Five local artists gather their work at the CFAC

What happens when four photographers and a painter take a trip together? Five different viewpoints of the beauty of southern Utah's landscape.

The Community Fine Arts Center in Rock Springs is exhibiting a group show by local photographers Gary Mortensen, Paul Ng, Terry Sell and Steve Shea along with painter John Vase. The exhibit opened Wednesday with a public reception. It will be available to be seen through September 28.

A passion for capturing the great western landscape brought four photographers and a painter/guide together several years ago. Mortensen and Sell have conducted most of the planning for the group. Vase serves frequently as a guide, Ng brings a large format camera, and Steve Shea is included as well. The group has banded together to visit some of the great sites that Wyoming, Utah, and Montana have to offer.  

The trip they made in March 2022 is now the subject of a photography and painting exhibition at the Community Fine Arts Center. Titled simply "Four Photographers and a Painter," the exhibit showcases their trip through the national parks at Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Arches, and the Green River Overlook.  

The first stop was at an overlook in Bryce Canyon viewing a magnificent "golden hour" sunset. After dinner and a short nap, the crew was up at 2 a.m. to drive from the resort to the same overlook to capture the Milky Way of which the Galactic Core had just risen. Despite the 10-degree temperature, everyone was able to get much of what they were looking for.

The next day started with a tour of the canyon overlooks, a visit with an image-inspiring raven, then a drive to Canyonlands National Park and the Green River Overlook sites. The following day they made the drive to Moab and began their work at Arches National Park, capturing such famous formations as Park Avenue, Tower Rocks, and Balanced Rock and captured sunset photos at the North and South Window area. The tour ended with the long and demanding walk up to the famous Delicate Arch. After a long, tiring day, Ng shared that "a gigantic shrimp burrito at Miguel's Baja Grill in downtown Moab helped to ease the pain!"  

"After much sorting, editing, revising, printing, matting, comparing, discussing, and planning, we all hope that we have created an exhibit worth visiting, and some images that others will appreciate as much as we do," said Shea. 

The public is to see "Four Photographers and a Painter," which will remain on display through September 28, and learn more about each of the individual artists while viewing the exhibit.

The center will be closed for Labor Day weekend Saturday, September 2 through Monday, September 4. Located at 400 C Street in Rock Springs, the CFAC is a department of the Sweetwater County Library System. Hours at the center are Monday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Friday and Saturday noon to 5 p.m.