Community PAPEL PICADO Workshop

Salt Lake City and Artes de Mexico en Utah invite the community to help us design an installation of the traditional Mexican craft of papel picado for the West-East Connections (WEConnect) project. This will be a hands-on workshop for all ages celebrating art, identity, and connection.Join us at Sorenson Unity Center Black Box Theater (1383 S. 900 West, Salt Lake City) on Wednesday, December 17, from 5:30 – 7:30, to learn about this project, explore the cultural origins of papel picado, and create papel picado designs that reflect the story of Salt Lake City’s reconnection of the west and east sides of the city.Salt Lake City’s westside neighborhoods are physically separated from eastern parts of the city, including downtown, by Interstate 15 and several major railroad tracks. Westside residents are affected every day by parked trains, which cause delays, longer travel times, and safety concerns for all users..The WEConnect study will identify and prioritize infrastructure, policy, and program solutions to improve west-east connectivity across the divide. We want those most affected by the divide to help shape the solutions – and the City is broadening its civic engagement by working with a team of artists and art organizations like Artes de Mexico en Utah to help the community explore ways to overcome the divide.Collaborate with us to tell the stories of the community on both sides of the divide and your hopes and visions for reconnection. Learn from Artes de Mexico en Utah about the craft of papel picado, in which squares of papel (“paper”) are picado (“pecked” or “cut”) with unique and often intricate designs and hung on strings in spaces of celebration.The community’s designs will be incorporated into a papel picado installation along the 900 South 9 Line on both the west and east sides to bring attention to to the divide and opportunities for the community to help develop solutions to reconnect us.For more information on WEConnect, please see https://www.slc.gov/transportation/plans-studies/west-east-connections/ or send us an email at westeastconnections@slc.govFind out more about Artes de Mexico en Utah at artesmexut.org