Music has a central role in Utah's cultural life. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has won world renown, and Ballet West is ranked among the nation's leading dance companies. The Utah Symphony (Salt Lake City) has also gained a national reputation. Opera buffs enjoy the Utah Opera Company, founded in 1976.
The Utah Arts Council sponsors exhibitions, artists in the schools, rural arts and folk arts programs, and statewide arts competitions in cooperation with arts organizations throughout the state. In addition, the partially state-funded Utah Arts Festival is held each year in Salt Lake City. In 2003, Kenneth Brewer was named Utah's poet laureate. His books include The Place In Between (1998), Lake's Edge (1997), and Hoping for All, Dreading Nothing (1994).
Utah has about 25 art museums and galleries, including Utah State University's Nora Eccles Harrison Museum in Logan and the LDS Church Museum of Art and History in Salt Lake City. Other major facilities are the Brigham Young University Art Museum Collection, Provo; the Museum of Fine Arts of the University of Utah, Salt Lake City; and the Springville Art Museum.
Living Traditions: A Celebration of Salt Lake's Folk and Ethnic Arts is an annual festival that takes place on the weekend before Memorial Day. The three-day event attracts over 35,000 people and offers continuous music and dance on two stages, as well as crafts demonstrations and sales. The Sundance Institute, founded by Robert Redford in 1981, presents the annual Sundance Film Festival, which is widely regarded as one of the nation's most influential gatherings for independent filmmakers.
In 2003, the Utah Arts Council and other Utah arts organizations received grants totaling $1,020,500 from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Utah Humanities Council was established in 1975 and promotes several literacy and history-related programs and exhibits. In 2000, the National Endowment for the Humanities contributed $867,310 for 10 state programs. In addition, the state and private sources provide substantial contributions to the arts. Utah has over 450 arts associations and 60 local arts groups.