The Canyons are Calling
Attention Artists – Escalante Arts Festival
With September here, deadlines are approaching fast, for the Plein Air and Studio work at the Escalante Arts Festival in scenic Southern Utah. The deadline for the Plein Air and Studio Work Competition Registration is September 18. Other special competitions include Nocturne, Miniatures, Quick Draw, and a Junior category. With multiple categories, there is something for everyone, whether competing or honing your skills in classes.
The Escalante Arts Festival offers four Hands-On classes this year recognizing art in its many forms. Participants will have their own art to take home with them after joining with these talented presenters: Jill Simpkins, an organic farmer who uses multiple media in her art, will be instructing participants on how to assemble a hand-made journal using a Coptic stitch, so the journal lies flat. A second Hands-On course will be taught by Raymond Shurtz, using photos to inspire poetry or finding the perfect photo to enhance your poem. “The narrative, the sub-text, and the beauty of both forms can be astonishingly enhanced using this technique.” Anna Vanmeter is offering a unique class on Watching the Clouds. The sky is nature’s ever-changing watercolor pallet. Anna will be teaching about the water cycle, cloud identification, and weather. Students will learn how to make clouds in a bottle with household ingredients. For young and old alike, Margie Lopez Read will be encouraging participants to experience the Festival on a deeper level through their own interpretation, seeing what is before them in a more meaningful way. Plein Air 4 U will provide everyone with something of their own to remember their Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument experience and special festival souvenir by painting on their own canvas.
Two special programs are being offered in collaboration with the Festival and the Bryce Canyon National Park’s Centennial celebration. Participants are invited to join Melody Greenlief, the 2023 Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Artist in Residence for an inspiring morning of painting together at Sunset Point in spectacular Bryce Canyon in conjunction with the park’s centennial celebration. Melody loves playing with paint and hopes those who see her creations get as much joy out of them as she had in creating them. With that goal in mind, she depicts her animals and people with character and her landscapes with peace and harmony.
The second collaborative event between the park and the Festival is a linocut workshop taught by Kadi Franson in the original (1932) ranger station at Bryce Canyon. Kadi aids the interpretive, educational, and scientific activities at the park. By the end of the workshop, students will have cut a linoleum block and will have made a print from their cut block. They are encouraged to bring images to inspire their lino-cut. Park entry fee waivers to attend these two classes will be available at the Escalante Community Center during artist sign-in and plein air stamp-in.
An annual favorite is the quilt display which will be located in the Escalante Community Center. Stitched stories that warm the heart and the soul are part of every quilt. Best of Show paintings will also be on display in the Community Center. The art exhibit and Sale tent will be in the town park with 200 entries in oil, pastel, watercolor, and other mixed media by artists of all ages and experience levels.
Coco Kishi is this year’s local featured artist. Her display of Pysanky-colored eggs will impress. This Ukrainian method of applying wax and liquid dyes using designs from the native Southwest cultures creates unique patterns and images. In addition to her egg display, Coco has branched out into painting gourds and making paper mâché sculptures of animals and landscapes.
Finally is our lineup of great musical artists, each with their own style and flavor. Locals Turnup Truck and Kenny Hall, Runaway Fire, Pasos Gigantes, John Hewitt, Mel Soul, and Matt Burke with his recent single, Won’t Give Up, a must-listen for anyone in need of inspiration and hope.
Get ready to enrich your soul with beauty for the eyes and ears, experiences, memories, and takeaways to last a lifetime.
Visit escalantecanyonsartfestival.org for more information.
