Kimball Art Center
Fall A.R.T.S. 2013
Academic Resources for Teachers & Students
Painters of the Wasatch Mountains
Exhibit Overview
A distinct painting development with regard to the American West's Wasatch
Range emerged in the nineteenth century and persists even today. These
"painters of the Wasatch" have set many precedents through their artistic
interpretations of this mountain subject matter. The retrospective exhibit, drawn
from the 2005 collector's book "Painters of the Wasatch Mountains" and
produced in a collaboration with the Utah Museum of Art and History, is a survey
of the gamut of painters who formed and have carried forward an expression of
nature's mighty gift to both visitors and residents of Utah.
As natural successor to the Hudson River School in the East, the "Wasatch
School" persists because of the values we associate with that first of America's
art movements- a dedication to place, a careful study, and interpretation of the
environment in a spiritual and cultural context. The Painters of the Wasatch are
not defined by a particular style or medium but by a physical presence that has
unlimited appeal and inspiration.
Many paintings on loan from museums, artists and private collectors will be on
display from the earliest examples of painting in the nineteenth century, to works
by Utah's contemporary artists.
A.R.T.S. School Tour & Project
Each A.R.T.S School Tour for the Painters of the Wasatch Mountains exhibit will
include a 45 minute guided tour as well as a 45 minute art project. The art
project, will allow students to create small Park City Wasatch Mountain
landscape painting after drawing them on canvas paper. Students will use either
acrylic or watercolor paints.
Costs of A.R.T.S. – FREE thanks to our generous sponsors and supporters!
The Kimball Art Center is able to provide the free of charge, A.R.T.S. School
Tour Program for the Painters of the Wasatch exhibition to public, private,
charter, home schools plus youth organizations thanks to underwriting by the
George S. & Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation, The Thomas H. and Carolyn Fey
Family Foundation, KSL 5 TV, Summit County RAP Tax, Utah Division of Arts &
Museums, Zions Bank, The Burton Foundation and Rocky Mountain Power. The
A.R.T.S. Program includes free gallery school tours or in-classroom lectures with
cross curriculum lesson plans and a hands-on exhibit driven art projects to
further students understanding of the Main Gallery exhibition.
Technology for the classroom
The following websites include cross curriculum lesson plans, education
information and fun, interactive games. By using these websites and creating
pre and post visit activities in your classroom, children will be more involved and
retain more knowledge about these subjects. Please visit these following
website links.
1.Learn about artist Maynard Dixon.
http://www.maynarddixonpaintings.com/
2. Learn about artist Susan Swartz and see her art work.
http://play.lego.com/en-us/default.aspx
3. Information about Utah’s Mountains
http://historytogo.utah.gov/utah_chapters/the_land/physicalgeographyofutah.html
4. Learn about fun Utah facts!
http://www.ducksters.com/geography/state.php?State=Utah
5. Take the Utah State Map Quiz and color it in!
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/usa/statesbw/utah.shtml
6. Learn about Utah State History, see old writings and contracts, and learn
about various tribes and people who settled the lands and lived here before you
and made Utah what it is today.
http://www.ilovehistory.utah.gov/index.html
7. Mountain Ranges in Utah
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mountain_ranges_of_Utah
Background Information
Painters of the Wasatch Mountains
During the 19th century, a painting movement established itself in the western
region of the United States. The Painters of the Wasatch, are a distinct group of
artists who create a sequence of work based on the regional context of the
Wasatch Mountains. This group formed in the same century in which both the
Rocky Mountain School and the infamous Hudson River School in New York
established themselves, focusing on the subject of regional, mountainous
landscape.
The Wasatch Range divides Utah into roughly two equal parts. The range
attracts a large number of storms, capturing more rain and snow than anywhere
else in the state. As a result, 80 percent of Utah’s population resides on the
western side of the Wasatch Mountains, also known as the Wasatch Front.
Considered a part of the Rocky Mountains, the Wasatch Range provides the
Painters of the Wasatch with a different geological landscape that lacks the long
foothills typical of the Rockies. When Mormon settlers came through the canyons
of the Wasatch Front, the area became an iconic aspect of Utah’s landscape,
and came to be known as the Kingdom of Deseret.
Much like the scenic inspiration at the start of the Hudson River School, the
landscape of the Wasatch Range became an important setting of study and
careful scrutiny by local and newly established immigrant artists. The Painters of
the Wasatch refrain from creating a stylistically similar expression of the region in
the way the Rocky Mountain School did. These artists are not defined by a
particular style or medium, but by a physical presence that has unlimited appeal
and inspiration. The Painters of the Wasatch continue to flourish and provide
artists with the values that are associated with the influence of America’s first
landscapes in art.
This retrospective exhibit, presented by the Kimball Art Center in association with
the Museum of Utah Art and History, is based on the collectors’ book Painters of
the Wasatch Mountains. Most of the pieces in the show appear in the book, and
are on loan from both museums and private collections, as well as from one
notable contemporary artist. A wide variety of styles, depicting the same subject
matter over more than a century, show how the Painters of the Wasatch have
both evolved yet stayed true to their inspiration in the local landscape.
Many thanks for the invaluable help of Richard Horne, Kandace Steadman, Ann
Orton and James Wooley in assisting to bring the exhibit together, as well as to
The Utah Division of Arts and Museums Fine Arts Collection, The Springville
Museum of Art, Ray Quinney and Nebeker P.C., Jonathan A. Dibble, Phoebe
Hailey, Diane and Sam Stewart, and Susan Swartz for the
loan of their art.
Keywords, People, Places, & Vocabulary for Visitors to know:
Wasatch Mountains
Mountain Range
Rocky Mountains
Utah
Deseret
Lesson Plan
First Grade
Core Curriculum Ties
Standard 3
(Geography): Students will use geographic tools to demonstrate how symbols
and models are used to represent features of the school, the neighborhood, and
the real world.
Objective 1
Identify and use geographic terms and tools.
a. Use a compass to locate cardinal directions.
b. Identify the equator and north and south poles.
c. Identify Utah on a variety of maps and on a globe.
d. Identify the United States on a variety of maps and on a globe.
Objective 2
Recognize and use a map or a globe.
a. Create a map showing important sites or landmarks on a school or
community (i.e., firehouse, city hall, churches).
b. Locate physical features (i.e. continents, oceans, rivers, lakes), and manmade features (equator, North and South poles, countries) on a map and
on a globe.
c. Identify the compass rose and cardinal directions on a map and on a
globe.
Materials
 Images of Painters of the Wasatch Mountains Exhibition Images included
in the ARTS website.
 Pencils
 White or Black board with appropriate writing utensils
 Paper for students to draw a map.
 Crayons, markers or other coloring media.
 Map of the state of Utah, Western United States or North America.
 Compass for the classroom.
 Blank Utah Map Print Out – Or Cut a corner off of a piece of white paper
and have the kids make the map the shape of Utah.
Intended Learning Outcomes:
 Students will be able use appropriate skills for working in a group.
 Students will be able to use a compass, cardinal directions and establish
North, South, East, West in the classroom.
 Students will be able to identify Utah on various maps.
 Students will be able to locate features on a map or globe.
 Students will be able to identify important landmarks in their community.
Instructional Procedures
1.Teachers show students pictures of Painters of the Wasatch Mountains work
and explain to students these images are all by different artists. Ask the students
to identify what is the same in all of them (answer: there are mountains, and
these mountains are the Wasatch Mountains of the State of Utah! Utah was the
45th state and is in the country United States of America.
2. In the images point out other physical features such as hills, lakes, rivers,
homes and roads. As students to say if a house is near or far from the
mountains, is the river near or far from the house etc… explain to students that
directions are used to help tell people where things are in relation to each object.
3. Using a map, show students where they live, rivers or lakes near them, and
special National Parks or State Forests, deserts, and other landmarks of your
state.
4. Ask students if the Great Salt Lake is near their house, or far from it? Do they
have roads near their house or school? What is far away from where you live?
What types of physical features are where you live? Do this as a whole class so
students can listen and watch you point on the map.
5. Show students the compass on the map and introduce cardinal directions.
Show students a real compass tool, and establish where North, South, East and
West are in your classroom. Post these directions up for your class to see.
6. Show students a large map of the United States of America. Show them the
compass on the map. Ask students questions about where Utah is located in
comparison to other states or national landmarks. (ie. Utah is what direction from
Arizona?, Utah is what direction from New York, the closest coastal beach is in
what direction from Utah?)
7. Show students a large map of Utah. Talk about the shape of the state, it looks
like a rectangle, but a part was take out of the top. Discuss where you live, what
is around your city; what cities are close to you and far away. Using cardinal
directions and the map’s compass, discuss what is close and far, north, south,
east and west, include landmarks, physical features etc.
8. Give students a piece of white paper or blank state shape print out. Explain to
students that they are going to make their own map. The map should include the
following:
A. Compass
B. City where they live and a symbol to represent it
c. State Capitol, if in Utah, Salt Lake City
d. Great Salt Lake, if in Utah, if not, then a significant body of water or
river near where you live.
e. State landmark or physical feature of their choice – if in Utah, this could
be a national forest, another city or town
of significance, mountain range etc.
*make sure to keep a full state map up of the state you live in, so students
can see all the different things to choose from. Show them how they can make a
squiggly blue line for a river, a blue organic shape or blob for a lake, triangle tops
for a mountain range and so on. Each student can pick out the individual things
they think makes their state unique.
9. Allow students time to create and color their map and make it their own.
9. As students are finishing at different times, on another piece of paper have
students write where things are in relation to their city. (ie. The city __ that I live
in is (direction) of Salt Lake City (capitol city). The river or lake I live near is
(direction). Etc…)
10. Post all maps up on a bulletin board or in the classroom with the papers they
wrote next to them for all to see. Check student’s work and correct directions if
needed.
Assessment
 Students use appropriate skills for working in a group.
 Students use a compass, cardinal directions, and establish North, South,
East, West in the classroom.
 Students identify Utah on various maps.
 Students locate features on a map or globe.
 Students identify important landmarks in their community.