This year’s Arts Festival kicked off new program and venture for the Kimball Art Center: RELEVANT, through which young, emerging artists are mentored and supported and encouraged to flourish and create right here in Park City.

Daily work sessions included critiques by mentors and peers and round table discussions, of which I was able to be a member. The residency requires dedication, long hours, deadlines and flexibility and will continue next year in 2011.

Through this artist-in-residence program, students were given the experience of developing art for sale, while being challenged to expand their artistic boundaries. During the residency each student’s primary goal was to create a piece… of artwork that was sold at the Opening Night Art Auction and Gala. Ryan Hughes’ painting was picked up at the Friday night Gala by two very lucky collectors– myself and Mr. Mullin.

The rest of the weekend brought even more events and artistic experiences.  On Friday night, Ron Russon painted a demonstration here at the gallery and on Saturday and Sunday we featured two jewelry artists, Susan Richer and Cyndi Sharp, here at Gallery MAR.

Two of our Gallery MAR artists, Penelope Moore and Aaron Memmott, were featured in the festival, and we are fortunate to have new works by both artists in the gallery today. The BMI Cafe at The Downstairs blasted fantastic new musicians all weekend long, with our favorite Seattle-based shown artist above, Alan Stone.

Local Utah painter Ron Russon will visit Gallery MAR on Friday, August 6th from 6 to 8 pm to paint in the gallery. Friday night is the “Locals’ Night” of the Park City Arts Festival, and the KAC is asking for $10 donations for non-locals. This is a great night to come by the gallery and see the newest works on and off the street.

Russon’s latest works are exhibited right now, in the “Color Theories” show. Mary Scrimgeour is also featured. Stop by and see the artist at work!

Park City Art Gallery

Wearable artwork by local, emerging artists!  Gallery MAR is pleased to welcome Susan Richer of “Eagle Designs” and Cyndi Sharp of “Rooted in Stone” for an exclusive Trunk Show August 7th and 8th, both days from 11:00 AM until 3:00 PM.

The Arts Festival is the perfect time to introduce these two exciting artists. Both Susan and Cyndi design unique, one of a kind jewelry, and are local here to Park City. Both artists will be in attendance here at the gallery over the Arts Festival weekend.

Susan turned her lifelong passion of designing jewelry into making wearable art, using organic elements that are thoughtful and respectful of their origin. It is important to Susan to know the history of the elements she uses: antique prayer beads, fossils, antique glass and ostrich shells (to name just a few).

Cyndi’s passion for rustic furniture lead her to learn the art of furniture making, through which she designed and built furniture of twigs and roots. She now designs on a much smaller scale: creating jewelry of burled roots found in the forests of Utah and gemstones from around the world creating very unique and interesting pieces.

What a fantastic weekend for our Park City art community! Many thanks to our local artist Brooks Yates for coming by the gallery to paint here and delight our guests. This weekend was incredibly hot (both the temperature and the art!) and packed to gills every day with festival-goers. Friday night was the best night by far, in my opinion, with locals streaming through and picking up artistic goodies to add to their collections. Favorites of the 225 artist? Salt Lake painter Erin Berrett and Seattlite Brian McGuffey. Congratulations to the Kimball Art Center on their very successful annual auction on Thursday night and the popularity of the festival on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

It’s hard to believe that this is the Kimball Art Center’s 39th year hosting the Park City Arts Festival. Congratulations! This is the largest art festival in Utah, with growth every year.

As always, Main Street will close down on Friday afternoon to allow the artists and craftsmen to set up their booths. On this night, locals can check out the booths in a free sneak peak starting at around 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The official festival kicks off on Saturday, August 2nd from 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. and runs through Sunday, August 3rd from 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. 225 artists will showcase their wares and live music; 3 beer and wine gardens, and delicious food will entice you to stay all day. There’s also a Kids’ Corner featuring activities including face painting and art projects to keep the little ones busy.

“How to Fest”:

• Park at the Park City Mountain Resort lot and take a 5 minute bus to Main Street, or carpool with friends and park in one of the Marsac lots.

• Arrive early and walk up one side of the street during the coolest part of the day. Grab a Navajo Taco and a beer for lunch at the top of Main, then stroll down to see the other side of the street.

• Come at night and make a reservation at one of your favorite restaurants. My pick? Artichokes and trout on the patio at Cafe Terigo, or blistered beans and sushi on Shabu’s deck.

• Take a full tour before making any purchase decisions. Ask the vendor to put the piece in hold for 30 minutes if you need some time to think. Can’t live without it? Snatch up the piece right away… many vendors sell out and your piece may not be there later!

• Don’t forget a visit to Gallery MAR at 580 Main Street– we will have Utah artist Brooks Yates performing an artist demonstration on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

It’s 7PM and 95 degrees, but the shade from the Salt Lake City and County building casts a cooling shadow over the first evening of the Sale Lake Arts Festival. Because this was the opening night, perhaps, the place was packed the energy was incredible last night. All of these people coming together to celebrate Utah Arts- visual, musical, literary, performing, and more. It’s truly inspiring.

The Artist’s Marketplace is the backbone of the fest, with 133 artists from all over the country. Some favorites to watch out for: Richard Curtner (booth 11), Erin W. Berrett (booth 21), Aaron Fritz (booth 96), and Brian Blackman (booth 132) just to name a few. For families, art booths like the Mad Hatter and a recycled materials-based playground keep the kids busy. Live music comes at you from all directions- stages spot the grounds. Also, the food selection was quite nice. All the of the expected fair foods, along with Thai noodles and even a beer and wine garden.

Because of the heat in the city, I’d recommend you go at night, grab some corn on the cob and sit by the library water feature to enjoy the people watching. The festival runs until Sunday, every day until 11 pm in Library Square.

Park City’s own Art Festival, sponsored by the Kimball Art Center, is this August 1-3, right here on Main Street. We will be open all weekend long and will feature an artist demonstration by Brooks Yates on Saturday from 11-2, right here in the gallery.