"I think it's a very diverse, beautiful show," said BDAC Director Emma J. Dugal. "There's something here for everyone to like."
Even a quick tour of the exhibit gives a taste of the wide range of styles that make up Utah art. A painting of zebras and egrets hangs alongside a photographic close-up of southern Utah's red rock.
Laughing portraits stare across at a painting made up of bright smears of color., while in another gallery a single tumbleweed sits beside an unusually empty stretch of a Salt Lake City street.
The central area of each gallery is reserved for sculptures and other three-dimensional entries. A grinning cat covered in blue and green ceramic tiles keeps company with a dog made of auto parts, while elsewhere a hand-made pop-up book with watercolor dragons warn that humans taste good with ketchup.
Elsewhere, a wrapped gown made out of hand-painted silk stands beside tiny stone dancers and a gourd covered in pink petunias. In the back, a dark, Gothic-looking building seems to loom despite its lack of height.
"It's probably a pretty good representation of what's being created in the state today. There's more artists with work in the show than we've had in a long time," said retiring BDAC Director Arley G. Curtz, who installed the exhibit. "There's also more work from artists I haven't heard anything about, which is wonderful."
The statewide competition winners, scattered throughout the exhibit, come from both these lesser known artists and those whose work is more famous.
A vivid watercolor close-up of a buffalo is the work of Oakley resident and first-place winner Don Weller, a professional illustrator who has done covers for Time magazine. The competition's third-place winner, a ceramic representation of water, was created by University of Utah professor David Pendell.
A painting of sheep grazing quietly in a field by Bountiful artist Roger Cushing was the second-place winner.
"It shows my memories of what Farmington Bay and West Bountiful looked like as I was growing up," said Cushing. "I thought it was strong enough to get into the show, but you never know what's going to happen."
Honorable mention winner and Farmington resident Travis Tanner contributed a mixed media work of found objects and newspaper fragments.
"The piece of art kind of works itself out," said Cushing. "I try to find objects in my work that people can have a connection to."
An information sheet is provided by the gallery for guests looking for more information about the pieces. Several of the art works are for sale, their prices discreetly listed on the small, clear labels that also includes the artist name and title.
jwardell@davisclipper.com
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