Season's First Art Hike slated for Saturday

Published: April 19, 2013 | Read Time: 3 minutes

The spectacular southern Utah landscape changes from season to season and inspires regional artists throughout the year. To take full advantage of this season's inspiration, SUU’s SUMA (Southern Utah Museum of Art) Community Engagement Committee invites artists, students and enthusiasts to accompany painter Kate Starling on a Spring Art Hike on Saturday, April 20.

Starling, along with outdoor coordinators from SUU and the Bureau of Land Management, will lead hikers on a trek to North Creek, Kolob Terrace Road in Virgin, Utah, with a hike theme of “Make Your Own Sketchbook.”

The latest in a two-year series of community hikes with regional artists, Art Hikes were created by the Southern Utah Museum of Art’s (SUMA) Community Engagement Committee to build public awareness for the proposed museum. All Art Hikes are free.

On the hike, participants will have the opportunity to develop a sketchbook of their own to be used later at home or in the studio. Participants are encouraged to bring pencils, watercolors, cameras (optional), knapsack, water, food, hats, gloves, and jackets/rain gear as well as a poncho or plastic to sit on when sketching, for potential weather change. All children must be accompanied by a responsible parent or adult.

The hike is free and open to the community, though participants must RSVP to the Braithwaite Fine Arts Gallery beforehand: 453-586-5462 or gallery@suu.edu.

Registered hikers will then meet at the east side of Cedar City's Main Street Park at 9 a.m. Hikers from St. George and areas south of Cedar City will be able to meet at the hike’s starting point on Kolob Terrace Road in Virgin at 10 a.m., but please contact the Braithwaite Gallery to advise your intent to participate.  

Kate Starling is an oil painter who lives and works in the canyons of southern Utah. Educated in geology, she spent years working outside as a geologist and National Park ranger. After formal academic art training, she devoted her work to painting the landscape. Schooled in the importance of direct painting from life, she has spent years painting outside, learning the way light plays on the land. She now splits her time between the roadways and trails surrounding her home and the studio. Starling's paintings portray the natural world and focus on communicating a sense of place, atmosphere and light, retaining the immediacy of the painting experience. She knows the strength of emotion that the landscape seen in a particular light can trigger in her — she strives to paint in such a way that memory and emotion are triggered in the people who see her work.

SUMA Art Hikes have been created to provide an opportunity for the southern Utah community to discover the special places where local artists gain inspiration for their art. Participants will get to hike to these inspiring locations with the artist as well as a representative from the Public Lands, such as the National Park Service, the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management or Utah Division of Natural Resources, who will educate and enlighten the hikers to learn more about these unique locales. Participants are then encouraged to capture the natural beauty of the region for themselves. Participants are encouraged to bring their own art supplies.

Additional Art Hikes will be scheduled throughout the summer and fall. Detailed information can be obtained by calling 435-586-5462 or visiting suu.edu/pva/suma.

In ongoing efforts to bring the Southern Utah Museum of Art to Cedar City, community members are also welcome to make a contribution to SUMA. Please contact Donna Law, director of development, at 435-865-8182 or law@suu.edu. Contributions can also be made online at suu.edu/pva/suma.  

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Contact Information:

435-586-5400
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