Art in the Barn brings 50-plus artists to Draper's Day Barn Aug. 21-22

More than 50 artists will fill the historic Day Barn at Draper Park with paintings, pottery, glass, sculpture and photography when the Draper Visual Arts Foundation hosts its annual Art in the Barn show and sale Friday, Aug. 21 and Saturday, Aug. 22.

Admission is free. Doors open at 10 a.m. both days, closing at 8 p.m. Friday and 7 p.m. Saturday. The Day Barn sits at 1166 E. Pioneer Road, across from the Draper library.

Beyond the art for sale, visitors can watch live artist demonstrations, grab lunch from food trucks, listen to live music and bring kids to a children's art booth. Door prizes will be offered both days.

The show is the public capstone of a year-round arts organization with roots stretching back a century. In 1926, Draper Park School principal Reid Beck started a student art collection funded by pennies, nickels and dimes the children gathered each year. That collection grew to 71 pieces, including an original Norman Rockwell painting. When the collection needed a permanent home, three retired teachers, Jean Hendricksen, Mary Sjoblom and Hulda Crossgrove, founded the Draper Visual Arts Foundation in 1992 to preserve it and promote visual arts across the community.

The foundation marked the collection's 100th anniversary in April with its 27th Annual Art Scholar Competition, awarding $6,000 in scholarships to high school seniors from the Canyons School District area. More than 40 students submitted work, and the entries filled the foyer of Draper City Hall, temporarily transformed into a gallery for the April 27 awards ceremony.

Corner Canyon High School senior Jacob Hamblin took the grand prize, the $1,000 Jean Hendricksen Legacy Award, for "Grain and Goal," a handmade wooden foosball table with curved legs and players cast from 3D-printed molds. "It took the whole school year. It was actually a class project. I learned how to work with wood and how to get it to bend in cool ways," Hamblin said at the April 27 ceremony.

The award honors Hendricksen, the founding board member who dedicated decades to community service and the visual arts in Draper.

Board member and professional artist Emily Dunn said on the foundation's website that students who enter the competition join "a community of artists and patrons who want to support their artistic journey."

Draper City promoted the event on Aug. 12, directing residents to the foundation's website for artist lists and details. The Draper Journal reported on the scholarship competition in June.

Art in the Barn