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Home > Archive > Feb 7, 2008

Art in Kayenta Lends a Helping Paw
By Cami Cox
Staff Writer
Art in Kayenta, in its ninth year as a local showcase venue for artists, will raise money for dogs and cats in need this year. The local nonprofit group Friends of Ivins Animal Shelter is sponsoring this year’s art show. The event will take place Feb. 16 and 17 at the Coyote Gulch Art Village in Kayenta and is free to the public.
“It's a lot of fun,” said Deborah Kidder, Art in Kayenta chairman. “There is some really wonderful artwork to be purchased, and it benefits the animals.”
Though admission is free, some of the venues at Art in Kayenta will raise money for the Ivins Animal Shelter, which is a no-kill shelter.
“We're constantly trying to raise funds to pay our vet bills and to spay and neuter and to find really great homes for the animals that wind up in our care,” Kidder said.
The shelter is currently nearly full, Linda Elwell, FIAS president, said, so every dollar of support is needed.
“We've got a lot of long-term residents that we haven't been able to find homes for,” she said.
During Art in Kayenta, a silent auction featuring artwork donated by some of the participating artists will help raise money for the Ivins shelter. FIAS will also sell copies of a limited-edition Art in Kayenta poster, created by an artist from Colorado, for $15 each.
“It's gorgeous. It's absolutely beautiful. It's all done in pastels,” Kidder said. “We've only had 1,000 printed, so it will be a limited edition.”
Art in Kayenta will also feature live entertainment and food booths, and this year's event will be more family-oriented than in previous years, according to information from the organizers. There will be a children's corner for kids 3 to 12, where youngsters, accompanied by an adult, can create their own artwork to take home with them. There will also be face painting and rock painting for the younger crowd.
Debuting this year will be an exhibit of high school art, on display in the Xetava Gardens Café in Kayenta now through Feb. 17.
Students from five participating high schools will be represented in the exhibit, Kidder said, and each will have one piece of art on display. A cash award will be given to the student whose artwork wins “People's Choice,” voted on by Xetava patrons and others visiting the exhibit before and during Art in Kayenta. A monetary prize will be given for the “Best in Show” high school art piece, voted on by an Art in Kayenta panel of judges. Kidder said the high school art exhibit will become an annual event.
“It's just a way of promoting youth art,” she said. “We focus on the festival itself, but they all had to start somewhere, and if we encourage the younger folks, then, hopefully, they will continue with their art rather than letting it go.”
More than 90 professional artists will participate in Art in Kayenta this year, according to information from organizers. Some of the artists will travel from as far away as Florida and West Virginia to participate in this year's event, to exhibit and sell their original work in such mediums as glass, pottery, textiles, paint, photography, sculpture and original jewelry.
“Every medium is represented,” Kidder said.
Art in Kayenta will take place during the Parade of Homes this year, she said, so those visiting the Kayenta homes on the tour can also stop by Art in Kayenta to peruse the art pieces and help local animals.
“It's for a really great cause,” she said.
For more information about Art in Kayenta, contact Linda Elwell at 673-1718. The Coyote Gulch Art Village is located at 875 Coyote Gulch Court in Ivins, and the Xetava Gardens Café is located at 815 Coyote Gulch Court. For a map to the Coyote Gulch Art Village and a full schedule of Art in Kayenta events, visit www.coyotegulchartvillage.com/artinkayenta.html.

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