Choreographer Vanessa Cook discusses her newest work, A Brief Collection of Moments, premiering at the Utah Metropolitan Ballet. Cook explores how dance combines with music, text, and visual art into this ambitious new piece, winner of the 2025 Ariel Bybee Endowment Prize. The conversation ranges from philosophy and choreography to the power of a single voice, echoing Bybee's own, growing into something much larger.

What begins with a single voice becomes a duet, then a group, then something larger than any one artist. In this episode, choreographer Vanessa Cook takes us inside the making of a new work blending dance, with LDS collaborators in music, text, and visual art. Along the way, she reflects on curiosity, creative processes, and why movement can sometimes say what words cannot.

Music: "Please Only Tell Me Good News” by Stephen Anderson; used with permission.

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Explore the fascinating profession of scenic art with Tessa Jorgensen, a professional artist working on Broadway, opera, ballet, tv, film, advertising, and immersive experiences. Learn about her unique skills painting 50-foot murals, backdrops, cycloramas, and theatrical set pieces for some of the country's biggest theatrical productions.

Music: "Please Only Tell Me Good News” by Stephen Anderson; used with permission.

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In this episode of The Center's Studio Podcast, Glen Nelson interviews Mauli Bonner, a multifaceted artist and filmmaker. They discuss Bonner's diverse career, including his work on the Elijah Abel project, which combines dramatization and documentary to explore sensitive aspects of Black history within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Bonner reflects on his previous film, His Name Is Green Flake, and shares insights on navigating difficult questions about race and faith. He emphasizes the importance of mental health, finding joy in challenges, and empowering the next generation through his nonprofit, Lift Up Voices Foundation. The conversation highlights the significance of storytelling in bridging communities and addressing real questions with honesty and hope.

Music: "Please Only Tell Me Good News” by Stephen Anderson; used with permission.

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In this episode, Sylvie Scowcroft, a certified financial planner specializing in assisting artists, discusses their unique financial challenges. Artists face unpredictable income, healthcare access, and the societal pressures that often devalue their work. She also points out that many artists have advantages regarding tax deductions, for example, of which they are unaware. The episode touches on the broader implications of the arts on society, the need for government support, and the potential threats posed by economic changes and technological advancements like AI. Sylvie concludes with empowering advice for artists, encouraging them to take control of their financial futures while remaining resilient in the face of a fast-changing professional landscape.

Sylvie Scowcroft can be contacted at https://www.financialgrove.com/

Music: "Please Only Tell Me Good News” by Stephen Anderson; used with permission.

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In this engaging episode about Christian painting, artist Rose Datoc Dall, explores her artistic journey, the curation of the book Expressions of Jesus, and the importance of cultural representation in art about Jesus Christ. The new book of hundreds of images includes over 100 artists throughout history and from around the world. It raises important questions: How should a contemporary artist represent the Savior right now? Should the image reflect the artist's heritage, give a nod to the historical Jesus, or follow an existing cultural tradition? Rose Datoc Dall is a thought-leader in LDS culture regarding this powerful and complex topic.

Music: "Please Only Tell Me Good News” by Stephen Anderson; used with permission.

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What does it take to get a new musical staged on Broadway? In this episode, composer and lyricist Kyle Fackrell describes the journey of his new Off-Broadway musical, The Art Tour, that opens on 42nd Street next week. More than a recounting of the challenges and triumphs of producing an original work for the theater, Kyle details how the two-character show represents all of us in our decisions to be bold. It asks questions about love, art, and purpose. The interview is also a behind-the-scenes look about the process of collaborating, creating a business, and simply taking the big, risky leap.

Music: "Please Only Tell Me Good News” by Stephen Anderson; used with permission.

Excerpt from: The Art Tour, music and lyrics by Kyle Fackrell; used with permission.

View the video podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF53Udt6IX4

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The Last Caravan is a tabletop roleplaying game created by Ted Bushman, set in a post-apocalyptic America that's been devastated by an alien invasion. Unlike many roleplaying games where players take on their personas of superheroes and intergalactic warriors, this game is about regular people--teachers, truck drivers, librarians, mechanics, moms, even dogs--who band together to survive wild situations. In this interview with the 2025 ENnie-award nominated game for Best Game and Product of the Year, published by Mythworks, Ted talks about how this game is played and how it came to be created.

Music: "Please Only Tell Me Good News” by Stephen Anderson; used with permission.

https://tedbushman.itch.io/

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The Artists Residency at the Center concludes its 2025 cohort and asks the artists--Alexandra Mackenzie Johns (UK/Utah, literature & drama), David Jones (Oregon, music composition), Thayer Jonutz (Michigan, choreography), Zinta Jaunitis (United Kingdom, visual art), Jackie Leishman (California, visual art) and Daniel Martinez (Uruguay, visual art)--three questions. They are: what books they're currently reading, how Covid affected them and their art, and when they began to think of themselves as artists.

Music: "Please Only Tell Me Good News” by Stephen Anderson; used with permission.

Photo credit: Kah Poon Photography

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Most people are unaware of the symbiotic relationship between artists and the gallerists who represent them. How does a gallery support, encourage, and market an artist's work? And how does an artist rely on the expertise of a gallerist when they are starting out, in mid-career, and when they want to defy expectation with something new? This interview brings visual artist Justin Wheatley and David Ericson, the owner of David Ericson Fine Art in Salt Lake City, Utah, together to uncover surprising ties of trust between creativity and commerce. 

Music: "Please Only Tell Me Good News” by Stephen Anderson; used with permission.

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Winners of the Ariel Bybee Endowment Prize, Gonzalo and Susana Silva speak about their new exhibition, Instrumentos de silencio (Instruments of Silence). The 15-piece show at Sargent's Daughters gallery in New York (and later traveling to the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California) plays with ideas of musical instruments and history, but also the ways that invading Europeans subjugated and tandemized Andean populations with outside culture, including music. 

Music: "Please Only Tell Me Good News” by Stephen Anderson; used with permission.

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