Utah Pioneer Heritage Arts

01/06/2026

"There isn’t anyone you couldn’t love once you’ve heard their story." – Mary Lou Kownacki. ❤️ We use the Entertainment Arts (music, visuals, and storytelling) to turn history into an unforgettable experience. Come listen to the music of our heritage.

12/18/2025

Meet Hilda Anderson Erickson: The last surviving pioneer who did it all! 💃🐎 Midwife, dentist, storekeeper, and frontierswomanwho served a 15-year mission to the Goshute Indians.” We wrote the song "Step Outta My Way" just for her. What should her song say about her?”Who is the strong woman in your family tree?

12/16/2025

Have you heard of the Panguitch Quilt Walk? ❄️🧵 It’s a story of survival, ingenuity, and community saving the day. Watch the full story on our website (scroll down to “Building Resilience”) and discover how 7 men and 2 quilts saved a town from starvation!

12/11/2025

Utah is more than just a state; it’s a PIONEERING state. 🏔️ From ancient petroglyphs of tribal nations to the mountain men who mapped the territory, our land is soaked in stories. We are passionately dedicated to preserving all these stories!

12/09/2025

Did you know the most impossible technological achievement of the 19th century happened right here in Utah? 🚂✨ Echoes of Hammers and Spikes tells the epic story of the Transcontinental Railroad. It’s a story of immigrants, innovation, inspiration, and pure grit! (And dastardly deeds, too!) Order your copy today to inspire the innovator(s) in your life!

12/09/2025

Our DNA sometimes tells stories our history tries to ignore or blot out. We are all children of God, more closely related than we might think! 

If Those Plantation Walls Could Speak

America loves to act like she just discovered the word “rights.”
But if you go back through her attic, the dust tells a different story.

Let me start with a simple question:

What does it mean for a woman to want to be seen?
Not judged.
Not owned.
Just seen.

In early America, both White and Black women lived inside systems that refused to recognize their full humanity.
Different worlds.
Different chains.
But both fighting for personhood in a nation still learning how to spell “equal.”

White women were told they were “above” Black women.
Yet many still had no legal voice, no vote, no property rights, no say in their own marriages by the 1700s and 1800s.
Society praised them in public and silenced them in private.

Black women carried a different weight.
They were not only unseen.
They were unprotected in a world that built its wealth on their labor and their bodies.

Yet here is the part the history books tucked under the rug:

In the quiet corners of plantations, some White women were treated with more kindness by Black men than by their own husbands.
Stories whispered through generations.
Moments of humanity between two people who both lived inside systems they did not build.

These were the secret relationships no textbook dares to mention.
A White woman starved for gentleness.
A Black man starved for dignity.
And for a few stolen moments, they saw each other as human beings in a place designed to crush that possibility.

And America?
She would rather bury that truth than admit how intertwined her children really are.

Because if those plantation walls ever came crashing down today, the DNA tests would tell the whole story.

Antwan may look Black but his sixth great-grandfather might be White.
Sky may look White but now wonders why West African ancestry showed up in her results.

People think they are strangers.
The science says they are cousins.

America, you are more similar than apart.
You have been family longer than you have been honest.
And your greatest secrets are sitting quietly inside living rooms across the country, learning the truth through a swab of DNA.

If we ever told the full story with courage,
if we ever honored every woman who fought to be seen,
if we ever admitted the connections that history hid,

we might finally understand this:

The past left us braided together.
We are the children of truths nobody wanted to speak.
And healing begins the moment we decide to stop pretending otherwise.

12/04/2025

We need a "spoonful of sugar" to help the medicine go down. 🥄🎶 Our Heritage that Heals series combines expert advice with storytelling and song to help you navigate life's challenges. “Healing shouldn’t be heavy; it can be harmonious and beautiful!”

12/02/2025

Feeling overwhelmed? Look back to move forward. 🔙🔜 The pioneers of Utah—indigenous tribes, explorers, and settlers—faced seemingly impossible odds with courage and faith. Their stories aren't just history; they are a blueprint for handling modern stress and rejoicing in the process!”

11/29/2025

The single most important thing you can do for your family may be the simplest of all: develop a strong family narrative." – Bruce Feiler. 👨👩👧👦 Knowing your family’s history is the biggest predictor of emotional well-being. Let us help you start that conversation today.
Let us help you tell your narrative not to, but through your family in ways that will bind you together forever!

11/28/2025

We've loved it...but we have to let it go. $2,200 for the sweetest sounding Chadwick collapsible bass you'll ever find. Carved top. Electronic pickup with L.R.Baggs Para Acoustic DI (Direct Insertion) Box.
We're not using it like we used to, and our nonprofit Utah Pioneer Heritage Arts is trying to Save the Great Salt Lake. So, our sacrifice is your advantage.
DM us, text us at 801-706-1997, or email me at [email protected].

11/28/2025

In a world of constant notifications, we’re losing our connection to each other. 📱➡️🌲 True resilience comes from knowing who you are and where you come from. We are gathering stories of triumph over adversity to help you find strength in your own roots.
We are gathering and retelling through the arts stories of triumph…

10/03/2024

I’m at the gym feeling somewhat unmotivated. I will take the middle option, please.