The departure of the Sundance Film Festival weighed heavily Friday over a panel of five Park City arts leaders at the annual Park City Leadership Symposium.
Ben Anderson, founder of Park City Song Summit, called the festival the “fair-haired child” of Park City’s arts scene that “gave us the one-fingered salute” and disowned the family. He and the other panelists contemplated how Sundance’s siblings in the Park City arts scene might fill the void left by the festival.
For Katy Wang, executive director of Park City Film, the biggest void left by the Sundance Film Festival that she hopes to fill is inspiring Park City’s youth.
“My kids, growing up here, are saying all of these stories that they got exposed to are spreading their imaginations, sparking that creativity and (making them) go, ‘I could be that,’” she said.
Jamie Wilcox, executive director of Egyptian YouTheatre, agreed.
“We cannot talk about centering the arts if we’re not talking about giving these opportunities to young people,” she said.
She added that not all children will grow up to be artists — some may even work jobs that don’t exist yet, particularly due to advances in AI — but that the skills children gain by being grounded in the arts are essential.
“Our kids are coming back and telling us, ‘It helps me with interviews. It helps me speak up for myself and others. It helps me collaborate,’” she said. “If these aren’t skills we’re teaching them and in a fun way, we’re giving them a disadvantage in their future.”
Meanwhile, Brian Richards, executive director of Mountain Town Music, thought the biggest void the festival left was the presentation of art that takes creative risks or discusses difficult subject matters, challenging perspectives and sparking conversations.
“I’m not sure that we, as an arts and cultural collective, are doing enough right now to continue to shape those future discussions,” he said.
He then brought up musical plants.
“I had a thing come across my desk. This artist was going to bring in a bunch of plants, and they were going to connect microphones to the plants, and they were going to create music,” he recalled.
But he couldn’t think of a suitable venue for the artist.
That led straight into a discussion of arts spaces, or the lack thereof, in Park City.
Jocelyn Scudder, executive director of the Arts Council of Park City and Summit County and moderator of the panel, pointed out that the need for such spaces was outlined in the Arts & Culture Master Plan created by the Arts Council, which was approved by the Park City and Summit County councils earlier this year.
Anderson said he hopes that manifests in the form of a facility similar to the Center for the Arts in Crested Butte, Colorado. The Center for the Arts was established in 1985 to revive the ski town, and in 2019, a new, 28,000-square-foot building was opened, costing about $20 million.
“They do food and wine festival outdoors. They do a summer concert music series outdoors. Indoors, they do art, music, drama. They have culture. There’s 1,600 people in Crested Butte. What are we doing?” Anderson asked. “We are so far behind. We are so lacking.”
Richards agreed. He asked whether anyone regularly saw live music on Main Street. A few raised their hands.
He then asked where people see live music most. People shouted out venues like The Marquis and The Spur. Richards pointed out that those were venues for patrons 21 and older and emphasized the need for spaces for youth musicians.
Jamie Wilcox, artistic director of Egyptian YouTheatre, listens to Lacey Cole-Rae, development director of Kimball Arts Center, speak during the Park City Leadership Symposium. Credit: Tanzi Propst/Park City Municipal 
Katy Wang, executive director of Park City film, discussed the need for Park City to rely not only on skiing to bolster its tourism industry during the Park City Leadership Symposium. Credit: Tanzi Propst/Park City Municipal 
Jamie Wilcox, artistic director of Egyptian YouTheatre, emphasized the need for youth arts programming during the Park City Leadership Symposium. Credit: Tanzi Propst/Park City Municipal
He added that Park City live music is “beholden” to the whims of ski resorts during the winter, which tend to host only DJs.
Anderson described bringing live music to Park City as “an uphill, Sisyphean battle because we don’t have the space.”
Wrapping up the panel, Scudder asked each panelist how they wanted to look back on the arts scene 10 years from now.
“In this town, we always joke that you could throw a stick and hit an Olympian. I would love to be able to throw a stick and hit an artist,” Wang said.
All agreed that they wanted further investment in the arts scene, diversifying Park City’s portfolio so the tourism industry can survive even during warm winters.
But for that investment to happen, words have to turn into actions.
“I have been in so many of these meetings, going back to sitting up at the loft of the costume area at the Egyptian Theatre with Randy Barton, trying to outline how we could move forward as an arts and cultural society. All we’ve done for 15 years is talk about it. We need each and every one of you in this room to pursue action now,” Richards said.
“I don’t know how much we have talked about AI today, but we are at a critical junction, and we are going to experience a lot of pain. And there is no way around that,” he continued. “And we are going to need one another. We’re going to need artists. We’re going to need community. … When we are sitting here in 2036, we’re going to say, ‘We did it. We provided joy. We provided community gatherings. We contributed to the wellness of our community.’”