Washington, DC—Jane Chu, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, will visit Salt Lake City, Utah, October 9, 2015. Chairman Chu will be in town to speak with state arts agency directors at the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies Leadership Institute. As part of her trip she will visit two organizations which have received National Endowment for the Arts support: Utah Museum of Contemporary Art and Spy Hop. These two site visits are open to media. Contact Liz Auclair at auclaire@arts.gov or 202-682-5744 to attend these site visits or request a short interview with Chairman Chu while she is in town. Follow @NEAJaneChu on Twitter for updates and photos on her trip to Salt Lake City. At the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Chairman Chu will tour the exhibition Grandma’s Cupboard: Kate Ericson & Mel Ziegler, And Mel Ziegler, which the NEA supported. In addition, Chairman Chu will tour the museum’s artist in residence program space and learn more about their education programs. Next, Chairman Chu will visit Spy Hop. In FY15, the NEA supported Spy Hop’s Sending Messages, a radio documentary workshop for students in secure care corrections facilities or juvenile detention programs.  Chairman Chu will meet with a student who took part in Sending Messages about his experience with this and other Spy Hop programs. Afterwards, Chairman Chu will tour Spy Hop and observe Open Mic, where local Salt Lake youth are invited to use Spy Hop’s studio to collaborate and record their original music for free. As part of the National Endowment for the Arts’ 50^th anniversary, the NEA is creating a story bank of multimedia content that showcases the impact of the arts. To date, hundreds of people from across the country have submitted stories about how the arts and the National Endowment for the Arts have impacted their lives. See the stories from Utah here. The following events are closed to the public but open to media. Media should contact Liz Auclair at auclaire@arts.gov if they would like to attend or request an interview with Chairman Chu. Friday, October 9, 2015 1:30–2:30pm   Site visit to Utah Museum of Contemporary Art Location:          20 West Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84101 Participants:     Jane Chu, chairman, National Endowment for the Arts

Kristian Anderson, executive director, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art

Val Antczak, trustee president, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art

Rebecca Maksym, curator, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art

Elly Baldwin, educator, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art

Paul Crow, artist in residence, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art

Julie Fisher, executive director, Utah Department of Heritage and Arts 

Kirsten Darrington, assistant director, Utah Division of Arts & Museums

3:00–4:15pm   Site visit to Spy Hop Location:          511 200 S #100, Salt Lake City, UT 84101 Participants:     Jane Chu, chairman, National Endowment for the Arts

Kasandra VerBrugghen, executive director, Spy Hop

Adam Sherlock, community programs manager/Sending Messages mentor, Spy Hop

Matt Mateus, program director, Spy Hop

Gabby Huggins, Sending Messages mentor, Spy Hop

Rowan Stigner, Open Mic mentor, Spy Hop

Spy Hop students

About the National Endowment for the Arts Established by Congress in 1965, the NEA is the independent federal agency whose funding and support gives Americans the opportunity to participate in the arts, exercise their imaginations, and develop their creative capacities. Through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector, the NEA supports arts learning, affirms and celebrates America’s rich and diverse cultural heritage, and extends its work to promote equal access to the arts in every community across America.

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