BOUNTIFUL, Utah — A Utah art gallery is turning 50 this month, celebrating the remarkable milestone with a brand-new director.
Sarina Ehrgott was born and raised in Texas and had big dreams of running an art gallery.
“I remember, I would get in trouble because I was drawing fruits and figures in the margins of my tests in elementary school," Ehrgott reflected.
She continued to pursue her passion through high school and college, where she graduated with a painting degree from the University of Houston.
After graduation, she became familiar with the term "starving artist."
"I loved it, I loved the studio, I loved being around other creative people, but it wasn’t going to get me out of my parent's house," she explained.
To pay the bills, Ehrgott became an advertising graphic designer and met her husband, a musician.
The newlywed couple visited a relative in Utah and decided to set down roots in the Beehive State.
“My husband and I came here 15 years ago and just sort of reinvented ourselves," Ehrgott said.
Since moving to Utah, Ehrgott has worked at a gallery in Park City and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Salt Lake as she pursued her Master's Degree.
Then she saw an opening for Executive Director of the Bountiful Davis Arts Center and applied.
"I thought, 'Well, I have to check it out...I need to give it a try because that’s what I’ve been working for,'" she reflected.
Spoiler alert, she got the job!
Ehrgott's new role got off to a busy start as the gallery hosted its 50th birthday gala soon after her hiring date.
Roughly 60 VIPs attended the event, donating money, buying art and mingling.
"Everyone seemed to be very excited by the artwork, by the musicians who had original compositions to accompany the artwork, the bands that were playing, it was a fantastic time," Ehrgott explained. "And my first big event, since becoming Director a month ago.”
Now that the event is over, she’s planning ahead and hoping to be a big part of transforming downtown Bountiful into an even more thriving city.
“If you walk down Main Street, you’ll find art galleries, dance studios, music shops, there’s kind of the gamut of creativity, right here on Main Street," Ehrgott said. "I think it’s starting to...find its identity here and so it’s going to become more vibrant.”
