Schedule

Monday, September 12, 2022

7:30am  -1:00pm: R.E. Burrillo: Water and Watchers in the Escalante River Area

Water is a precious commodity in the deserts of the northern Southwest, and plays a key role in settlement patterns and use strategies across the greater Escalante cultural landscape from earliest antiquity right up to the present. This talk will very briefly cover the pre-Contact cultural history of the area with an emphasis on Fremont rock art and food-storage strategies.

HIKING INFO: Hike along the Lower Calf Creek Falls Trail.  Hike is 6 miles roundtrip going up and back in the bottom of the canyon. While there is shade along the way, many stretches are in full sun.  Hike is moderately strenuous with sections of sand and a few rock ledges. Hike is not universally accessible.

Location: Meet at Grand Staircase Escalante Partners Office 530 W Main Street, Escalant

9:00am: 10 Years – Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Artists in Residence Exhibit

Stop by the Escalante Interagency Visitor Center to see ten years of plein air paintings created by the Monument’s Artists-in-Residence across the years.  The AiR Program is also supported by Escalante Canyons Art Festival and Glen Canyon Conservancy.

Location: Escalante Interagency Visitor Center : 755 West Main Street Escalante

7:00pm - 8:00pm: R.E. Burrillo Reading and Book Signing

Join Ralph “R.E.” Burrillo for a reading and book signing of his recently published, THE BACKWOODS OF EVERYWHERE: Words from a Wandering Local. This book is published by Torrey House Press: “In The Backwoods of Everywhere, archaeologist Burrillo excavates his past, examining Indigenous and tourist cultures, the complexities of American archaeology, and what it means to be a local. In the vein of Bill Bryson, Tim Cahill, and Ellen Meloy, Burrillo’s is a fresh voice in humor-spiked nature writing and cultural commentary.

Location: Grand Staircase Escalante Partners Headquarters Office 530 West Main Street, Escalante, Utah

Tuesday, September 13, 2022

9:00am - 4:00pm: Carol Bold: Reduction Linocut

In this two-day workshop Carol will show you how to design, carve and print a multi-layered reduction print. She will guide you through how to design and prepare your image for the reduction process. You will learn how to transfer your design and techniques for proper linoleum block carving. And finally, you will learn registration methods for lining up each print and tips for effective inking and hand printing.

Over the course of the two-day workshop, participants will create at least one small edition of 3-layer reduction prints and gain knowledge and experience to create their own new works at home.

The fee covers needed materials, but please bring a sketchbook, some simple design ideas, and plenty of enthusiasm.

Location: Escalante Town Park Pavilion

Wednesday, September 14, 2022

9:00am - 4:00pm: Carol Bold: Reduction Linocu

In this two-day workshop Carol will show you how to design, carve and print a multi-layered reduction print. She will guide you through how to design and prepare your image for the reduction process. You will learn how to transfer your design and techniques for proper linoleum block carving. And finally, you will learn registration methods for lining up each print and tips for effective inking and hand printing.

Over the course of the two-day workshop, participants will create at least one small edition of 3-layer reduction prints and gain knowledge and experience to create their own new works at home.

The fee covers needed materials, but please bring a sketchbook, some simple design ideas, and plenty of enthusiasm.

Location: Escalante Town Park Pavilion

Thursday, September 15, 2022

8:00pm  -12:00pm: Sandra Zarzycka: Visiting Archaeological Sites with Respect

Join GSENM Archaeologist Sandra Zarzycka on a tour of a rock art panel near Escalante, UT, and learn how to visit archaeological sites in a safe and respectful manner. Many people come to GSENM planning or hoping to see archaeological sites. Visitation of cultural sites is a sensitive matter, and one we must be thoughtful about. Educate yourself on Visit with Respect principles to help protect archaeological sites for future generations to enjoy!

HIKING INFO: This is a short (less than a mile) but challenging hike to a rock art panel. It requires rock scrambling up a steep rock ledge and is not universally accessible.

Location: Meet at Grand Staircase Escalante Partners Office 530 W Main Street, Escalante

9:00am -3:00pm: Sue Tyler: Make It Wild in Mixed Media

Experience creating beautiful, unique landscapes in mixed media with artist Sue Tyler as your guide. Sue demonstrates ways to use acrylics and other water-based products in order to design an expressive, colorful landscape on wood blocks. Students first observe and explore basic forms of the landscape through drawing exercises. Students then prepare the wood surface and layer transparent fluid acrylic colors and other products to create a unique landscape. Sue encourages experimentation and careful thought to encourage a loose, abstract style. Whether painting “plein air” or in the studio, students can gain a new perspective.  Come and join the fun.

This creative approach aims to energize each student’s style, regardless of ability level. The amazing results are the bonus.

Day 2 is a half day that allows students to finish pieces and have an informal critique session. Students will finish at least 2 paintings during the entire session.

Location: Escalante Town Park Pavilion

4:00pm - 5:30pm: Michael Keyes: Woodcut Printmaking – The Process

This demonstration will reveal the process of woodcut printmaking, from transfer of design to woodblock to the carving of the block, to the printing of the block onto paper with a technique of rubbing, avoiding the need for a printing press.

Location: Escalante Town Park Pavilion

Friday, September 16, 2022

9:00am  -12:00pm: Sue Tyler: Make It Wild in Mixed Media

Experience creating beautiful, unique landscapes in mixed media with artist Sue Tyler as your guide. Sue demonstrates ways to use acrylics and other water-based products in order to design an expressive, colorful landscape on wood blocks. Students first observe and explore basic forms of the landscape through drawing exercises. Students then prepare the wood surface and layer transparent fluid acrylic colors and other products to create a unique landscape. Sue encourages experimentation and careful thought to encourage a loose, abstract style. Whether painting “plein air” or in the studio, students can gain a new perspective.  Come and join the fun.

This creative approach aims to energize each student’s style, regardless of ability level. The amazing results are the bonus.

Day 2 is a half day that allows students to finish pieces and have an informal critique session. Students will finish at least 2 paintings during the entire session.

Location: Escalante Town Park Pavilion

Saturday, September 17, 2022

8:30am  -12:00pm: Humanities in the Wild #1: Writing to Witness Water, Land, and Life on the Escalante River

A generative writing workshop facilitated by Nan Seymour, founder of River Writing, along with Raven Chavez, Bureau of Land Management Soil Scientist, and birding guide, Steve Cox. This workshop is for anyone who would like some encouragement to find and foster their voice in relationship to place. Raven and Steve will be teaching about certain aspects of ecology along the Escalante River, and Nan will provide friendly, poetry-based prompts with plenty of writing encouragement, but you don’t have to identify as a writer.

HIKING INFO: Participants will hike along the Escalante River from the trailhead at the bridge on HWY 12. Hike requires crossing the river several times. Terrain is mostly level except when going up and down the banks. Hike is not universally accessible.

Location:Meet at Grand Staircase Escalante Partners Office: 530 W Main Street Escalante, 84726

9:00am - 11:00am: DeLee Grant: Linework, Splatters and Swirls

Watercolour, gouache and India ink go together beautifully! DeLee will demo how these mediums interact with one another to produce of variety of amazing effects and styles. Line work, splatters and swirls created with India ink and combined with watercolour or gouache can produce some interesting and creative results. These combos are easy and besides that, it is a lot of fun!

Location: Escalante Town Park Pavilion

9:00am - 3:00pm: Bonnie Griffith: Plein Air Primer

Learn the basics or enhance your skills for  stress-free Plein Air painting adventures.  From packing of supplies to setup and continuing to the basics for a successful painting, participants will gain insight into the (sometime daunting) process of Plein Air painting.  Learn what Bonnie has found to create successful paintings in the medium of your choice.  It’s all about the basics: choosing a location, thumbnail and Notan sketches, composition, and more. The workshop aims to make the plein air experience fun and accommodating to participants’ physical needs.  Daily demos, notes and reference material will be provided.

The first day of the workshop will be at Escalante State Park and the second will be along Smoky Mountain Road (Alvey Wash area) to give you options of painting water, cliffs, roads and rocks.  An optional 3rd day will be offered for an additional fee ($75) if there is enough interest, to be determined once workshop convenes.  A half hour break will be taken for a lunch, so bring your bring a lunch and water.

Location: Meet at Escalante Town Park Pavilion

1:30pm  -5:00pm: Humanities in the Wild #2: Writing to Witness Water, Land, and Life on the Escalante River

A generative writing workshop facilitated by Nan Seymour, founder of River Writing, along with Raven Chavez, Bureau of Land Management Soil Scientist, and birding guide, Steve Cox. This workshop is for anyone who would like some encouragement to find and foster their voice in relationship to place. Raven and Steve will be teaching about certain aspects of ecology along the Escalante River, and Nan will provide friendly, poetry-based prompts with plenty of writing encouragement, but you don’t have to identify as a writer.

HIKING INFO: Participants will hike along the Escalante River from the trailhead on the edge of Escalante. Hike requires crossing the river several times and is moderate due to uneven terrain and river crossings. Hike is not universally accessible.

Location: Meet at Grand Staircase Escalante Partners Office : 530 W Main Street Escalante, 84726

4:00pm  -7:00pm: Claire Giordano: Capturing Memories in Watercolor & Ink

Join 2022 GSENM Artist in Residence, Claire Giordano, to experience the joy of combining of ink sketches and watercolor as a way to record your explorations in nature. Claire first started creating her distinctive “memory pages”–a combination of nature journaling, mini paintings, color swatches, and candid notes–over five years ago, and they quickly became her favorite painting practice. It is a wonderful way of interacting with place whether  on the trail or at home enjoying photos of a recent adventure. She will share her approach to creating quick sketches, page layout, and experimenting with color to quickly record what is experienced, seen, and felt while on a hike in the Monument.

Location: Meet at Escalante Town Park Pavilion

7:00pm - 8:00pm: Nan Seymour Poetry Reading

Location:  Boulder Town Park Pavilion Boulder, UT

Sunday, September 18, 2022

9:00am - 2:00pm: Bob Stevenson: Lightbulb Moments in the Circle Cliffs

Backcountry Park Ranger Bob Stevenson will explore what happens when personal stories are sandwiched between geological stories and the geopolitics of the cold war.

What ideas and stories connect these words?  Anticline, Yellow Jacket, remote desert, Shinarump, Zelda, ambition, paleoenvironment, Blue Goose, family, Hot Shot, petrified wood, atomic, lightbulb.  If you’re curious, join Ranger Bob for a hike into the stark and wildly beautiful Circle Cliffs region of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.   

Location:Meet at Anasazi State Park Museum -460 HWY 12 Boulder, Utah

2:00pm - 4:00pm: Lisa Hartman: Wabi Sabi Nature Journal

Let’s Journal!  Let’s create a wabi-sabi nature journal bound with a long-stitch that you can write, draw, paint and collage fleeting moments of pure joy, your dreams and aspirations.  Wabi-sabi is the view or thought of finding beauty in every aspect of imperfection in nature.  A handmade journal will be imperfect.  So let your journal conjure your muse.  Join Lisa, a lover of books arts, to celebrate the artist book!  You will learn the language and structure of a simple and elegant handmade book using beautiful papers, glue and thread.  There are a few rules to follow and time will be allowed to let your inner artist create a journal that is unique!

Basic materials will be provided.  To make your journal an expression of yourself, collect and bring keepsake papers, favorite cards, images, pressed flowers and leaves to incorporate into your journal.

Location: Escalante Town Park Pavilion

4:30pm  -7:30pm: Claire Giordano: Creatively Exploring a Shared Landscape

Join 2022 GSENM Artist in Residence, Claire Giordano, for an easy hike in the Monument followed by the creation of large collaborative artwork. This program will be a combination of thoughtful wandering, conversation, and hands-on documentation of experience and place. The goal is to engage participants around the theme of “observations of change”; – with no qualifiers or limitations on what that “change” is  –  and to record these observations on a large canvas, creating a visual record of the ideas and feelings of those present. Claire will share her favorite techniques for sketching and watercolor and everyone present will have the opportunity to create in words, sketches, or paint.

Location: Meet at Escalante Town Park Pavilion

Monday, September 19, 2022

9:00am - 11:00am: Chi E Shenam Westin: Painting on Copper- Making Paintings with Depth and Luminosity

First, Chi will demonstrate how to prep the copper for painting. Then he will go through the techniques that it takes to do a plein air painting on copper, including composition and layering of color. He will demonstrate certain techniques that are unique to super smooth surfaces that allow the copper to show through

Location: Escalante Heritage Center, Escalante, UT

10:00am: Margie Lopez Read: Knowing Escalante Patterns

With this workshop we will explore the value of ‘knowing’ your subject matter as a means to improve the quality of your art. This includes involving more than visual observation of the subject, and needs to include all your senses – touch, smell, and an understanding of how the subject came to look as it does.

OPTIONAL: The afternoon of the first day is time that can be used to explore outdoors and search for different objects in Escalante. Look for similar types of patterns, even if they are very different things. Example: Bilateral symmetry in animals and also plants. Sketch or paint your discoveries. We can do this together as a group, or explore individually, as desired.

On the second morning we will compare everybody’s findings as sketched (or painted) and talk about findings.

The goal of this workshop is not to send you home with a nice painting. Rather, the intent is to provide you with a greater understanding of what you are seeing so that you can push the pigments around canvas or paper accordingly.

Location:  Grand Staircase Escalante Partners Headquarters Office, 530 West Main Street, Escalante, Utah

1:00pm - 3:00pm: Bonnie Griffith: WAX! The Art of Encaustic

Encaustic painting uses melted beeswax and damar resin along with colored pigments to create works of art.  The wax is heated to about 93C and is brushed or poured onto a prepared surface such as wood or special encaustic surface.  The wax can be mixed with pigment or applied over the top of pigment.  Multiple layers are applied with fusing (heating the wax in-between each layer) resulting in a dimensional appearing work.  Other materials such as paper or 3 dimensional objects can be “encased” in the painting and fused between layers of wax or mounted to the top layer of the project. The wax can be carved into to create textures and highlight focal points of the painting. Encaustic art is one of the oldest art forms having dates of found works of around 100-300 AD of Egyptian origin.

Location: Escalante Town Park Pavilion

3:00pm  -7:00pm: Cindy Calbaum: Trees of the Escalante Mountains

Cindy Calbaum will teach you how to identify the conifer species which are native to the Escalante Mountains and the basics of how to identify deciduous trees. After learning about tree identification, Cindy will lead a 1/2 mile hike from the Posey Lake Campground to the Posey Overlook 400 feet above the lake.

Location:  Meet at Grand Staircase Escalante Partners Office, 530 W Main Street Escalante Ut

5:00pm - 7:00pm: Art and Story in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

Join Grand Staircase Escalante Partners for three evenings of art and storytelling, learning about printmaker Tim Musso’s work, hear from Indigenous artists and storytellers, and experience local multi-media stories. Tim Musso, printmaker and professor at La Sierra University in Riverside, California, will kick off the series with a talk about his creative process when creating place-based artwork, provide a hands-on demonstration of the print-making medium, and discuss how his art depicts a relevant story about the Grand Staircase flora, fauna, and more. The second evening will highlight Indigenous Perspectives on culture and art with reflections on family histories depicted through petroglyphs and pictographs. The third and final evening will showcase local storytellers who will provide oral accounts of their connection to the Grand Staircase-Escalante landscape along with photography and paintings of that connection.

Location: Grand Staircase Escalante Partners Headquarters Office  530 West Main Street Escalante, Utah

Tuesday, September 20, 2022

8:00am - 12:00pm: Lindsay Martindale: Beavers – Nature’s Architects

Beavers are an integral component of healthy riparian ecosystems. Historically, North America was estimated to have 100-200 million beavers, who shaped the ecosystems everywhere they lived. Now there are only about 10-15 million in this historic range. Join Lindsay Martindale through a short walk along a creek to see the ecosystem connectivity that beavers provide, contrasted with the lack of ecosystem connectivity in their absence.

Location: Meet at Grand Staircase Escalante Partners Office, 530 W Main Street Escalante, 84726

3:00pm - 5:00pm: Utah Artists – Group Demonstration

This late afternoon group demonstration has become a festival favorite where artists and those who enjoy the creation of art gather to watch different artists, with different styles and approaches, tackle a similar landscape to create a painting in a couple hours.  

The following artists will participate in this year’s group demonstration

Location: Grand Staircase Escalante Partners Headquarters Office, 530 West Main Street Escalante, Utah

5:00pm - 7:00pm: Art and Story in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

Join Grand Staircase Escalante Partners for three evenings of art and storytelling, learning about printmaker Tim Musso’s work, hear from Indigenous artists and storytellers, and experience local multi-media stories. Tim Musso, printmaker and professor at La Sierra University in Riverside, California, will kick off the series with a talk about his creative process when creating place-based artwork, provide a hands-on demonstration of the print-making medium, and discuss how his art depicts a relevant story about the Grand Staircase flora, fauna, and more. The second evening will highlight Indigenous Perspectives on culture and art with reflections on family histories depicted through petroglyphs and pictographs. The third and final evening will showcase local storytellers who will provide oral accounts of their connection to the Grand Staircase-Escalante landscape along with photography and paintings of that connection.

Location:Grand Staircase Escalante Partners Headquarters Office ,530 West Main Street Escalante, Utah

Wednesday, September 23, 2022

9:00am - 4:00pm:Sue Martin: Simplifying Nature in Oil and Cold Wax

cost : $200

Sue will help you see the landscape as overlapping shapes, values, patterns, and color. After identifying the essence of the scene before you, she will show you how to build up layers of oil paint and cold wax medium using credit cards, silicon tools, or bowl scrapers. Through layering and scraping into layers, you’ll create depth, patterns, texture, and color that expresses your unique impression of the landscape. You’ll experience the joys (and the pitfalls) of using oil and cold wax outdoors. You’ll leave with valuable tips for using this medium in the studio, and protecting finished paintings.

Location:  Escalante Heritage Center Escalante, UT

10:00am - 3:00pm: Alan Titus: Tracking Grand Staircase’s Jurassic Dinosaurs

The Twenty Mile Wash Dinosaur Tracksite preserves over 1200 mapped footprints of at least three different kinds of animals. One of the best preserved and most accessible Middle Jurassic age (circa 160 million years old) tracksites in the region, it offers unique glimpses into “a day in the life” of some of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument’s ancient inhabitants. Spend the day learning about these amazing fossils and the animals that made them, including doing some actual science on the tracks!

Location: Meet at Grand Staircase Escalante Partners Office 530 W Main Street, Escalante,

10:00am - 6:00pm: Serenidad Studio – Gallery

Watercolors of the surrounding area by Harriet Priska. Navajo and antique jewelry, local rocks, pioneer soap, books about the west, and antiques.

Location:170 South 100 West

3:00pm - 5:00pm: Paint-Around

The Paint Around is an event where 4-person teams of artists each “paint-around” to create paintings.  Teams of painters will, in turn, work on a single piece.  Teams have two hours to finish their painting, each member taking 15 minute turns.  Each artist will add to and modify the piece under development, according to their vision of the piece’s required direction, providing commentary as they think their way through the task at hand. A blending of unique visions and styles will provide a truly singular result. Come watch this fun activity as the invited artists take turns putting their unique spin on a painting!

The completed paintings will be included in the Plein Air Competition Exhibit and Sale.  All proceeds will be donated to the Escalante Care and Share Food Pantry.

Location:Slot Canyon Inn

5:00pm - 7:00pm: Art and Story in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

Join Grand Staircase Escalante Partners for three evenings of art and storytelling, learning about printmaker Tim Musso’s work, hear from Indigenous artists and storytellers, and experience local multi-media stories. Tim Musso, printmaker and professor at La Sierra University in Riverside, California, will kick off the series with a talk about his creative process when creating place-based artwork, provide a hands-on demonstration of the print-making medium, and discuss how his art depicts a relevant story about the Grand Staircase flora, fauna, and more. The second evening will highlight Indigenous Perspectives on culture and art with reflections on family histories depicted through petroglyphs and pictographs. The third and final evening will showcase local storytellers who will provide oral accounts of their connection to the Grand Staircase-Escalante landscape along with photography and paintings of that connection.

Location:     Grand Staircase Escalante Partners Headquarters Office, 530 West Main Street  Escalante, Utah

Thursday, September 22, 2022

9:00am  -10:00am: Escalante Historic District Walking Tour

Tour begins at the Peoples Exchange, one of Escalante’s most photographed historic buildings.  Come along to learn more about many of the historic structures throughout town.  Escalante was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2013 as a National Historic District with areas of noted significance in architecture, social history, commerce, agriculture, and exploration/settlement.  

Tour will be led by Dr. Larry Barnes, co-owner of the Peoples Exchange, an early (1901) co-op store on old Main Street, Escalante. His interest in Escalante history has led to several invitations to give lectures and to assist in preparation of the guide to the Escalante National Historic District.

Location:      Meet at People’s Exchange 100 North Center Street Escalante, UT

9:00am  -12:00pm: Sue Martin: Simplifying Nature in Oil and Cold Wax

Sue will help you see the landscape as overlapping shapes, values, patterns, and color. After identifying the essence of the scene before you, she will show you how to build up layers of oil paint and cold wax medium using credit cards, silicon tools, or bowl scrapers. Through layering and scraping into layers, you’ll create depth, patterns, texture, and color that expresses your unique impression of the landscape. You’ll experience the joys (and the pitfalls) of using oil and cold wax outdoors. You’ll leave with valuable tips for using this medium in the studio, and protecting finished paintings.

Location:  Escalante Heritage Center, Escalante, UT

10:00am - 6:00pm: Serenidad Studio – Gallery

Watercolors of the surrounding area by Harriet Priska. Navajo and antique jewelry, local rocks, pioneer soap, books about the west, and antiques.

Location:170 South 100 West

1:00pm - 3:00pm: Stacy Phillips: GOLDEN Artist Colors Demo

This is a fast-paced presentation of GOLDEN acrylic paints and related products including mediums, gels and pastes. You will discover the different types of GOLDEN acrylic paint formulations, pigments, and their individual viscosities, explore color theory, color reality, drying times, technical properties and health & safety issues. You will learn the versatility of acrylics when used with traditional painting or contemporary art practices. You will be introduced to GOLDEN products such as grounds, different types of acrylics, Qor watercolors and Williamsburg handmade oil paints.  You will observe how to mix paints with gels and pastes to create texture.

Location:Escalante Town Park Pavilion

5:30pm - 7:00pm: Carol Johansen: Desert Acrylic Pour
With just the squeeze of squirt bottles, create colorful stunning abstract masterpieces of the Grand Staircase-Escalante in the coolest evening shadows or blistering warmth.

No experience necessary. Any age, any ability. Small, medium, large, you choose your canvas size. Success is guaranteed!! Just watch the colors emerge and swirl on the surfaces for unpredictable results. You are going to love it!

Location: Escalante Town Park – Hands on Art Tent North 100 West Escalante, UT

7:00pm -8:30pm: Lewis Williams – Paint the Way ‘Cross the USA by Bike

After 40 years of making art, in 2021, Lewis Williams and his wife completed a dream endeavor, “Painting The Way ‘Cross The USA-By Bike.” The idea brewed on the eve of his 60th birthday in 2019. They travelled by bicycle from March 1 – to August, 1, 2021 from San Diego to Bar Harbor, Maine over 5 months and 4700 miles. A film of their travels debuted at the Plein Air Convention and Expo earlier this year. Their short film will precede this presentation which will include discussion on art/cycling/life and sharing images from across the country depicting how and where they traveled.

Location: Grand Staircase Escalante Partners Headquarters Office  530 West Main Street Escalante, Utah

Friday, September 23, 2022

10:00am  -12:00pm: Bonnie Griffith: Pastel Painting

A landscape pastel painting will come to life with the use of this vibrant dry medium as you paint along with Bonnie to create your own masterpiece.  Learn the basics or perfect your skills of using this medium in this class.  You will learn about doing an underpainting to create depth and interest in your piece, followed by layers of pastels that bring your painting to life. Come prepared to have fun! Pastel paper and the use of pastels will be provided (if you have your own set of professional grade pastels, bring them).

Location: Escalante Town Park – Hands on Art Tent  North 100 West Escalante, UT

10:00am  -2:00pm: Rhiannon Garrard : Jurassic Rock Recipes

Many of Utah’s most famous rocks come from the Jurassic era. You have the early Jurassic Navajo sandstone, found at Zion National Park. Then there is the mid Jurassic Entrada formation which makes up the eye-catching arches of Arches National Park. Both are also abundant in the GSENM. Curiously they formed in a time before the Rocky Mountains. A time when the Appalachian Mountains rivaled the modern day Himalayas. Wind and water carried the ingredients of the Navajo sandstone and Entrada formation across the continent from the dynamic east to the passive west. Despite being made of the same source materials, the two formations make up a variety of different rock fabrics. Let’s learn the basic recipe for making these Jurassic rocks and how to tweak it to get iconic results.

Location: Meet at GSENM Cannonville Visitor Center  10 Center Street Cannonville, UT

10:00am - 5:00pm: Arts & Crafts Fair

Artisans, artists and crafters from around the region come to Escalante each year to share their unique products with festival attendees. The Arts & Crafts Fair is great for finding regionally made items that have a story to tell about the area and those who live and work here. Jewelry, ceramics, photography, wooden crafts, fiber goods and an array of items can be found.

Location:Escalante Town Park

10:00am: Quilt Exhibition

Every quilt has a story. Visit the Quilt Exhibition and enjoy the art, workmanship, and history of these beautiful quilts.

Location: People’s Exchange  100 North Center Street Escalalante, UT

10:00am: Plein Air Exhibit and Art Sale

The Plein Air Exhibit and Sale is the highlight of the festival and showcases art submitted for the Plein Air Competitions.  The show typically includes more than 200 entries in oil, pastel, watercolor, and other mixed media that have been produced during the days leading up to the show by registered artists of all levels of experience.   The exhibit is a great venue for purchasing art and seeing how the region’s rural and natural landscapes have been interpreted and captured on canvas or paper by artists from near and far. 

Location: Escalante Town Park – Exhibit Tent

10:00am: Featured Artist Exhibit

Location: Escalante Town Park

10:00am: Grand Staircase-Escalante NM Artist in Residence Exhibit

Location: Escalante Town Park

10:00am: Featured Artist: Irit Read

Location: Escalante Town Park

12:00pm: Patrice Webb

Patrice Webb is an award-winning singer songwriter from Sandpoint Idaho.  Her music is a mix of vibrant storytelling played and sung on a bed of folk, country, swing, and acoustic blues.  She has won awards in the New England Songwriting Contest, The Walnut Valley New Song contest as well as the Jane Titland Songwriting contest where she is a three-time finalist.

Location:Escalante Town Park – Festival Stage

1:00pm - 5:00pm: Tera & Jaynie Connor: Barn Quilts Made Simple

In this afternoon session join Tera and Jaynie Connor for an easy and fun barn quilt workshop.  Sign up for hands-on experience in creating your very own 2’x2’ hand-painted barn quilt! This class is perfect for any skill level and offers a large variety of colors for you to choose from. You will be provided with all the materials you will need to complete a beautiful barn quilt to hang on your porch or your barn…if you have one.

Location:  Escalante Town Park – Hands on Art Tent  North 100 West Escalante, UT

2:00pm -3:30pm: Annie’s Safehouse Band

Annie Platt is participating as a painter and a musician in this year’s festival! Her journey of song has been one of joyful devotion. With her virtuoso pals by her side (Ben Kraftwerx, Jimmy Vickers, and Will Hanisko), she will be singing for the heavens above.

Location:Escalante Town Park – Festival Stage

4:00pm - 5:30pm: Mel Soul

Mel Soul has been a local Utah Musician for 11 years. She was the winner of the Wasatch Mountain Music Festival Songwriting Competition in 2021 and performer of the year for the yARTie Awards.  She has worked with Darrell Scott, Mary Gauthier, Lauren Christy, and Natasha Bedingfield.  Claim to fame, music for your soul!

Location:Escalante Town Park – Festival Stage

Saturday, September 24, 2022

9:00am - 10:00am: Escalante Historic District Walking Tour

Tour begins at the Peoples Exchange, one of Escalante’s most photographed historic buildings.  Come along to learn more about many of the historic structures throughout town.  Escalante was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2013 as a National Historic District with areas of noted significance in architecture, social history, commerce, agriculture, and exploration/settlement.  

Tour will be led by Dr. Larry Barnes, co-owner of the Peoples Exchange, an early (1901) co-op store on old Main Street, Escalante. His interest in Escalante history has led to several invitations to give lectures and to assist in preparation of the guide to the Escalante National Historic District.

Location:  Meet at People’s Exchange 100 North Center Street Escalante,UT

9:30am - 11:30am: Loretta Domaszewski: Watercolor: Light, Depth, and Space with Lyrical Brushstrokes

Learn to recreate nature’s elements in a lyrical expressive way with watercolor. Develop layered patterns of unique brushstrokes and mark making that emphasize light, depth, and space. Find the abstraction that comes with experimentation of color, texture, and personal mark making. Join in with painters of all levels that wish to explore and break away from the conventional. A technique that can be implemented in future oil or acrylic paintings.  

Location:   Escalante Town Park – Hands on Art Tent  North 100 West Escalante, UT

10:00am - 1:00pm: Friends in Art Collective Open Studio

Location: 745 West 500 South

10:30am  -11:30am: Kenny Hall

Kenny Hall is a singer of western ballads and songs. He resides in the beautiful Bryce Canyon area of Southern Utah. Kenny is a popular entertainer and has a great arsenal of songs that cross many western genres. His rich cowboy heritage connects with his songs and music that he performs.

Location: Escalante Town Park – Festival Stage

11:00am - 12:00pm: Sculptured Furniture /  Primitive Pottery Gallery

David and Brigitte moved to Escalante in 1996 from Berlin, Germany.  David’s Sculptured Furniture echoes the organic forms of the Red Rock Country while Brigitte’s Primitive Pottery is inspired by prehistoric cultures of the Colorado Plateau, and after recent trips to Sri Lanka, Brigitte has also resumed painting.

Location: Sculptured Furniture Primitive Pottery Gallery  1540 West HWY 12 Escalante, UT

12:00pm - 1:30pm: Salt Gulch All Stars

The Salt Gulch All Stars will be playing for their 9th year at the Escalante Canyon’s Art Festival.  They are pleased to announce that Kak Urpani will be playing with the band this year and there will likely be other special guest appearances of other known and loved musical artists.  Rest assured, the good time spirit of the All Stars deep musical friendships are guaranteed to get your toe tappin’ and if you’re brave, jump out of your seat and BOOGIE!

Location: Escalante Town Park – Festival Stage

12:00pm  -2:00pm: Phoenix Bunke: Remade & Recycled Art: Cut Paper Collage

Collage is an art form that’s easy to get into no matter what your skill level, and it’s a way of reusing things that might otherwise end up in the trash. Join Phoenix to try your hand at cut paper collage—no experience required! You will be inspired by the shapes and colors of the natural landscape that are found in paper materials, and through your creativity you will remake old images that create new meaning. Participants will collage the cover of a blank notebook. Plenty of collage materials (including scissors and notebooks) will be provided.  Please feel free to bring scissors & images as well. Adults & children welcome—anyone who is able to use scissors without supervision.

Location:  Escalante Town Park – Hands on Art Tent  North 100 West Escalante, UT

2:00pm - 3:30pm: Matt Burke

Matt Burke grew up in a small town in central-Florida, spent a brief stint in Michigan, moved to Chicago to develop his musicality and performance chops, and eventually relocated to the heart of it all – Nashville, TN. Burke has been releasing a steady stream of quality new material that has drawn comparisons to Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, and Zac Brown. A versatile artist, each single Burke releases touches on a different aspect of the Americana genre – from 1970’s honky-tonk line-dance anthems to heartbreaking bar stool laments and Top 40, country-rock singles ready for the hot 100, Burke showcases the many faces of his musical personality while continuing to carve his unique niche in the Nashville Music scene.

Location: Escalante Town Park – Festival Stage

2:30pm - 4:30pm: Bonnie Griffith: Altered Paint Brushes – Good Brushes Gone Bad!

Come have some fun and learn how to create a basic altered paint brush, turning it into a self-portrait or whimsical character.  Using old (or new) 2-, 3- or 4-inch wide paint brushes, acrylic paints will be applied to the handle and bristles to create these fun pieces of art. Let your imagination be your guide as you take the first steps into this endless art form.  Some basic embellishments will be available to enhance your brush face.  The brushes provided will be gessoed and ready to paint.

Location:  Escalante Town Park – Hands on Art Tent  North 100 West Escalante, UT

4:00pm - 5:30pm: Hugh Phillips Band

The Hugh Phillips Band is a 5-piece Americana/Country Band from Carbondale Colorado.They were just nominated as the Best New Artist/Band, Best New Male Vocalist, and Best New Americana/Country Song [Hi-Ways] on the Colorado Playlist 2021 Listener Poll. They perform originals from Hugh’s debut album ‘It’s Been a Long Time’ [Oct 2020] and many other originals and some covers that really get the crowd going.

Location:Escalante Town Park – Festival Stage

6:00pm  -7:30pm: Sihasin

For three decades, brother and sister Jeneda and Clayson Benally have been recording and touring bringing their empowering, organic, conscious-raising, charged music to communities throughout Europe and North America. Multi-award winning musicians from the (Dine) Navajo Nation in Northern Arizona create an explosive duo of just bass, drums and vocals with a traditional Navajo backbone bridging folk, rock, world, pop and a little punk. Sihasin comes from a long tradition of protest music and espouses traditional Navajo values to their audience. Sihasin is a rare band that does more than just perform – they leave their audiences with an exhilarating feeling of hope and respect and cultural appreciation.

Their first album “Never Surrender” produced by Grammy award winner, Ed Stasium, has won just about every award on the American Indian Music Scene. Their second album “Fight Like A Woman” also produced by Ed Stasium, has received 11 nominations in the Native American Music Categories, has won 2 Global Music Awards, Best Pop in the Indian Summer Music Awards, five nominations in the Native American Music Awards, and is in current rotation throughout the world on Undercurrents radio and many college and independent radio stations.

Location:Escalante Town Park – Festival Stage

Date: September 12, 2022 - September 25, 2022

Location: Various Venues in UT

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