ST. GEORGE – In the spirit of Halloween, the St. George Art Museum’s permanent collection, which has never before been seen in its entirety, is about to go back in storage and into the dark after being on display since early August. On October 31, as a special treat, art lovers in costume to view the permanent collection for the first time or for one last time will be admitted free-of-charge.

And, its no trick that from now on the St. George Art Museum is offering a discount on admission. Patrons of any age will get $1 off admission with one can of food for the food bank. With two cans, the cost of admission drops to $1.

On November 8, the city-owned collection will be returned to double-sided wire mesh art racks deep in the heart of the downtown St. George art museum. There this amazing art collection will remain safe and secure until the next time it is displayed, perhaps in several years.

According to museum curator Deborah Reeder, the dream of a permanent collection – which now consists of 664 pieces of artwork and 86 pieces of documentary artifacts and ephemera, mostly pertaining to Zion National Park – began in 1980.

The initial purchases were Navajo Boy, a pastel by Lois Brown and two watercolors entitled Desert Wagon by Roland Lee and Apples III by Ron Rencher. Since the first SG Art Festival purchases, the museum has purchased or been gifted many more exquisite – even rare – works of art.

Among the paintings, pottery and photography currently on display are works by artists Del Parsons, Farrell Collett, L’Deane Trueblood, Roland Lee, Floyd Bringhurst, Erin Hanson, twenty-three watercolors and sketches by Minerva Kohlhepp Teichert, and photos by Dorothea Lange, Mauritz Widfors, Gene Butera and Gaell Lindstom.

Gifts to the museum over the years include 30 works-of-art from St. George’s sister city of Ibigawa, Japan; and, from Dr. Richard Hardy a former gallery owner in San Jose, California, has donated an astounding 90 pieces of artwork including 8 Rembrandt etchings.

The St. George Art Museum is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 47 E. 200 North. According to the museum mission statement, the city-owned and operated facility exists “to educate … through quality exhibitions from all periods, cultures and media … and to collect, conserve, inventory, exhibit and interpret art and artifacts from Utah and the West.”

For more information, call 627-4525.

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