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The Springville Art Festival will take place Friday, Sept. 15, 2023, at Arts Park and Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023, at varied spots around downtown Springville, including Civic Center Park.

Courtesy Springville Museum of Art

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As part of the Springville Art Festival, short films will be screened at the Rivoli Theater on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023. Among the films being shown is "Volvere" by Marlon Gonzalez.

Courtesy Marlon Gonzalez

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The Springville Art Festival is coming to the “Art City” on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Springville Civic Center Park, 110 S. Main St. Different parts of the festival will be held in other locations downtown including the Springville Public Library, Rivoli Theater, Springville Community Presbyterian Church and Springville Museum of Art.

Friday night marks the beginning of the festival with food trucks and a movie in the Arts Park at 700 S. 1300 East, “Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Kinda Feel Left Out,” but the main festival is on Saturday.

Those attending the festival can spend their day discovering new food, listening to live music, trying their hand at the Chalk the Walk competition from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., watching short films by local filmmakers at the Rivoli Theater from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m and discovering all of the other activities available. To view the entire schedule, visit https://www.smofa.org/fall-art-festival.

After the “Springville’s Got Talent” show ends, the band Monkey Friday will end the night with pop, rock and funk hits from 7-8 p.m. The band encourages the community to dance and sing along with the music. “Based in Utah County, with members from Springville, Monkey Friday was created for one purpose: to bring the energy…and keep it going! We believe that great music is great music, no matter the genre or generation it came from,” the Springville Museum of Art’s website states about the band.

Those attending the festival will get the chance to see art created right in front of their eyes. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., artists will be on display creating art in the form of glass blowing, stained glass, painting and encaustic, which uses heated wax as a medium.

The short films will be screened from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Rivoli Theater. There are films for various audiences: Family-friendly films will play from 11 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. in the main theater and will also run on loop in the lobby until 5 p.m.; films that encourage parental guidance will then be shown from 12:55-3:30 p.m.; and films for adults only will be shown from 3:55-5 p.m.

Among the parental-guidance short films is “Volvere,” meaning “I’ll be right back” in Spanish. The film was created by award-winning independent director Marlon Gonzalez.

A press release for the film states, “Having made its sold-out official debut at the Zions Indie Film Festival & Utah Arts Festival’s: Fear No Film, ‘Volvere’ garnered widespread acclaim, with critics hailing it as a cinematic masterpiece.”

The film follows an undocumented immigrant in the U.S. who is faced with the “agonizing dilemma” to return to his homeland of Mexico to take care of his mother whose health is deteriorating or stay in the U.S. with his expectant wife.

“‘I admire the way Marlon Gonzalez thinks and creates,’ expressed one critic. ‘As he emerges as a leading voice among young filmmakers in the industry, he has showcased his depth in this film. He doesn’t merely rely on his directing and writing talents to craft a compelling story; he uses his platform to shed light on the profound societal, mental, and emotional impact of such situations,'” the press release states.

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