Call for Artists: Clarion Call Celebration @ Utah Pioneer Heritage Arts (Deadline: June 6)

Clarion Call 100: A 100-year celebration

On September 10th, 1911, eleven Jewish colonists rode an open wagon through Gunnison, Utah, singing Ukrainian folk songs on their way to their new settlement of Clarion, three miles to the southwest. They were the vanguard of what was to be a model Jewish farming community, signaling to the world and to Jews everywhere that the time had come for Jews to go “back to the soil”.

Five years later, after enduring monumental hardship, heart-wrenching trials, internal discord and both natural and man-caused disasters, the colonists of Clarion abandoned her.

But the stories of Clarion—the dreams, the sacrifices, the courage, the perseverance against overwhelming odds—were told for generations by the Levitskys, Furmans, Silvermans, Friedlanders, and scores of other families who lived the dream and the heartache that was Clarion.

On September 9th & 10th, 2011, the stories will live again in a celebration of the spirit of those 287 men and women and the unnumbered children who lived the brief but inspiring story of Clarion.

Sponsors for this event are: Utah Pioneer Heritage Arts, the Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area, the Tanner Humanities Center, the Jewish Community Center, Snow College, the Utah State Historical Society, and the Utah Jewish Federation.

Call for Artists

In addition to stories and songs shared during this commemorative event, we are inviting artists to create a two-dimensional work that will be used as the cover for the program and will be exhibited during the celebration. The piece should respond to the Clarion Jewish agricultural colony and the people who established it in Sanpete County. Information about the colony and photographs can be found at:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=140285009369874&aid=31893#!/pages/Clarion-100th-Anniversary/140285009369874 or

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarion,_Utah

Robert Goldberg’s book, "Back To The Soil: The Jewish Farmers of Clarion, Utah and Their World" is a also a wonderful source of information.

A $500 prize will be awarded to the selected artwork.

Artists are invited to submit digital images by June 6 to Bob Goldberg at bob.goldberg@utah.edu. Please include an artist’s statement about each piece that you are submitting. The jurors will meet and select from those images that they want to see the original works of art. Final selection will be made by July 11. Other images will also be selected to have printed on the back cover. Artists must give copyright permission for use of the images.

Works of art should also be available for exhibition at the Jewish Community Center in Salt Lake City on September 9 and in Gunnison, UT on September 10. For questions related to the call for artists, please contact Kandace Steadman at kcsteadman@hotmail.com.

For general questions about the Clarion Call celebration, please direct questions to Clive Romney at clive@upharts.org.

Thank you for your interest in celebrating this historic event.