In an effort to have the annual Spring Salon grow and evolve, Vern Swanson, director of the Springville Museum of Art, has announced that this year's show will see some major changes.
"No longer will only representational art be the sole avenue of expression in this exhibition, but all styles of art will be welcome," he said.Those of you familiar with this annual exhibit know that non-objective art has been excluded since 1980.
Swanson also pointed out that "as the show opens wider in artistic direction, it closes somewhat in geographic area. More specifically, this year's show will concentrate solely on the art and artists of Utah."
In addition to the above changes, Swanson said he instructed the jurors to "select works of art that would offend everybody." When he saw my reaction, he clarified the statement. "What I mean is that everybody should get offended by at least one piece."
He added, "I asked them also to select artwork that would inspire viewers."
He wanted the jurors to put together a balanced show in which three primary areas of artistic concern would be spotlighted - conventional, "art extraordinaire" and modern art.
"I wanted to see works of art that reflected what's being done across the stylistic spectrum in Utah," Swanson said.
Jurors for this year's show were Richard Johnston, sculptor and art professor at the University of Utah, and Martha Terrill, assistant at the Grand Central Art Gallery in New York City.
They plowed through 615 entries and juried out two-thirds of them. They ended up with 197 works, about 14 fewer than last year. From those 197 works, they selected their favorites to be shown in the museum's step-down gallery. The eight entries that won cash awards are found there, as well as two of the three entries that won purchase awards.
Cash awards of $1,750 were distributed among seven artists:
First place ($350) - Edith Roberson, for her acrylic "Old Studio Friends."
Second place ($300) - William Harold Carman, for his oil painting "Motorized Pogo"; Dottie Miles, for her mixed-media wall sculpture "Over Easy."
Third place ($200) - Larry Christensen, for his oil painting "Dusk"; Mark England, for his oil collage "Pursuit"; Susan Fleming, for her monotype "Birth of an Idea"; and Mark Robison, for his oil on masonite "Blue Ribbon Duck."
A director's award of $1,000, donated by the Grand Central Art Galleries in New York, went to Robert Marshall for his "Stripe Series No. 14."
Some $10,000 was divided among the three artists who won purchase awards: F. Anthony Smith, for his acrylic on canvas "The Cure"; Frank Riggs, for his aluminum sculpture "Sentinel"; and Kenneth A. Corbett, for his oil on canvas "Cows Are Beautiful Too."
It just so happens that two of the three purchase awards were selected from works by guest artists Smith and Riggs. Ken Baxter and Arnold Friberg were the other two artists invited to exhibit in this show.
The Spring Salon fills five rooms and three hallways. Two of those rooms and one hallway are upstairs. One of these rooms contains a single work of art - Friberg's painting of Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove.
Even if you are familiar with the Springville Museum of Art, you might still become confused, since you have to pass through part of the permanent collection to get to one of the upstairs galleries containing the new show. And some of the paintings hanging in the hallways are not part of the show either. A map and/or signs would definitely help lead you to the right places.
This is one exhibit in which Utah artists make a special effort to send in their best and most current work. And I couldn't help but be impressed with the following: Lee Bennion's oil "Full Bloom"; Bruce Cheever's gouache "Moran Morning"; Paul Forster's oil "Night at the Institute - San Miguel"; John Jarvis' gouache "Southern Utah Landscape"; Barbara Madsen's etching, "Book of Hours"; Frank Magleby's oils "Road from Mandan" and "English Farm"; Gloria Montgomery's graphite "Heritage"; Peter Myer's pastel "Climbing Tree"; Carl Purcell's watercolor "Anasazi"; and Erla Young's acrylic "Old Paths and New Moon."
The annual Utah Spring Salon was established in 1922. According to Swanson, the first two exhibits were entirely Utah affairs. "However, by 1924, non-Utah artists began to enter the show, and by the 1930s the Spring Salon was dominated by non-Utah artists."
Swanson attributes this to the thousands of letters sent by Springville English teacher Mae Huntington to artists across the United States inviting them to enter the show.
But by the late 1960s, the number of non-Utah entries declined dramatically. Larger competitions beckoned out-of-state artists. And the trend in the most of the country had turned to abstract modernism, while Utahns remained conservative.
Over the past few years, Swanson found that inviting non-Utah artists was a hassle. Shipping and insurance costs had soared, Utahns were not buying their works and many out-of-state artists lost the motivation to participate.
The decision to eliminate out-of-state entries was made by Swanson and the museum's board. They concluded that focusing on Utah artists would parallel more closely the direction of the museum itself.
"This makes the 1989 Spring Salon an all-Utah art show for the first time since 1923," Swanson said.
You will have until May 14 to view the show and decide whether these new changes are steps in the right direction. I personally feel that they are.
The Spring Salon can be viewed at the Springville Museum of Art during the following hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesday; and 2 to 5 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, call 489-9434.