Kent Youngstrom moved to Summit County in April of this year, and has spent much of the time since then converting a Kamas barn into an artist studio. “I recently celebrated my 52nd birthday with a gallery opening at the barn—complete with pizza truck, flash tattoos, and an amazing sunset evening.” While the area may be well acquainted with excellent pizza and sunsets, Youngstrom’s birthday bash apparently brought with it a burst of fresh interest from local attendees. “One of the best parts of the evening for me was hearing murmurs of ‘I can’t believe this is a local event...thank you for bringing this to Kamas…we need more of this.’”

Youngstrom might be a newcomer, but he indicates a strong desire to be part of life in Summit County in all its aspects; “I am excited to fold my way into the fabric of the community here. And by that I mean all of the community—not just the ‘creative community.’ So often I think that as artists we want to be accepted by the art community and forget that our responsibility (at least I feel mine is) is to add something unexpected to the everyday lives of others—artists or not.”

Indeed, Youngstrom brought something unexpected to the Arts Council Summer events, reaching out to participate in the Summit Arts Market and Monster Drawing Rally, despite his hesitation about outdoor art shows: “wind, rain, and dust are not my best friends—but as a new artist I wanted to let people know who I am and where they can find the gallery.”

Even considering the hazards of the great outdoors, Youngtrom says Monster Drawing Rally “was really up my alley! Most of my work is fast and furious so making a few pieces in a short amount of time was a challenge—but one that energized me more than created anxious moments. My day was highlighted by smashing a slice of pizza on paper and outlining the cheese stains with ink and writing ‘hey, do you want a piece of me, because i want a piece of you.’”

Youngstrom, whose website also identifies him as a soccer coach and dad, writes “my work is my life. yes – “all he does is paint words.” words are intimate parts of my life, and i’m guessing in yours too. i paint stories in short verse form; i attempt to transfer the energy of my experience to you.” For art collectors at this year’s Monster event, it was an exciting moment to realize the possibility of snagging a Youngstrom original, complete with experiential energy transfer, for only $50. As for the artist, he “really loved the idea of everyone having a chance to bid and take home an original piece of art!”

He may be a professional artist whose works have been featured on the Netflix show Love Is Blind, but Youngstrom makes no bones about the trials of the creative life, describing on his website how he “painted somewhere north of 100 pieces to say what had been on my mind and in my world. i packed these paintings in the back of my sprinter van and have taken these paintings over 2,800 miles to many art shows (with bulk packs of energy drinks) from chicago to miami. i have hauled, lifted, repaired, touched up, stood in front of, talked about, posted up, meditated over, sweat at showcasing, and sage-burned all of it.” Maybe the move to Utah will mean a shorter drive to access the Arts & Culture of our state, and the barn will be a good place to store those bulk flats of energy drinks.

To learn more about Youngstrom’s work, visit his website here.

all photos by @korihoffmanphotography

Kent Youngstrom: Adding the Unexpected to Summit County