Curator Jenny Dawn Stucki notes that the relationship between artists and Zion haS been intimate and long-standing.  In his later life, Maynard Dixon made his home in Mt. Carmel to be near the park.  The park's very existence is due in part to an artist.  Frederick Dellenbaugh, a member of the 2nd Powell expedition, paintinged  Zion Canyon in the summer of 1903.  He exhibited the works at the 1904 St. Louis Worlds Fair. This exhibition set into motion Congress's 1909 act to make Zion Canyon a national park.

ZION: Historic and Contemporary Works 
representing Zion National Park

(On loan from Museum of Art, BYU:)
• “High in the Morning” by Maynard Dixon
• “Mesa Near Zion’s Canyon” by LeConte Stewart
• “Great White Throne” by Phillip H. Barkdull
• “Watchman, Zion’s Canyon” by Edwin Evans
• “Lady Mountain” by John B. Fairbanks
• “Temple of Sinewa” by George Dibble

(On loan from LDS Church Museum of History&Art:)
• “Zion Canyon Landscape” 1946 oil by J.H. Stansfield
• “Great White Throne” oil by Paul Fjellboe
• “The Watchman” 1924 oil by J.B. Fairbanks
• “Great White Throne” 1917 charcoal drawing by J.B. Fairbanks
• “One of the Three Patriarchs– Zion canyon” oil by John Fery
• “Zion Canyon Landscape” 1924 oil by Lewis A. Ramsey

(On loan from Springville Museum of Art:)
•  "Great White Throne" 1910 c. oil by John Fery
• "Great White Throne" Zion Park, 1920's oil/board by Lorin Covington 
• "Angel's Landing, Zions" 1925 c. by Lorin Covington 
• “Altarpiece to Maynard” oil by Steve Bartholomew
• “Narrows” oil by Floyd Breinholt

(On loan from the University of Utah)
• “Great White Throne” Leconte Stewart

(On loan from Martha Goldstein:)
• various photographs and dye transfer prints from photographer, Milton Goldstein

(On loan from Zion National Park Permanent Collection and miscellaneous private collectors:)
•  “Virgin Del Rio” 1917 oil by Thomas Moran
• two watercolors of Zion area by Milford Zornes
• “Zion National Park” 1932 oil by LeConte Stewart
• “In Zion” 1934 gouache by Maynard Dixon
• “Temples of the Rio Virgin” 1885 oil by Alfred William Lambourne
• “Valley of the Rio Virgin” 1885 oil by Alfred William Lambourne
• “Zion” 1930 c. oil by Edwin Evans
• (Zion panel, #3 of 5) 1986 oil by Anton Rasmussen
• “Pulpit at the Temple of Sinewava” 2001 oil by Jim Jones
• “Canyon of the Possible”1996 acrylic by Lynn Berryhill
• “Zion Rocks” silver point by Gaell Lindstrom
 • “Zion Morning” 1998 watercolor by Wallace Lee
• “Zion’s Glory” 2001 watercolor by Roland Lee
• Royden Card (three Zion woodcuts entitled, “Zion Walls”, “Zion Light” & “Thrones”)
• “Emerging” (two mule deer in Zion National Park) 1997 oil by Jason Rich
 

"ZION: TELLING THE TRUTH OF IT" By Lyman Hafen,  Executive Director Zion Natural History Association

        Those of us who grew up with Zion Canyon in our backyard are a small minority in this very big world. Every day of the year a few hundred, to as many as several thousand people see the place for the first time. I envy them as their heads tilt reverently back and their glowing eyes trace the towers of Kayenta and Navajo Sandstone from the Virgin River's edge up and up and up through the sedimentary ages to where the red and white pinnacles finally break against the purple sky like the spires and turrets of otherworldly castles. I envy them because you can only see it for the first time once.
        For me, that first time is one of my earliest and most profound memories, a treasure I keep locked in a very secure vault. It was more than 40 years ago, but it remains as vivid and true as if it were but a moment past. I was a little boy that day and as my chin rose I witnessed those towers of stone as they ascended into the heavens and stood like castles in the clouds. As my eyes soared to that new level, so did my heart; and the memory is so true and so cherished I can hardly recall it without fear it will all dissolve into the distant blue and be gone forever.
        That is why I appreciate the art of Zion Canyon. For the past 130 years, gifted artists, from Thomas Moran to Gaell Lindstrom and Roland Lee, from Maynard Dixon to Jim Jones and Lynn Berryhill, have transformed onto canvas and paper the wonder and the mystery and the unutterable beauty of the canyon. Now, for what I believe is the first time, a selection of those timeless works has been gathered in one exhibit at the St. George Art Museum. In this unique collection are found many of the finest pieces of Zion Canyon art ever created, from the historic to the contemporary.
        Beginning with "Temples of the Rio Virgin" and "Valley of the Rio Virgin" oil paintings by Alfred William Lambourne painted in 1885, and Moran's wondrous "Virgin Del Rio,"1917, the exhibit follows the trail of the masters through Zion, from LeConte Stewart's "Mesa Near Zion's Canyon," to Maynard Dixon's "High in the Morning,"1933, to John B. Fairbanks's "Lady Mountain," to Lauren Covington's "Great White Throne," and George Dibble's abstract interpretation of "Temple of Sinewava." The work of more than 27 artists is represented here. It has been gathered from private collections; from the Brigham Young University Museum of Art; the LDS Church Museum of History and Art; the Springville Museum of Art; Utah Museum of Fine Arts, University of Utah; Zion National Park's permanent collection; and the Thunderbird Foundation for the Arts. There are oils, photographs, woodcuts and watercolors, all of it alive with color and light...and truth.
        Maynard Dixon once said his mind was "set to tell the truth of it" on paper and on canvas. In addition to the common subject that carries through all of these works, perhaps it is the element of truth found in each one that distinguishes it and qualifies it for this exhibit. There are many ways to get at the truth, and each of the artists represented here has found it through his or her own means.

        The truth of Zion Canyon is revealed to each of us the first time we raise our eyes to the tops of its pinnacles. Sadly, we can only experience it for the first time once. And yet, during the next few weeks, it is our fortune to view these beautifully varied interpretations of Zion, and through the transforming power of art, our souls can be sparked and our hearts renewed with the wonder we felt that first time. The truth revealed in these paintings allows us to see Zion anew, again...and again.