Press Release
Price, Utah — USU Eastern is pleased to present, Early Utah Masterpieces, a Utah Arts & Museums’ Traveling Exhibition highlighting a selection of important and historically significant works in the Utah State Fine Art Collection. Composed of 26 giclée prints of the valuable works, the travelling collection allows communities throughout the state to view and learn about Utah’s artistic history. Early Utah Masterpieces will be exhibited at Gallery East from November 7 through December 9.
“Utah has a unique artistic heritage and we are thrilled to have this traveling exhibit at Gallery East because is features some of our state’s greatest painters. Many of these individuals were both artists and educators, so we hope that students and art lovers will be inspired to see their work,” says gallery director Noel Carmack.
Early Utah Masterpieces celebrates the extraordinary and rich history of the visual arts in Utah. At the first meeting of the Art Institute in 1899, money was appropriated to purchase its first painting, Black Rock, 1898, by J.T. Harwood. It is an impressive landscape of familiar sight in the Great Salt Lake. Beginning with that significant first purchase, the Utah State Fine Art Collection has grown annually through purchases and donations.
The pieces displayed in this exhibit are giclée (a French word that means a spray of liquid) reproductions of the original oil paintings. Giclée prints are generated from high-resolution digital scans and printed onto canvas using professional color ink-jet printers. The giclée process provides better color accuracy than other means of reproduction and can be adjusted to any size.
Early Utah Masterpieces: Alice Art Collection was created through the American Masterpieces program. American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius is a special initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, and presents Americans with the best of their artistic and cultural legacy, reaching large and small communities in all fifty states. Project support was provided by Utah Arts & Museums, the Utah State Legislature, the Western States Arts Federation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
The gallery is located in the Central Instruction Building and is free and open to the public during the academic year from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The gallery is closed weekends and holidays.
Any questions can be answered by Noel Carmack, Gallery East curator, at 435-613-5241 or email at noel.carmack@usu.edu.
About Utah Arts & Museums and the Traveling Exhibit Program
Utah Arts & Museums’ Traveling Exhibit Program is a statewide outreach program that provides schools, museums, libraries, and community galleries with the opportunity to bring curated exhibitions to their community. This program is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information on participating in the program, please contact Fletcher Booth at fbooth@utah.gov or call 801-824-9177. For media inquiries, please contact Alyssa Hickman Grove, at agrove@utah.gov or call 801-236-7548.
Utah Arts & Museums is a division of the Utah Department of Heritage and Arts (DHA). To enrich the quality of life for the people of Utah, DHA creates, preserves, and promotes Heritage and Arts. The Division provides funding, education, and technical services to individuals and organizations statewide so that all Utahns, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity or economic status, can access, understand, and receive the benefits of arts and culture. Additional information on the programs and services can be found at artsandmuseums.utah.gov or by calling 801-236-7555.
