Salt Lake City, Utah (Sept. 21, 2023) – On Sept. 20, 2023, Gov. Spencer Cox and First Lady Abby Cox honored Utah artists at the Governor’s Mansion Artist Awards event.
Continuing a great Utah tradition of honoring and supporting artists, the Coxes presented awards to two artists who have brought beauty that can be both seen and felt.
Ben Steele:
Originally from Washington state, Mr. Steele moved to Washington County as a teenager. In St. George, he quickly developed a deep passion for playing golf and hiking in the state’s beloved red rock landscape..
Steele received a Painting and Drawing degree from the University of Utah in 2002, but it was his additional training at the Helper Art Workshops that cemented his resolve to pursue art full-time. Rather than teaching a solely academic approach to art, the Helper Workshops also offered the practical training needed to succeed as an artist;he learned how to build a canvas, then frame and crate the finished artwork. The most formative influence, he says, may have been from the City of Helper itself: a low-distraction, affordable home that offered the time and focus needed to hone his craft. Helper is still home to Ben, his wife Melanie, and their three sons. They love the community’s pride in their rich railroad and mining histories and how the locals trade stories about growing up attending each other’s churches. They describe it as a place where everybody feels at home.
Steele’s work is clever, often humorous, and technically rigorous. His artworks usually make a reference to art history, pop culture, even Utah iconography, like the Salt Flats, local barn yards, or Brigham Young. He explains he is the most inspired when his classical training reflects contemporary and conceptual ideas, creating relationships between the familiar and unfamiliar. His unique artistic style is contributing to Utah’s visual art landscape.
Yu-Jane Yang:
Dr. Yu-Jane Yang is the Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor, Endowed Scholar of the Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities, and the Director of Keyboard Studies at Weber State University. She has received many recognitions and awards throughout her distinguished career. In 2020, Dr. Yang was selected as the sole Teacher of The Year by the Music Teachers National Association. This was the first time the prestigious award was offered to a teacher from Utah. She was recognized for her passion for teaching, dedication to student success, and contributions to the advancement of music in her community. “One of the biggest surprises of [her] life,” she remembers, was to see herself “on a huge interstate billboard” that Weber State proudly put up, congratulating her on the award. She has also been given the Steinway Top Teacher Award in 2022, was inducted to the Steinway Teacher Hall of Fame in 2021, and bestowed the Utah Music Teachers Association (UMTA) Legacy Award in 2010.
In addition to teaching at Weber State University, Dr. Yang is a presenter, performer, and master class teacher. She has traveled all over the world in these capacities. Most recently, she and her husband Dr. Shi-Hwa Wang were the featured Formosan Violin-Piano Duo at the 2023 Music Teachers National Association Conference. Dr. Yang also appears frequently as an adjudicator for piano competitions nationally and internationally.
Dr. Yang’s piano students have gone on to receive top prizes in state, national, and international piano competitions, and have received piano scholarships for graduate studies from world-renowned music schools. To commemorate her Teacher of The Year award, Dr. Yang received countless heartfelt tributes from past and present students of the many ways she – and her approach to music – changed their lives for the better.
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