UMFA

Palette to Palate: Tequila Tour of Ancient Mexican Art - Utah Museum of Fine Arts Tracing the evolution of agave through ancient Mexican art and fine spirits. The perfect date night, BFF outing, or solo adventure awaits you at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts. […]

Indulge in an immersive tequila tasting class that celebrates the rich heritage of West Mexican culture, perfectly complementing the art on view in the new Mexican and South & Central American art galleries. Get your tickets at umfa.utah.edu/event/palett...

Decolonizing art: Utah Museum of Fine Arts revamps its exhibit focused on Latin America Utah Museum of Fine Arts officials have revamped the art and artifacts on display from around Latin America, aiming in part to decolonize the artwork.

"Their guidance was rooted in a powerful philosophy — that the past represented by ancient objects is not separate from the present; it is the present," Gretchen Dietrich, the museum's executive director, said in a statement. www.ksl.com/article/5139...

The Art of Death: Tour of the Sacred and Macabre at the UMFA  - Utah Museum of Fine Arts by J. Attridge, UMFA communications coordinator  If you’re looking for the perfect Halloween outing, follow this guide through the Utah […]

If you’re looking for the perfect Halloween outing, follow this guide through the Utah Museum of Fine Arts to see what’s on view in the vein of the morbidly beautiful and the frightfully fascinating! Maybe, if you’re lucky, you’ll make contact with the dearly departed.

Gathering Across Waters: Adama Delphine Fawundu at UMFA In the latest iteration of the Utah Museum of Fine Arts’ salt series, Brooklyn-based artist Adama Delphine Fawundu continues the program’s mission of bringing emerging voices in contemporary art to…

"Fawundu’s work also spurs us to consider the community of the museum as a gathering place not just for humans, but for our objects." artistsofutah.org/15Bytes/inde...

Sensory-Friendly Evening Join NHMU and UMFA for a Sensory Friendly Evening with adjusted environments and sensory tools available for use.

Looking for a sensory-friendly museum experience? 🤫 🦖✨

Join us @nhmu.bsky.social and @umfa.bsky.social on Nov. 5 for adjusted museum experiences!

We will have lights and sounds adjusted, as well as have tools and resources available for use for those with sensory needs.

Learn more: bit.ly/3WPq0AT

The Publisher's Picks: Southwest Contemporary’s Fall 2025 Art Guide Just in time for cooler temps, SWC publisher and editor Lauren Tresp picks twenty-two must-see Southwest art exhibitions for fall 2025.

"Just in time for cooler temps, SWC publisher and editor Lauren Tresp picks twenty-two must-see exhibitions across the Southwest," including salt 17: Adama Delphine Fawundu at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (among other amazing Utah museums)!

Read more at southwestcontemporary.com/southwest-ar...

An event flyer for Our Past is Present to celebrate the opening of two new galleries on Saturday, October 18, from 10 am to 7 pm.

A Spanish event flyer for Our Past is Present to celebrate the opening of two new galleries on Saturday, October 18, from 10 am to 7 pm.

The long-awaited Mexican and Central & South American galleries will open this Saturday with a community celebration! This event is free and open to the public. All are welcome!

Our next Creative Aging event is a free 8-session workshop for artists 55+. Wednesday afternoons, November 12 through January 28, 'Creative Aging: Art Museum Explorations' will delve into the magic as well as some of the nuts and bolts of an art museum. www.eventbrite.com/e/creative-a...

A Land art installation of a metal bell strung between two pine trees atop a snowy mountain.

(2/2) As historical land artworks re-enter public view, this panel asks what it means to care for artworks made from stone, fire, and time.

(1/2) TONIGHT! We're partnering with Powder Art Foundation and Dia Art Foundation for "Sculpting in Time: Land Art in the 21st Century."

Join us in the UMFA Auditorium from 6-7 pm for the FREE event. RSVP below.

Hundreds of small, molded copper foils hang from the ceiling by a suspended wire shaped like a mountain scene in a large gallery room.

"The artist has long been interested in how objects interact with their surroundings, especially the relationship between 'positive' and 'negative' space."

Read more at www.thisiscolossal.com/2025/09/yasu...

Relative Truths was curated by:
Peter Hay, Associate Director, PROArtes México.
In Partnership with:
University of Utah Department of Art & Art History

salt 17: Adama Delphine Fawundu Curatorial Sponsor:
Erica and Ben Dahl
Funded in part by:
The Joseph and Evelyn Rosenblatt Enrichment Fund.

Join us Friday, September 26 from 6-9 pm, as we celebrate the opening of two exhibitions, Relative Truths and salt 17: Adama Delphine Fawundu. Enjoy a mocktail, vibe to beats provided by a live DJ, and mingle with artist Adama Delphine Fawundu and the faculty artists featured in Relative Truths!

A large gallery with artworks hanging on the wall and an art object on the floor in the corner of the room.

A large, open gallery with multiple artworks hanging on the wall and two sculptures on display in the middle of the room.

A multi-room gallery with several artworks hanging on the walls.

A gallery with multiple artworks hanging on the walls and one sculpture in a glass display case in the middle of the room.

Relative Truths opens tomorrow, September 26!

The artworks in Relative Truths invite contemplation of human relationships relative to truth/fiction, past/present, physical/virtual space, as well as the complexities of social structures today.

umfa.utah.edu/exhibition/r...

You're invited to the opening celebration of two new exhibitions! Plus, meet salt 17 artist, Adama Delphine Fawundu
and faculty artists featured in Relative Truths.
When: Friday, September 26, from 6 to 9 pm.
This event is free and open to the public.
Learn more at umfa.utah.edu/opening-cele...

YouTube video by Minako Yoshida Stone on Boundary SLC - Yasuaki Onishi

Stone on Boundary invites us to direct our attention to the thin boundary between inside/outside, visible/invisible, and human/nature. Get an inside glimpse at artist Yasuaki Onishi's practice!

Stone on Boundary
Yasuaki Onishi
February 2025

Video: Minako Yoshida

youtu.be/83JDKlmPiyM?...

Three people painting a large mural of a bird in an art gallery.

A special mural painted by Roots Art Kollective will grace the hero wall in the new Mexican and Central & South American gallery space.

Be one of the first to see it in person on Saturday, October 18, at the Our Past is Present opening celebration for the new gallery spaces. umfa.utah.edu/events

(3/3) This group of amazing people set to work re-envisioning the Ancient Mesoamerican gallery as new spaces that reflect the richness of living cultures, identity, and the art of Mexico, Central, and South America.

(2/3) Almost 50 people came to the first Transformación cultural: Nuestro pasado es presente meeting, from which a dedicated group formed to collaborate with the Museum over the next three years.

Hands holding cacao beans in a traditional bowl on a table.

(1/3) In 2022, an exciting project began at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts in collaboration with community partner Artes de México en Utah. The UMFA invited community members to visit the Ancient Mesoamerican gallery and share their thoughts on the space.
umfa.utah.edu/curating-wit...

(2/2) She is interested in ancestral memory and connection across space and time, using her multimedia practice to confront histories and realities of the global African diaspora. umfa.utah.edu/exhibition/s...

A textile artwork next to an flyer that says UMFA salt 17: Adama Delphine Fawundu On view September 13 - June 14

(1/2) The next iteration of the UMFA's popular salt series opens in September!

salt 17 features the work of Adama Delphine Fawundu, a New York-based artist of Mende, Krim, Bamileke, and Bubi descent.

The UMFA has been an AAM accredited organization since the early 1970s, and was the first art museum in the United States west of the Mississippi River to gain AAM accreditation!

Accreditation with AAM is also an important distinction that bears national and international prestige, and helps facilitate loans between the UMFA and other institutions.

This comprehensive study, last done in 2011, offers a high-profile, peer-based review and validation of a museum's operations and impact. It increases the Museum's credibility and value to funders, policy-makers, insurers, community, and peers.

Exterior of the Utah Museum of Fine Arts Building.

The UMFA is currently participating in a re-accreditation process with the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), which occurs approximately once every fifteen years.

Fun Behind-the-Scenes Fact: In order to protect the priceless objects housed in the UMFA this roofing project will be done in steps. The old roof will be removed in sections and replaced with new roofing so that at the end of every day the UMFA’s collection will remain under an intact roof!

The Museum is getting a new roof! You may notice a fenced perimeter and a lot of hustle and bustle around the Museum in the coming weeks. Not to worry, though, the UMFA is still open during construction.

The Utah Museum of Fine Arts is staffed by an incredible team of experts and working artists. This month, we want to celebrate their recent achievements; UMFA staff are making waves in the Utah art world and beyond! umfa.utah.edu/celebrating-....

"The Carlos has a handful of objects from...Winifred Shaughnessy aka Natacha Rambova...who donated over 200 ancient Egyptian objects to The Utah Museum of Fine Arts beginning in 1952." Read more in this blog from
The Carlos Museum carlos.emory.edu/DOA-Winifred