- Everybody had the same idea you did - to see the "Monet to Picasso" exhibit at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts this weekend, before it closes for good Sunday - and now the sucker is sold out. That's what you get for procrastinating.

- So, instead, you can go see the artfully posed cadavers to "Body Worlds 3" at The Leonardo, 209 E. 500 South in Library Square, Salt Lake City, which opens today. Tickets are $22, or $16 for children 3 and up, available on The Leonardo's web site.

- Or you can hit the monthly Salt Lake Gallery Stroll, 6 to 9 tonight at several downtown Salt Lake City art galleries. One of the highlights is a fall fashion show, starting at 4, on East Broadway (300 South, around 250 East).

- Lisa Lampanelli - a Grammy-nominated "insult comic" (that's her URL, too) known as "The Queen of Mean" (pictured at right) - sets 'em up and knocks 'em down tonight at 8 at Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus. Tickets are $34.75, at SmithsTix.

- Park City skier Tanner Hall is throwing a party for his neighbors tonight at 8, an outdoor screening of the ski film "The Massive" on Lower Main Street in Park City. The screening is free, but the after-party at Harry O's, at 427 Main in Park City, costs $5 at the door - and you have to be 21.

- The Imagine Peace Festival, a day of exhibits and music to raise awareness of peace-making and social-justice causes, runs Saturday from noon to 6 p.m. at the City Library's main branch, 210 E. 400 South, Salt Lake City. Free.

Labels: UMFA, weekend schedule

... and Monet, Van Gogh, Dali, Mondrian and the other great artists whose works are on display at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.

UMFA's blockbuster show, "Monet to Picasso: From the Cleveland Museum of Art," ends its summer run on Sunday - so if you haven't seen it yet, get off your butt and get up to the University of Utah campus fast.

The exhibit is easily the best $15 bucks you'll spend on culture this year. There are more than 70 paintings and sculptures, representing the sweep of art from the late 19th century through most of the 20th century.

(Pictured: Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890). The Poplars at Saint-Rémy (Les peupliers sur la Colline), 1889. Oil on fabric; 61.6 x 45.7 cm. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna Jr. 1958.32. Copyright: The Cleveland Museum of Art)

Labels: UMFA

My Tribune colleague Paul Wetzel calls the Utah Museum of Fine Arts' current exhibit, "From Monet to Picasso" the best entertainment deal in town.

I heartily agree. In the print edition of the Culture Vulture column today, I chronicle my family's trip to the UMFA show - and how my perspective for fine art shifts when I see it through my children's eyes.

(Pictured: Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890), "The Poplars at Saint-Rémy (Les peupliers sur la Colline)," 1889. Oil on fabric; 61.6 x 45.7 cm. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna Jr. 1958.32. Copyright: The Cleveland Museum of Art.)

Labels: UMFA

Monet means money for the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.

The museum's first blockbuster exhibit, "From Monet to Picasso," has been bringing in an average of 520 people a day, museum officials tell the Tribune's Julie Checkoway. And foot traffic has increased since the exhibit opened last month - with 614 people a day visiting last week.

That figure is nearly on track to hit the museum's goal of 50,000 visitors for the exhibit's 12-week run. The number of new museum members is also up sharply.

The exhibit runs through Sept. 21.

(Pictured: Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926). The Red Kerchief: Portrait of Mrs. Monet (La capeline rouge, portrait de Madame Monet), 1868–78. Oil on fabric; 99 x 79.8 cm. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna Jr. 1958.39. Copyright: The Cleveland Museum of Art.)

Labels: UMFA

- The Utah Museum of Fine Arts' big new exhibit, "Monet to Picasso: From the Cleveland Museum of Art," opens today. Museum hours are 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Admission is $5; $3 for seniors and children 6 to 18; and free for kids 5 and under.

- If you start driving now, you might make it to Cedar City in time for the opening performance of "Cyrano de Bergerac," the first premiere of the Utah Shakespearean Festival's 2008 slate. Starts at 8 p.m.; available tickets range from $16 to $40.

- Wolf Eyes, a band that specializes in ear-splitting electronic noises, plays the Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, Salt Lake City. Opening acts: I Hate Bees and The Tenants Of Balthazar's Castle. Show starts at 9 p.m.; tickets are $10 at 24tix.com. (Nobody under 21 admitted, on account of the demon alcohol.)

(Artwork: Claude Monet, "The Red Kerchief: Portrait of Mrs. Monet (La capeline rouge, portrait de Madame Monet)," 1868–78. Oil on fabric; 99 x 79.8 cm. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna Jr. 1958.39. © The Cleveland Museum of Art.)

Labels: Tonight's schedule, UMFA