{"id":102554,"date":"2026-04-15T18:45:42","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T01:45:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=102554"},"modified":"2026-04-20T09:06:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T16:06:07","slug":"in-snows-shadow-entradas-mentorship-program-in-the-colorado-plateau","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/in-snows-shadow-entradas-mentorship-program-in-the-colorado-plateau\/","title":{"rendered":"In Snow\u2019s Shadow: Entrada’s Mentorship Program in the Colorado Plateau"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Jana Parkin, an award-winning watercolorist who studied under V. Douglas Snow at the University of Utah, will mentor three Utah college students this August in the landscape that most inspired him\u2014the Colorado Plateau around Torrey and Capitol Reef National Park. The third annual V. Douglas Snow Memorial Collegiate Mentorship, sponsored by Entrada Institute in Torrey, runs August 4-8, 2026. Senior and graduate students from Utah colleges may apply at entradainstitute.org by May 11.<\/h4>\n

Nearly 30 years before his death in 2009, Doug Snow built a studio halfway between the small southern Utah towns of Grover and Teasdale, eventually making it his primary home. From there he could see the Cockscomb\u2014 the massive, serrated rock formation that rises from the Awapa Plateau at the base of Boulder Mountain\u2014his Mont Sainte-Victoire, the singular motif that runs like a current through much of what he painted. His connection to the region went even deeper\u2014his mother was born in nearby Loa, and when Snow first visited red-rock country as an 18-year-old, it struck him as an epiphany. “That land is the source of my inspiration, the center of my strength,” he said. He left teaching at the University of Utah to roam that desert full-time. As Frank McEntire wrote in a tribute published in 15 Bytes, Snow said, \u201cI honestly think art in this country would be a more meaningful force if more artists took advantage of where they are planted.\u201d<\/h4>\n

It is that sensibility\u2014the conviction that deep engagement with a particular place is its own artistic discipline\u2014that the Snow Memorial Mentorship is designed to cultivate.<\/h4>\n

Last year, I was privileged to serve as the guest artist\/mentor in the second annual mentorship. I had painted in Torrey and Capitol Reef many times before, but to be there as a mentor, and to channel Doug Snow in his favorite place, was special. Two students from the University of Utah were awarded the mentorships: Kaylene Eldridge, a recent graduate, and Ryan Allred, a senior.<\/h4>\n

I was not their teacher. I was not even a supervisor. I had to sense their needs and facilitate their creative process in that place. We took field trips into Capitol Reef National Park on two mornings, followed by afternoons in a studio we borrowed from Jeff Juhlin, who had served as the inaugural mentor in 2024. I worked alongside the students doing my own experimental work that was inspired by my most recent reading of Final Light<\/em><\/a>, the book Frank McEntire edited on Snow and his work.<\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/a>The students each had different goals. Kaylene, a landscape and figurative painter, spent early mornings out on her own doing watercolor sketches that she would enlarge in acrylic or oils in the studio. Ryan, an abstract figurative painter, translated the rocks and cliff faces he photographed and sketched into his own visual language in a color palette of vibrant blues, reds and gray tones.<\/h4>\n

This year’s mentor, Jana Parkin, who has taught art and design at the college level for the past 20 years, will bring her own experiences, processes, and personal goals to the program. As a student of Snow while at the University of Utah, Parkin has firsthand knowledge of his inspiration and processes.<\/h4>\n

“Doug Snow was one of my favorite, most inspiring professors at the University of Utah,” said Parkin. “I even had one of his originals in my bedroom growing up. I love being in Torrey, Teasdale and Capitol Reef, seeing and making art in the very landscape that was Doug’s biggest inspiration. I’m so honored to be conducting this mentorship bearing his name. In his classes, Doug was able to enhance my natural abilities as an artist and drew out some of my best work using mixed media. I’ll be demonstrating some of those ideas during the mentorship this August.”<\/h4>\n

Parkin will work alongside the students, sharing her own processes and helping students articulate their own. She will also offer advice on career development and introduce students to other professional artists living in or visiting Torrey who will offer their own career perspectives.<\/h4>\n

Students will have five days to explore the Colorado Plateau, its history and geology, gathering sensory stimulation to begin a body of work. They will have time to hike and sketch in nature plus studio time to begin translating their experiences into their own personal work. Students may work in any painting or drawing media.<\/h4>\n

Students are housed in the new Entrada Institute arts facility just off Main Street in Torrey. Each participant will receive a $500 stipend for travel, food, or supplies. On the last day of the mentorship, students will present their work-in-progress for an in-person and online audience.<\/h4>\n

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Senior and graduate students interested in the mentorship are encouraged to download and complete the application at entradainstitute.org<\/a> by May 11. In addition to the V. Douglas Snow Mentorship, Entrada also offers Dark Skies internships and Writing From the Land residencies. More information and applications are available at entradainstitute.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jana Parkin, an award-winning watercolorist who studied under V. Douglas Snow at the University of Utah, will mentor three Utah college students this August in the landscape that most inspired him\u2014the Colorado Plateau around Torrey and Capitol Reef National Park. The third annual V. Douglas Snow Memorial Collegiate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":940,"featured_media":102558,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_piecal_is_event":false,"_piecal_start_date":"","_piecal_end_date":"","_piecal_is_allday":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-visual_arts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_3287.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-27 15:38:19","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/940"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102554"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102559,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102554\/revisions\/102559"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}