Film at SLCC’s Grand Theatre features Utah black activists

The documentary “Black Social Change in Utah: Preserving the Story” will be shown Jan. 19, 7 p.m. at Salt Lake Community College’s Grand Theatre, 1575 S. State Street, on the South City Campus in Salt Lake City. The film, which will also show Jan. 15, 6:30 p.m. at Rowland Hall, looks at how social change agents, particularly black activists living in Utah, maintain hope in the face of adversity.

Stories and histories from members of Utah’s Black community were filmed, recorded and combined into a compelling documentary format by SLCC TV and Marian Howe-Taylor, SLCC manager of Community Outreach and Strategic Initiatives.

“The film was developed because the black community is an important thread of Utah’s tapestry, but the stories of the black community in Utah are not widely known,” said Howe-Taylor. “By incorporating history, human rights, social change, and the human experience into a multi-disciplinary form, we seek to provide greater understanding of the Utah black experience.”

In addition to the documentary screening, well-known professional lyric baritone Robert Sims and pianist/composer Paul Hamilton will be visiting music classes Jan. 19 at SLCC’s South City Campus. On Jan. 20 the pair will perform at noon in the Oak Room in SLCC’s Student Center on the Taylorsville Redwood Campus. Sims made his recital debut in 2005 at Carnegie Hall and is the Gold Medal winner of the American Traditions Competition. Hamilton has performed all over the world, including Russia and Ireland.

The Grand Theatre is a 1,100-seat venue located at Salt Lake Community College’s historic South City Campus, home of the innovative, state-of-the-industry Center for Arts and Media at 1575 South State Street in Salt Lake City. The Grand was chosen by Sundance Institute to be a screening venue for an international audience during the annual Sundance Film Festival in 2015 and 2016. The theatre dates back to the 1930s when it was part of South High School, which SLCC purchased in 1989, a year after the school closed. The Grand began offering productions that year and has since, with great care and expense, retained its Depression-era charm and attraction while also incorporating the latest technology in lighting and sound. Every season the Grand is host to award-winning theatre and dance productions and concerts that attract arts enthusiasts from all along the Wasatch Front. Students and faculty in the arts at SLCC’s South City Campus now enjoy and, as a result, excel from having access to the Grand’s nostalgic look and feel and the Center for Arts and Media all in one place.