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Because the population of Utah is overwhelmingly Mormon, the church has a strong influence on the state’s cultural life and traditions. The church is divided into “stakes” consisting of 6 to 10 local congregations, or “wards,” of about 500 members each. Each stake has a “tabernacle,” or stake centre, with one or more chapels and recreational and cultural facilities. Each ward, or occasionally two or three wards together, owns a chapel with a centre for collective worship, classrooms, a basketball court, and a dance hall. Mormon culture emphasizes closely knit family life, widespread interest in family genealogy, prohibitions against consumption of alcoholic beverages and use of tobacco, a relatively small amount of nightlife, and participation in sports and personal-development programs.
The arts
The Utah Arts Council, founded in 1899, is the oldest state arts agency in the country. Its purpose is to promote all branches of the fine arts. It sponsors an annual arts conference and allocates funds advanced to the state by federal agencies.
The most famous buildings in Utah are the many-spired Mormon Temple and the turtleback Mormon Tabernacle, both in Salt Lake City. The latter was built in the 1860s. It holds up to 8,000 people and has rare acoustical qualities that enrich the sounds of its world-famous organ, with some 11,600 pipes. There are also notable Mormon temples in St. George, Manti, Provo, South Jordan, Ogden, and Logan.
Among the performing arts, music is emphasized. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, which performed for the first time in 1847, now consists of about 325 members with trained but nonprofessional voices; it presents concerts and national weekly radio and television broadcasts. The Utah Symphony Orchestra, the Utah Opera Company, and the Oratorio Society of Utah are other major ensembles located in the capital. The major universities have symphonies and choral groups performing in winter, as well as summer festivals and concerts. In popular music, the Osmonds, a family of singing siblings from Provo, first gained fame in the 1960s and ’70s and continued to perform in various groupings (the Osmond Brothers, Donny and Marie) and as soloists into the 21st century.
Dance companies in Utah include Ballet West, which features classical ballet, and the Repertory Dance Theatre, which features modern dance; both are based in Salt Lake City. The University of Utah Children’s Dance Theatre and the Brigham Young University folk-dance troupes are well known.
Utah gained an early start in drama with the opening of the Salt Lake Theater in 1862. A replica has been constructed on the University of Utah campus, and performances are held there regularly. The Mormon church emphasizes folk drama in its youth organization; more than 2,000 wards produce at least one play a year, many of them written locally. These culminate biennially in a large drama festival in Salt Lake City. The annual Utah Shakespearean Festival is held in Cedar City.
Having already produced nationally known writers such as Pulitzer Prize winner Wallace Stegner, Bernard De Voto, and Fawn McKay Brodie, Utah emerged in the 1980s as a centre of Western American literature (a journal with that title is published by Utah State University). At that time, naturalist writer Terry Tempest Williams, literary critic and nature writer Thomas J. Lyon, and natural history writer Stephen Trimble began to publish extensively.
Cultural institutions
The Utah State Historical Society has a collection of manuscripts, publications, and photographs and publishes the Utah Historical Quarterly, monographs, and full-volume diaries. The International Society–Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, with branches throughout the United States and in Canada, maintains a museum and monuments, preserves old landmarks, marks historical sites, keeps a library of historical matter, and collects data and relics to document the lives of the Utah pioneers. The Western Historical Quarterly, the official publication of the Western History Association, is published by Utah State University.
Old Deseret Village, in This Is the Place Heritage Park in Salt Lake City, is a reconstructed Old West town containing original buildings and furnishings. Almost every town has a small museum or historical building that similarly dates to the mid-1800s. Every county holds a fair in the autumn, highlighted by displays and competitions, concessions, and often a rodeo.
Founded in Park City in 1981 by actor, director, and prominent Utah resident Robert Redford and others, the Sundance Institute supports the development of independent motion picture projects and filmmakers, as well as (since 1984) theatrical projects and playwrights. Held annually in January in and around Park City, the Sundance Film Festival is widely considered the most important American showcase for independently produced motion pictures. As a result, during the festival, celebrities from all over the world can be seen on the crowded sidewalks of Park City.