January 3, 2019

Contributor Limelight – Bianca Velasquez

In July 2018, Bianca Velasquez joined SLUG’s ranks as Editorial Assistant. She principally helps to coordinate and organize editorial coverage with a go-getter spirit. Velasquez cherishes representing community members through SLUG’s content and has a knack for storytelling in her own right. With respect to her recent favorite features, she cites those she wrote about Josie Cordova’s To Space, Comrade! video game and Tucker White’s short-story triptych, The Magic Building. This month, Velasquez has penned an interview feature with filmmaker and local Film Fatales leader Diana Whitten (pg. 18), which regards women in the film industry. Velasquez has also been a Volunteer Coordinator for our latest Brewstillery beer-and-spirits event and values SLUG events like Localized. With all of her energy and willingness, we love having Velasquez on Team SLUG!

Articles by contributor

Sassy, Sustainable and a Little Slutty: Regan Ku’ulei Reactivates Kinderwhore

Sassy, Sustainable and a Little Slutty: Regan Ku’ulei Reactivates Kinderwhore
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Ku’ulei has a healthy and delicate sense of play within both material and gender expression through their inclusive, accessible and sustainable clothing designs. … read more

Rum, Don’t Walk to ACME Bar Co.’s Tropical Paradise

Rum, Don’t Walk to ACME Bar Co.’s Tropical Paradise
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ACME Bar Co. cultivates a tropical escapist paradise in Salt Lake City through its Tiki theme and wide offering of rum-based drinks. … read more

Feline Fine: Get Your Cat-feine Fix at Tinker’s Cat Cafe

Feline Fine: Get Your Cat-feine Fix at Tinker’s Cat Cafe
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Lisa Totzke opened Tinker’s Cat Cafe in 2017 and has since facilitated 408 adoptions of vaccinated, microchipped, spayed and neutered cats. … read more

Art Access’ 300 Plates Celebrates 20 Years

Art Access’ 300 Plates Celebrates 20 Years
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This year’s 300 Plates places Art Access’ mission at the forefront, connecting the event to the important work of increasing accessibility in our community. … read more

Sweet Vinyl Bakeshop’s Booze-Infused Desserts

Sweet Vinyl Bakeshop’s Booze-Infused Desserts
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After much experimentation, Sweet Vinyl Bakeshop produces alcohol-infused cupcakes through collaborations with local brewers, distillers and kombucha makers. … read more

Moudi Hob: To Lead With Love

Moudi Hob: To Lead With Love
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True to their name, love sits at the core of each of Moudi Hob’s endeavors, as with their beloved Mediterranean restaurant, Laziz Kitchen. … read more

Salt City Grillz Boutique: Everybody Wants To Look Fly

Salt City Grillz Boutique: Everybody Wants To Look Fly
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Salt City Grillz Boutique is now the first and only custom teeth grill studio where SLC patrons can order their very own set to smile about.  … read more

Drinks, Dancing and Drag: Four New Libation Stations to Try in SLC

Drinks, Dancing and Drag: Four New Libation Stations to Try...
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For you day-drinking drifters and after-hours cocktail devourers, a whole new world of spirited opportunities awaits you. … read more

Around the World In 7 Grocery Trips

Around the World In 7 Grocery Trips
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The Salt Lake Valley is overflowing with locally owned markets that take you around the world from your very own kitchen. … read more

Clever Octopus: Creativity and Sustainability

Clever Octopus: Creativity and Sustainability
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“Craft thrift store” Clever Octopus provides affordable art supplies, classes and community for beginners and tenured artists alike. … read more

A Salt Lake City Tour-de-Seltz: 5 Local Options for Your Seltzer Summer

A Salt Lake City Tour-de-Seltz: 5 Local Options for Your...
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Against big-name seltzers, local breweries Epic, Shades, Uinta, Squatters and Grid City can provide fodder for your steamy seltzer summer. … read more

Ride or Die: The Diary of a Newly Minted Peloton Rider

Ride or Die: The Diary of a Newly Minted Peloton...
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SLUG Managing Editor Bianca Velasquez offers up her experiences as a new Peloton owner—the good, the bad and the sweaty. … read more

Slamdance Film Review: Bad Attitude: The Art of Spain Rodriguez

Slamdance Film Review: Bad Attitude: The Art of Spain Rodriguez
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Bad Attitude: The Art of Spain Rodriguez offers a well-rounded look into the evolution of Spain and how that impacted the world around him. … read more

River Jude August: Gender Actualization in Utah

River Jude August: Gender Actualization in Utah
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River Jude August serves as a leader in the effort to defend gender-expansive rights, championing social justice, growth and change. … read more

Gift Ideas from Indie Utah Businesses: Yellow Yarrow Apothecary

Gift Ideas from Indie Utah Businesses: Yellow Yarrow Apothecary
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With seasonal stress looming over us, refuge can be found in Yellow Yarrow Apothecary’s products that aid in relaxation and self-care. … read more

Gift Ideas from Indie Utah Businesses: Gloss + Shimmer

Gift Ideas from Indie Utah Businesses: Gloss + Shimmer
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As if Morgan Rhyan of Gloss + Shimmer’s work isn’t potent enough, it’s also empowered by a mission to provide accessible art to everyone. … read more

Gift Ideas from Indie Utah Businesses: Davin Abegg Design

Gift Ideas from Indie Utah Businesses: Davin Abegg Design
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When brainstorming gifts, consider giving a gift that says “I like your face” with a commissioned portrait from Davin Abegg Design. … read more

Review: The Coathangers — The Devil You Know

Review: The Coathangers — The Devil You Know
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Needless to say I am “hooked” on The Coathanger’s The Devil You Know. It got me like a Little Ceasar’s pizza—hot n’ ready for more. … read more

Antojitos: Latin American Street Foods

Antojitos: Latin American Street Foods
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Antojitos translates literally to “little cravings,” which is an appropriate way to introduce the following local businesses that left us craving more. … read more

Annelise Duque: Discovering What’s Between Heritage and Selfhood

Annelise Duque: Discovering What’s Between Heritage and Selfhood
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Annelise Duque creates and photographs scenes that lead you into memories that you thought you may have forgotten, but are now reminded of. … read more

Review: Tempers – Private Life

Review: Tempers – Private Life
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Tempers = U.S. Girls + La Femme + Cigarettes After Sex + Depeche Mode + New Order … read more

Review: Shopping – All or Nothing

Review: Shopping – All or Nothing
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All or Nothing is a 10-track burst of energy that comes and goes like a speeding car chase down an emptied water canal in a late 80s heist movie. … read more

Mcycle: Spinning You Into Control

Mcycle: Spinning You Into Control
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Indoor cycling at Mcycle, co-owned by Megan and Richmond Tyrrell, might be your fitness fix that helps you “get” Lizzo’s music. … read more

Women to the Front: The Legacy of Women’s Suffrage through Contemporary Artists

Women to the Front: The Legacy of Women’s Suffrage through...
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Women to the Front acknowledges and sheds light on the intersection of equality, gender and activism through the lens of 15 artists. … read more

Slamdance Film Review: Tahara

Slamdance Film Review: Tahara
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Speaking to the potential of toxicity in friendships that take place early in life, Olivia Peace’s Tahara encourages the safety of autonomy. … read more

Slamdance: Ask No Questions

Slamdance: Ask No Questions
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Viewers must approach Ask No Questions as a investigative documentary instead of another conspiracy-theory proposal. The film begins with the account of a CNN reporter who, with her cameraman, captures the scene of what is televised as a Falun Gong “religious public suicide” in Beijing at Tiananmen Square. … read more

Existimos Collective: Helping The QTBIPOC Community Feel Seen

Existimos Collective: Helping The QTBIPOC Community Feel Seen
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The heart of Existimos’ mission is to provide a solution to a stark lack they identified in Utah’s art community and created a space by QTBIPOC for QTBIPOC. … read more

Scriip: Making it a little easier to tell your story

Scriip: Making it a little easier to tell your story
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In January of 2018, Skye Emerson and her team started working on Scriip, an easy-to-use, affordable, accessible and modernized screenwriting resource. … read more

Mestizo Institute of Culture and the Arts: Rejuvenating What It Means To Be Mestizo

Mestizo Institute of Culture and the Arts: Rejuvenating What It...
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The Mestizo Institute of Culture and the Arts celebrates 16 years of advocating for underrepresented communities in Salt Lake City. … read more

Ann Chen: Writing History in Her Own Script

Ann Chen: Writing History in Her Own Script
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Ann Chen displays her penchant for hand-lettering, typography and graphic design on the cover of this month’s Local Design issue. … read more

South Salt Lake Arts District’s Creative Industries Zone: In the Spirit of Art and Community

South Salt Lake Arts District’s Creative Industries Zone: In the...
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Within the intention behind the Creative Industries Zone, having these brewers and distillers reside within the area accomplishes a major part of the plan. … read more

Serving SLC’s Service Industry One Small Miracle at a Time

Serving SLC’s Service Industry One Small Miracle at a Time
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At 29 years old, longtime food servicer Matthew Pfohl experienced a physical and financial trauma that helped inspire the idea behind One Small Miracle. … read more

Studio Ramiii: CLC Artisan

Studio Ramiii: CLC Artisan
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Beginning in January of this year Studio Ramiii has been taking our earlobes by storm with their handcrafted, carefully curated, polymer-clay earrings. … read more

Haylee Morice: CLC Artisan

Haylee Morice: CLC Artisan
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Artist Haylee Morice has refined her strengths for digital, watercolor, colored-pencil, oil-paint and surrealist still-life images. … read more

Localized: The Ugly Boys

Localized: The Ugly Boys
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Pride is a common theme for the Ugly Boys—taking pride in what they create and putting the sweat into their music are their driving forces. … read more

The Monarch: Ogden’s Art-Scene Metamorphosis

The Monarch: Ogden’s Art-Scene Metamorphosis
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Like many large projects, Thaine Fischer had many hoops to jump through to be able to embark fully on this mission to create what The Monarch is today. … read more

DE | MARCATION

DE | MARCATION
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The DE | MARCATION portfolio is a snapshot of what that looks like today within Utah art photography, all while combating boundaries that exist as walls. … read more

Kilby Court’s 20th Anniversary Block Party with Death Cab for Cutie

Kilby Court’s 20th Anniversary Block Party with Death Cab for...
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As Salt Lake celebrates Kilby Court’s 20th year, it is easy to reflect on how Kilby fosters a myriad of first-time moments. … read more

Localized: Umbels

Localized: Umbels
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It’s rare to find band members who can be at the same speed, but it seems that everyone in Umbels enjoy the same reasons for being in the band. … read more

Localized: Martian Cult

Localized: Martian Cult
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Vocalist Jared Asplund and bassist Elowyn LaPointe were led down a path of synth-heavy music and dystopian storytelling to form Martian Cult. … read more

TF Brewing is Ferda People

TF Brewing is Ferda People
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Walking into Templin Family Brewing (T.F. Brewing) feels like walking into an old friend’s living room with your buddies behind the bar. … read more

FICE Gallery Art Shows

FICE Gallery Art Shows
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Every month, FICE hosts an art show that changes the space into one that the featured artist envisions. This month, FICE hosts local artist February Filth. … read more

Slamdance Film Review: Behind the Bullet

Slamdance Film Review: Behind the Bullet
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Behind the Bullet tells the stories of Christen McGinnes, Will Little, Kevin Leonard and Taylor Dwyer, four people who, throughout the film, tell us how they have lived with the consequences after pulling the trigger. … read more

SLUG Mag’s Time Warp – 30th Anniversary Party

SLUG Mag’s Time Warp – 30th Anniversary Party
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As a salute to the last 30 years, SLUG Magazine is hosting a celebration to bring together all of those who have helped make SLUG the strapping, savings-account-owning 30-year-old it is today. … read more

Changing the Narrative – Diana Whitten of Film Fatales Utah

Changing the Narrative – Diana Whitten of Film Fatales Utah
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Vessel is one part of Whitten’s repertoire as a director, and she is also an influencer within the organization Film Fatales, whose Utah chapter she established. … read more

New Year’s Eve Party in SLC: Bar X or Beer Bar?

New Year’s Eve Party in SLC: Bar X or Beer...
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Looking for something to do on New Year’s Eve? Bar X and Beer Bar will each be hosting NYE parties—no need to choose, you can go to both! Join this guy December 31st, from 8 p.m.–1 a.m at Beer Bar and from 10 p.m.–1 a.m. at Bar X. … read more

What the Tuck?: Tucker White of Chthonic Releases a Book!

What the Tuck?: Tucker White of Chthonic Releases a Book!
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The aim for Tucker White is not to become the traditional sense of a “writer,” but to sit down and unveil the story hidden in the nooks and crannies of his subconscious by writing through improvisation. … read more

A Priest, a Minister and a Rabbi Walk Into a Bar: Congregation Spirits

A Priest, a Minister and a Rabbi Walk Into a...
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In the fall of next year, Congregation Spirits will open their doors, and the Euclid, Rose Park, Fairpark and other local neighborhoods will be welcome to come together to take part of the service. Neves says, “It is a beverage-production campus … We are building an urban winery and brewery with extra equipment on it.” … read more

To Space, Comrade! Josie Cordova’s Arcade Endeavor

To Space, Comrade! Josie Cordova’s Arcade Endeavor
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The night that Cordova unveiled To Space, Comrade! I was sitting in the back of Twilite Lounge. A typical night out at the bar developed into an experience that both inspired and struck the audience. … read more

We’re Going to Need a Bigger Goat: The East African Refugee Goat Project of Utah

We’re Going to Need a Bigger Goat: The East African...
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The ranch near the SLC airport is raising and breeding ground for the goats of The East African Refugee Goat Project of Utah, an organization brought together by East African refugees and our very own community members, with the purpose of providing affordable halal meat to East African communities. … read more

The Thrill of a Thrift: CLC Vintage Vendor

The Thrill of a Thrift: CLC Vintage Vendor
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The Thrill of a Thrift bridged the generation gap between mother and daughter. Shivani Lindmeir and her mother, Miss Nancy, found common ground on the speckled floors of thrift stores. … read more

Gold Ridge Design: CLC Vintage Vendor

Gold Ridge Design: CLC Vintage Vendor
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Through innovation and hard work, Will Simmons of Gold Ridge Design can upholster any item—from modernized couches to transformed, ’60s-diner RV interiors. … read more

Articles by contributor

The 14th Annual CLC DIY Festival Presented By Harmons @ The Utah State Fairpark

The 14th Annual CLC DIY Festival Presented By Harmons @...
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The 14th Annual Craft Lake City DIY Festival Presented By Harmons was Craft Lake’s biggest offering yet, and what you saw partly depended on what day you came. … read more

Antojitos: Latin American Street Foods

Antojitos: Latin American Street Foods
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Antojitos translates literally to “little cravings,” which is an appropriate way to introduce the following local businesses that left us craving more. … read more

Here are Three Ways to Get Your Jiggle On: Jell-O-Based Desserts in Salt Lake

Here are Three Ways to Get Your Jiggle On: Jell-O-Based...
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With these three vignettes, you can find out who’s carrying the torch of Jell-O traditions and who’s experimenting in the field. … read more