The Fourth Annual Escalante Canyons Art Festival held on October 4th, 5th, and 6th 2007, was enjoyed by all; artists and patrons. The festival committee congratulates the 2007 Plein Air award winners from entries in two categories, Oil/Acrylic, Watercolor/Mixed Media. There were 91 entries by 75 artists representing 13 states. The artists' ages and abilities ranged from young to old from professional, to student, and amateur. Grand Prizes were awarded to Cynthia Mohseni of Sheridan, Wyoming in the Oils/Acrylic category and Arlene Braithewaite from Cedar City, Utah in the Watercolor/Pastel/Mixed Media category.

Margy Lease painting the waterfall in Main Canyon

In addition to the Plein Air painting competition and exhibit, the festival also included 48 artist vendors working in various mediums from wood, ceramics, textiles, stone, and glass and well as many painters in watercolor, oils, and acrylics. There were numerous art demonstrations and workshops in Escalante and Boulder. The crowds were entertained all day on Friday and Saturday in the festival Plaza with a great variety of talented musicians and dancers, many homegrown Escalante and Boulder talent. We had rain again in 2007, and that prompted the festival organizers to move the festival for 2008 to September 26, 27, and 28.

Artist Sarah Straw

Tryntje Van Ness Seymore and Brad Holt. Background: Festival organizer, Steve Roberts

Download the complete list of 2007 artists (.pdf)

Thursday, October 4, 2007 at 7:00 PM at the Escalante Interagency Visitor Center Auditorium



Join one of Bryce Canyon’s “Dark Rangers”, Angie Richman as she explores how humans have connected to the stars throughout time from prehistory to the present. It is followed by stargazing with telescopes brought to you by the Bryce Canyon astronomy team. Funded by the National Park Service.

Earth at Night




Friday, October 5, 2007 at 1:00 PM at the Escalante Interagency Visitor Center Auditorium



This is a power-point presentation of the roads between Escalante and Boulder from 1895 to the present. There were three early roads that were used: The Phipps Wash/Haymaker Bench Road (1895 to 1906), the Head of the Rocks/Phipps Pasture Road (1906 to 1924), the Cream Cellar Road (1924-1935). In 1935 the Civilian Conservation Corps began building the Calf Creek Road that was completed in 1941. This became known as the "Million Dollar Highway."

Cream Cellar



Friday. October 5, 2007 at 3:00PM at the Escalante Interagency Visitor Center Auditorium


Don’s unique cultural heritage and archaeological knowledge gives him enhanced interpretive insights into the ebb and flow of human occupation of the Colorado Plateau. Working with Native American informants and local guides and outfitters, Don is helping to identify Prehistoric peoples ties to the Escalante River Canyons. Native American ties to the landscape include interpreting landmarks, rockart, and archaeological sites as they pertain to sacred landscapes and how they relate to geography.
Don’s research methods include using Geographical Information Systems (GIS/GPS) and Archaeometry in identifying significant resources used by the ancient occupants of the Escalante Canyons.

"People Living along the Escalante River for Thousands of Years"



Friday, October 5, 2007 at 7:00PM at the Escalante High School Auditorium


In the early spring of 1936 the San Francisco photographer Dorothea Lange made her first trip through Utah for the Resettlement Administration, an agency in President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. Her task was to record the various projects at work in the region and to show that her agency was living up to its mandate of helping America's rural population weighed down by the Great Depression. Prior to her visit to Escalante she documented the resettlement of neighboring Widtsoe. There she photographed a town that was, in her mind, already in an advanced state of decay. Her next assignment was Escalante - the site where her young friend Everett Reuss had last been seen two years earlier. As she worked her way to the town she had to wonder whether this town would follow a similar fate. This presentation will examine her distinctive portrait of Escalante; one that highlighted the perseverance and strength of its residents and their pioneer traditions. Her representation of the town was important for not only did it provide a foil to the abandonment of Widtsoe, but Escalante became a deeply layered symbol of the rugged spirit of survival and community deep in the American West.
Photo: Dorothea Lange, The movie theatre of Escalante, Utah. April, 1936. Library of Congress


Saturday, October 6, 2007 at 11:00AM at the Escalante Interagency Visitor Center Auditorium



The effect that modernism has had on contemporary artists' depiction of the West reveals a broad variety of methods unified by modern attitudes and aesthetics. Approaches vary from realistic to conceptual but the focus remains on the dramatic landforms and deep space of the Colorado Plateau country that caught the imagination of such early artists as Thomas Moran and Maynard Dixon. Painters Merrill Mahaffey and Ed Mell continue the tradition of analyzing and depicting the nuances of this vast landscape. Their art reflects contemporary approaches to art making, as well as the enduring hold that the Romantic tradition has on artists and the public. English painter Tony Foster creates mixed-media artwork that reveals an intimate view of the landscape and natural history of the remote plateau areas he visits. Foster's documentary approach conveys complex relationships of the natural world and the role of the artist in interpreting them. The work of these three painters aptly reflects important developments in contemporary depictions of landscape and the changing American perspectives of the West.

Merrill Mahaffey “Sunrise”




Saturday, October 6, 2007 at 1:30 PM at the Escalante Interagency Visitor Center Auditorium



The City of Escalante, in Garfield County, southern Utah, fortunately has a relatively large number and high density of historically significant buildings that document its pioneer, Mormon, and ranching heritages. Although Escalante is relatively remote geographically, its architectural styles have through the decades reflected the various styles that have been popular elsewhere in the United States. Structures that are historically significant in Escalante, especially those dating from the 1880s to the 1950s, include pioneer cabins, permanent residences in the Federal, Queen Anne (Victorian), Colonial Revival, Arts and Crafts (Craftsman), and Art Deco styles, barns and granaries, and public buildings. Lawrence G. Barnes has generously volunteered his services.

Peoples Exchange Building



Saturday, October 6, 2007 at 3:00 PM at the Escalante Interagency Visitor Center Auditorium




Based on oral history interviews and photographs created in the summer of 2007, this presentation will chronicle the quilts and artwork of Escalante's Yukon Norman and other family members. Yukon and her family are the featured artists for the 2007 Escalante Canyons Arts Festival. Partially funded by Envision Escalante.

Yukon Norman Quilt