For a number of years within the aftermath of the COVID 12 months of 2020, the Utah Arts Competition was in a interval of transition. Aimee Dunsmore was changing longtime pageant director Lisa Sewell; the standard four-day pageant was shortened to a few days. So is the UAF now at a degree the place they’ve discovered sufficient stability to easily say “we all know what we’re doing now, and the way we’re doing it, so let’s simply make it the perfect we will?”
“I really feel like we’re shut,” Dunsmore says. “I really feel most likely the perfect to this point [since 2020] coming into it. Sponsorships have not come again the best way they have been—we’re nonetheless adjusting—however I would not say that is a destructive. We’re simply making an attempt to make use of each greenback the absolute best means we will. I believe it is nonetheless going to take a bit of little bit of time to get again.”
There are indications, nonetheless, of an occasion nearer than ever to the pre-COVID model of itself. One such signifier is the return to the pageant grounds of avenue performances, together with stilt-walkers and aerialists, which had been absent for a number of years whereas the pageant targeted on core considerations. Moreover, the pageant has been in a position to herald a global performing artist in Korean performer Search engine optimisation Jungmin, who performs the 25-string Gayageum
Requested if it is honest to say this programming alternative represents a company that is rising from mere “survival mode,” Dunsmore says, “That’s correct. We will not do precisely what we have performed earlier than, or on the scale we have performed earlier than, however with the suggestions we bought, it was essential to get again to that. … We’re slowly however certainly making an attempt to convey all these issues again.”
Suggestions from attendees has at all times been essential when it comes to making the fitting choices for the pageant programming, and that features the stay performances. But there’s nonetheless a problem with how to reply to suggestions that might level you in two totally different instructions, together with whether or not to maintain the identical performing teams from 12 months to 12 months or change issues up. In accordance with Performing Arts Coordinator Dayna McKee, “There are individuals who wish to see the identical factor yearly, their favourite, after which those that say, ‘it is at all times the identical factor, why ought to I spend my cash once more.'”
Discovering that stability is likely one of the challenges of programming the pageant, however Dunsmore and McKee each consider that mixing issues up and offering alternatives for various artists is a key part of UAF’s mission. The appliance course of—which this 12 months discovered round 300 candidates for round 65 performing arts spots—consists of scores from a volunteer jury in addition to a course of for assessing the range of this system alongside a wide range of standards.
“The jury course of is so essential, however illustration can also be essential,” Dunsmore says. “If the identical folks get in yearly, it could cease folks from making use of. … We instituted that, after three years [of a group performing at the festival], we reserve the fitting to relaxation an artist in any program. You are positively going to see folks you realize and love, however you are additionally going to see new folks—and that is a part of our mission, and what we’re right here to supply.”
Suggestions was additionally a part of the choice to maneuver to a three-day pageant—on this case, suggestions from collaborating artists, who in some instances have been extra inclined to attend a three-day pageant—however that was solely a part of the bundle. Dunsmore notes that Thursday attendance had been declining within the years earlier than the change was made, and there have been rising manufacturing prices to think about. But in addition, there was the matter of contemplating how finest to handle the assets—and the well-being—of the pageant employees.
“A lot of our crew have been right here for years and years, so the burnout potential is actual,” Dunsmore says. “I believe three days is more healthy for all of us. It is nonetheless a full pageant and there is nonetheless quite a bit to see and do. It is a bit extra accountable with our time and assets.”
And within the big-picture evaluation, sustaining the well being and long-term viability of the pageant is paramount. The artist market stays wholesome, with Dunsmore indicating that gross sales have remained pretty constant—a bit of underneath $2 million yearly—even with one much less day. The programming nonetheless consists of a variety of choices, from city arts to the Worry No Movie Competition to hands-on workshops. For a lot of attendees, the concept that there was ever something for the Utah Arts Competition to get again to may not even have crossed their minds.
“When the advertising and marketing group got here to us with ‘The Nice Utah Get-Collectively’ [as a slogan], that actually resonated,” Dunsmore says. “It is an actual problem to market, as a result of each program we’ve got may stand by itself. The artist market and performing arts are our two largest [draws], however there’s additionally all this different stuff, and perhaps that is the factor you go for subsequent 12 months. There actually, really is one thing for everybody.”