Beginning November 24, 2023, the Gallivan Center ignites with “GLOW,” an awe-inspiring art experience created by In Theory Art Collective. And though you may already be familiar with “GLOW”—parts of the current installation have appeared at the Gallivan and as part of Open Streets previously—this season’s version is larger and even more magical than past iterations, with a broadened theme celebrating Utah’s diverse natural, cultural and social landscapes. “‘GLOW’ now dives deeper into social and environmental themes, but in an inherently positive way that remains full of joy and love,” says Emily Nicolosi, lead artist and director of In Theory Art Collective. Discover GLOW November 24 through February every night at Gallivan Center, dusk till 10pm.

HOW IT BEGAN

The seed that blossomed into “GLOW” is very personal for Nicolosi. In 2019, she experienced a profound loss and “I had to do something,” she said. That something turned out to be koro loko, a twelve-foot-tall dimensional heart, strung with more than 2,000 shimmering dichroic squares, engineered to stand on point. With the help of her then fiancé and now husband, Ian, and several friends, who would become In Theory Art Collective, Nicolosi took koro loko (Esperanto for “heart place”) to Burning Man that fall. There, in front of her plump and glittery heart sculpture, Nicolosi and Ian were married. A year later, when THE BLOCKS issued a call for art pieces to display on Gallivan Plaza for the 2020-21 holiday season, In Theory applied with koro loko. The piece was selected and displayed with Paige Tashner’s Purr Pods, a pair of cat sculptures that, ironically, had also debuted at Burning Man in 2019. Programmers with THE BLOCKS invited In Theory to return koro loko to the Gallivan for the 2021-22 winter season. When they received an invitation to display their work at the Gallivan for a third time in 2022-23, In Theory created two more pieces to display with koro loko—a snowflake-like sculpture titled Miri the Star and an interactive piece they called Love is … that asked viewers to write their definition of love on a plexiglass square to add to the display.

SPEAKING FOR THE EARTH

“For this year’s ‘GLOW,’ we wanted at least one part of the installation to be a collaboration with a Native American artist or group to help amplify Native voices and perspectives,” Nicolosi says. And so In Theory approached Laura Tohe, current Navajo Nation Poet Laureate, with an invitation to write a poem reflecting “GLOW” 2023’s environmental and social consciousness theme. The result is “You belong to the earth,” a beautifully optimistic and comforting poem that In Theory republished in a display of scripty neon text to include in “GLOW.” “The inspiration,” Tohe explained, “was to remind us that we are all a part of this planet we call Nahasdzáán, Mother Earth. She sustains us, human and non-human, animate and inanimate, by providing us with everything we need to exist. We don’t have another place to live. More so during global warming, my hope is that we take more seriously our responsibility to care for the earth and in doing so, we take care of ourselves. I want my children and grandchildren to live in a world that has a healthy heart.” 

THE AWE-INSPIRING SUM OF THE PARTS

The balance of the pieces In Theory Art Collective designed and fabricated to appear along with koro loko and Miri as part of “GLOW” 2023, include:

• Polychroma, a 14-feet-tall, steel-framed arch lit with state-of-the-art LED technology. “This piece acknowledges Utah’s LGBTQ+ community and is a metaphor for the fact that diversity is a beautiful thing,” Nicolosi says;
• Treehive, a revival of an installation In Theory created for Open Streets made up of LED neon hexagons in varying colors and sizes. For “GLOW,” the Polychroma arch will anchor a Treehive corridor into Gallivan Plaza from Main Street, inviting visitors to enter the experience. “This piece is also meant to call attention to the endangered Western bumble bee,” Nicolosi says;
• Columbine Clusters, illuminated interpretations of one of Utah’s most lovely and defining wildflowers, interspersed among the Gallivan Center’s traditional “forest” of lit holiday trees;
• Fauna Illuminata, clear acrylic animal sculptures created on a 3-D printer and lit from within by LED lights, depicting Utah’s endangered species and placed, with the Columbine Clusters, within the Gallivan Center’s holiday “forest;”
• Prismatic Portals, lit steel squares, placed in a progressively off-set, tunnel-like alignment that, according to “GLOW’s” artistic statement, “invite travelers to summon their destination as they move in and through these mind-bending, color-shifting, swirling gateways;”
• and Crystalline Fantasia, three-dimensional, polyhedral stars and diamonds made in the same format as Miri the Star, floating above the Gallivan pergola.

“THE BLOCKS gave us carte blanche to create what we wanted, and the vision became to not just have one or two pieces but to draw people through the space with multiple experiential pieces in a celebratory and inspirational way,” Nicolosi says. “I hope that it becomes a destination that folks will want to visit again and again all winter long.”

Downtown Alliance Executive Director Dee Brewer echoed Nicolosi’s sentiment. “’GLOW’ is an opportunity to experience the winter side of downtown Salt Lake City,” Brewer says. “It pairs nicely with dining at any of the dozens of nearby restaurants and bars or with ice skating with friends or family at Gallivan Plaza.”

“GLOW” opens on the Gallivan Center Plaza (239 S. Main St) on November 24, 2023 and will remain on display through the end of February 2024. Admission is free and open to the public thanks to a generation sponsorship from the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation.

Ice Skate Disco: sizzling DJ vibes on the ice at Gallivan Center!

Social Antidote, Bandah, and friends will turn up the heat on the Gallivan ice rink experience on three Fridays in February with thundering music and dynamic club lighting from 6pm to 10pm, February 11, 18, 25. 

“I floated the idea of making the ice rink a disco dance floor and The Blocks loved it,” said Norbert Bueno, director of Social Antidote. “Even if you don’t skate, journey downtown and enjoy the music and atmosphere. This show is free and open to all.” 

“February doesn’t have to be drab,” said Lucas Goodrich, director of THE BLOCKS. “We are brightening the night with artistry and joy. Skaters can disco on the ice as Social Antidote illuminates the Plaza with club lighting and music echoing through downtown. Remember, there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing decisions.”

Revelers can also enjoy GLOW, a temporary sculpture garden staged at Gallivan Center. Ice skating at Gallivan costs $10 and is open every day.

The Downtown Alliance is adding a layer of holiday magic to the Gallivan Plaza with the inaugural season of GLOW Garden at Gallivan, now installed and ready to be experienced through March 1. 

Emily Nicolosi and In Theory Art Collective have created three outsized sculptures designed with thousands of dichroic pieces that glow at night and reflect the full spectrum of color during the day. One work, Love Is, was designed for the community to interact with the piece.  The sculptures elevate an already festive Gallivan Center experience which is adorned with holiday lights and brimming with ice skaters. 

“We started creating art for Burning Man,” said Nicolosi. “It’s a place that inspired us to try new things like making art and figuring out how to do it together, as a collective. We hope our art creates a magical moment in your day, and inspires you to think about the best parts of being human: our wishes, dreams, and love for each other.”

“Downtown is lit for the holidays,” said Director of The Blocks, Lucas Goodrich. “There are hundreds of events downtown and Emily Nicolosi’s sculptures will add to that vibrancy and make Gallivan Plaza the center for holiday magic.” 

By now, most people have accepted the not-so-fun reality of curtailing large holiday gatherings due to COVID-19. But, there’s no reason festivity needs to be canceled altogether. In fact, most of downtown Salt Lake City remains not only open but abuzz with eclectic shopping, glittery outdoor holiday and public art displays and the diverse dining and bar scene downtown Salt Lake is known for. Following are several ways you can meet—and beat—the final challenge of 2020: getting into the holiday spirit.

Find The Perfect Present

Sure you can check off your holiday gift list by browsing Amazon—yawn—again. Or you can head downtown to shop dozens of locally owned and national retailers, all bedecked for the holidays. At City Creek Center you can check out the Macy’s handcrafted candy windows and the Magical Décor Holiday Tour; peer into the Contactless Storybook Lanterns; and discover local artists, whose work has been incorporated into dozens of shop window displays. Over at The Gateway, in addition to its eclectic resident stores, restaurants and movie theaters, this open-air shopping mall will host the Holiday Art & Craft Market as part of the Winter Farmers Market—where you can get your artisan-made holiday gifts and groceries—on Saturdays through December 19; the Winter Urban Flea Market, where you can browse hundreds of unique finds on December 13; and the Winter Magic Art Stroll, a self-guided audio tour of 14 shop window installations by local artists.

Stretch Your Gifting Budget

Make your holiday shopping budget go even further while helping out hundreds of downtown businesses at the same time with Downtown Dollars electronic gift cards. Here’s how it works: When you buy a $75 Downtown Dollars e-gift card, you’ll automatically receive an extra $25 in Bonus Bucks; buy a $50 Downtown Dollars e-gift card and you’ll get an extra $10 in Bonus Bucks. To redeem, you simply show the e-gift card code (sent to you via text or email for you to use or gift to someone else) at a Downtown Dollars participating business at the time of payment. It’s that simple.

Downtown Dollars e-gift cards are accepted at dozens of downtown Salt Lake’s coolest independent retailers, restaurants, gyms and bars, including White Horse Spirits & Kitchen, Whiskey Street, Diabolical Records, Post Office Place, Salt Lake Power Yoga and Takashi, to name just a few. Downtown Dollars e-gift cards, which never expire (though Bonus Bucks must be redeemed by May 21, 2021), are available for purchase through December 31, 2020.

Light It Up

This year downtown Salt Lake City’s well-known holiday light displays have been infused with a brand new and unexpected dose of artistic creativity. At the Gallivan Center Plaza, amid the traditional holiday tunes and millions of lights adorning 285-holiday evergreen trees, are a pair of art pieces that originally premiered at Burning Man 2019. Concepted and made by California Bay Area-artist Paige Tashner, the Purr Pods are a duo of large, welded metal, interactive cat sculptures that envelop participants in sonic vibrations “leaving them feeling revived,” Tashner says. Best yet, at night these kitties glow with enchanting, color-changing LED lights. The luminescent Koro Loco (“heart place” in Esperanto) is a huge three-dimensional heart formed with hundreds of dichroic plexiglass squares that dance with multi-colored reflections from the sun during the day, and spotlights at night. Salt Lake City artists Emily and Ian Nicolosi and Steve Wong created Koro Loco to “provide a space for reflection on the action of love.” Another must-see art installation on display downtown through the holidays is Aurora Borealis, by Utah artists Day Christensen and Brook Robertson, at the Eccles Theatre’s Main Street façade. (Hungry for more public art? Spend an evening exploring downtown’s more than 60 public art murals.)

Don't forget to share your downtown SLC holiday lights experience with us by posting a picture to Instagram and using #DowntownSLCLights. You'll be automatically entered to win $200 in Downtown Dollars! Winners will be announced on Instagram each week of December. 

Temple Square Goes Virtual

Viewing the Temple Square lights is, of course, one of Utah’s most beloved holiday traditions. And while Temple Square is indeed lit this season, due to an ongoing renovation, the lights there are viewable from surrounding roads and exterior city sidewalks only. A much more intimate alternative is tuning in for a virtual tour of the Temple Square Christmas lights, scheduled for live broadcast on ChurchofJesusChrist.org and on the Temple Square Facebook page on December 1 at 6 p.m. The tour is available for on-demand screenings after then.

Helping Those in Need

Lending a hand to those hit the hardest by this pandemic is a guaranteed way to feel the warm fuzzies of the holiday season. The Road Home offers multiple ways to help those in need over the holidays, including providing items to fill gift bags for shelter guests and donating new, unwrapped toys for its popular Candy Cane Corner. (This year, due to COVID-19, The Road Home is also looking for volunteers to shop for and deliver Candy Cane Corner toys to families.) Contactless ways to help include giving to the Shelter the Homeless’ campaign to raise $10 million, which when met, will be matched the Larry H. and Gail Miller Family Foundation. Or consider purchasing a gift or holiday tree from the Festival of Trees (benefiting Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital), celebrating its 50th anniversary this year with a virtual silent auction and holiday shopping, and a live broadcast of the tour of the trees on display inside the Vivant Arena on December 4.

Donating time, service and money during the holidays is undoubtedly admirable, but remember that the needs of these communities must be met all year long. And if you are planning a charitable drive, first contact the organization you are hoping to support before you get started. This way you’ll actually get them the items they need most, and they can prepare in advance for the influx of your generosity with appropriate staff to assist in distribution to those who need it most. 

Getting Around

Pay street parking is in effect downtown Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ($2 per hour for a max of two hours); on Saturdays your first two hours are free; and on Sundays, parking is free all day. You can also take public transportation into downtown via UTA'S Frontrunner, TRAX or bus system. Once downtown, TRAX and buses are free within the Free Fare Zone. (Masks and social distancing are mandatory on all UTA buses, trains and TRAX.) As of the end of November, all GREENBike bike share stations remain in service, providing a fun way to get around, especially if you plan to tour downtown’s public art. Downtown parking pro tip: the first two hours of parking at City Creek Center are free!

There is no denying that 2020 is dealing us an unusual holiday season. So, instead of focusing on what we can’t do, choose this year to bundle up, put on a mask and embrace the many ways of celebrating the holidays in downtown Salt Lake City.