Salt Lake City is home to a wide range of visual art spaces, including nonprofit galleries, community studios and small local exhibition spaces. Throughout the city, galleries such as Urban Arts Gallery, Fice Gallery and Red Kiln Clay Studio regularly display work from local and regional artists, many of them offering free admission and public events.
These spaces provide students and community members with access to art without an entry fee and create opportunities for local artists to show their work. For students, visiting these galleries offers a low-cost way to engage with Salt Lake City’s arts scene and learn more about the artists working in the area.
A downtown gallery centered on local artists
One of the most accessible spots in the city is Urban Arts Gallery, a downtown space that focuses entirely on local artists. Nestled into the heart of The Gateway, the gallery currently features work from local artists, with monthly shows that rotate themes and bring in new artwork regularly.
“We have 142 different artists in here right now, and everyone is local to Utah,” said Brenna Woffinden, operations manager at Urban Arts Gallery. “When you come here, you’re directly supporting local artists.”
Woffinden said many of the artists shown at Urban Arts don’t work full time in the arts, which makes the gallery an important platform. “This isn’t their full-time career, it’s a passion,” she said. “Having the opportunity to show their work gives them a platform they wouldn’t have otherwise.”
Beyond supporting artists, Woffinden said this gallery can also offer a break from everyday stress. “The world is very bleak right now,” she said. “Being able to come and enjoy even the smallest form of art and beauty is really important.”
A rotating gallery space focused on community
Fice Gallery combines art, retail and community in a way that feels student friendly. The gallery rotates shows about every two weeks and features a mix of local, national and international artists, all while keeping events and entry free.
“Our sales at the boutique allow us to keep the gallery open and keep our events free for the public,” said Grace Lund, gallery director at Fice.
Lund said accessibility is at the core of what Fice does. “Our mission and the most important thing to us is being a community space,” she said. “It’s really important that people can come in and view really incredible art without any entrance fees.”
Access to local ceramic and functional art
For students who are more interested in functional art, Red Kiln Clay Studio and Gallery offers a different kind of experience. The studio has been part of Salt Lake’s art scene for more than 30 years and focuses entirely on pottery made by Utah artists
Randi Lile, artist, studio manager and partner at Red Kiln. “We do a lot of functional pottery, but we also show art pieces,” Lile said. “We’re one of the only studios in Salt Lake that uses a gas kiln, which gives the work a really different look.”
Red Kiln’s gallery showcases work from about 15 artists at a time, featuring mugs, bowls and vases alongside sculptural pieces. The studio also uses a gas kiln with reduction firing, a process that makes their pottery stand out.
Lile’s confidence in Red Kiln selection is apparent, “We have the best pottery, hands down, and that’s all we sell here. A lot of people find us because we’re one of the only places that focuses entirely on pottery from well-known Utah artists.”
More budget-friendly stops to add to your crawl
Students looking to expand their art crawl can also check out Finch Lane Gallery, run by the Salt Lake City Arts Council, which regularly features free exhibitions from local artists. The Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) on the University of Utah campus features a mix of global and regional art, with rotating exhibitions that often highlight contemporary and student-relevant work. The museum offers free or discounted admission for students, making it an accessible way to experience large-scale and diverse art collections in Salt Lake City. Also, according to the UMOCA, they often host free events and discounted admission days, making contemporary art more accessible.
For students, Salt Lake’s gallery scene proves that art doesn’t have to be expensive or intimidating. Sometimes it’s just about showing up, walking around and seeing what’s on the walls.
