Multi-cultural exhibits to open at Ephraim Granary Arts
Installation of the "Facing Home" exhibit by Nancy Rivera and Denae Shanidin at the Granary Arts building.
Installation takes place of artwork by Steven Stallings Cardenas for the Pan Para Mia exhibit at Granary Art
EPHRAIM — Granary Arts is welcoming two new exhibitions starting Oct. 7, 2020 and running through Jan. 22, 2021. “Facing Home”, presented by Nancy Rivera and Denae Shanidiin, and “Pan Para Mi” by Steven Stallings Cardenas will expose gallery visitors to a multi-cultural experience.
“Facing Home … considers notions of home, displacement, and memory as they relate to a multicultural identity. Through soft-sculpture installation and photography-based works, both artists reveal complex and malleable ideas of self that convey a desire to probe and preserve the cultural experiences that mold them.”
Rivera was born in Mexico City and immigrated to the U.S. with her parents. She draws from government-issued immigration documents, a small collection of family photos, and photographs taken during visits to her hometowns in central-Mexico to construct works that trace her experience as first-generation Mexican-American. Rivera is now an arts administrator based in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Shanidiin, whose work span her cultural ties of Korean and indigenous ancestry, explores balance and harmony in a cruel world. Her work offers personal identifiers of the softness and resilience she embodies–both spiritually and materialistically. She says she expresses her bond to motherhood that is shaped by her matriarchal identity while processing her displacement as an indigenous woman.
The resulting exploration of both artists’ family history, traditions, and nostalgia is personal yet transcends her individual experience.
Granary Arts will host a virtual Artist Talks with Rivera and Shanidiin Saturday, Oct. 17 at 4 p.m. on their Instagram @granaryarts.
Of his exhibit “Pan Para Mi” Cardenas says “I learned sourdough bread making from a respectable book. My first month as a baker was really difficult because my dough would over-proof in my hot Los Angeles apartment. Over the course of a year, my bread began to look and taste pretty good.”
“It wasn’t until recently that I started questioning the idea of European “artisanry,” specifically in the world of baking. In response, I made videos, photographs, and sculptures that showcase fragments of my baking process, while recognizing my Colombian heritage through colors, rhythms, and dancing. The bread I make is Colombian American sourdough bread.”
Cardenas is a Colombian American artist, filmmaker, and musician from Provo, Utah with a degree in Studio Art from Brigham Young University. He is currently living in Portland, Oregon.
Granary Arts will host a virtual Artist Talks with Cardenas Friday, Oct. 9 at 2 p.m. on their Instagram profile @granaryarts.
The Granary Arts is located at 86 North Main Street in Ephraim. It is a Local Arts Agency, which is a designation through the Utah Division of Arts and Museums, and a partnership with Ephraim City. It was named one of the top ten do-it-yourself art spaces in the country by USA Today in an article published in December 2019.
“We provide opportunities for artists, curators, makers, students, and educators to foster their creative vision. We also provide arts education to schools and the community through a variety of programs, workshops, public art projects, and other cultural events.”
