Calling all young artists

Lissete Landaverde

January 19, 2022

Ogden City Arts is looking for young Utah artists to participate in the fourth Community Art Show, which will begin on March 3.

Participants from last year's Community Art Show. Photo credit: Regina Esparza

Community members 17 years old and younger who are interested in submitting their work can do so for free online on the Ogden City Artist Call page. The last chance to enter will be Feb. 5 at 4:00 p.m.

For this installment of the show, Ogden City Arts is providing a platform for young artists to display their creative work to the community and use the experience as a stepping stone along the way to reaching their long-term goals in the arts.

“Sometimes there’s not opportunities for artists — especially beginning artists — to do that, so we wanted to find a way in the arts department to kind of collaborate with the Union Station and with Ogden City Arts to help,” Regina Esparza, marketing and communications coordinator for Ogden City Arts, said.

Given this art call is calling for youth, only individuals 17 years old and younger will be able to submit their work. Future installments will give an opportunity to artists of all ages.

The winner of the "Best of Show" award at the first Community Art Show, Suzanne Storer, standing in front of her submission. — Artist Suzanne Storer stands next to her artworks "Essential" (right) and "Socially Responsible" (left). She was awarded "Best of Show" at the first Community Art Show. Photo credit: Regina Esparza

All art mediums are welcome, but submissions must consist of original work created in the past two years that does not contain offensive or derogatory content, and the artist must reside in the state of Utah.

Artists whose submissions have been selected for the exhibit will be contacted via email with further instructions.

In past installments, the art shows’ themes have included culture, holiday traditions and sustainability.

Voted "Best in Show," this piece by Kristen Curry is made out of upcycled junk-mail, juice bottles, cardboard and scrap wood to showcase how fungi are helping out planet. — This work titled "May our colorful communities grow together through sustainable and thoughtful actions," was created by artist Kristen Curry. It was made out of up-cycled junk-mail, juice bottles, cardboard and scrap wood to showcase how fungi are helping our planet. Photo credit: Regina Esparza

Esparza mentioned the art show gives individuals the opportunity to show off their skills for the first time.

“It kind of gives that element to help the artist branch out and see what their art is about and let other people see it to get feedback from them,” Esparza said. “I think that is something that is awesome because the artists are able to see what they want to do and get their name out there.”

Award winners of the second Community Art Show — The award winners of the second Community Art Show. Photo credit: Regina Esparza

For friends, family and community members who are interested in seeing the exhibition, a reception will be held at the Union Station on March 9 at 6 p.m. This is also where awards will be given out to the winners of the show.

The exhibit will be open for viewing from March 3 to May 13 at the Union Station during their regular hours of operation.