Happy Friday from #OneUtah, a weekly update from the office of Gov. Spencer J. Cox. Here’s your recap of what we did this week, what's on the horizon, and more. Reply to this email with any questions or suggestions regarding the newsletter. And thank you for subscribing!

Visiting Southern Utah

It’s always great to spend time with our friends in southern Utah! This week we stopped by the Utah Association of Counties meeting in St. George, and were able to talk about our starter home initiatives with the Southern Utah Home Builders Association. We were honored to receive their Defender of Housing Award. 

Local government is where the rubber meets the road. And the state-local, public-private partnerships we’ve forged will help all Utahns. As Utah continues to grow, we’re committed to helping build much-needed starter homes and help more Utahns become homeowners.

Mansion Artist Awards

We were honored to host two incredible Utah artists at the Kearns Mansion for the Governor’s Mansion Artist Awards: Violinist Aubree Oliverson, and Joseph Ostraff, who is a painter and department chair of the Department of Art at BYU.

Aubree Oliverson is a dynamic and masterful violinist and we were so honored to hear her play. A native of Orem, Aubree made her Utah Symphony debut at age 11 and at age 12, debuted at Carnegie Hall. She was the concertmaster of the Gifted Music School Orchestra of Salt Lake City, and graduated from the Colburn Academy in Los Angeles. As a featured artist and chamber musician, Aubree has performed around the country and the world. Her most recent solo appearances include season openings of the Chamber Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall, the Utah Symphony at Abravanel Hall, the Peace Orchestra Project and Ridgefield Symphony. 

Joseph Ostraff is a celebrated painter, an art professor and department chair of the Department of Art at Brigham Young University. Joseph received an MFA from the University of Washington and teaches primarily painting, drawing, and advanced studio courses. According to Nuart Gallery in Santa Fe, Joseph’s “paintings evoke the varied shapes and motifs of human activity and geography. Using subtle color gradations and rich patterning, Ostraff creates works with startling compositional depth.” Joseph’s work has been shown in a variety of national and international exhibits including museums in Massachusetts, Texas, Australia and the UK. Joseph is a three-time recipient of the prestigious Fellowship Award from the Utah Arts Council, and was voted one of Utah's 15 most influential artists by his peers.

Learn more about Aubree and Joseph here.

Keeping Utah Beautiful

Did you know that 1,800 car crashes occur each year in Utah because of litter? We all have to do our part in keeping Utah beautiful, and while our Utah Department of Transportation crews are working hard to pick up litter around state roads, they also have other maintenance and safety responsibilities, so we need your help!  

Keeping Utah Beautiful is replacing the Adopt-a-Highway program and allows you to go online and sign up for a one-time cleanup on a specific state road. This new program will allow Utahns to do what we do best – serve! Learn more here.

Meeting with Paiute and Ute Mountain Ute leaders

This week, Gov. Cox and Lt. Gov. Henderson enjoyed meeting with leaders from the Paiute Indian and Ute Mountain Ute Tribes of Utah to discuss how we can collaborate on the individual issues each tribe is facing. 

We are proud of the relationships we have built with all the recognized tribes in our state, and look forward to continuing to work together to solve problems. See photos here!

Utah State Junior Livestock Show

Lt. Gov. Henderson is excited to attend the 100th Utah State Junior Livestock Show, which will take place tonight at the Utah County Fairgrounds. This event is an excellent opportunity for young people to learn about the significance of livestock producers in Utah, as well as to showcase their projects and demonstrate the skills they have gained throughout the year with the 4-H Jr. Livestock Program.

Governor’s Award for Excellence Highlight

Each week, we’re highlighting a state employee who was recently awarded the Governor’s Award for Excellence. This week we’re recognizing Jan Frisbee with the Utah Department of Public Safety.

Jan began her career with the Utah Bureau of Criminal Identification in December 1992. She started working at the 24/7 Helpdesk before moving to Automated Fingerprint Identification System about a year later. Fingerprint comparison is a very intricate process, and the systems change every few years. From a single source submission and retrieval system to a fully integrated system, Jan has been at the forefront of learning to process the changes needed to keep up-to-date and on the leading edge. Her knowledge of the intricacies of the partnership between the Utah Criminal History (UCH) system and AFIS systems makes her a great resource for the entire team at BCI. During the pandemic, Jan worked closely with another coworker in the section to provide in-office services for the section so other staff members could work from home and remain quarantined during these unprecedented times. Jan is the front-line employee at BCI, who everyone trusts, goes to, and appreciates. She exemplifies all that DPS values in its employees.

Thank you, Jan, for your dedication to the state of Utah. Keep up the great work! To read about the Governor’s Awards for Excellence, click here.

ICYMI

• May 2 was a National Day of Prayer in Utah. Learn more here.

Coming up

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