Vote YES for Proposition #8 on November 5!

by Leslie Peterson

It’s amazing what a penny on every $10 can do for a community! Thirty years ago, community leaders came together with a vision to create a fund to make Salt Lake County an even greater place to live. Today that fund is affectionately known as ZAP, the Zoo, Arts & Parks Program. If you’ve attended a free day at a museum or a zoological organization, experienced a live performance or cultural festival, or enjoyed a day at a recreational facility, an outing at a park, or a walk on a trail, you’ve seen your ZAP program at work.

In Utah, we like to say that we punch above our weight, and the achievements of the ZAP program certainly live up to that statement. The $357 Million invested since its launch in 1997 have resulted each year in four million free admissions and 8,000 jobs; supported 232 arts, cultural, and zoological non-profits; attracted 26,000 volunteers; and built hundreds of miles of trails, 70 parks, and 22 recreational centers. Whew! That’s a fantastic return on investment and great value for the average of $8-12 spent by every Salt Lake County household in a year. THANK YOU voters of Salt Lake County!

Each year Utah Symphony | Utah Opera submits a detailed and thorough application and report to Salt Lake County, which are carefully reviewed and vetted by an Advisory Board. The process keeps us accountable to the public and ourselves, and gives us an opportunity to highlight particular events that demonstrate the value of ZAP to our community. The ZAP program has a sunset provision every ten years when voters have a chance to express their approval of its renewal. 2024 is such a year.

Memorable stories we’ve highlighted in our applications include the following:

Utah Opera offers an annual Blind and Visually-Impaired Night at the Opera. This year, our Education & Community Engagement staff received the following email from one of the 81 people who attended: “Thank you so much for putting on this event! I am fairly new to non-seeing side of things. Reaching legal blindness in the last couple of years. My world had gotten much smaller. The list of things I can do on my own, much shorter. It has been a difficult adjustment. One that continues each day. Last night I felt so welcomed, accepted and included. This event showed me that there is more awareness out there of my experience than I knew. Of the way I perceive things as a non-seeing person in a seeing person’s world. My world has been made a bit bigger and brighter again. So much love to you all!”

USUO offers Access to Music, a free annual performance of short, lively orchestral pieces and scenes from opera and operetta by Utah Symphony members and Utah Opera Resident Artists for children with special needs and their families. Audience members are invited to relax and enjoy the concert without the usual expectations of remaining seated and quiet: “We LOVE this event. I literally cannot express in words how much it means to my family and how much fun it is to come knowing that I don’t have to worry about my son making a noise.”

“Songs of Hope presented by Utah Opera’s Resident Artists on the Patient Patio at Huntsman Cancer Institute included a small, socially-distanced audience of patients, staff, and family. Our contact at HCI has shared more than once during the planning process how deeply they have missed live music performances in their lobby during the pandemic. She was thrilled that Utah Opera was their first guest performance group and reported that a special unplanned encore for an opera-loving patient was proclaimed his “best medicine of the day”!

Community leaders, mayors, and council members are able to utilize ZAP funds to make their own communities better by supporting local cultural groups and keeping parks, playgrounds, and recreational facilities well-maintained and accessible. As the VP of Development for Utah Symphony | Utah Opera, I am particularly grateful for the incredible public support my organization receives from the ZAP program. I’ve had the privilege over the many years of my career in the arts to champion the ZAP program since its inception. I hope you share my pride in being a part of a unique model that brings so much joy, creativity, and learning opportunities to residents of all ages.

Pennies can add up to big accomplishments. Simple actions can have a profound effect.

Exercise your voting privileges and make sure to cast your ballot with a YES vote for Proposition #8 on November 5.