Kanab Arts Board Exhibition Opening Celebrates New Local Artists & Awards Artist and Art Supporter of 2024
April 17 to June 26, 2025 – Kanab, UT
The Kanab Arts Board is pleased to invite all art lovers to celebrate the opening of the Second Quarter Exhibition on April 17, 5:30 PM, at the Kane County Hospital lobby. The Second Quarter Exhibition celebrates the creativity and skill of four local artists alongside the inspiring works of our talented 4-H students. We are also pleased to announce the selected 2024 Artist and Art Supporter of the year. We had some incredible candidates who have really impacted the arts within our community. This process was not easy. Congratulations to Linda McCowan, the 2024 Artist of the Year, and Ria Hoyt, the 2024 Art Supporter of the Year. They will be awarded officially during the opening reception.
This quarter, we start with our emerging artists, ages 9-12, from the Kanab Elementary School. Their colorful works from the USU Extension Kane County 4-H program is the star of the show. The 4-H program is all about hands-on learning, embracing creativity through STEAM – integrating art into science, technology, engineering, and math. At their recent papier-mâché workshop, the students learned about structure, design, and artistic expression between art and STEM. From digital design to painting, robotics to sculpture, 4-H empowers youth to explore their creativity while building valuable skills for the future. Elizabeth Davis, Kane County Extension Associate Professor/Director, Angie Reidhead, Kane County 4-H Program Coordinator and Megan Brewer, 4-H program assistant supplied the art materials, showed the students papier-mâché examples, and walked them through the process of creating one. Then they let them be creative and choose anything they wanted to make! Sharing their wonderful creations with us are Hunter Bauer, Ashlynne Beazer, Carter Berrie, Emmalyn Brewer, Graysen Davis, Tanzi Henderson, Vayla Henke, Ceci Huntington/Kallie Church, Bryson Palmer, Lander Porter, Elsie Stott, Beckham Walker and Lexi Walker.
Joining the 4-H student art works at the hospital, we have contemporary realist artist Tally Willard. After graduating from Auburn University with a BFA in graphic design, she worked as a graphic designer for a Fortune 500 company. In 2008, she transitioned to fine art as a full-time job. Since then, her paintings have been exhibited in private galleries and museums across the country with groups such as Oil Painters of America and American Women Artists. “As an artist, my goal is to bring to the canvas, a fresh interpretation of the past and present. I prefer an organic subject matter. I strive to paint drama and emotion into each by experimenting with colors, texture, and composition,” Tally shared.
Next we have, Eileen Gilbert Bell who moved to Kanab about 10 years ago. Eileen quickly became involved in the community, having previously served as president of the Kanab Arts Board and Secretary of the Library Board. She was also awarded Kanab Arts Board Artist of the Year in 2022. Since their move to Kanab, Eileen has dedicated herself to nurturing her artistic passions. “I love the desert landscape, the local scenery, and the vibrant community I am part of. My journey has involved exploring a variety of mediums and techniques. I enjoy challenging myself to interpret the beauty that surrounds me. Over the past five years, I have faced the challenge of fading vision, which has presented new obstacles, but it has also given me the opportunity to embrace these changes. I hope you enjoy my work as much as I have enjoyed creating it,” she shared.
Natalie Wade is a macrame artist who was raised in Kanab, and recently moved back after several years away. She has been married for nearly 26 years and has two grown sons. Natalie likes to make plant hangers and large wall hangings. Her passion is to up-cycle items from antique shops and thrift stores with macrame. She believes that macrame provides a unique way to revive the beauty of items that have been tossed away.
At the Kanab City Library, we have Jana Stone, a wood burning artist. Jana was born in Provo, moved to Cedar and last year, to Kanab. She studied Graphic Design at Southern Utah University and got her first graphic design job designing phonebooks ads. She loved designing everything from posters, menus, flyers, and wedding announcements. However, she didn’t find it as satisfying as the tactile experience of working with her hands. Her art journey eventually brought her to wood as her chosen canvas. A little after she got married to her husband Cody, they bought wood working tools to make shelves for their new home. That is when she discovered her love of working with wood. “We knew from the beginning we’d own a business together. We created whatever we could dream up. It all came straight from the heart, and it still does. Now, I focus on mostly Southwestern themed pieces. I also make mosaics out of wood scraps from all our combined projects. I always knew I’d sell my art, the hard part was just deciding what that’d be. Once I figured that out it all fell into place,” Jana shared.
The exhibition will be on display from April 17th to June 26 at the Kane County Hospital and Kanab City Library lobbies. The Kanab Arts Board is dedicated to showcasing and promoting local talents through our quarterly exhibitions. For more information about our exhibitions and other events, please email KanabArts@gmail.com or check our announcements on Facebook.com/KanabArtsBoard or Instagram.com/KanabArts.
