Create local inhabitants of this frozen place out of old toilet paper tubes and more!
- Frozen Homes: Cultures all over the world have made homes in the bitter cold, and now you get to paint them!
- Giant Coloring Book Pages: Color on these giant coloring book pages made from old festival signage that get hung in the entrance of the Art Yard, featuring plants and animals that live in Frozen places!
Make & Take Projects
Every year the Utah Arts Festival partners with local community partners to make the Kid’s Art Yard a dynamic place of wonder for Festival-going kids.
Make Salt Lake: Arctic Animal Tracks
Make Salt Lake will be providing stamps, tempura paint and paper for printing animal tracks from the Arctic. We will also have some information on each of the animals.
Make Salt Lake's mission is to enhance Utah's creative and tech communities by providing affordable access to tools and learning experiences, and by connecting like-minded individuals. More info at makesaltlake.org.
TreeUtah: Northern Lights
Create northern lights with chalk using the ripped paper method on black paper amidst a snowy landscape (white chalk) and trees that you would typically find in such an environment (evergreens, etc.).
TreeUtah strives to improve Utah’s quality of life for present and future generations by enhancing the environment through tree planting, stewardship, and education. Our Community Tree Planting program helps make our schools, parks, and other spaces beautiful and inviting by planting and maintaining large trees. More info at treeutah.org.
UMOCA: Snow Slime
Let’s make snow slime! Explore our wintery theme by making your own science experiment.
The Utah Museum of Contemporary Art works with artists and communities to build a better world. Since 1931, UMOCA has been a gathering space for artists and creatives in our region. Today, UMOCA’s exhibitions, art education programs, community engagement, and one-of-a-kind artist residency support local artists and communities while showcasing art from across the nation and globe. Learn more at utahmoca.org/community.
Utah Museum of Fine Art: Make a Pop-up Mountain Winterscape
Join the Utah Museum of Fine Arts to make a pop-up mountain winterscape. Be inspired by wintery landscapes from the UMFA collection, then imagine your own snowy scene with a pop-up drawing.
The Utah Museum of Fine Arts is Utah’s premier visual art museum. The permanent collection features 22,000 works from antiquity to contemporary art. The third Saturday and first Wednesday of every month is always FREE! More info at umfa.utah.edu.
Wildlife Center Of Salt Lake: Winter Bird Feathers
Visit the feather experts from Wildlife Center of Salt Lake and use upcycled materials and molted feathers from birds to create art! Learn about the ways that birds use feathers as protection from the wind, cold, water, and frozen places!
Wildlife Center of Salt Lake operates a wildlife hotline for advice on injured or orphaned wild animals. WCSL intakes injured and orphaned wild animals and releases them back into their homes once they have recovered. Learn more info about human-wildlife conflicts at www.wildsaltlake.org.
Instrument Petting Zoo
Summerhays Music Center
Summerhays Music is happy to be returning to the Utah Arts Festival with sanitized wind and string instruments for children to try. No previous experience is necessary, as we will have plenty of skilled staff members to show them the way. Come ignite a life-long passion for music!
Summerhays Music Center is the oldest established family music store in Utah. Founded in 1936, our commitment to music education and quality products has made us one of the finest music retail stores in the country.
Make Your Mark
Visit the Urban Arts area for the cubes that everyone can doodle on. Leave messages or create your mini-mural masterpiece.
WriteFest Activities
The Community Writing Center offers a variety of fun writing activities for all ages, including Gigantic Magnetic Poetry Walls, Summer Solstice Spells, Mushroom Paper Folds + Messages and more!
Fear No Film Kids!
Also, check out the Fear No Film KIDS! Program to view charming short films in the air-conditioned Library Auditorium.
- Kids! Program 1, Thursday, June 19 @ 12:15pm
- Kids! Program 2, Friday, June 20 @ 12:15pm
- Kids! Program 1, Saturday, June 21 @ 12:15pm
- Kids! Program 2, Sunday, June 22 @ 12:15pm
Program Sponsors
