When the local arts community needed help in showing off its latest works during a pandemic, artists called on the coding prowess of The Therapeutic Games and Apps Lab (The GApp Lab) to create a virtual arts market that allows the public to view and purchase the latest creations from talented artists.
Click below to read a Salt Lake Tribune story about how Craft Lake City turned to The GApp Lab to create a virtual holiday market that visitors will be able to connect with on Dec. 11 and 18. The GApp Lab is a collaboration between the College of Engineering’s Entertainment Arts & Engineering, Center for Medical Innovation and the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library.
By Julie Hirschi | Special to The Tribune
Over the summer, when Craft Lake City organizers saw that the coronavirus pandemic was not going away, founder and executive director Angela H. Brown realized that they wouldn’t be able to hold in-person events.
She saw artists trying to share their work through social media and Instagram stories, but she felt that there had to be another way to connect with people. She envisioned creating something different, like a video game.
Working with Utah game designer Greg Bayles, associate director of the Therapeutic Games and Apps Lab at the University of Utah, Craft Lake City produced its entire summer DIY festival using Mozilla Hubs, a new open-source social network from the Mozilla internet and search engine company. Fans overloaded the server the first day, with over 10,000 attendees over the three days.