Ben Phillips

Ben is a native of Salt Lake City.  He has worked professionally in multiple industries including: Land Planning/Real-Estate, Low-Carbon Energy Technologies, and most recently, in the beverage industry within the organic/health food sector. He enjoys spending time with his partner, Lorrie, and his four kids; traveling; and, enjoying the multitude of outdoor opportunities throughout the Western U.S.  Ben has been involved with the Golden Rule Project since it’s inception, when it was established by his grandmother Jane Porter and mother Bonnie.

Bonnie Phillips

In elementary school, Bonnie Phillips recited the Golden Rule along with the Pledge of Allegiance. As a little girl, she understood the inclusive power of the Golden Rule. As an adult, Bonnie and her mother, Jane Porter, founded the Golden Rule Project to promote this universal principle in 2003. Bonnie is an artist, public and environmental art consultant, publisher, and Utah art dealer for 53 years at Phillips Gallery. She has worked for local arts organization and participated in regional and national art conferences, as well as facilitated numerous public art installations. She and Phillips Gallery staff are knowledgeable regarding Utah, regional, and national art and are sensitive to the collaborative process.

Christa Zaro

A native of Philadelphia, Christa Zaro relocated to Salt Lake after graduating Cum Laude from the University of Delaware, fell in love with Utah’s beauty and vast open spaces, and found her new home. During her 12-year career at the Salt Lake City Weekly, she played a key role in helping shape the future of the paper by creating partnerships with the community and business leaders, including many in the local arts community.

Throughout her life, she has nourished her passion for art by visiting museums worldwide and cultivating a personal collection, which led to launching Artisan Frameworks & Gallery in 2003 at the original Art Space on Pierpont. She is currently married to Steve Goorman, founder of Citywide Home Loans, and devotes her time to her two young boys and lifestyles blog I Forgot My Mantra. Christa believes in the fundamental human principle that we are all connected. By planting seeds of compassion and empathy with elementary school children, she sees a brighter future that connects us all, no matter what political, geographic, or income level divides us.

Jill Meyer

Jill E. Meyer was born in Salt Lake City with great love for rocky mountains and wide open spaces.  Passion for learning led her to a B.A. in art history from the University of Utah, then an M.A. from the University of Delaware at the Winterthur Museum in Wilmington.  Dreaming of someday becoming an art curator, she enjoyed working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the IBM Gallery, and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York City.  

After marriage, the birth of two children, and life in the Connecticut suburbs, Jill sidelined her art world ambitions and began longing once again for the western lifestyle, especially after witnessing 9/11.  She moved with her young family to Idaho, first McCall and then Boise, happily immersing her children in the great outdoors.  Her interest in art became volunteering in the local arts council, library board, historic preservation commission and her children’s school classrooms and field trips.  

Jill returned to Salt Lake City in 2012, to be nearer to her aging parents and extended family.  She currently is employed at the University of Utah in the Department of Continuing Education and Community Engagement.  She is an instructor and staff member for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and Go Learn travel program, and assists with university wide development efforts.  Jill also volunteers as a docent at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts where she shares her love of art with Salt Lake City fourth graders and delights in being involved in the art museum world again, a place where she always feels happy and inspired.  Jill joined the Golden Rule Project in 2017 and is continually amazed by the power of this simple but beautiful and all encompassing principle for life.