Newcomers to the state frequently complain that Spring and Fall are too short, not realizing that we get our fair share of the temperate seasons — it’s just that we sprinkle the seasons throughout the calendar year, a few days here, a few days there. It can mean some fabulously warm days in December or March. But it can also mean snow as late as June or as early as September.

Take that into account and try being a festival planner. For thirteen years, the organizers at the Art in Kayenta Festival outside of St. George have been holding the three-day event, which features ceramics, wood, painting, photography, jewelry and textiles, in April. This year, though, they’ve moved it to fall, and the festival kicks off this Friday, October 11th. The weather, organizers say, is more predictable in the fall. It certainly makes for a more attractive season — fall colors against a dramatic redrock background, crisp blue skies, and the slant of a diminishing sun casting vibrant violet shadows across the landscape.

This year the festival brings together over 50 artists from southern Utah. A Quick Draw competition, in which artists compete under the clock to produce original works of art will be held at 2 pm on Saturday the 12th (it lasts 90 minutes and the finished works will be sold at auction at 4 pm), and a silent auction, featuring over 30 works, will be held throughout the festival and closing bids announced on Sunday afternoon.

The Kayenta festival isn’t the only reason to be in southwestern Utah this weekend. If you travel to the warmer climes, you’ll also want to check out the St. George art scene during their Fall Art On Main event on Friday, October 11. This quarterly event sponsored by Art on Main, a non-profit , is a cross between a gallery stroll and a raffle. During the gallery walk, which begins at 6 pm, you pick up a punch card, have it punched at each of the nine art destinations, and turn it in at the  Twenty-Five Main Café before 9 pm, and you could earn a free piece of artwork.

You’ll want to start your walk at the  St. George Art Museum (48 East 200 North), where for this event the normal entry fee is waived. Their new exhibit 1954 LIFE Magazine’s Three Mormon Towns- Gunlock, St. George & Toquerville features photography by Mark Hedengren, Dorothea Lange, and Maynard Dixon (Hedengren’s book on the subject is one of the finalists for our 15 Bytes Book Award for art) as well as  photographs from “Dorothea Lange’s America.”

Other exhibits include fine art doll artist Shauna McCullough and painter Lisa Huber. Unique to this fall walk at the new Art and Soul Gallery located inside Print-It on Main Street will be a display and silent auction of altered bowling pins by collaborative teams of local artists and youth/mentor pairs from the St. George Chapter of Big Brothers Big Sisters. Live music at several galleries provides a festive ambiance with musicians including country/folk duo Beanz N’ Wheels, singer-songwriters Christina Osborn and Jerry Allen, and Mesquite group Seldom Scene. Participating galleries include Bedard Fine Art, Authentique Gallery, Split Rock Gallery, Twiggs and Moore Gallery, The Mission Gallery, Art & Soul Gallery (located inside Print It Shop), Wide Angle Photography, Remax Fine Art Gallery, and Twenty-Five Main Cafe.

For more info on the event, visit Art on Main’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/sgartonmain.