Arts to Zion Art and Studio Tour expands
By Bobbi Wan-kier
The Arts to Zion Art and Studio Tour is back and better than ever with a more expansive approach to exploring the arts in southern Utah. The five-day event runs Jan. 16–20 in various locations throughout Washington County, from Ivins to Springdale.
Live music is being incorporated as part of the tour as well as two murals painted in St. George during the tour.
One of the murals will be located on 100 W in St. George, just south of St. George Boulevard. It was commissioned by the Utah Jazz and is the result of a collaboration between the Utah Jazz, Arts to Zion, and the City of St. George. Painted by Rod and Justine Peterson — local artists who have worked with the Utah Jazz before — this mural will depict the Utah Jazz in their rust-colored “city jersey” uniforms.
The second mural will be located on Tabernacle Street in St. George, just west of Main Street. It was commissioned by Washington Country through a Utah Division of Arts and Museums grant and Greater Zion and is the result of a collaboration between Greater Zion, Arts to Zion, Prado Real Estate Co., and the City of St. George. Painted by Susan Grove and three students from DSU, it will incorporate 3D elements.
Like previous years, you still have the opportunity to visit local galleries and the more intimate private studios. And local promoter George Scott returns as the event’s music coordinator to continue last year’s increase in musical offerings through the Desert Pulse Live Music Tour. The increased entertainment is thanks in part to a grant from the Utah Division of Arts and Museums.
The event will kick off Jan. 16 with the private and home studios open to ticketholders from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The private and home studio tours continue from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. through Jan. 20. As one of the tour’s major sponsors, Prado Real Estate will have volunteers at each home studio to answer questions while allowing the artists to focus on their work.
Only select home studios will be open for the tour Jan. 20. They are designated on the tickets and the printed maps. Tourgoers will collect card punches at each stop to be eligible for a prize drawing when they turn in their tickets at the end of the tour.
Included on the tour are the private studios of 18 artists in addition to two commercial artists at their places of work.
“The studio tour highlights the amount of talented people we have in southern Utah,” said Ron Brown, Arts to Zion Board chairman. “Because of the natural beauty we have, it inspires artists and brings a lot of people here.”
Designed to provide a more complete arts experience, the Desert Pulse Live Music Tour adds a significant amount of music to the event with a focus on Jan. 18. That day, live music will begin around 10 a.m. in St. George and continue at other tour stops around the city throughout the day, leading to evening music at George’s Corner, Twisted Noodle Cafe, and Zion Brewery’s new Station 2.
Performers include Nick Adams, Amanda Barrick and Steve Stay, Dick Earl’s Electric Witness, Mike and Elaine, River House Band, Carmen and Casey of Second Echo, Thistles and Knots, and Celeste Tolman, among others. Visit artstozion.org or check out the event brochure as times and venues are finalized.
Scott says the major focus on music on this day is to provide an artistic experience for those who are visually impaired or maybe just aren’t as interested in visual art. Organizers also hope that it might increase the interest in visual art among music-lovers while also enhancing the experience for visual art fans.
On Jan. 19, there will be tour stops and live music in both Springdale and the Kayenta area of Ivins. The galleries at Kayenta’s Coyote Gulch Art Village in Ivins will host a fine art walk that day with artists in residence at the galleries.
Finally, on Jan. 20, Arts to Zion turns its focus toward history in the Silver Reef area of Leeds with authors of local history, artists at the Silver Reef Cosmopolitan, and sculptor Jerry Anderson in his studio across the street from the Silver Reef Museum, located at 1903 Wells Fargo Road in Leeds. Live music will be provided from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Cosmopolitan.
Tickets for the tour are $10. Entrance to all the public galleries is free during the tour, and all the public galleries are ADA-accessible. Free printed maps will be available after Jan. 8 at ticket sale locations, including Arts to Zion Gallery 35, the DiFiore Center in St. George, the Springdale Tourism Center, and the Silver Reef Museum in Leeds. For more information, visit artstozion.org.
Arts to Zion began in 2012 as a countywide art tour, encompassing everything from intimate home studios to many of southern Utah’s best professional galleries. The tour connected artists on both sides of Washington County, from Ivins to Springdale, with the commercial and cultural hub of St. George in between, opening up the secrets of their private studios and offering the chance to see them in the midst of creation. Since that time, Arts to Zion has expanded from a single tour to a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works with local partners to promote other events throughout southern Utah, from the Smithsonian exhibition that came to the Silver Reef Museum in Leeds to the 2017 Oil Painters of America Western Regional Exhibition at Illume Gallery of Fine Art in St. George.
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