(St. George, UT) - Dixie State College and the Center for Education, Business and the Arts (CEBA) Business of Art program have announced the six grant award recipients for the First Annual Zions Bank Art Awards. Each grant award, chosen by a statewide adjudicator panel, is offered through DSC and CEBA for the Business of Art seminars held in Kanab each November.

The funding for the each of the grants, totaling $15,000, was made possible by a generous donation made last year by Zions Bank, which along with its president and CEO A. Scott Anderson, is a advocate for the arts. The annual grant program was created to support homegrown artists, small business owners and art educators in Utah, northern Arizona and southern Nevada who attend the annual Business of Art seminars.

“In an enlightened and flourishing society, business and the arts compliment one another,” Anderson said. “Both test the envelope of human creativity, intellect, energy, and promise. Both seek to motivate, to produce, to excel, to unite. Both contribute to the success of the other.”

DSC Vice President of Institutional Advancement Christina Schultz lauded the partnership between Zions Bank, DSC and CEBA in Kanab. She noted that because of the collaboration, a number of artists, galleries and educators will be given the opportunity to realize dreams and reach goals they may have thought were unattainable.

“We are very appreciative to Zions Bank for their generosity and foresight to fund these grants,” said Schultz. “Our mission is to provide educational and cultural opportunities, which in turn benefits our community and economy and these grants help us fulfill those goals.”

The 2012 grant recipients include:

Art Education Content Award – Richard Kohler (St. George, Utah) received the award for his upcoming audio/visual presentations planned at a number of locations in Washington and Kane counties, which will give insight into the historic structure of southern Utah’s communities and the reasoning and principles that have (or not) survived into the present.

Professional Artist Award – Valerie Orlemann (Parowan, Utah), along with one of her oil paintings, which was selected for purchase by The Business of Art to be held in the DSC Permanent Art Collection. The artwork will be used in an exhibit at the Kane County Hospital’s Healing Arts Exhibit and used to develop promotional materials for The Business of Art.

Student Artist Award – Robert M. Clements (St. George, Utah) was awarded a grant, which will be used to help fund the Master of Fine Art degree he is currently pursuing.

Business Grant-Artist Award - Aimee Bonham (St. George, Utah) was selected to receive funding to assist in her efforts in marketing a Kane County Healing Arts Exhibit, featuring her art, to enhance her business as an artist.

Business Grant-Gallery Award - Bobbi Wan-kier (St. George, Utah), along with her group of artists in the studio-gallery of Art Escares-3D, will develop and implement an art installation featuring life size replicas in the series of dinosaur models to be created in the coming months. When completed, the installation will be located at the Dinosaur Discovery at Johnson Farm exhibit area in St. George.

Art Education Pre-Conference Project – J. Kirk Richards (Provo, Utah) will offer a workshop event this upcoming November 7-9, 2012, prior to the Business of Art events in Kanab. His workshop will focus on plein air landscape, the human figure, and how to finish a painting, in addition to elements of building an art business. The workshop will be located in the SWATC building next to the Kanab Middle School. For more information on the workshop or to register, contact Richards at jkirk@jkirkrichards.com

The Fourth-Annual Business of Art Seminar will take place this November 9-10, 2012, at the Kanab Middle School. The seminar teaches participants about the business side of art, and is open to any visual artist in any discipline as well as to art collectors, educators, and anyone who is interested in art.

The event begins the evening of November 9th, with a dessert reception and keynote address by Richard Graham, who serves as an art professor at Salt Lake Community College. The seminar begins on November 10th, with a continental breakfast, ten break-out sessions throughout the day, and a lunch with keynote Utah Valley University professor Daniel Fairbanks.

The annual Business of Art Seminar is sponsored by Dixie State College, CEBA, Kane County Office of Tourism & Film Commission, Southwest Applied Technology College, Southern Utah University and Kanab City.

For registration and more information call Janet O’Riley at 435-652-7671.