This spring some artists of Utah will become artists in Italy, thanks to an initiative by gallery owners Mary Pearson and Annette Dunford. Pearson and Dunford, owners of the Magpie Gallery(SLC) and artists themselves, have created a traveling club designed to allow artists to travel and work together while sharing costs. This May and June the group will be traveling to Italy to paint under a Tuscan sun.

"I've always wanted to go to Italy," says Pearson, "and I know a number of artists who really enjoy traveling there. We decided it might be fun to create a group trip for artists to travel and work together.” Pearson says.

The package Pearson and Dunford have put together includes lodging in a Tuscan villa, a van and gas expenses for transportation, and partial meal costs. The group  will be staying in Sinalunga, a town in Tuscany between Arezzo and Sienna and on the highway between Rome and Florence.

"We've worked hard to make a trip that will allow artists to concentrate on their work and enjoy themselves, all at a reasonable rate," Pearson says.

Salt Lake City artist Shawn Rossiter has joined the venture to provide his linguistic (and automotive) talents. Rossiter speaks fluent Italian and has traveled extensively in the country. He will be driving the group's van, taking the artists to the mountains, fields, hill towns and cities that are within easy reach of the villa. “I guess I’ll be part chauffeur, part tour guide -- hopefully taking the hassle out of traveling.  No time wasted getting lost, or looking for a parking spot.  The artists coming on the trip will have little else to think about than which viewpoint they prefer for their sketch.”

The artists will have ample opportunity to do more than just sketch, Pearson points out. 

The villa the group has rented is equipped with a large well-lit artist studio. 
To encourage people to stay longer and really take advantage of the opportunity to paint, Pearson and Dunford have discounted the price for additional weeks. And as Pearson points out, for artists the whole trip is discounted --"the Uncle Sam discount -- thirty perccent.  It's all a business expense for artists."

Though the location of the villa is a short distance from famous medieval and Renaissance Italian towns as well as a large lake and rolling hills, Pearson says that the artists won’t even need to travel that far for material.  The villa itself is located in a picturesque location, perched on a hill surrounded by vineyards. The property is surrounded by a rock wall, includes a pool and a view of a nearby convent.

Of the location Rossiter says “Sinalunga is in an absolutely perfect location for this venture.  The town sits at the edge of the siennese hills and overlooks the chiana valley, providing artists with a variety of natural scenery. And it is centrally located between a number of wonderful Italian towns.” Within a half-hour drive the artists will be able to visit Sienna, Cortona, Orvieto, Arezzo, Perugia, and Assisi.

A number of artists have already signed up,  but spots are still available. Pearson wants everyone to know that -- though the trip is designed for artists -- spouses, partners and regular tourists are also welcome. 

To make the group experience from the trip complete, the Magpie Gallery will hold an exhibit of works from the trip in the fall of 2002.  Weeks for the Italian excursion are available Saturday to Saturday from May 18th to June 15th.  Mary and Annette can be contacted at the Magpie Gallery or at Mary's email: marempic@yahoo.com  For more information on the trip click here.

Southern Utah's most famous attraction, Zion National Park, receives relatively few visitors during the cold month of February.  This year, though, the St. George Art Museum has seen to it that everyone can enjoy a view of the park in relative comfort.  With an exhibit simply entitled Zion, the museum presents to local and international art lovers a panorama of artistic views of the singular wonder that is Zion.

The exhibit features over thirty historic and contemporary artworks depicting Zion National Park. The museum has culled works from a number of collections to display a timeline of artistic interaction with this  natural wonder. From Thomas Moran to Anton Rasmussen, these works reveal the vibrant colors, unique formations and matchless interplay of light and shadow that have attracted some of the west's best painters to the park.
Two pieces by Thomas Moran dominate the beginning of the exhibition. Done in the grand landscape tradition, in relatively dark tones and with a Romantic view of the landscape, the pieces look as if they were painted only a few yards from each other, the light in one possibly a half hour after the first.
As one progresses chronologically into the twentieth century, the palettes of the artists quickly brighten. The works by LeConte Stewart and Maynard Dixon seem to set the tone for many of the paintings in the exhibit -- fulfilling the promise of some of the earlier works and setting the tone for the ones that come after.

At least half the show consists of works by contemporary artists, proving that despite its increased popularity among tourists, the park remains a place of wonder and solace for artists.

These woodblock prints by Royden Card  are among the contemporary works in the exhibit.

Though oil paintings dominate the exhibit, other media are represented including watercolor, wood block prints, and of course photography. Color photography is a perfect medium for the bright colors and intricate details of the rock formations in the park. The exhibit presents four winter scenes by Milton Goldstein, who uses snow to add white and purple to the redrock palette of Zion. Zion is no less interesting stripped of color as Gaell Lindstrom's black and white photograph amply demonstrates. 
The nature of the exhibit helps to create some visually intriguing relationships. For example, the Great White Throne is a recurring image in the pieces, allowing the spectator to compare how different artists have treated the same motif. 

St. George may be far away from the excitement and hoopla of the Olympic Games, but this exhibit is proof that also Dixie is putting on its best colors during the month of February. 

STOP THE PRESSES: Late additions. See more on the Zion exhibit here.

ZION will be on display on the main floor of the museum until April 13th, 2002.  Admission is free.

Showing on the upper floor of the St. George Art Museum is INTERSECTION, an exhibit by Willamarie Huelskamp. Huelskamp's works are done in water-based media using mythological imagery from Utah's petroglyphs. The exhibit will be on display until February 23, 2002.

The St. George Art Museum is located at the Pioneer Center for the Arts, 47 East 200 North, St. George, UT 84770.