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Show Newspaper i v. hl Jl 1 f'b 1 llth annual 1 arts festivals Page 4 August 2 43, 1980 It happens every year in Park City. The anticipation grows as the summer lengthens. The excitement ex-citement mounts as the artists receive their notices of acceptance, as preparations are made and banners are hoisted into place. Then in August, thousands of people from across the country, coun-try, artists and art observers alike, converge con-verge on historic Main Street for two days to see, to hear, to participate, and to experience ex-perience the Park City Arts Festival. This year marks the llth anniversary of the festival, making it the oldest arts festival in the state of Utah. The festival has become a special part of many people's lives since Park City local Jim Patterson and friends planned the first festival because "there was a lack of culture in Utah and we all felt Park City was a perfect place to get something going." Patterson had seen a festival in Nevada and liked the contrast of the "colorful artists ar-tists displaying their work against the background of the rustic buildings of an old mining town." Although he was not an artist and had no art background, the idea of being able to see and buy fine art in his own town appealed to him. Park City's sleepy summer community lacked tourist-oriented events and forced many small businesses to close. Merchants were interested in any ideas that would create activity, especially outside their front doors along Main Street. Patterson assembled a small group of local artists and businessmen who volunteered volun-teered their talents and energy to make the first Park City Arts Festival a success. About 150 artists and craftsmen responded to the posters and ads. The entry fee was minimal and the only criteria was that all work had to be original. Patterson, who had serious doubts about the festival's success, was astounded by the large, enthusiastic en-thusiastic crowds that attended, and plans were soon underway for the next year. People enjoying seeing and buying art close to home plus the background of Park City's uniquely beautiful setting created a perfect situation for a lively exchange of the arts. The Park City Arts Festival now is synonymous with the town itself, and is recognized throughout the country as one of the finest and most successful festivals of its kind. Patterson and his friends were involved with the festival until 1973, when the newly organized Park City Chamber of Commerce emerged as its first sponsor. The chamber cham-ber guided the festival as it matured and grew until 1978. By charging artists a small application fee and collecting a percentage per-centage of their sales, the chamber raised funds to benefit their community projects. Each year the festival was coordinated by a director and backed by an executive committee comprising a cross-section of local artists and businessmen. As word spread throughout the West of the festival's success, and the number of artists wanting to exhibit increased, it was agreed that control was needed. One year Eleven Years Old and Getting Better Every Year j j n v.uir fill i i I ? I IF u ilk Anil . li 1 it, i MiWIt? few A " f J 1 ; J f ft'? J' M : I-1" I f V -Ji W 4 r r!5 I tJl . . i ; -1. 4 , . It xf mi . . It Mai i Main Street bulged . with over 400 exhibitors! The present system of jurying was adopted and effectively reduced the number of artists on the street to a more manageable size of about 200. A formal application form was created in 1976 that listed criteria, regulations and unacceptable unaccep-table categories, in addition to letting the artists know what to expect. The festival's mailing list of interested artists has grown through the years. This year, over 4,000 applications were mailed to artists and craftsmen in 43 states. Every festival becomes a reunion for many of the "regular" artists who come from as far away as Virginia and Florida. The festival has become the community's com-munity's greatest sales tool as a first introduction in-troduction to Park City for many outof- towners. Lots of Park City residents, including in-cluding artists, trace their love affair with the town back to the first Park City Arts Festival they experienced. Vacations and family reunions are now planned around festival dates and many festival-goers have become acquaintances of regular artists ar-tists and look forward to seeing their favorites each year. After 11 years the festival has created colorful memorabilia including posters, visors and special editions of the local newspapers that have become collector's items. Traveling Parkites have been seen in many parts of the world wearing their Arts Festival T-shirts. When a special shirt was printed in 1978 labeled "Park City Arts Festival Official," it mysteriously disappeared by the dozens. The festival's now-familiar logo, a woodcut wood-cut of the Silver King Coalition building, created by local artist Pat Smith, has been retained for the past several years and is now easily identifiable with the festival. In 1978 the Arts Festival expanded its name to The Park City Arts and Bluegrass Festival and organized its first try at bringing bluegrass to the area with the Shupe Family of Ogden. The Bluegrass Festival, staged in Treasure Hollow at the resort, presented nationally known groups to appreciative, if not huge, audiences. That year the festival tried a new method of collecting a flat fee from the artists ar-tists for the use of their space rather than collecting a percentage of their income as in previous years. One hundred and ninety 'O- y ? r ... J- I .4. t. I " ,1' I1 v K V' V |