(bright music) - [Announcer] "Art Elevated: The Governor's Mansion Artist Awards" is made possible in part by Zions Bank, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Foundation, the Larry H. and Gail Miller Family Foundation, Thomas A. and Lucille B. Horne Foundation, and by the contributions to PBS Utah from viewers like you.

Thank you.

(gently uplifting music) - Art speaks to us in a language that everyone understands.

It's a connecting point.

The Artist Series Awards are a way for us to honor artists in the State that are doing amazing things, but also it's a way to raise funds to beautify the mansion.

(gently uplifting music continuing) It's a way for us to do both, and celebrate artists and have an incredible moment here together at the mansion.

(applause) The inspiration for the awards started with Governor Blood during the Great Depression.

His daughter wanted a piano for the mansion, but the governor didn't want to spend taxpayer dollars.

Instead, he held an event, a fundraiser, if you will, and invited artists to perform.

The evening was a success, and the piano is still here today.

The event has continued with the assistance of the Governor's Mansion Foundation.

They secure funding for the upkeep and beautification of this wonderful public building.

But the event is also a time to celebrate exceptional artists.

To ensure a broad representation of Utah's art, the award nominees are selected by a diverse committee of art collectors and artists from around the State, and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to select the winners.

(gently uplifting music) The Governor's Mansion Artist Awards salute Elsie Holiday, Diane Stewart, and Ta'u Pupu'a.

Ta'u Pupu'a has quite the life story.

He's gone from being a defensive end in the NFL to performing worldwide as a tenor on the opera stage, attributing his love of music to his family and his Tongan roots.

- I am the youngest of nine, and from the Kingdom of Tonga.

When we moved to America, my dad wanted one of his kids to be a minister, wanted one of his children to be in the army, wanted one of his children to be a teacher.

I don't think my dad ever thought of football or a musician.

I find that music brings out the best in me, and I'm pretty sure it brings out the best in everyone.

When people are getting ready before a game, a lot of my football teammates, they would listen to rock and roll or rap or whatever, while I was listening to Luciano Pavarotti.

(Luciano Pavarotti recording playing in background) I loved playing football, and I loved the physical part of it.

I loved the tackling, I loved the hitting.

Get a lot of energy.

(crowd cheering) (rousing classical music) With football, I was able to get a full scholarship, and played at Weber State University, where I got drafted to the Browns by Bill Belichick.

Once I made it to the NFL, I have never seen so much money in my life.

It was one of that blessing that I was able to help out my family.

I tasted the sweetness of success.

(hospital machine beeping) When I got injured, I left the sport and moved back to Utah and didn't know what to do with my life, because I'd been playing football ever since I was nine.

One day I was at church, and people turned around and said, "Oh my gosh, you got a voice on you.

You should do something with it."

And so I decided to be a opera singer.

But how does one become an opera singer?

How does one become an opera singer after you've been running around hitting quarterbacks and going, (grunting), right?

How does one become an opera singer?

So I said, "I'm gonna move to New York, 'cause that's where opera is."

So you gotta dream big, work hard and believe.

Manifest it out loud.

Dreams do come true.

My big break came when a famous opera singer by the name of Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, she came here to the Metropolitan Opera to do a book-signing.

And she heard me.

She took me straight into Julliard, where I sang for the boss of the Voice Department.

When I finished singing, they agreed that I should audition to their top program, to their opera program.

I am the first full-blooded Polynesian to graduate from Julliard.

(Ta'u singing "Bacchus") To be a singer, you have to be an athlete, you know.

You have to train those muscles.

And if you don't train those muscle being a singer, you start to lose it, and it takes a while to come back.

(Ta'u singing "Nessun Dorma") Because of football, when that moment of doubt enters my mind while I'm singing, you know, it's like, "Oh, you're not gonna make it," you know, "You're not gonna make it."

But because of being competitive, in that competitive world, that I literally sit there and go, "Well, if I'm not gonna make it," it's like jumping offside.

If you're not gonna make it, well, you're gonna make it in full speed with full voice.

(Ta'u singing "Nessun Dorma") (audience cheering and applauding) Because I've been traveling around the world singing, I've noticed that music is universal.

It's a universal language.

It doesn't matter what language one sings in, but if their heart and soul is behind their singing, one could feel the message of that song.

(congregation singing in Tongan) When I go to my brother's church and the choir starts to sing, it literally invites the Holy Spirit into my soul.

I could feel the love, the joy.

It just brings me home.

(Choir singing in Tongan) (Ta'u singing softly in Tongan) I make it a point that right when I arrive in Salt Lake City, that I either drive to the cemetery, or the next day, to visit my parents and tell 'em the reason why I'm here.

(singing softly in Tongan) So I was awarded with this Governor's Mansion Artist Award.

I wish that you guys were still alive to enjoy and reap from all the greatness that's going on in my life, that's happening in my life.

(Ta'u singing softly in Tongan) The purpose for us to move from the Kingdom of Tonga to America is to strive to be our best.

Live your best life and inspire others.

Love you, Mom and Dad.

(gently uplifting music) - Diane Stewart is a power in Utah's art world.

Although not an artist herself, anyone connected to Utah's art scene knows who she is.

She owns Modern West Fine Arts, a gallery that promotes work from diverse local artists, and she's an advocate for equity in art foundations.

At her core, Diane is an activist who pushes for greater community dialogue and inclusion.

Because of this legacy, she's being honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

- When you're doing your work, you just are doing your work.

You know, you kinda do what's important to you.

And so when somebody stops and says, "Wait a minute.

We're gonna honor you for doing that," You go, "Oh, you are?"

(laughing) because I'm just doing what I feel passionate about.

(gentle piano music) There is no, honestly, no better way to bridge a message with people than through art.

(gentle piano music continuing) I love that you can use art has a very non-threatening way to expose people to new ideas and to think about things differently.

Art for me has always been a catalyst for change also.

So many artists use their art to really project an idea, a concept, something that's important to them, and you come to it slowly, and it evolves, and it reveals itself to you, and the threatening nature of change goes away.

It's really artists who jump into political issues, or controversies of any kind, and help us understand them better and confront our fears and our lack of knowledge about issues.

So they're really doing a service that I don't think we can completely always appreciate, because it's around this kind of art that the dialogue begins to happen, and then progress is made.

I always had an appreciation for art.

I studied design.

And so design and aesthetic was an important, always, kind of part of my life.

Once we started collecting art and we really focused on that, then I began to build relationships with artists.

And it was that relationship-building which led to the gallery, and then wanting to integrate art into the community-building that I was also doing.

It was a very natural extension when I opened the gallery to want my community to be a part of it.

So we have opened it up to lots of nonprofits, and we've had a lot of events here.

It's really about the conversation, and having people feel welcome here, and this be a gathering place.

(lively piano music) This is our title wall for "Earth", and we have featured on it the work of Pis van Nuland.

This is a linocut, and one of the things that I think is most interesting about this work is the scale.

And it's also done on canvas.

It's compelling, because there's such movement in the piece.

First of all, you see this swarm of something, and you're drawn closer to it.

And then you begin to see the eclipse.

It kind of all comes together, this, really, moment of earth, and the things that we need to value and protect.

You're presented with something visual.

The impact is visceral.

It's fast.

The connection, it happens usually immediately.

I mean, the beauty of a painting, or of a sculpture, or of an installation is always obvious.

But when you dig in and get to know the narrative and what artists are trying to say, the meaning then comes into play.

Emerging and younger artists, they really have a lot to say, and they're presenting their art in new and different ways.

A new young artist that we've taken on, one of the first pieces she did was entitled.

"Would you swim in a segregated pool?"

Now, this is topical, this is relevant.

This is something we want our collectors to deal with.

And so, you know, the piece is beautiful, but the topic is powerful.

We are not playing to the whole audience in Salt Lake and Utah, and we need to open our eyes to so much more talent out there and voices out there that we haven't included.

I wanna level the playing field, and I want everybody to have a place at the table.

You can use your privilege to do all the wonderful things that privilege provides, but you also have a responsibility to use that privilege to protect people and to be a voice for people, and to correct things that you see are wrong.

You think globally and you act locally.

And so that's what I wanted to see happen here.

Even when I experience the art in other big cities and see the best of the best, I always come home gratified at what Utah artists are doing.

We have really great artists.

(gentle music) (birds singing) - Elsie Holiday is a master basket weaver, renowned for her technical precision and creative designs, which embody everything, from traditional Navajo patterns, to pop art.

Her work is displayed in the Natural History Museum of Utah and the Twin Rocks Trading Post.

She's also dedicated to ensuring this traditional art form is passed down to her children and grandchildren.

(gentle guitar music) - Every string, I had to poke a hole and poke my lace through it.

So that's why it takes me two rounds for one day.

(gentle guitar music continuing) You have to be patient to weave basket, 'cause I sit all day just doing this.

And I have to wet my basket too.

(water trickling) It's easy for me to put this kind of design together.

It's just in my mind.

I can see it, like seeing a picture, and I already know where the laces go.

(chuckling) Traditional basket is really important in Navajo culture.

My mother-in-law, she is the one that taught me.

She saw a really nice circle spiderweb, and she said, she blessed it, put corn pellet on it, and she put it on my hand, so my weaving will be as good as that.

(gentle guitar music continuing) I married into the Holidays.

Peter Holiday was my husband, and his whole family, Mary Black, Sally Black, they were basket weavers.

I watched them weave, and I wanted to try it.

So I tried it, and that's where it all started.

That was when I was 19 years old.

But I love doing it.

I like doing difficult design.

Easy design, I get bored on it.

(chuckling) When I finish a basket and stand back and look at it, I'm so amazed.

"I did that.

I can't believe I did that."

That's how I think.

(chuckling) - Elsie Holiday is truly extraordinary.

And to define her movement I think is extremely difficult, because she's wildly versatile, hugely creative, and she can do almost anything she sets her mind to.

- Well, I always want to try something different.

- Okay, let's just look.

I think she's a mathematical genius, and I think she has a spatial sense like almost nobody else.

- That's nice, yep.

That is nice.

- When you look at her basketry and you see the creativity and the symmetry and the balance, there's nobody else who can do that.

- That is cool colors.

- Yeah.

What we worked really hard to do here is break down the stereotypes and just allow people to create.

We were able to develop strong relationships with the artists that set them free, and that resulted in really amazing art.

- Okay, Steve.

I'll start this tomorrow.

Probably be finished in two weeks.

You'll see the basket.

- [Steve] There aren't very many young weavers taking it up.

In fact, very few.

Is it dying?

I don't know.

I hope not.

We'll be optimistic.

(gentle music) - Me and my little sister and brothers, we were young, we use to swim in this river a lot.

This one, they call it Navajo Willow Cement, the one around here.

So I use three rods like this.

I usually start it from the end.

So 20 rods, if you split it, 60 lace comes out of it.

So if you get a hundred rods, you get 300 laces, enough to make a small basket.

Let's start from there and then walk toward this way to the back.

- Yeah.

I don't know if I would be who I am today if I didn't have my Mom.

I would sit next to her, beside her, and I would just watch her weave and ask her questions.

So when I got a little older, like 14, where I could handle a sharp needle and a knife, so where I couldn't hurt myself, I asked her, "Can you start a basket for me?"

- She was the only one that was interested in my work.

So she told me, "I want to learn it."

I just told her, "Watch me do it.

You'll learn it."

- And my Mom will always be by my side.

"You're doing really good.

You're doing really good.

Pretty soon you'll be as good as I am, or maybe even better," she would say.

- Don't slip.

- To be following her, in her footstep, I hope, and to be weaving as great as she is, I think to myself that I can't do it.

And then she's always there by me, pushing me, "You can do it.

You can do it."

(gentle guitar music continuing) - This is how I lost my teeth too.

(laughing) Doing this for 30 years, pulling on this.

(laughing) As long as I can, I'll probably keep weaving.

Till I can't see, or my hand can't.

Yeah, I love weaving.

I like doing it.

(gently uplifting guitar music) - I'm very pleased and excited to be able to introduce you my new friend, Elsie Stone Holiday.

She grew up weaving rugs as part of her family tradition, before marrying into the the famed Holiday family on the Douglas Mesa Reservation.

This area is the center of the Navajo basketry revolution.

Please join us in honoring this night our dear friend, Elsie.

(audience applauding) - I don't know if you guys can see me.

(laughing) (audience laughing) First, I'd like to say thank you.

And I am so honored to see receive this award.

I heard from some of you.

You have some of my baskets, so that is something really special to my heart.

I put a lotta thoughts and love into my basket work.

I'm so honored to be getting this award.

I thought I would never do this.

So thank you.

(audience applauding) (lively music) - I don't think there's any way that we talk about art in Utah without talking about Diane Stewart.

We did want to give an award to someone who we feel has been a part of the art community and really celebrating art, especially through her championing of our multicultural communities.

So without further ado, we would like to have Diane Stewart come up and get her award.

Thank you.

(applause) - It's been my particular mission, when I opened Modern West, to really expand our audiences and to make sure that we represented a diverse body of artists.

So I hope that everyone will continue to support the arts in Utah, will continue to see what it brings to all of our lives.

And thank you very much.

(applause) - Ta'u Pupu'a was born in Tonga, and he was the youngest of nine children.

Ta'u first heard opera music coming from his brother's bedroom, and he discovered his passion for singing.

He's had an amazing career as a musician, and we are so excited and honored, and feel so blessed to have him here today, and that every one of us gets to not only see Elsie's baskets, but we get to hear the amazing voice of Ta'u.

(applause) - Tonight is a special night, and I am grateful beyond measure.

Staying positive and clearing your thoughts of self-doubt was instilled in me since I was nine years old by my football coaches.

I carried this way of thinking into the ensuing different chapters of my life.

If our thoughts live in success, love, help, hope and faith, then those thoughts will manifest themselves into reality, into a greater way of living.

I am proud and honored to call Utah home.

Thank you.

(applause) (rousing piano music) (audience laughing) (singing "La Donna e Mobile") (audience cheering and applauding) - [Announcer } "Art Elevated: The Governor's Mansion Artist Awards" is made possible in part by Zions Bank, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Foundation, the Larry H. and Gail Miller Family Foundation, Thomas A. and Lucille B. Horne Foundation, and by the contributions to PBS Utah from viewers like you.

Thank you.