Rantings and Ravings

By Sun Advocate

I have been watching the new sculpture being installed over the side walk on 100 North. It is great to see the recent emphasis the community is putting on visual arts.
I hope some of you were able to see the lighting of Karen Templeton’s new copper sculptures at the CEU museum last Thursday night. I think most of us are enjoying the new Kokopelli statue on Main Street.
I am trying to finalize a project, as well, that will bring a dash of color to our community. I will keep you posted on that one.
Helper has been trying to embrace the arts for quite some time now. Many of the empty buildings have been offered as ghost galleries for artists to display their works. Many fine artists have settled in the Helper area. Some are long time residents, others are recent transplants.
The artistic talent in our community is staggering. I have felt both intimidated and honored to have a community filled with so many talented artisans.
It is a sharing community of individuals who contribute their talents and materials to help each other. I have learned a lot from networking with as many other artists as I can.
The Helper Arts Festival is a great venue to give local artists a chance to show off what they are doing. The cost to have a booth here is relatively low compared to other art festivals.
You also don’t need to send in your work to a jury and wait to see if you are picked. This gives many artists a chance to display original and unique works of art.
A few years ago I went to the Park City Art Festival. I hadn’t been for about 10 years and was looking forward to seeing some unique and unusual art.
I was greatly disappointed. It was like walking in an open air version of the galleries that already existed in Park City. Don’t get me wrong, the art was first rate, but it came across to me as more consumer driven than inspired. I hope the Helper Art Festival never evolves to that stage.
I plan on being at the festival this year. I hope to see many of you. There will be some new and exiting completions for the visual arts.
And in the meantime, I hope as the community keeps its focus on new visual art projects, it makes sure it is open to seeing what talent is out there. Celebrate our well known artists and give opportunities to showcase some new talent as well.