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Springville Museum of Art
Completed in 1936, the Springville Museum of Art was the first art museum in Utah. The museum was built with financial help from the Works Projects Administration (WPA), the Nebo School District, Springville City and the LDS Church.
Visitor views sculpture on display at Springville Museum of Art.
Stuart W. Johnson, Deseret News |
Over the years, the museum's permanent collection has continued to grow. However, since 1981, the focus has been on Utah art. In fact, over 700 pieces of the 1200 works in the permanent collection are by Utah artists.
Many choice artworks from the permanent collection hang upstairs in five galleries, two hallways and one alcove. The downstairs galleries are reserved for temporary exhibitions. The Lower Clyde Gallery features work by artists who have lived in Springville over the years.
For more than six decades, Springville has been called the "Art City." Take a drive down Main Street and you'll see the logo plastered on almost every business sign.
The foundation for the city's logo comes the city's early influence of art.
In the spring of 1903, painter John Hafen and two other prominent Springville residents took a buggy ride to Brigham Young Academy. While there, they heard a visiting lecturer talk about the refining influence of art.
Upon returning home, the three men bemoaned the fact that Springville's youth didn't have that kind of influence. Hafen then removed his painting "The Mountain Stream" from his studio wall and gave it to the students of Springville High School in the hope that it would become the beginning of an art collection. Other Utah artists followed suit.
High school students in Springville soon became involved in the project of collecting artwork. In 1921, Hafen's son Virgil persuaded the high school to sponsor a salon patterned after the one in Paris. This annual exhibit soon attracted artists from across the country. Some of their paintings were purchased for the permanent collection.
By 1935, Springville was the center for visual arts in Utah, thanks to a burgeoning art collection and many students and residents who had caught Hafen's vision.
The Springville Museum of Art is located at 126 E. 400 South in Art City. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday; and 2-5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free.
More information is available at www.shs.nebo.edu/Museum/Museum.html
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