Spring Salon in Springville: State of the art

This is the 86th annual Spring Salon at the Springville Museum of Art — the 86th time the museum has invited artists statewide to submit their best and brightest works so that the museum could show off state-of-art art of the state.

This year, some 1,062 works were entered; those were juried down to 218. That's the second highest number on record, says museum director Vern Swanson. The exhibition fills every gallery on the main floor, and it is the best ever, he says.

If he says that every year, well, he should, because more than any other exhibition this one represents the best of Utah art, he says, and that best keeps getting better.

"This exhibition shows the breadth and depth of Utah art. It shows Utah ranks as a powerful source of art, that we are one of the strongest states — certainly per capita — for fine arts in the region."

There were more pieces in last year's show, he admits, "but this year we have half again more in terms of square footage. We have a lot of very big pieces this year. Now, big doesn't necessarily mean better, but in this case, these are great, big, wonderful works. It's just a fabulous show."

The thing that delights him every year is that they get a lot of submissions from the well-established, well-known artists in the state, many of whom are on the list of "100 most recognized artists," and people like Linda Curley Christensen, J. Kirk Richards, Aaron Brent Harker and Ed Fraughton, "who are long-term providers of great art."

But every single year, he says, "we also have some 'finds,' works by artists that I've never heard of until now."

And that's saying something. "We have addresses for 8,500 living Utah artists. There are more that we don't have addresses for, or that have moved. I'd say there are about 3,000 names that I know pretty well. To have new ones come each year is very exciting."

The thing that is stressful every year, he says, "is that we have so many good pieces that we don't get to hang. But we do have a finite amount of space."

Jurors for this year's show were Micah Christensen, a curator at Anthony's Fine Art in Salt Lake City, and Jill Dawsey, acting chief curator and curator of modern and contemporary art at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.