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To all of our artists, art vendors, musicians, dancers, speakers and presenters, our sincere thanks for lending your time and talent to the seventh annual Escalante Canyons Art Festival. The quality of the art that was entered has never been better, and the whole festival was sensational. Artists from all over Utah and several other states participated in the competition and sold their wares. There were some great discussions around campfires and in motel rooms about the nature of art, painting techniques and style, and the beauty of the fantastic landscape around Escalante. The festival awarded $8,000.00 in prize monies to the competing artists this year.
Best of Show Award in Mixed Media was garnered by Boulder UT resident Scotty Mitchell and Best of Show Award in Oil/Acrylic, as well as Paint-Out Artists' Award winner was Ben Sowards of Cedar City UT. Also from Cedar City, Rob Wilson was the recipient of both the Student Award, a first-time competition which includes a lengthy exhibit at the USFS Red Canyon Visitor Center, and an Honorable Mention in the open competition.
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Escalante resident, Arina Mortensen was voted the People's Choice Award and newcomer, Bill Cramer of Prescott AZ was selected by his peers for the Artists' Choice Award.
Judging for the 2010 Plein Air Competition was done by last year's Best of Show winners, Tryntje Seymour and Herb White, with the addition of Garfield and Wayne County art gallery personnel Irene Schack von Brockdorff and Nancy Green. In addition to other acknowledgements, Awards of Merit were presented to Jeff Potter, Carol Johansen, Clay Wagstaff and Doug Braithwaite. Honorable Mention recipients were Susan Wilson, Randy Russell, Arina Mortensen, Jennifer Gubler, Leslie Jensen, Valerie Orlemann, Brad Holt, Bill Cramer, Rob Wilson and James Gunter.
Richard Costigan, former Escalante resident and current Red Canyon Visitor Center manager, initiated the Student Award program as an added incentive and encouragement for young artists. At the Saturday Gala, he explained the program and presented the award to Rob Wilson, a graduate of SUU and candidate to graduate school in art. There are more details about this exhibit on the Students page: www.everettruessdays.org/students.html.
Thirty-seven registered artists competed in the first Paint-Out on the Wednesday of the event in a five-hour time limit and under stormy conditions. This number represented nearly half of all artists and despite wind and dirt, all seemed to weather it well and submitted diverse perspectives of the defined area. The success of this addition to the festival is an aspect which will become permanent as the ECAF continues to expand. For information about the 2011 “Paint Out” go to: http://www.everettruessdays.org/exhibits.html.
Attendees at the ECAF enjoyed the diversity of Speakers, Entertainers, Food and the wares of the Vendors. Also, the artists were provided an opportunity to sell their non-judged works in the Vendor Hall, the Escalante Elementary students displayed their creativity in a special exhibit and many donations of products were sold in the Silent Auction as a benefit to future festivals.
The ECAF committee wishes to thank all people who participated in this year's events and who donated time, money or products which helped to make it so successful. An invitation is extended to anyone in the area who would like to join the committee. All help will be appreciated. With renewed enthusiasm, the committee is looking forward to the Eighth Annual Escalante canyons Art Festival this September. We are planning some important changes that will make the festival better for everyone this year. More information on these exciting changes will be forthcoming.
Please share your suggestions for improving the festival and help us to make it even more successful for all and don’t forget that you can now make an online tax deductible donation anytime on this webpage.
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Above: “Paint Out” voting
Left: Brad Holt Grand Prize winner Oil/Acrylic in 2007
Below: Longhorns posing for the “Paint Out” artists at
Slot Canyons Inn
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Escalante Canyons Art Festival
P.O. Box 40
Escalante UT 84726
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