Laura Hope Mason & Claire Tollstrup & Elizabeth Sanchez | Michelle Wentling

Deserts We Have Crossed — Exhibitions open Jun 8 through Jul 17, 2026

• Fri, Jun 19, 6–9pm: Opening Reception & Salt Lake Gallery Stroll
• Fri, Jul 17, 6–9pm: Salt Lake Gallery Stroll

Deserts We Have Crossed explores the literal, figurative, spiritual, and metaphysical aspects of the desert. The three artists' paintings examine the desert through distinct styles and visions. Each artist has found beauty in the harsh, barren land and its symbolism. The paintings offer different visual representations of desert environments, as well as the symbolism the three artists infuse in their work as they travel through challenging personal deserts.

The artists offer differing perspectives of the desert. Mason’s suggestion of distant mirages symbolizes the desperate search for water and nourishment and the absence of other humans. Tollstrup’s plants and birds symbolize the rebirth, growth and life that can come from our deserts of loss and despair. Sanchez’s figures symbolize struggle and hope, not only in desert environments, but in her own survival of cancer. The viewer will be transported to the desert in the collective body of work. The artists invite the viewer to consider the symbolism of the desert and reflect on the personal deserts they have crossed. The collection of paintings offers the desert as a place of hope and triumph over adversity.

Artists — Biographies

Laura Hope Mason is an artist and native of Salt Lake City, Utah. She graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing from the University of Utah. Her work has been displayed at Finch Lane Gallery, Alvin Gittins Gallery, Springville Museum of Art, Ogden Contemporary Arts, Bountiful Davis Art Center, and the Salt Lake County Library system. Her work was also recently purchased by the Alice Merrill Horne Art Collection. She is currently painting minimalist Utah mountain landscapes.

Claire Tollstrup is a Salt Lake City artist who has spent her life in Utah. She has been oil painting for 20 years, showing her work in various competitions and shows including Edmonds & Beyond Plein Air Paint Out at the Cole Gallery in Edmonds, Washington; Artscape at the Arboretum at the Dallas Arboretum in Dallas, Texas; and Art At The Park at This Is The Place Heritage Park in Salt Lake City. Claire also teaches workshops and retreats with her teaching partner, Lynne Millar. They have taught in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico for the past 2 years.

Elizabeth Sanchez, a Chihuahua, Mexico native, earned her BFA in Painting from Brigham Young University. Specializing in portraiture and figurative works, her art explores themes of identity and human emotion. She has showcased her work in exhibitions including This is How the World Ends, BYU in Provo (2023); Tiny Art Show at the Museo Frida Kahlo in Mexico City (2023); and as a visiting artist at the 35th Annual Palo Alto Creche in California (2022). Her work was also featured in SELF: Explorations of Identity at the Springville Museum of Art in 2020.

Michelle Wentling — Exhibition

A material exploration of Superfund sites across the Salt Lake Valley, this body of work merges craft traditions with urban ecology. Superfund sites are areas contaminated with hazardous substances and slated for remediation by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Through site visits across the valley, the artist surveys each area and identifies materials to incorporate into handmade papers and dyes. Through processes of surveying, foraging, papermaking, dyeing, weaving, and sewing, each site is translated into a visual narrative.

By displaying the material history of the region, this work examines the boundaries and permeability between landscapes deemed hazardous, those granted scenic value, and those considered safe and healthy for our communities.

Michelle Wentling is a Salt Lake City–based artist whose work explores themes of craft, ecology, and labor. Working across mediums, her practice is focused on weaving, papermaking, and writing. Michelle studied English at the Ohio State University and Environmental Humanities at the University of Utah.