Artifice

Rebecca Jensen loves telling stories and drawing pictures, so becoming an illustrator made perfect sense. She currently lives and works in Utah, creating art for children’s books, magazines, posters, cards, and anything else people will let her draw on.

Artistic Director of Salt Lake City’s Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company since 2013, Daniel Charon has been active as a choreographer, teacher, and performer for over twenty-five years. While based in New York City, Daniel maintained a project-based company and danced with Doug Varone and Dancers and the Limón Dance Company. Additionally, he performed with Doug Elkins and Friends, the Metropolitan Opera, the Aquila Theater Company, and the Mary Anthony Dance Theater among others. He is a BFA graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts and an MFA graduate of the California Institute of the Arts in Choreography and Integrated Media.

As Ririe-Woodbury’s Artistic Director, Charon has created multiple original works for the stage, gallery installations, and has designed video for his and other choreographers’ works. Daniel has choreographed Moby Dick, The Pearl Fishers, Aida, and La Traviata at the Utah Opera. He has presented multiple full evening concerts in New York City and has been commissioned to choreograph new works for many companies, universities, and festivals around the country.

A nationally known and respected educator, Charon regularly teaches master classes and workshops nationally and internationally and has taught at the Metropolitan Opera, the Bates Dance Festival, Salt Dance Fest, North Carolina School of the Arts Summer Comprehensive, Varone Summer Dance Workshops, and Limón Summer Workshops. He has been a guest artist at numerous universities and was an adjunct faculty member at Hunter College (NYC) and the California Institute of the Arts. Daniel has staged the works of José Limón, Jirí Kylián, and Doug Varone at schools and companies around the world.

Mindy has been performing since the age of eight. Her original goal in life was to be the world’s first “singing Heart Surgeon”. Unfortunately, medical school didn’t pan out; so, she decided to heal the world through music and as a result, she has been studying different vocal techniques, voice science, and vocal health her entire life. Mindy has studied with many nationally and internationally renowned vocal instructors and was a vocal performance major at the University of Utah.

Mindy is part of some incredible voice teams and music industry professionals throughout the world. Some of these team’s consists of Laryngologists, ENT’s, Artist Development, Managers, Record Labels, Vocal Arrangers, Producers, Music Directors, and many others. Mindy holds a certificate in Clinical Vocology from The National Center for Voice and Speech. Mindy holds certificate in laryngeal manipulation and currently in school to become a fully licensed Massage Therapist/Body Integration Specialist. Mindy is the creator of one of the top Educational Apps called Voice Tutor.

Mindy has a full studio in Salt Lake City, Utah and a satellite studio in Los Angeles, California. She also has clients around the world via online sessions. Her studio has a roster of clients from the novice to the professional, all genre's and styles, actors and voice over artists, the injured or rebab voice, transgender, motivational speakers, and any other voice user seeing out her help. Clients are in all genres and styles of the music. Clients such as Brandi Carlile, Justin Timberlake, The Lumineers, Emily Sailers of the Indigo Girls, Halsey, Austin Mahone, SHAED, Common, Royal Bliss, Tesseract, Martina McBride, and Pharrell Williams have seen the value of combining Mindy's technique and Vocal Tract Reconditioning for the longevity of touring. Other clients have been seen on world tours, national Broadway tours, AMA's, Grammy's, Saturday Night Live, International Award shows, You Tube Sensations, College Scholarship Winners, Reality TV Shows, Cruise Lines, and local and national performances to name a few.

Mindy is currently the co-producer for the Vocal Master Class Series, A Conference for a Cause with Dr Reena Gupta and the Osborn Head and Neck Series which is a non-profit organization that provides ENT services to third world countries. For over 12 years Mindy has been in charge of education for an artist development camp in Los Angeles as well as International Teacher Training Programs. She is frequently asked to present at voice conferences for singers, actors, voice over professionals, video games, Speech Language Pathologies, ENT's and Laryngologists worldwide.

Not only is Mindy a technician she is also a performer, so she understands first hand the demands and stresses on artists. Mindy’s performance career has taken her all over the world. One of her most favorite was when she had the opportunity to perform with some of those considered “Broadway Royalty” on an Album by composer Scott Alan, “Live from Birdland”. Mindy has been both behind the director’s chair as well as on the stage through Utah.

In 2015 Mindy was awarded Best of Stage for Voice Instruction and has received Best of Salt Lake City for Private Music Instruction for the past five years.

Mindy understands how hard it is for artists to make connections to the music world. She is known to bring in top industry professionals to not only help her clients connect and network but to help artists and musicians’ home in on their skills and further develop themselves and their artistry.

Mindy is a member of the Pan American Vocology Association (PAVA) and The National Teachers of Singing (NATS)

Jessica Day George is the New York Times bestselling author of the Tuesdays at the Castle series, the Twelve Dancing Princesses series, and the Dragon Slippers trilogy. Originally from Idaho, she studied at Brigham Young University where she earned a BA in Humanities/Comparative Literature,

and worked as a librarian and bookseller before turning to writing full-time. She now lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband and their three young children.

www.jessicadaygeorge.com

Chef Nick’s Bio

My mother comes from a strong Italian family raised in New

Orleans. Family life was all about food and southern

hospitality. My father was obsessed with French culinary

tradition and always wanted to be a chef. He graduated from

Institut Paul Bocuse in Lyon, France in 2004. I wasn’t exposed

to this obsessive side of my father until shortly before he

passed away.

I became intertwined with my dad’s passion. After I graduated

from the Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, NY, I

traveled to France, Spain, and Italy to better understand food

culture and the craftsmanship of fine cuisine. I worked for and

run kitchens in Maine, Wisconsin, New York, and Virginia before

coming to Salt Lake.

Table X is a culmination of my ideals: deep compassion for

community coupled with food that is inspired by local

ingredients, art, and expression.

Heidi M. Gress first discovered her passion for Creative Entrepreneurship while studying European Cinema at the University of London. After she completed her film education with a BFA from the prestigious Chapman University in Southern California, she continued in the creative industry by working as a commercial producer, fashion film and documentary director and still photographer in Los Angeles. Her editorial work has taken her all over the globe and she has been published in numerous international publications, including Los Angeles Magazine, Vogue Italia, Salt Lake magazine, AMF magazine, MORE magazine, sphere magazine, City Weekly, and more. Eventually, this led her to start her own cultural fashion magazine in Los Angeles where she published the quarterly issue for 5 years. Eventually selling the company, she relocated to Utah for family and to be closer to nature. Locally, she is the Director at Impact Hub Salt Lake, a social impact entrepreneurial center; the founder and producer of Art Meets Fashion, a foundation that cultivates cultural exchange through the fashion arts; and is an Instructor at SLCC Fashion Institute, where she teaches Business, Marketing and Event Production.

Salt Lake City-based artist Stacy Phillips shifts effortlessly between sculpture and painting. In part, this is because her studios for each discipline lie under one roof. In part, it is because she has mastered the ability to adapt as the result of moving 49 times in her life. (Her family relocated frequently while her father worked for Campbell Soup Company.)

A change-filled life also helps explain the wide range of Stacy’s artistic toolbox: She works in sculpture, ceramics, painting (on canvas, wood, and ceramics), and jewelry; teaches acrylic painting/collage and monoprinting; and actually enjoys “the business part” of being a career artist.

“I majored in fine arts [at Keene State College in New Hampshire] and minored in business and graphic design,” Stacy says. “My father, being in the corporate world, said I should have something to fall back on. In the long run, it suited me, because I can dance between left and right brain.”

Among Stacy’s sculptures are torsos — some bronze and some painted ceramic — with beaded skirts of monochromatic crystal and pearl or multicolored beads. She takes the bead concept to an oversize scale in her series of painted wood disks (with center holes), 16 to 18 inches in diameter and 2 to 3 inches thick, cradled in a metal stand).

Also in ceramics, she creates brightly colored, abstract sculptures on wood bases. For walls, she makes flowers (some painted and some fired with gold luster) that can be mounted randomly or in one’s chosen pattern.

Stacy credits her grandmother, a full-time artist, as an early influence.

“Then in high school, I had an art teacher who encouraged me,” she says. “I didn’t know what it meant to be a professional artist; I just knew that’s what I wanted to do.”

After earning a bachelor’s degree and working a couple of years for an ad agency in Nebraska, Stacy moved to Park City, Utah, where she bought a frame shop and converted it into a gallery, exhibiting the work of other artists. After years of that, she yearned to get back to “the creating side” of art, she says. “I wanted to explore more in different materials.”

With that goal in mind, Stacy pursued graduate work at the University of Miami from 1999 to 2000 before determining that she possessed what was needed to make a living as an artist.

“[College] was too academic for me in my late 30s, so I took a sabbatical and went to Mexico,” she says. “I had a friend who had a studio with a connected apartment. I rented the apartment and just made art.”

After three months in Puerto Vallarta, she returned to Park City and put together a body of work for the Sun Valley Arts Festival. At that time, Connie and David Katz owned a CODA Gallery in Park City, as well as in Palm Desert, California, and New York City, New York.

“CODA was the gallery I wanted to be represented in, so I invited Connie to come see my work,” Stacy says. “She came and bought my whole show.”

Now residing in Salt Lake City, where she rents space in an arts complex encompassing studios for some 50 artists, Stacy maintains three rooms: one for sculpture, one for painting, and one that serves as her office for paperwork and art supplies. In addition to working on her own art, she teaches painting and monoprinting and gives lectures and demonstrations throughout the state as the Working Artist of Utah for Golden Paints.

Stacy does not sketch but lets herself “respond to the work” as she goes.

“The inspiration is the mystery of it,” she says. “You can only do so much in your brain. I love the discovery, the idea of ‘what if.’ The dance between intuition and intention motivates me to be in the studio every day.”

http://stacyphillipsart.com/

As a child, sports were Monica's main focus, but she auditioned for her first musical as a young teen, and was quickly hooked--switching focus to acting, singing, dancing, and modeling. She attended Brigham Young University (BYU) on a talent scholarship, majoring in Music Dance Theatre. In 2013, Monica started getting into film, and is best known for her role as Julie Flinders in Saturday's Warrior. Monica currently works as an actor, singer, dancer, and fitness model.

https://monicamooresmith.com/

https://www.instagram.com/monicamooresmith/

https://www.youtube.com/user/monicamooresmith/

https://www.facebook.com/MonicaMooreSmith.Performer/

Adam has been making violins since age 14, due in part to the recommendation of his first violin teacher, Kelly Richardson. His violins have been played on and praised by Joshua Bell, Joseph Silverstein, and Igor Gruppman, as well as many young, talented soloists throughout Utah. Born in Murray, Utah, Adam grew up in a musical environment, beginning the violin at age 3. When he began studying to be a luthier with Paul Hart, violin making came naturally to Adam because of his highly developed ear and playing ability. He knows very well the qualities that string players look for in an instrument and how to produce them. By nature, Adam is very detail-oriented. (His wife lovingly refers to him as “The Millimeter Man.”) In harmony with this trait, Adam has always excelled in art. Countless hours spent developing this talent greatly enhanced his violin making skills. Adam concluded 4 years of training with Paul at the Tree’s Breath Violin Making School and started his own shop, which has become a thriving business, serving string players and educators worldwide since the year 2000. Adam is married to Kate Day and they are the proud parents of four adorable children.

Christine Baird did a career 180 when she moved from the corporate world to focus on podcasting, event production, social media strategy, and influencer branding. She developed Lewis Howes’ brand, the School of Greatness, for four years, during which time the podcast downloads increased from 1 million to over 80 million. She now helps influencers launch and strategize their shows. She also produces her own self-development podcast, the Worthfull Project. She’s passionate about becoming the best version of herself and inspiring others to do the same.

https://www.instagram.com/worthfullchristine/

https://christinebaird.com/