Gallery Stroll: Ghouls and Gore Galore

October is one of my favorite months—the change in season brings cool temperatures, autumn colors and the most imaginative holiday North America celebrates: Halloween! It’s a holiday that embraces the human psyche, with all its hopes, fears, fantasies and cravings, and it’s a natural muse for artists—hence why October’s Gallery Stroll is not to miss.

Exploiting your feelings of fear, shock and disgust, the Salty Horror International Film Festival has partnered with the Urban Arts Gallery to showcase this year’s selection of gruesome, ghoulish and horrific international films. Films will screen one night only on Oct. 7 in the gallery space at 137 S. Rio Grande in the Gateway shopping district.

A visual art show will accompany the film festival and remain up for the duration of the month. Artists include Mario DeAngelis, Vanessa Colunga, Mary Ann Hess and Armando Mata. This is the first time the festival has expanded into an art exhibit. “I’ve always wanted to have art and film together,” Curator and Festival Programmer DeAngelis says.

“This became a reality this year with the help of the Urban Arts Gallery.” The Urban Arts Gallery is a project of the Utah Arts Alliance, a nonprofit organization that strives to promote and empower Utah artists through various exhibits, venue rentals and the annual Urban Arts Festival. “The Arts Alliance and the Urban Arts Gallery are always looking for ways to partner with community members,” says Executive Director Derek Dyer.

“This year, we wanted to bring in local guest curators such as the Salty Horror Film Festival and allow them to re-envision this space. We love all art mediums and are happy to continue the tradition of being a place for all art forms to come together.”

I’m more of a whimsical kind of girl—I can handle all the spooky, but I prefer the fantasy, like dreaming I own a house big enough for all the amazing furniture inside Mod a-go-go, located at 242 E. South Temple. This store is playland—now if they only accepted play money.

A girl can dream, and a girl, boy or ghoul can show up and enjoy all the eye candy that this store and its 40 participating artists can throw in your direction. This mid-century modern/vintage showroom maintains a steady stream of talented artists gracing their walls, but once a year, they bust right out of the box and expand their show to the neighboring parking lot.

Themes for the Oct. 16 show range from fan art to the utterly gruesome. Artists include Bill Galvin, Tim Odland, Kyle Odland, Dania Darling, Gabriel Garcia and many more. “This is our most popular show of the year,” owner Eric Morley says. “We love for our guests to dress up in their Halloween costumes or their cosplay best and come enjoy the fun.” 

Halloween is only one night, but you can enjoy art all month long. Don’t let October fly by without going out for a stroll.