ST. GEORGE —As Easter weekend approaches, the heart of downtown St. George is preparing to transform into a fine art paradise for a free annual event full of activities for all ages.
The city of St. George presents the 43rd St. George Art Festival, this Friday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. at Historic Town Square. This free community event will feature art, activities for kids, a variety of food options, live entertainment and more.
According to a press release from the city of St. George, there will be a children’s area with hands-on creative opportunities for budding artists. Also featured will be a platform of craft projects, homemade musical instruments, games, puppetry, a rubber duck race and face painting. Artie the Art Bus, a mobile museum on wheels that takes arts and crafts into various locations, also will be in attendance.
“This is truly a can’t-miss event,” Emily Reed, community arts manager, said in the press release. “You have a juried fine art show with over 100 artists — many who return annually — to display and sell their creations. You have the Kids Creation Station, chock full of budding artists trying their hand at many different types of art projects. You have a wide variety of delicious food — and don’t forget entertainment lasting the whole day.”
While the festival celebrates fine art, it also celebrates the performing arts with continuous entertainment performed on three separate stages. For the first time this year, the festival will spill over onto Tabernacle Street.
Nationally known painters, potters, jewelers, photographers and sculptors in bronze, steel and fabric also will be featured at the event. There will be food for all tastes, including an extensive variety of food trucks.
“This annual event is one of our city’s crown jewels and is among the finest festivals in our part of the country,” said St. George City Councilwoman Dannielle Larkin in the press release. “It’s like walking into an outdoor museum. Once you have seen it, you’ll want to make sure you attend each year.”
The news release also states that for the first time, St. George Races will host the Art Attack 1-Mile Run on Saturday at 8 a.m. This event is for all abilities, from those who want to race to others just looking for some fun and exercise.
Dianne and Doug Adams, the featured artists for this year’s art festival, told St. George News about their ties to Utah and the art they create both individually and collaboratively. This husband-and-wife duo has combined their talents to create one-of-a-kind, recycled, sculptured bells. Their bells are sold worldwide through fine art galleries in the Southwest.
Doug Adams said that he met the love of his life, Dianne Adams, 20 years ago. He made his first bell art piece around 40 years ago and told St. George News about how his now-wife encouraged him to fully pursue his career in art.
“I had made one bell up to that point and she came to my house on our first date and it was hanging in an apple tree and she rung it and said, ‘That is way cool, you need to make more of those,’ and that’s over 5,000 bells ago, so I’m a full-time ding-a-ling now,” Doug Adams said.
The Adams family originally lived in the small community of Deweyville, a rural town in Box Elder County, nestled along the foothills of the western slopes of the Wasatch Mountains. They made the move to Malad, Idaho, five years ago.
Doug Adams said he got his bells in his very first gallery at the Juniper Sky Gallery at the Kayenta Art Village. He said they were new to galleries at the time and weren’t sure how to approach them. He said they came to the gallery with four bells and spoke with the manager. Upon looking at the pieces, the gallery manager accepted them into the gallery. He said they have since sold several hundred pieces through the Juniper Sky Gallery over the 10 years they showcased their art there.
His art in Southern Utah also is showcased in the Worthington Gallery in Springdale.
Dianne Adams said her husband always has been creative and that he just needed a creative outlet, which they figured out together. She said from the bare bones of the bells to what they have become is truly amazing. Having an art degree herself, she said she has been in the art world her entire life and considers herself more of a mixed-media artist, who has created many different forms of art over the years.
“My latest art form is what I call my junk mail art,” Diane Adams said.. “I make my art out of junk mail and various other recycled papers. I put it into a shredder, then my blender, make paper out of it, then create my art projects.”
She said her husband’s artistic bells are also repurposed from old steel and other items that would otherwise end up at the dump.
Doug Adams said after he graduated high school he worked for 30 years at Nucor Steel, a steel mill in Northern Utah that had recently opened. Recycling a million tons of scrap metal a year, Nucor Steel has given him free rein over the scrap piles, he said, allowing him to go in and find unusual and sometimes vintage materials that would’ve otherwise been made into new reusable steel. He’s found items that were over 150 years old that have patent dates to prove their authenticity.
“There will be a piece down at the art show, a giant pipe wrench I found at the scrap pile that has a 1918 patent date on it,” he said. “I love that kind of stuff, I love stuff that says ‘Made in the U.S.A.,’ too.”
Both Dianne and Doug Adams’ art will be showcased at the upcoming art festival, along with their son Ryan’s art pieces. Ryan Adams creates sculpted bells like his father and has also made tables out of recycled elements with both wood and glass tops. Each year, Dianne, Doug and their son do a collaborative effort to create a bell sculpture that is featured in Art Around the Corner.
“Several of these bells adorn St. George,” Doug Adams said. “We have one out at the Tonaquint Cemetary, one at city offices, one at the university by the Sears Gallery and we also have one now at the Aiden Hotel on St. George Boulevard.”
He said they are thrilled to be chosen as the featured artists for the upcoming show and look forward to showcasing their art, speaking with the community and coming back to a place they love so much – Southern Utah.
“We’re truly living the dream,” he said. “We love it. We truly love what we do. Every day is a new adventure and new opportunity to make something unique and unusual and different.”
For more information on Dianne Adams’ art, click here. For more information on Doug Adams’ art, click here.
Event details
- What: St. George Art Festival
- When: Friday, April 15 and Saturday, April 16, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Where: Historic Town Square on Main Street, between Tabernacle Street and 100 South
- Admission: Free
- For more information, visit the Arts Festival website
Photo Gallery
'Junk mail' art by Dianne Adams, available at the upcoming festival, Date and location unspecified | Photo courtesy of Dianne Adams, St. George News
'Junk mail' art by Dianne Adams, available at the upcoming festival, Date and location unspecified | Photo courtesy of Dianne Adams, St. George News
'Junk mail' art by Dianne Adams, available at the upcoming festival, Date and location unspecified | Photo courtesy of Dianne Adams, St. George News
'Junk mail' art by Dianne Adams, available at the upcoming festival, Date and location unspecified | Photo courtesy of Dianne Adams, St. George News
Attendees walk through the booths at a previous St. George Art Festival, Date unspecified, St. George, Utah | Photo Courtesy of David Cordero, St. George News
Attendees visit a vendor at a previous St. George Art Festival, Date unspecified, St. George, Utah | Photo Courtesy of David Cordero, St. George News
Attendees of a past St. George Art Festival enjoy the activities, Date unspecified, St. George, Utah | Photo Courtesy of David Cordero, St. George News
A sign stands in front of booths at a previous St. George Art Festival, Date unspecified, St. George, Utah | Photo Courtesy of David Cordero, St. George News
Live entertainment at a previous St. George Art Festival, Date unspecified, St. George, Utah | Photo Courtesy of David Cordero, St. George News
Ryan Adams, Son of Dianne and Doug Adams, stands with his Dixie invitational sculpture, Date and location unspecified | Photo courtesy of Dianne Adams, St. George News
Dianne Adams stands in front of her award-winning art piece, Date and location unspecified | Photo courtesy of Dianne Adams, St. George News
Doug, Dianne and Ryan Adams stand in front of bell sculptures, Date and location unspecified | Photo courtesy of Dianne Adams, St. George News
A collaborative bell art piece created by Doug, Dianne and Ryan Adams featuring mosaic glass, Date and location unspecified | Photo courtesy of Dianne Adams, St. George News
A collaborative bell art piece created by Doug, Dianne and Ryan Adams featuring mosaic glass, Date and location unspecified | Photo courtesy of Dianne Adams, St. George News
Doug, Dianne and Ryan Adams stand in front of bell sculpture, Date and location unspecified | Photo courtesy of Dianne Adams, St. George News
Collaborative bell art piece created by Doug, Dianne and Ryan Adams featuring mosaic glass, Date and location unspecified | Photo courtesy of Dianne Adams, St. George News
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