Show Preview | Zion Plein Air Invitational

Zion National Park, UT
Zion Nature Center, November 3-9

John Cogan, Virgin Glade, acrylic, 24 x 18.

This story was featured in the November 2014 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art November 2014 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story!

The magnificent scenery of Zion National Park forms the backdrop for this year’s Zion National Park Plein Air Art Invitational. Beginning November 3, two dozen top artists from across the country converge here to paint on location and follow in the footsteps of legendary 19th-century artist Thomas Moran, who did his first sketches capturing Zion in all its glory in 1873. Today’s landscape artists are able to retrace Moran’s journeys and visit some of the same vantage points. Among this year’s participating artists are Dave Santillanes, James McGrew, Gregory Stocks, Doug Braithwaite, Cody DeLong, Suze Woolf, John Cogan, and Bruce Gomez.

“In all the world there’s no place quite like Zion National Park,” says Lyman Hafen, executive director of the Zion National Park Foundation. “And in all the year, there’s not a week in the park quite as magical as the first full week of November, as 24 amazing artists come to Zion Canyon to paint amid the autumn splendor and interpret, in their own way, the beauty and mystery of its castles in the clouds.”

The weeklong event is packed with art activities. On November 3-6 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., artists give free demonstra-tions in oils, pastels, and watercolors on the patio of the Zion Human History Museum. There are also lectures with speakers such as James Swensen, professor of art history at Brigham Young University.

On Friday, November 7, at 7 p.m. the Zion Nature Center is transformed into an art gallery as the painters display  the fruits of their labors from painting in the park. There are more than 130 artworks on view at this gala reception and sale. The show is then open to the general public November 8-9. On Saturday, November 8, at 11 a.m. a paint-out takes place on the lawn of the Zion National Park Lodge. Shortly after 2 p.m. the artworks go on sale.

“If you can only spend one day in Zion this year,” Hafen says, “make it during the first full week of November, when the air is crisp, the leaves glow, and the artists are at work.” —Bonnie Gangelhoff

contact information
435.772.3264
www.zionpark.org

Featured in the November 2014 issue of Southwest Art magazine–click below to purchase:
Southwest Art November 2014 print issue or digital download Or subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss a story!