Arts in the park Gallery and demonstrations to supplement Orem’s Summerfest

Starting June 7, the Orem Arts Council will be presenting their third annual Arts in the Park series. This year’s event include visual art displays, presentations and demonstrations by local artists, live music, activities and for-purchase art.

Daniel J. Fairbanks, the associate dean of the College of Science and Health, will sculpt a bust in a live demonstration.

“I’d like to share some of the beginnings of art in Utah,” said Fairbanks, “highlighting my great-grandfather, John B. Fairbanks, who was trained as a landscape painter in the Barbizon and Impressionist traditions in France in the 1890s and returned to Utah to become an influential painter. He was the first of what is now a five-generation tradition of art in my family. … I will be doing a portrait bust of him while sharing stories of how Utah become a thriving center for the arts.”

Between Fairbanks’ inherited artistic importance and his newly-acquired position on the Orem Arts Council, he carries great influence in the local art community.

“Most of all, I hope to help increase awareness of the arts in our community,” he said of his potential impact. “Too few people are fully aware of the fine permanent collections and traveling exhibits housed in our museums and the many venues for art available locally. Moreover, we have a thriving arts community with art events, such as Arts in the Park. … I hope people become more aware of these treasures of art we have here and take the time to enrich their lives by enjoying them.”

UVU graduate Jesse Royston will also be giving a demonstration. According to Sarah Stephenson, the Arts in the Park coordinator for the Orem Arts Council, Royston will do “an interactive painting demo to live music” at the event. Royston is basing her demonstration on the idea that art can capture the melodies, rhythm and notes of music.

She will be painting to the music of Jess Smiley, a local acoustic musician and artist. “I’ll be playing songs I’ve written and songs others have come up with,” Smiley said. “People usually call my music ‘folk-rock’ and they say I sound like Mason Jennings. It’s definitely folk music, because it’s for the folks.”
In addition to the events and presentations, the 337 Project Art truck will make a special visit. The truck is an art experiment on wheels, bringing art education and inspiration to Utah’s students and citizens. Seeing the truck alone is worth the visit to the Summerfest.

Other artists contributing to the event are Liz Lemon Swindle, who focuses on motherhood and religious imagery; local ceramic artist and retired teacher Dennis Zupan; children’s illustrator Nathan Hale; BYU teacher and mixed-media artist Hagen Haltern; local folk music troupe The Geslison Family band; and encaustic artist Sean Diediker among others.

“Anyone is welcome,” said Fairbanks. “I hope that everyone who feels even the slightest inclination will join us.”

More info
When: Friday, June 11 12-7 p.m.
Saturday, June 12 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
Where: Orem City Center Courtyard, just Southwest of the entrance to the Orem Library
Admission: Free