Every year the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office awards individuals and organizations who have made significant contributions to the artistic landscape of the community. The Utah Arts Festival and Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker are honored to present the Mayor’s Artist Award on Friday, June 24 at 8:15 pm on the Festival Stage.

Trent Alvey – Visual Arts

Trent Alvey is a mixed-media artist who uses painting, assemblage, sculpture, light and sound technique in the creation of her work. Alvey has exhibited in one-person and group shows including Out of the Land, which traveled to The National Museum for Women in the Arts in Washington, DC. Her credits include work in the U of U’s Museum of Fine Art’s permanent collection, the 337 Project, and exhibitions at the Salt Lake Art Center. Salt Lake County has purchased her pieces and commissioned her to create an 80 foot long wall mural in downtown Salt Lake City.

Alvey has been included in both editions of Artists of Utah written by Robert S. Olpin and her work is included in Utah Artists Project — J. Williard Marriott Library’s (University of Utah) digitized collections of selected Utah artists.

Charles Lynn Frost – Performing Arts

Charles Lynn Frost is an actor, director, educator, social activist, and voice for change. Frost has always been keenly aware of choosing theatrical pieces that drive social change and impact, that build cultural and civic awareness, and make a difference in the greater community. Some of Charles most recent and memorable roles as an actor include the reptilian Roy Cohn, in Angels in America for Salt Lake Acting Company.

Mr. Frost also conceptualized, created, and performed in The Passion of Sister Dottie S. Dixon, for Pygmalion Theatre Company. Charles has been active his entire life in the arts; with degrees in Film and Theatre Directing, Instructional Design and Adult Learning, Theatre Education, and Psychology.

Carol Edison – Service to the Arts by an Individual

As a folklorist for the Utah Arts Council since 1978, Carol Edison has conducted fieldwork in Utah’s Native American, rural, occupation and ethnic communities. Her research has resulted in the production of numerous exhibits, concerts, festivals, audio-visual productions and publications featuring Utah’s community-based traditional arts and artists.  Edison has lectured and written about cowboy poetry, Navajo basketry, Utah food traditions, Hispanic arts, Mormon material culture, Southeast Asian refugees, Polynesian immigrants, the folk culture of Sanpete Valley, gravestones and Utah folk arts. 

Since 1986 she has directed programs at the Chase Home Museum of Utah Folk Arts, a facility located in Salt Lake’s Liberty Park that houses the nation’s only museum dedicated to a state-owned collection of contemporary folk art. A native Utahn, Edison earned an M.A. in English from the University of Utah.

Ruth Lubbers – Service to the Arts by an Individual

Ruth Lubbers has been executive director of Art Access since 1993. Previously she was Fine Arts Coordinator for the Muskegon Area Intermediate School District in Michigan, developing arts programming for twelve school districts. In 2002, Lubbers received the 7th Annual Enrichment Award from HealthSouth of Utah for enriching the lives of persons with disabilities through the arts and was given the Honorary Alumna of the Year Award from the College of Fine Arts at the University of Utah. She was a member of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games Arts and Culture Advisory Committee and developed Art Access exhibits which were part of the Cultural Olympiad.

In 2004 Utah Business Magazine and the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce designated Lubbers one of thirty Women of Vision in Utah for her contributions to the Utah arts community. She is the 2011 recipient of the Cathedral of the Madeleine Arts and Humanities Award. Ruth recently served on the boards of the Utah Arts Festival and the Utah Museums Association, and is currently on the boards of 15bytes and the Utah Youth Mentor Project.

The Book Arts Program – Service to the Arts by an Organization

The Book Arts Program at the J. Willard Marriott library is a book driven initiative and cultivates the notion of the book by preserving traditions and providing the equipment, instruction, and inspiration necessary for in-depth exploration. The Program opens its doors to a broad spectrum of Utah students, teachers, and community members, as well as to bookbinders, printers, and book artists.

The rare books housed in the Marriott Library’s Special Collections are utilized in the K-12 Treasure Chest Program, as well as exhibitions, and lectures. This connection emphasizes the fluid interaction between making books, using books, and treasuring books. The Book Arts Program continues to actively work at creating the art associated with the book.

Mayor’s Artist Awards Presentation

Friday, June 24, 8:15–8:30 pm, Festival Stage