This week Greg Marshall of the Park Record wrote an article about the exciting new changes and additions to the Park City Gallery Association Gallery Stroll. Below is an excerpt from the article, featuring Gallery MAR’s exhibition of works by Sharon Jackman and Brooks Yates.

A new website, brochure and an end to the $7 requested donation at the Kimball Art Center are some of the changes those attending Friday’s gallery stroll can expect. Art sellers are starting the New Year with a smorgasbord of exhibits, meet-and-greet receptions and a more inclusive scope that includes businesses north of Main Street and elsewhere in Park City. Kimball won’t be the place to kick off festivities anymore, said Connie Katz, one of the heads of the association. Instead, 24 different art sellers and nonprofit organizations, including the Kimball, will offer passersby hors d’œuvre, drinks and plenty of eye candy.

The Park City Gallery Stroll runs from 6 until 9 p.m. on the last Friday of every month.

“Our whole message is that you can start anywhere,” said Katz, who owns Coda Gallery on Lower Main Street. “You can start north of Main or you can start at the top. You don’t have to go and pay. You can go and stroll.”

The economy hasn’t dampened enthusiasm for the rejuvenated Gallery Association, Katz said. Mike Hale Chevrolet, a sponsor of the stroll, will display a Chevy Traverse on Main Street, and organizers plan to hold a drawing as part of a newfangled sense of unity in tough economic times.

Joining the gallery association was a “no-brainer” for Maren Bargreen, who opened Gallery MAR in the summer and is listed in the association’s brochure for the first time. Before she owned her own gallery, Bargeen directed other spaces in town. “For the first time in a long time we’re all working together,” she said.

As a general rule, Bargreen will pay for an artist’s lodging in a hotel. When she has played host, though, she said visiting artists make polite houseguests. “You stay up talking late at night,” she said. “Sometimes you gotta put them up.”

Urban landscapes, figurative oil paintings and crystal-encrusted ceramics will be on display during the January stroll. Here are some of highlights. Sharon Jackman’s ceramics don’t always take the familiar form of bowls, vases and plates. Instead, Jackman shapes smooth, white porcelain into flowers, trees and birds. Then she pours on a liquid crystal glaze and fires her pieces at 2,000 degrees. At white-hot temperatures, thick crystals grow on the surface. Jackman can’t control exactly where patterns form, but she can determine the color of crystals by applying different minerals and metals. Copper breeds green, cobalt blue and iron orange.

Jackman, who exhibit at Gallery MAR will be her first in Park City, earned her bachelor’s degree in modern dance and has spent much of her adult life working as a choreographer. She decided to retire from performing about 10 years ago and starting making ceramics. She has glazed her work with crystal for about four of those years. Bargreen saw Jackman’s work in a show in Las Vegas and knew she wanted to represent Jackman in Gallery MAR. “They were luminous and tribal,” Bargreen remembers. Some of the crystals are shaped like snowflakes. Others resemble mushrooms, thick and glassy.

“What draws people to my work are the shapes,” Jackman said. For more information on the gallery stroll, visit www.Parkcitygalleryassociation.com .

Made of wood and steel, Joe Norman’s tables present a fresh and modern design that accommodates a diverse palette of visual tastes. Currently we have a pedestal and console table in the gallery, and Norman’s work is is available by commission as well.

Joe Norman is a local Utah artist and teacher. He graduated with a degree in engineering from Stanford University prior to careers in product design consulting, education, and fine art. His furniture and sculpture explores environments that support and promote communities. Many of his designs are direct results of working with schools, families, and businesses to develop places that encourage people to work and be together in positive and supportive ways.

Norman believes that gathering places feed the soul of our communities; that it is around our kitchens or with our feet propped up on coffee tables that we have some of our most important conversations. He thinks the most important part of his work isn’t the tables he makes, but rather it is about the people that are sitting around them. In other words, we do not need more stuff in our lives that does not bring us together in community.

His furniture is made with recycled and environmentally conscious processes and materials whenever possible; he considers the earth itself as an important member of our global community. In fact, many of his ideas in were born from wrecking yards, recycling centers, and retired bicycles. His machine shop is powered by renewable wind energy.

The Gallery MAR view to Main Street is unmatched and this week we were able to take in all of the Sundance sights and frights. Stars who were spotted: Pierce Brosnan, Wesley Snipes, Benjamin Bratt, Anthony Edwards, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and more. The films very incredible this year and the we are so thankful to Sundance for bringing these incredible films and their makers to our snowy town. Favorites from the Fest: The End of the Line, The Reckoning, Motherhood, and Shouting Fire. Let’s hope that many of these will be distributed and that film-watchers all over the world will be able to experience them.

Warren Neary, “Evening Out,” Oil

Main Street has official been deluged with film-goers, studio execs, and celebrity gawkers. This quiet scene (above) fresh from Warren Neary’s studio is a far cry from the intense action and noise that is currently taking over Park City. The world renowned Sundance Film Festival is in its 25th year. We’ll keep a tally of celebrities who darken our door and post it in the next blog entry, along with the top films that we were able to see.

We’re going to also check out the New Frontier on Main, which melds art, science and film and where the only rules are that you break them. According to the Park Record, the films, which challenge viewers to examine everything from beekeepers to factory workers, can be seen throughout the 10-day festival on several of the festival screens around town. The installations play simultaneously on the lower level of the Main Street Mall from noon to 7 pm and are open to the public as space permits.

What’s your favorite Sundance Experience?

Ryan Brown, “Sunset over the Valley,” Oil

I would love to see Obama’s new administration follow the advice of France’s President, Nicolas Sarkozy. In France, beginning this week, all young people 25 or under will now have free access to any public museum or monument such as the Louvre or the Chateau de Versailles. In the past, all citizens under 18 already enjoyed free tickets. On New Year’s day, Sarkozy made several announcements aimed at promoting French culture and the arts. In addition to the new access to under-25s, Sarkozy said he planned to create a new national history museum, with a boosted annual national heritage budget.

In President-elect Obama’s platform for the arts, he sites himself as a “Champion of the Arts,” and says, “Our nation’s creativity has filled the world’s libraries, museums, recital halls, movie houses, and marketplaces with works of genius. The arts embody the American spirit of self-definition.” His platform presents 9 main goals. Let’s hope that he follows through with them and continues to be a champion for arts education and American artists.

• Reinvest in Arts Education: To remain competitive in the global economy, America needs to reinvigorate the kind of creativity and innovation that has made this country great. To do so, we must nourish our children’s creative skills. In addition to giving our children the science and math skills they need to compete in the new global context, we should also encourage the ability to think creatively that comes from a meaningful arts education.
• Expand Public/Private Partnerships Between Schools and Arts Organizations: Barack Obama will increase resources for the U.S. Department of Education’s Arts Education Model Development and Dissemination Grants, which develop public/private partnerships between schools and arts organizations. Obama will also engage the foundation and corporate community to increase support for public/private partnerships.
• Create an Artist Corps: Barack Obama supports the creation of an “Artists Corps” of young artists trained to work in low-income schools and their communities.
• Publicly Champion the Importance of Arts Education: As president, Barack Obama will use the bully pulpit and the example he will set in the White House to promote the importance of arts and arts education in America.
• Support Increased Funding for the NEA: Over the last 15 years, government funding for the National Endowment for the Arts has been slashed from $175 million annually in 1992 to $125 million today.
• Promote Cultural Diplomacy: American artists, performers and thinkers – representing our values and ideals – can inspire people both at home and all over the world.
• Attract Foreign Talent: The flipside to promoting American arts and culture abroad is welcoming members of the foreign arts community to America. Opening America’s doors to students and professional artists provides the kind of two-way cultural understanding that can break down the barriers that feed hatred and fear.
• Provide Health Care to Artists: Finding affordable health coverage has often been one of the most vexing obstacles for artists and those in the creative community. Since many artists work independently or have nontraditional employment relationships, employer-based coverage is unavailable and individual policies are financially out of reach. Barack Obama’s plan will provide all Americans with quality, affordable health care. His plan includes the creation of a new public program that will allow individuals and small businesses to buy affordable health care similar to that available to federal employees.
• Ensure Tax Fairness for Artists: Barack Obama supports the Artist-Museum Partnership Act, introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT). The Act amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow artists to deduct the fair market value of their work, rather than just the costs of the materials, when they make charitable contributions.

This last point is quite important for many working artists. Currently, artists can only “write-off” the materials that they used to create a work of art. This limits the number of artwork donations that are given to arts organizations and non-profits for the benefit. Let’s HOPE that Obama follows through with his platform and that we begin to see these changes in the arts, and soon.

Many thanks to our Park City locals for coming out to last night’s Recycle Utah “Glass and Green, Please!” Fund Raising party here at Gallery MAR. The silent auction items were a hit, as was the wine tasting bar and gorgeous food from Done to Your Taste Catering, Deer Valley, and the Gateway Grill. The Park City Players and Miss Fox of the Park City Wine Academy entertained us with their hilarious wine tasting shtick, and we even had our own guitar player who treated us to the “Plastic Bag Song”… what a night!

Outreach Director Lola Beatlebrox believed there to be over 250 people who attended, and with a donations bowl filled to the brim, we hope to be keeping the Recycling Center going strong for months to come. Thank you to Lola and to Insa Riepen, Executive Director, for taking up my offer to host this event. When people come together for the common good of their community, it’s truly amazing what we can accomplish.

We just heard news that celebrated Gallery MAR artist Kirk Tatom has moved to England for a spell. This is a very exciting turn of events and we can’t wait to see what work he will produce, inspired by the new scenery and landscape of the UK.

Kirk writes, “I moved from Santa Fe and Cambria to the West Coast of England, back at the end of September. I set up studio as soon as I could and it took a month to settle on a flat in Portishead. I knew the countryside would be a never ending source of new imagery, and each day holds an idea of something new I want to paint.

As the seasons have changed, this has held true. Now, with the leaves on the trees and bushes fallen, the grass is still green, which is very unlike California. It snowed a half inch a couple of days ago… and the green peeking out made for some unique visions.

I am living in a four story building on the third floor, overlooking a lock at the head of a large marina. I can see Cardiff, Wales from here (across the channel) and I’m told there is some great mountain biking over there.”

How fantastic for Kirk Tatom and his artistic pursuits! We look forward to seeing the new work that this area, and new experinces, will produce.