UtahPresents

We are thrilled to announce the 2026-27 David P. Gardner Lecture in Humanities and Fine Arts will feature Cannupa Hanska Luger. Cannupa Hanska Luger (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Lakota) is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist and cultural innovator whose expansive creative and philosophical practice introduces new methodologies, ideas, and speculative technologies that reflect Indigenous innovation and shift collective thinking. Born on the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota, he is an enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold.

“Cannupa Hanska Luger marries craft and modern identity for powerful, multilayered works.” - Architectural Digest

Through large-scale installation, sculpture, performance, time-based media, and community engagement, Luger activates cultural continuity, ecological repair, and collective care. His bold visual storytelling builds frameworks for reimagining systems, grounding artistic practice in Indigenous worldviews, critical inquiry, and material experimentation.

The lecture, at Kingsbury Hall on March 25, 2027, is free but tickets are required. Reserve your ticket on August 1!


Headshot by Gabriel Fermin

Artwork examples
Slide 2: Sovereign, 2024. Ceramic, steel, glass, fiber, paper, detritus, three-channel video projection, sound installation. Courtesy of the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York. Photo_ Jeff McLane

Slide 3: Midiigaadi. Light Bison. Cannupa Hanska Luger. photo by Brandon Soder, 2023

Slide 4: Desert X 2025 installation view of Cannupa Hanska Luger, G.H.O.S.T. Ride (Generative Habitation Operating System Technology), photo by Lance Ge**er, courtesy Desert X

Today our staff went on an outing to the Natural History Museum of Utah. If you haven't taken the guided tour there, highly recommend! Though many of us had been at the museum before, we learned so many new things! Thank you to our friends at for a wonderful afternoon!

Behind the scenes as we work on a new video project - filming today with Executive Director Chloe Jones and the amazing team from

Experience the electrifying power and artistry of Kodo, Japan's internationally acclaimed taiko ensemble. In Luminance, Kodo brings together signature works refined through decades of performances around the world with exciting new compositions created by members of the ensemble and guest artists from a variety of musical traditions.

Radiating energy, joy, and connection, this unforgettable show invites audiences of all ages to experience the spirit of Kodo and carry its inspiration long after the final beat.

Tickets available now with our Family Sunday subscription package: https://loom.ly/HotNla4 Single tickets on sale August 1!

Fresh off the success of their Drama Desk nomination, Cirque Mechanics returns with Tilt!, a dazzling new spectacle inspired by the sights, sounds, and thrills of America’s iconic 1980s amusement parks.

Tilt! blends breathtaking acrobatics, inventive mechanical staging, aerial artistry, dance, and live storytelling into an unforgettable theatrical experience. Following critically acclaimed runs in New York City and beyond, the production arrives at UtahPresents for one special performance as part of the Family Sunday Series.

Tickets are available now in the Family Sunday package: https://loom.ly/HotNla4 Single tickets on sale August 1!

Meet Sugar Skull, a charismatic skeleton with a secret or two. With her skeletal new friend, Vita dances with ancient ancestors, sings with a sorrowful sorceress, escapes the trickster Chaneques, and even meets the famous Catrina Calavera. But can this clever youth gather the missing pieces needed for her family ofrenda before it’s too late?

Following a successful premiere at Kingsbury Hall in 2022, UtahPresents is thrilled to welcome back SUGAR SKULL! A Día de Mu***os Musical Adventure for our new Family Sunday Series.

Tickets available now in the Family Sunday subscription package: https://loom.ly/HotNla4 Single tickets on sale August 1.