Springville museum plans annual ball

SPRINGVILLE — For 40 years the Art Ball has ushered in the start of the Springville Museum of Art's Spring Salon, Utah's premiere annual art exhibition.

This exhibition, modeled after the famous Paris Salon, is open to all Utah artists and is one of the longest standing traditions at the museum. It is the largest exhibition of its kind in Utah and the best opportunity for art lovers to see the best of what Utah artists are creating now. The show encourages diverse applications of style and technique and seeks to promote varied conceptual and formal directions in art.

With such diversity in subject, style and approach, this exhibition succeeds each year in resonating on a personal level with the vast scores of people who come to enjoy and experience the museum.

The Art Ball is the opening traditional event of the Spring Salon and has been for the last 40 years.

Mark and Wendy Fullmer, this year's Art Ball Committee chairmen, said the theme, Super Ball XL, provides a great opportunity to spotlight some of the diverse interests of the artists and athletes in our state and to take a fun, different track for the Art Ball in 2006.

Blair Buswell, a local Utah artist whose work is displayed in the Football Hall of Fame, will be an honored guest, along with BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall.

During the evening, guests may view the galleries, enjoy music provided by the Wasatch Bones trombone group and dine on finely catered gourmet cuisine. The highlight of the evening will be the crowning of this year's art royalty.

As in years past, the evening will culminate with the James O'Neil Miner Band performing a broad range of musical styles, allowing guests to dance the night away.

Funds raised from the Art Ball this year will benefit the museum's sculpture garden. The Art Ball will feature a silent auction to help in raising funds for the museum. The silent auction will have football memorabilia donated by local football teams such as the University of Utah, BYU and Utah Blaze.

The Springville Museum of Art was built in 1937, has more than 80,000 visitors annually and was the first art museum in Utah.

The museum is regarded highly as the foremost collector of Utah art (more than 1,900 pieces) and also exhibits one of the largest collections of official Soviet art in North America. It is a charitable, nonprofit fine arts institution serving quality cultural and educational opportunities to the community and beyond.

The Springville Museum of Art is also the "hub" for Utah State Office of Education Visual Arts Outreach Programs and is dedicated to supporting emerging young artists.

---

If you go . . .

What: Super Ball XL/82nd Spring Salon

Where: Springville Art Museum, 126 E. 400 South

When: ball, 7-11 p.m., Saturday, April 29; salon, April 30-July 2

Cost: $40 per couple in advance, $50 at the door

Phone: 489-2727

Web: www.sma.nebo.edu