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<\/a>Focusing on the \u201cnatural\u201d interplay of the beauty of the Wasatch Mountains and the artistic process, the Cottonwood Canyons Foundation will host its second annual\u00a0Art in Nature Party<\/i>\u00a0on June 19th at the Silver Lake Nature Center in Big Cottonwood Canyon near Brighton.<\/p>\nFoundation volunteers and local artists Susie Campbell and Cathy Dern helped organize this event, which aims to fulfill the nonprofit\u2019s mission of \u201cworking to maintain and improve the environmental health of Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons through public education and stewardship,\u201d by focusing on connecting the community with their beautiful backyard through learning about the artistic process.<\/p>\n
Silver Lake is the perfect location for this party with a .7 mile, fully accessible boardwalk that encircles a beautiful alpine lake and wetlands. The approach to Art in Nature Party is to have the participating artists, many who have returned for a second year, painting on the boardwalk in three different areas while answering questions to the public about their work, their approach and how they view the area.<\/p>\n
At last year\u2019s event, a guided walk led visitors around the boardwalk through these three zones, co-led by an artist and a naturalist. While the naturalist focused on the wildflowers, observing the signs left behind by beaver, moose and mink, the artist focused on the process.<\/p>\n
According to Dern, \u201cIt\u2019s really great to create a fusion of two opposite perspectives, the art and the science. Ecologists frequently focus on the world one way, while artists another. The tour really fused both approaches . . . the accessibility of the artists while they are working really helps develop an understanding of the process in that it is not just about the end product.\u201d<\/p>\n
Along with the Cottonwood Canyons Foundation, last year\u2019s event was sponsored by the US Forest Service, Solitude Mountain Resort and Tony Caputo\u2019s who provided lunch for the artists. Carol Majeske, with Wasatch-Cache National Forest, participated in last year\u2019s event and enjoyed the different perspective each artist brought to their work. \u201cTheir individual approach helped me appreciate an environment that I am out in every day even more. It\u2019s great that they can impart this viewpoint on other people as we face user impact challenges that could be mitigated by this appreciation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Work produced at last year\u2019s event will be hanging at Silver Lake through the 19th. This year\u2019s event starts at 9AM on June 19th, with artists painting. The guided walk will begin at 11AM, meet at the Nature Center. Artists participating in this year\u2019s event include:
\nRob Adamson
\nTrent Alvey
\nSusie Campbell
\nSheila Chambers
\nCathy Dern
\nCarole Evans
\nWillamarie Huelskamp
\nJohn Hughes
\nShirley McKay
\nDottie Miles
\nTom Mulder
\nPilar Pobil
\nKent Rich
\nGretchen Reynolds
\nTrina Steffensen<\/p>\n