Karen Horne was thrilled and honored to learn that the Ballet West Guild has selected her to receive the 2024 ARTS LEGEND AWARD. She will join Ballet West luminaries, Peter Christie and Jane Wood, as one of this year’s three honorees.
It’s been Karen Horne’s privilege to work with Ballet West and the BW Academy over the years to celebrate their fabulous dancers through her artwork. She has also appreciated the opportunity to work with dancers from the U of U Ballet. From a different vantage point, she has developed a series celebrating Salt Lake City’s beloved theatres, where she expresses the anticipation that patrons experience going to performances. Karen thanks the Guild Leadership Committee for this generous appreciation of her artistic efforts especially those which celebrate synergy between the arts. And a big thank you to all collectors and fans who have supported these ballet and SLC series over the years!
Various relevant projects over the years include these:
- In 2013, Karen created a painting for auction at Ballet West’s 50th Gala at the Grand America. The painting “A Night Out At the Ballet” depicts patrons rushing towards SLC’s beloved Capitol Theatre marquee before a ballet West performance. (Karen Horne’s SLC series, which include many local theatres, was honored with the 2013 Mayor’s Visual Artist Award for contribution to the community).
- Other projects have included the privilege of working backstage over the years with Ballet West Academy dancers during rehearsals. Special thanks go to fellow awardee Peter Christie, who facilitated Karen’s work with the Academy. Peter Merz also assisted. As a thank you, Karen has made donations of portions of sales to benefit the Academy.
- In 2015, Karen was thrilled to be commissioned by Ballet West to create artwork for the Commemorative Playbill Cover for the 60th Anniversary of the Nutcracker. The Snow Queen artwork was modeled by the inimitable principal dancer, Emily Adams.
- In 2019, Ballet West invited Karen and two other visual artists to exhibit ballet-themed paintings and photos at the Rose Wagner Theatre during its Choreographic Festival.
Karen’s appreciation of ballet goes back to her childhood, when she studied ballet steadily for 8 years, several under the teacher, Rocky Spoelstra. Apparently Rocky danced with the early Ballet West company, including in character roles.
More background on the award from the Ballet West Guild’s website:
“About the Arts Legend Awards
Ballet West Guild’s Arts Legend Awards were established through a grass-roots level desire to recognize individuals from our local Ballet and greater Utah Arts community who have played a particularly active, lengthy, and dedicated role as an artist, producer, administrator, patron or advocate for the Arts.”
Below, see examples from Karen Horne’s Capitol Theater series, collaborations with Ballet West, the BW Academy, and the U of U Ballet, including artwork from the Art of Dance® ballet series.
