“People of Utah 1892-2011” Exhibition @ Utah Arts & Museums: now through July 12

For immediate release                Alyssa Hickman Grove, 801.236.7548

8 January 2013                          Constituent Relations & Media, Utah Arts & Museums

Geoffrey Fattah, 801.245.7205

Communications Director, Utah Dept. of Heritage and Arts

“People of Utah 1892-2011” Exhibition at Capitol

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Arts & Museums announces the exhibition “People of Utah 1892-2011” on the 4th Floor of the Utah State Capitol. The exhibition runs through July 12, 2013. Capitol hours are Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Capitol is located at 350 N. State Street in Salt Lake City. The Visitor Center can be reached at 801-538-1800 or capitoltours@utah.gov.

The artworks are selected portraits from the Utah State Fine Art Collection and reflect a beautifully diverse sampling of the people of Utah and Utah’s artists. The pieces demonstrate a variety of styles, from 19th-century painting to 21st-century mixed media on canvas and bronze sculpture.

“It’s fitting that this exhibition should be on display in the ‘People’s House,’ ” said Margaret Hunt, Director of Utah Arts & Museums. “These works give a face to the rich heritage of people who were and are Utah.”

Artists in the exhibition include Gordon Cope, Downy Doxey, Brian Kershisnik, Mary H. Teasdel and William J. Parkinson, among others. Mary H. Teasdel was a proficient Utah portraitist in oils, watercolor, and pastel. She exhibited in the Paris Salon, becoming the second Utahn and the first woman painter from Utah to do so. Gordon Cope studied the Old Masters in Europe from 1924-1928. Upon returning to Utah, Cope quickly became recognized as a major Utah artist of the Great Depression and created art for the Works Projects Administration (WPA) in the Public Works of Art Project in 1933.

The Utah State Fine Art Collection began in 1899, when the 3rd Utah Legislature passed Senate Bill 89, creating the Utah Art Institute. The Utah State Fine Art Collection is sometimes called the “Alice Art Collection” after Representative Alice Merrill Horne, who first sponsored the bill. The Utah Art Institute, now the Utah Division of Arts and Museums, is the oldest state-sponsored arts organization in the United States. Thanks to the efforts of the Collection Acquisition Committee and generous donations from patrons and artists, the Utah State Fine Art Collection purchases and acquires new artwork by Utah artists every year.

About Utah Arts & Museums

Utah Arts & Museums is a division of the Utah Department of Heritage and Arts with a goal to promote innovation in and the growth of Utah’s arts and culture community. The division provides funding, education, and technical services to individuals and organizations statewide so that all Utahns, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity or economic status, can access, understand, and receive the benefits of arts and culture. Additional information on the programs and services can be found at artsandmuseums.utah.gov or by calling 801.236.7555.