Highlights of 30 Years of Art Festival Acquisitions & Selections from A Century of Sanctuary: The Art of Zion National Park At the St. George Art Museum

On view from February 14 through May 30, 2009

On April 10th and 11th, the St. George Art Festival will open for the 30th year in the beautifully designed town square on Main Street in St. George, Utah.

The mild, sunny climate of St. George is particularly suited for this outdoor event. Artwork is displayed in booths designed individually by each artist. The many categories of art accepted include watercolor, oils, pottery, sculpture, photography, woodwork, and other creations. The show offers cash awards for Best of Show, Best 2D and 3D and ribbons for all categories. In addition, an artist’s work is selected each year to grace the following year’s poster. This Featured Artist receives a complementary entry into the festival.

Displaying thousands of original works of art, the festival is punctuated with pageantry, music and food. Townsfolk and visitors from around the West converge in the beautiful town of St. George on Easter weekend.

For most of the years of the Art Festival, works of art were chosen from those on display to become a permanent part of the collection of the St. George Art Museum. This is a never before seen exhibit in the Main Gallery of over 70 pieces of art each by a different artist in many media both 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional from the 30 years of acquisitions.

This year’s featured artist, Al Rounds, has a painting in the exhibit, as well as many perennial favorites and featured artists from the past. Art by Roland Lee, G. Russell Case, Oliver Parson, Del Parson, Matt Clark, Ron Rencher, Darrell Thomas, Lydia Dillon-Sutton, Roger Davis, David Jackson, David Merrill, Jerry Anderson, Marilee Campbell, Kate Starling, Denis Milhomme, Bob Quick, Gloria Miller Allen, Eric Dowdle, Ed Hlavka, Willie Holdman, and Kim Obruzt, just to name a few, will be on view.

Selections from A Century of Sanctuary: The Art of Zion National Park will continue upstairs. This once in a lifetime exhibit proved to be exceptionally popular with the public. The installation piece, Sensing Zion, as well as pieces from both the juried and historic shows will be re-organized and re-hung to provide a fresh viewing opportunity for visitors.

The 3rd Thursday Art Conversations return, so mark your calendars now (February 19, March 19, April 16, May 21), as you won’t want to miss any of these Art Conversations, exhibits, or the Art Festival.