{"id":95194,"date":"2025-08-18T14:12:01","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T21:12:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=95194"},"modified":"2025-08-25T10:59:27","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T17:59:27","slug":"recently-recognized-helper-plein-plein-aire-and-udam-statewide-annual","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/recently-recognized-helper-plein-plein-aire-and-udam-statewide-annual\/","title":{"rendered":"Recently Recognized: Helper Plein Aire, UDAM Statewide Annual and Kimball Arts Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"
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– At the 2025 Helper Plein Air Festival<\/a>, the top honor of Best of Show went to Robert Fuerer<\/a> for his ambitious painting Helper, a sweeping work that captured the town\u2019s layered story\u2014from its railyards and main street architecture to the towering geology above. Judge Aimee Erickson praised the painting\u2019s \u201cbig vision, confident execution, and big impact,\u201d noting the ambition and nerve required to pull off such a large canvas outdoors on location. Second Place and the People\u2019s Choice Award went to “Clouds Past Kenilworth” by Helper local CJ Hales<\/a>, a moody and atmospheric landscape that drew strong audience admiration and sparked spirited bidding during the live auction.<\/p>\n

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“Clouds Past Kenilworth” by CJ Hales<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

-The Utah Division of Arts & Museums has announced the prize winners at this year’s Utah Statewide Annual Exhibition. The exhibition is hosted by the Southern Utah Museum of Art<\/a> in Cedar Cityand continues through September 28. An Artist Reception will be held on Sept. 20 from 5 p.m. – 8 p.m.<\/p>\n

Presented by the Utah Division of Arts & Museums, the Statewide Annual rotates among three media categories. This year’s exhibition celebrates work in\u00a0 painting, sculpture, and installation. Jurors Marela Zacar\u00edas and Nancy Zastudil selected 29 works for exhibition from more than 500 submissions. Zacar\u00edas is a Mexican-born contemporary artist celebrated for her unique painted sculptures that merge painting and sculptural form. Zastudil is an editor, writer, curator, and arts administrator.<\/p>\n

Best in Show: “Chorus (lynne)” by Christopher Lynn. On his vimeo page, the artist describes the work:
\n“This piece was made by isolating the vowel sounds from my mother\u2019s 1987\/88 audition tape for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir where she sang \u201cAbide With Me.\u201d* She was about my age at the time. She sang in the choir for twelve years and toured the world. She passed away in 2019 after a series of strokes progressively robbed her of her cognition, voice, and life. Near the end, her speech was disjointed and halting, giving only a semblance of what was going on in the synaptic misfires in her brain.\u2063\u2063<\/p>\n

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