Show Preview | Centennial Celebration - Southwest Art Magazine

Zion National Park, UT
Zion Human History Museum, November 5-10

Suze Woolf, Foot of Angels, watercolor, 15 x 22.

This story was featured in the November 2019 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art November 2019 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

WHEN ZION NATIONAL Park was established in November 1919, a very special park was born in the geographically stunning region of southwestern Utah—a park that would go on to rank as one of the busiest in the country. This month, as the beloved nature preserve turns 100, the park’s official nonprofit partner, the Zion National Park Forever Project, hosts a festive celebration in its honor. At the core of the event, entitled Centennial Celebration of Art, is the park’s 11th annual invitational plein-air art show and sale at the Zion Human History Museum.

: James McGrew, Winter Symphony, oil, 24 x 48.

: Roland Lee, Hiking the Narrows, watercolor, 14 x 10.

: Cody DeLong, Big Bend Dreaming, oil, 30 x 60.

Among the participating artists is Utah pastel painter Arlene Braithwaite, this year’s featured Centennial artist, as well as Michelle Condrat, Bill Cramer, Cody DeLong, Roland Lee, and a half-dozen other nationally recognized landscape artists, all of whom have been featured artists at the invitational in years past. “These artists have been great interpreters and great ambassadors for Zion, and that’s part of what this event is about,” says executive director Lyman Hafen. Thus, on Wednesday, November 6, and Thursday, November 7, the artists can be found painting en plein air and interacting with park visitors amidst Zion’s iconic slot canyons, red cliffs, and verdant river valley. The artists also take part in demonstrations on the museum’s patio on Wednesday and Thursday, and their demo pieces are up for sale in a silent auction from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday at Zion Lodge. During that time, the artists gather on the Lodge lawn and create additional fresh paintings for purchasing.

: Arlene Braithwaite, Zion Sentinels, pastel, 40 x 27.

: John Cogan, Court of the Patriarchs Evening, acrylic, 30 x 40.

: John Cogan, Zion Cathedral, acrylic, 24 x 30.

“The plein-air portion is still a major component of the event,” says Hafen, “but we’re also focusing on the artists’ studio works this year.” Each artist submitted five studio paintings for the exhibition, he adds, including one designated Centennial painting that is “a larger, more epic-size painting.” All 55 studio pieces can be viewed in a virtual exhibition and sale on Zion Forever’s website through November 10. Meanwhile, the paintings go on display at the museum during the Centennial Celebration of Art show and sale, which opens to the public at 9 a.m. on Saturday, November 9, and hangs through 2 p.m. Sunday.

Of course, the exhibition also includes dozens of fresh plein-air works created by the artists during the paint-out. “We turn the museum’s auditorium into a gallery, a portion of which is also a wonderful exhibition of the history and artifacts of the first 100 years of Zion,” says Hafen, referring to an overarching exhibition entitled 100 Objects—100 Images. “We wanted to tie our art event to Zion’s history and celebrate how art has played a role.” —Kim Agricola

contact information
435.772.3264
www.zionpark.org