Show Preview | Escalante Canyons Art Festival

Escalante, UT
Various locations, September 25-28

2012 Best of Show winner: Susette Gertsch, Looking West Over Spencer Flats, oil, 20 x 30.

This story was featured in the September 2013 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art September 2013 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story!

During the last weekend of September, the tiny town of Escalante, UT, swells with artists and art lovers for the annual Escalante Canyons Art Festival. The weeklong plein-air painting competition culminates in a weekend art festival with a fine-art auction, a crafts fair, lectures, workshops, and live entertainment.

Beginning Friday, September 20, 85 to 95 plein-air painters take their date-stamped blank canvases into the nearby landscape and paint for up to six full days, creating work for the competition and sale, which begins on the Friday, September 27.

Utah artist Nancy Monteith paints above the Escalante River headwaters.

On Wednesday, September 25, artists are invited to participate in a one-day paint-out that begins at 7 a.m. in a designated area in town. Visitors can watch artists as they create up to five pieces, from which each artist can select one to enter into the paint-out competition. From 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursday evening, artists and patrons are invited to an artists’ reception at the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Visitor Center, where the award for the in-town paint-out is presented.
Weekend festival events commence at 8 a.m. on Friday morning, with art and craft booths opening and lectures and entertainment kicking off around town. Paintings from both the plein-air competition and the in-town paint-out are on view and available for purchase in the silent auction. At 6:30 on Saturday evening, the silent auction closes and a gala reception takes place with more than $4,000 in awards presented for the plein-air competition.

In addition to the silent auction items on view, there are also multiple art exhibits at the community center as well as a tent where visitors can purchase other works created during the event. —Laura Rintala

contact information
760.424.6401
www.escalantecanyonsartfestival.org

Featured in the September 2013 issue of Southwest Art magazine–click below to purchase:
Southwest Art September 2013 print issue or digital download
Or subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss a story!