Governor honors Keaton

Actress Diane Keaton and her love for the arts were recognized Friday during a celebratory gala held by the new Museum of Utah Art & History.

Gov. Olene Walker presented Keaton with the Governor's Award for Devotion, thanking her for her service to the arts.

"Diane Keaton is a lover of the arts, and she has done much for the arts community," Walker said at the gala at the Grand America Hotel.

Keaton's interest in Western art, historical architecture preservation and photography prompted the museum to invite her as the gala's guest of honor. Not only has she received an Academy Award and two Golden Globes, she is also an avid patron of the arts, having edited and written five image-driven books on photography, architecture and art.

Keaton said she began collecting Western art when she and her sister, Dorrie Hall, received "Desert Dreams," a collection of paintings by Utah artist Maynard Dixon. Since then, she and Hall have been collectors of an art genre that they consider largely overlooked.

"I am thrilled that some of those artists, who have slipped through the cracks, will find a home in Utah," Keaton said.

During a brief question and answer session, Keaton enthusiastically answered questions about her interest in art but deftly skirted questions about her career in film.

When asked which museum was her favorite, Keaton said that she enjoyed a small gallery museum in New York City that was devoted to German art. Like the gallery, which focuses on a specific region, Keaton said that the Museum of Utah Art & History also will be successful in that regard.

While serving dinner to 748 guests, museum organizers showed a short documentary film by Donna Poulton, recalling the museum's inception and including comments by museum officials, local politicians and Utah artists. Utah poet laureate Ken Brewer read his poem "The Persistence of Memory," which he wrote in honor of the museum.

An estimated 200 people attended a VIP museum preview held before the gala in one of the museum's buildings, located at 125 S. Main. After Keaton mingled with the guests, Clayton Williams, founder of Williams Fine Art, presented her a painting by Dixon.

"I live for this," Keaton said about her involvement in art, after she accepted the gift. "Thank you all so much."

The gala and museum preview served as a fund-raiser for the Museum of Utah Art & History, which will open in the fall. The majority of the museum's collections will be gathered from the Utah Arts Council, Utah State Historical Society and the Utah State Archives and Records Service, thus creating a central location for Utah art and artifacts that will help tell Utah's story, said Williams, a member of the museum's board of directors.

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