About
INSPIRED BY WILDERNESS
In November 1934, at age
twenty, Everett Ruess disappeared from the rugged canyon country near Escalante, Utah, and was never seen again.
Although his burros were found near his camp, his fate remains a mystery. Everett Ruess was an artistic,
adventurous young man who set out alone several times to experience the beauty, as well as the fury of nature in the
American West. During the 1930s, he met and discussed art with painter Maynard Dixon, and with well-known photographers
Ansel Adams, Edward Weston and Dorothea Lange. He was lured first by the splendors of Yosemite and the California coast
and later by portions of the lonely Red Rock Country of Utah and Arizona.
To celebrate the life and work of this enigmatic artist – local business people, caring citizens and artists, with the help of top Ruess aficionados, have organized the Escalante Canyons Art Festival/Everett Ruess Days. The Non-Profit Organizations “Envision Escalante” and “Escalante Canyons Group for Arts and Humanities" and other supporters present the “Working Arts Festival” as a premiere art and literary gathering with the aim of welcoming people to the stunning landscapes surrounding this area of Utah and giving attendees an opportunity to learn some of its rich history.
We invite Utah and the world to come and experience the intense beauty in and around the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
Everett's spirit of adventure touches a special creative desire in all of us as we seek to express, as he did, our response to the rugged landscape and mystery of the Escalante Canyons and Red Rock Country.
FESTIVAL EVENTS
The Fifth Annual Escalante Canyons Art Festival/ Everett Ruess Days will be September 21 - 28, 2008 in Escalante and Boulder, Utah. A highlight of the festival will be the Plein Air Painting Competition in which each participant will have from the morning of Sunday, September 21st through the afternoon of Thursday, September 25th to complete a landscape painting within Garfield, Kane, or Wayne counties. Festival events will also include a fine arts and crafts exhibition and sale, lectures, poetry slams, films about Everett Ruess, exhibits, workshops, gallery open houses, walking tours of nearby historic buildings, and performances by cowboy poets, dance groups and musicians. Artists and vendors are invited to follow the menu links to download registration forms and participate in this year's festival.
CONTACTS
General Information: Escalante Canyons Art Festival/ Everett Ruess Days
PO Box 40
Escalante, UT 84726
Tel: (435) 826-4199 or (435) 826-4810
info@envisionescalante.org
Festival Director:
Howard Hutchison
hutch@color-country.net
Treasurer:
Karin Smith-Simmons
smith40183@yahoo.com
Committee Chairs:
Speakers: Brigitte Delthony
Boulder Events: Peg Smith
Exhibit Hall: Karen Rangitsch
Local liasons: Arnold Alvey, Garth Noyes
Plein Air:
Melanie Boone-Rezneck, Plein Air Co-chairperson
mboone@scinternet.net
Kent "Sandy" Larsen, Plein Air Co-chairperson
mailto:sanlar24@hotmail.com
Publicity: Ruthanne Oliver, Sharol Bernardo
Web Liason: Kent Sandy Larsen
Maintained by: DenWeb Development - www.denwebdsn.com
Official Festival Photographer: Allysia Angus