Kristen Taylor and Dave Johnson were in attendance at the most recent Helper City Council meeting that took place on Thursday.
At the meeting they spoke about the improvements that they are trying to bring to the Rio Theater. The goal, as stated by Taylor, is to promote the arts in Helper and expand the Helper Arts Festival. Recently they formed an alliance with Sally Mauro and professional artists have taught classes at the school.
“We have been very happy with the expanded participation from artists this year,” said Taylor.
Taylor then went on to say that they would like to try and organize a film festival as part of the arts festival. To do so, they need a projector that will work inside the Rio Theater.
Johnson also said a few words on the progress the duo has made. He stated that they have been trying in the last few months to bring productions into the theater and raise awareness of the theater’s events. A few live productions have occurred, some made money and were successful and some simply broke even. Johnson said the main goal was to have shows in the theater to pique people’s interest, and if films could be shown in the theater it could be easier than just trying to come up with live productions. It would also be a better way to utilize the Rio.
Taylor and Johnson both want to do things like family nights and silent film nights with live music. Johnson used to work for the Sundance Film Festival and stated that he had a good idea of how that scene works.
“I think it would be a good fit in the arts community that we already have going,” stated Johnson.
Taylor said that they had spoken to Neil Breinholt about pricing and installation. They already have the money needed for the projector and Breinholt stated that he would be happy to install it. Approval is what is needed from the council. They would like to have the project up and moving within two months. Helper Mayor Ed Chavez stated that he thinks it’s a great idea. Permission was granted at the meeting to move forward with the project.