Frame work: Spring Salon is a showcase for Utah artists

SPRINGVILLE — The Spring Salon is all about state-of-the-art work, but also about art-of-the-state representation.

This annual show at the Springville Museum of Art, now in its 85th year, is all about showing off the best and brightest work that is being done by Utah artists.

But it is also about providing a snapshot of what exactly is happening on the local art scene. That doesn't make it an easy show to put together, says museum director Vern Swanson, but it makes it an exceptional show for viewers.

"This year, we had the largest number of entries and the largest number of participating artists in the history of the museum. But, of the 1,102 pieces entered, only 22.9 percent were accepted for hanging."

And while that leads to a better exhibition, he says, it also means that many outstanding works didn't make it into the show.

The limiting factors are space and purpose, he says. The show uses every gallery on the main floor.

"And while we hang with some density, we also want to hang respectfully. A hundred years ago, they might have hung works frame to frame, floor to ceiling, but we can't do that. And we can't hang art on the ceiling, either. So we use every bit of space we have."

That space must also fulfill another purpose. "We want this exhibition to be a thorough examination of Utah's contemporary art scene. Therefore, space must be allowed for different kinds of art," says Swanson.

There's a gallery for modern art, one for "visionary" art — "you could call it allegorical, metaphysical or any number of terms, but I think visionary works as well as any," he says. There's a gallery for Western and wildlife art; another for impressionistic and stylized art; one for photography and printmaking; a gallery for traditional realism.

So, while they may get more entries in a particular genre, they are all treated without bias, he says.

"Our jurors, Tom Alder and Jeff Lambson, did an outstanding job under unenviable circumstances. They had so many to choose from, and many masterpieces were not hung. It's a balancing act, combining oranges and apples, to ensure fairness, diversity and a representative cross-section of art. But I've also got to say that, top to bottom, it has got to be the best Salon in all my years at the museum."

Maybe next year, he says, "we'll try to use the galleries on the lower floor. Artists don't like to be down there and complain, but maybe we can find some who won't mind as much and have an even bigger show."