Kanab Arts Board Second Quarter Exhibition Opening
The Kanab Arts Board is opening its Second Quarter Exhibition on April 18, 5:30-6:30 PM at the Kane County Hospital Lobby. We invite everybody to meet and celebrate our amazing local artists during the opening reception. This quarter, we are proud to present artworks by aspiring young artists from Freedonia, Kanab and the Orderville-Mt. Carmel area, to be exhibited at the Kanab City Library, and a combination of photography, paintings and fabric art at the hospital lobby.
At the Kanab City Library, we are featuring artworks from the Fredonia-Moccasin Unified School District #6’s students, namely, Nathan Ashley (grade 6), Paris Bistline (grade 6), Carrson Cluff (grade 6), Ashor Kilgore (grade 6), Zoey Smith (grade 6), Tren Allen (grade 6), Taelynn Henderson (grade 9), Nicholas Black (grade 10), LeAnn Smith (grade 11), and Danailee Tait (grade 12).
From Kanab Elementary school, we have artworks from Henry Burggraaf (grade 2), Isaac Burggraaf (grade 4) and Max Burggraaf (grade 6). From Kanab High School, we have a collection of works from Makayla Bartlett, an avid artist who works on miniatures, paintings and drawings. Also from Kanab, we have Ivy Burggraaf (Preschool with Miss Elyse), and a small collection of works by Lily Lacey (grade 2) from Valley Elementary.
Inside the Kane County Hospital lobby, our first artist is Erica Berg who has been captivated by photography ever since she was young. Her passion lies in capturing the joyful moments of animals, as well as the breathtaking details of nature as viewed through a macro lens. Her work aims to ignite a sense of wonder, encouraging viewers to see beauty in unexpected places.
Second, we have Loretta Clayson who studied with watercolor artist LaRee Bell, and wildlife artist Julie Jeppsen. She is a member of the Utah Watercolor Society and Women Out West Professional Artists of Utah. Loretta’s artwork has been exhibited at Roland Lee Art Gallery, Sears Art Museum, Springville Museum of Art, St. George Art Museum, one-woman shows during Western Legends Festivals in Kanab, and various locations with the Utah Watercolor Society. Her illustrations also include award-winning activity books commissioned by The StoryTeller Company. Loretta invites viewers to find a connection with the extraordinary natural beauty of southern Utah and the legacy left by ordinary, hard-working people that she enjoys capturing in watercolor.
Our third artist is sky photographer Marty Feely. In the 1990s, Marty ran Whirlwind Tours, the world’s first storm chaser tour company which was featured on various television documentaries. Marty’s storm and tornado photography and cinematography were included in many of those programs and jump-started his passion for filming dramatic skies. In 2004, he worked as a park ranger for BLM at the Visitor Centers at Paria and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. There, he realized that he was in the middle of the most spectacular landscapes he’d ever seen. This caused his photographic passion to switch from landscapes to the skies. These days, Marty says he does not chase tornadoes anymore, but he always keeps a “go bag” ready for the promise of a rainbow.
Fourth in this quarter’s line-up is Holly Adams-Godwin, a Utah native who was born into a talented family. Throughout her life, Holly has been immersed in art from embroidery, quilting, basket weaving, wood working, stained glass and now in her retirement, painting. She also learned to spin her own wool from which she made her own wearable items. She taught this craft to others through demonstrations in county fairs and volunteer programs at her local museum. While she lived in Las Cruces, New Mexico, she designed a quilt out of neckties, entitled it “Necktie Starburst” and won Best of Show in the Annual Las Colcheras Quilt Guild’s 7th Annual Quilt Show. She moved to Kanab in 2013 and has been concentrating on painting more since then. Her work can be seen at the Brown Box Bakeshop, and she also sells her works at Lily Pad. She loves to paint ravens, foxes, and more recently because of their 4-wheeling hobby, the beautiful landscapes of Kanab.
Fifth, we have Megan Heydorn, the fiber artist behind Meg’s Twisted Stitches. Megan’s maternal grandmother tried to teach her how to crochet when she was younger, but it didn’t spark her interest. It wasn’t until 2016, when her cousin became pregnant with her second baby, and also when Megan spotted a cute, stuffed, crocheted cow animal kit in a craft catalog, that her interest was piqued. She decided she wanted to make that adorable, puppy-eyed cow for her future niece. The kits were sold out so she bought materials and found a beginner series on YouTube to learn. When her niece was born, she gifted her the first project she finished – a newborn hat that fit her niece perfectly! From that love of a tiny tot in her handmade tiny hat, she proceeded to learn amigurumi, the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting stuffed yarn creatures. A couple of years later, she started selling the plushies she made. In 2020, with the help of an online crochet business class, she was able to define the brand and style that makes Meg’s Twisted Stitches what it is now.
The opening reception is hosted by the Kane County Hospital Lobby. Light refreshments will be served. We encourage everybody to support our artists by attending the opening and if you are an artist who wants to exhibit with the Kanab Arts Board, please reach out to us through Facebook, Instagram or email KanabArts@Kanab.Utah.gov.
