Reunion exhibition at Bountiful center to salute Utah artists

BOUNTIFUL — Bountiful/Davis Art Center will honor its first decade with a major exhibition of works by significant Utah artists who exhibited at the Bountiful Art Center from 1974-1985.

The "Reunion Exhibition" will open Friday, Sept. 9, at 7 p.m. with a free public reception. Many of the artists who exhibited during the first decade of operations have been invited.

Known as the Bountiful Art Center through this first decade, it came into being as a partnership between the University of Utah, Bountiful city and communities in Davis County. Under the leadership of well-known artist Anton Rasmussen, a significant exhibition program was established that has continued for three decades. Hundreds of Utah's premier visual artists have exhibited since 1974.

Organizers of the exhibition, current BDAC Director Arley Curtz, Anton Rasmussen and former director Marilyn Coleman, have curated a significant retrospective of 60 artists from the beginning years of the center. These artists set an impressive standard of high-quality works that left an imprint on BDAC as a major community art center in Utah.

LeConte Stewart and Alvin Gittins, two giants of Utah art, were given several exhibitions at Bountiful Art Center. A mainstay annual exhibition "The LeConte Stewart Festival," delighted visitors for many years.

Other faculty members at the University of Utah also were brought into the exhibition program and included Anton Rasmussen, V. Douglas Snow, Ed Maryon, George Dibble, Robert Kleindschmidt and F. Anthony Smith.

Throughout the first decade artist-faculty members from other Utah universities also exhibited. Harrison Groutage from Utah State University, Dale Bryner, Weber State University, and Robert Marshall, Brigham Young University, and many others added to the annual offerings at BAC.

Other artists from throughout Utah were regular exhibitors as well. Diane Turner, Nancy Lund, Norma Forsberg, David Merrill, Rose Ann Peterson, Merrily Kulmer, Colleen Parker and others represented Davis County. Lee Deffebach, Edith Roberson, Dan Baxter, Bonnie and Denis Phillips from Salt Lake County and many more exhibited their works. From every part of the state, BAC welcomed artists and made the center a significant venue for exhibiting the many facets of Utah art.