In Site

Stories and interviews addressing the intersection of the creative process, community, and place. Welcome to In Site, a podcast from the Zion Canyon Mesa, a nascent arts and humanities residency center in Springdale, Utah, surrounded by Zion National Park. One of the primary drivers for these podcasts is concern for our times. To paraphrase Yeats, the center feels besieged. So we’ll consider the many crux issues we face, with an eye towards how creative thinking can play a role. We will engage a wide spectrum of artists, writers, musicians, and thought leaders, and hopefully enjoy the journey. As our name implies, we also want to root firmly within our community, our home in southwest Utah on the Markagunt Plateau. We will give backstory and context for controversial, regional issues here in Utah. We’ll also try to act as an honest broker for dialogue, seemingly a lost art. But our concept of home also radiates out from here to the Colorado Plateau, the Intermountain West, the U.S. in general and on from there. Our name sounds out four different ways, and we identify with each: to get it in sight, to gain insight, and perhaps to incite. There is an additional aspect embedded in the idea of In Site that we will continue to explore: the intersection of vision and place. Very often an artist’s inspiration entwines with or emerges from their chosen landscape. At times they are simply one in the same. We believe creativity is crucial to imagining the future we want to see, especially in these uncertain times, and for us to nurture this creativity, perhaps we should examine and embrace this relationship more deeply. http://zioncanyonmesa.org/podcast