SOUTHERN UTAH MUSEUM OF ART ART HIKES: RED CLIFFS DESERT RESERVE, ROYDEN CARD (CC: June 18)

For Immediate Release: 6/06/11
Michael French
Public Information Officer
Southern Utah University
College of Performing and Visual Arts
Southern Utah University
Office: (435) 865-8667
michaelfrench@suu.edu

FOR CALENDAR EDITORS: SUMA ART HIKES, RED CLIFFS DESERT RESERVE, ROYDEN CARD

WHAT: SUMA Art Hikes have been created to provide an opportunity for the southern Utah community to discover the special places that 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 who will educate and enlighten the hikers to learn more about these unique locales. Join artist Royden Card for a glorious hike through the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve.

WHO: SUMA, Southern Utah Museum of Art, Community Engagement Committee

WHEN: Saturday, June 18, 2011

TIME: 9:00am

WHERE: Cedar City Main Street Park, east side (near main pavilion), Cedar City, UT

TICKETS: Free and open to the general public. All children must be accompanied by a responsible adult.

INFO: (435) 586-5462 or visiting www.suu.edu/pva/suma.

SUU’s SUMA Community Engagement Committee
Continues Free Art Hikes with Royden Card
to the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve
Saturday, June 18, 2011

Southern Utah University, Cedar City, Utah: For art lovers -- Who can resist taking a trek into the breath-taking landscape of southern Utah with an acclaimed regional artist to experience and observe his creative process as he captures nature on a sketch pad or canvas? Now you have that rare opportunity to take an artistic journey with the SUMA Art Hikes. On Saturday, June 18, 2011, hikers can join renowned southern Utah artist Royden Card with a trek through Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. Come prepared for sun and hiking along a desert stream, with possible stream crossings. The approximately one mile hike and art activity, including driving time, will last until about 1 or 2 pm. The Art Hikes have been created by the Southern Utah Museum of Art’s (SUMA) Community Engagement Committee to build public awareness for the future museum. All SUMA Art Hikes are free.

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 who will educate and enlighten the hikers to learn more about these unique locales. In addition, all participants are encouraged to bring their own art supplies (sketch books, pencils, pastels, watercolors or whatever a hiker’s media) and cameras to capture the natural beauty of the region for themselves.
On Saturday, June 18, 2011, Royden Card will hike with participants to Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. Card began painting at age fourteen and was introduced to the red-rock and barren desert landscape of Utah a few years earlier. From those beginnings, he pursued a career as an artist, eventually obtaining a BFA and a MFA from BYU. He draws his inspiration from nature, hoping to capture some of that energy in paint. Inspiration primarily comes from the desert landscape of the Southwest United States. According to Card, “I paint landscape which sometimes is not considered beautiful and usually labeled ‘badlands.’ This mostly barren, rock and sage covered land may not be immediately appealing but I find it wondrous and spiritually fulfilling.” In addition, Card’s artistic output has also included prose and poetry. Some of the literary work accompanied by sketches has been published in the book Desert Drawn.
More than two dozen hikers and art enthusiasts recently accompanied Cedar City artist Arlene Braithwaite on the inaugural hike to Spring Creek Canyon. The participants had an amazing hike that was overseen by Anne Smith, SUU Instructor, Outdoor Recreation in Parks and Tourism (ORPT), and Elizabeth Burghard, Assistant Field Manager, Bureau of Land Management.
The final tour this summer will be to Cedar Breaks National Monument with Cedar City artist J. Brad Holt on Saturday, July 16th, which coincides with the annual Wildflower Festival.

SUMA Art Hikes are free and open to the entire community. All ages are welcome. Hikers will meet at Cedar City Main Street Park, east side (near main pavilion) at 9 am. Participants are welcome to bring their own art supplies. All children must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Hikers need to provide: Own transportation, an adequate lunch, sturdy hiking shoes or boots, knapsack, a minimum one quart of water per person, rain jacket, personal first aid kit, sun screen protection, and layered, comfortable clothing (for any type of weather). Walking sticks and insect repellant are recommended but not required.

Joanne Brattain and Diane Strachan, co-chairs of the SUMA Community Engagement Committee, gratefully acknowledge Anne Smith, SUU Instructor, Outdoor Recreation in Parks and Tourism (ORPT), Coordinator, Outdoor Education Series, for creating this special hike series and Ann Salviazul of the former Blue Sage Art Gallery in Cedar City for coordinating the artists’ participation. Brattain and Strachan would like to express their gratitude to Cedar City Leisure Services, the Family Hike Series, the National Parks Service and the Cedar City and St. George offices of the Bureau of Land Management for their support of this project.

For more information, contact Anne Smith at smith_a@suu.edu or Joan Anderson, SUU PE Dept. Secretary, at (435)586-7816. Additional information can be obtained by calling (435) 586-5462 or visiting www.suu.edu/pva/suma.

To make a contribution to SUMA, please contact Donna Law, Director of Development: CPVA, at 435-865-8182 or law@suu.edu. Contributions can be made online at www.suu.edu/pva/suma.

ABOUT THE COLLEGE
The Southern Utah University College of Performing and Visual Arts is comprised of nationally accredited departments of Art and Design, Music, Theatre Arts and Dance, as well as a graduate program in Arts Administration. The College offers 16 different degree areas, including liberal arts Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees; professional Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Fine Arts in art and theatre degrees; and a Master of Fine Arts in Arts Administration degree. More than 60 full- and part-time faculty and staff are engaged in teaching and mentoring over 550 majors in the College. Over 1100 students enroll each year in over 195 arts classes on the SUU campus. The College presents 100 performances, lectures, presentations, and exhibitions each year. The College’s affiliate organizations include the Braithwaite Fine Arts Gallery, American Folk Ballet, Utah Shakespeare Festival, the performance group Acclamation, and the SUU Ballroom Dance Company. For more information about the College of Performing and Visual Arts, contact the Office of the Dean at (435) 865-8561, or by email at cpvamktg@suu.edu.