ST. GEORGE – Tickets are still available for the annual Robert N. and Peggy Sears Dixie Invitational Art Show and Sale Opening Gala, which will be held on Friday, Feb. 18, beginning at 6 p.m., in the DSC Eccles Fine Arts Center Grand Foyer.
The program for the evening will include dinner and musical entertainment by vocalist Brodie Perry. Perry is a veteran performer with the St. George Musical Theater, Tuacahn and the Utah Festival Opera. An art preview for dinner guests will precede the gala at 4:00 p.m. Tickets for the gala may be purchased by calling Susan Taysom at 435-652-7905.
Prior to the Opening Gala at 3 p.m., a free art symposium for all aspiring artists will be conducted by 2010 Purchase Prize winner Ian Ramsay. Ramsay, who hails from Murray, Utah, will also serve as this year’s Sears Art Show adjudicator.
Ramsay, who won his first Sears Invitational Purchase Prize award for his watercolor painting “Farm in Winter, Bellevue, Idaho,” has been a full time artist for over 30 years, painting exclusively in watercolor in a representational style. His work is represented in collections throughout the United States, Japan, Great Britain, Canada, France and Switzerland. Ramsay has received numerous awards over the span of his career, most recently the Best of Show and Grand Prize at the Utah State Fair, and First Prize for watercolor at the Shenandoah Invitational Art Show. In 2009, he was made a honorary lifetime member of the Utah Watercolor Society.
The Sears Dixie Invitational Art Show and Sale, now entering its 24th-year at Dixie State College, will feature a record 280 pieces of artwork from nearly 170 renowned artists from Utah and around the country. Award categories for the show include oils, watercolor, pastels and other media. In addition, the show regularly features several bronze works.
The exhibit will open to the public on Saturday, Feb. 19, and will be on display through Sunday, March 27. Exhibit hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Mondays through Saturdays, and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays. Call (435) 652-7905 for more information.