Art for everyone

The arts come in all kinds of forms, from the healing and culinary arts to painting and sculpture to jewelry, dance and film.

This year, Jenni Urbanczyk hopes to highlight each of those forms – and many others – in unique ways during Moab Art Walk.

The event’s 2015 season kicks off at 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 11 at various locations across downtown Moab.

Urbanczyk, who organizes the event, is reaching out to local filmmakers, musicians and artists whose work hasn’t been featured in the past. As interest in other art forms grows, she expects the diversity of offerings to pick up in the coming months.

“So look out for those things,” she said.

Urbanczyk sees Moab Art Walk as something that benefits everyone who is involved.

“It is both great for the artist and the business venue, all the while promoting arts in Moab,” she said.

Near the epicenter of everything, Gallery Moab at 87 N. Main St. will be featuring guest artist Bruce Hill, who paints landscapes of the Grand Canyon and Four Corners region. Other featured Gallery Moab artists include Larry Christensen, who taught art at Brigham Young University, and Kristi Peterson, who creates stained-glass pieces.

More abstract art can be found this weekend at Eddie McStiff’s, 57 S. Main St., which is featuring MIK’s “Primitive Future” project.

MIK is the alter ego of local artist Tim McAllister, who is probably best known for his eye-catching prints and collages.

“He always surprises and amazes,” Urbanczyk said.

McAllister’s Primitive Future project incorporates materials that others have abandoned.

“This body of work is salvaged desert relics and junk that’s been repurposed,” McAllister said.

He works with just about anything that he finds as he wanders around public lands near Moab.

“Any junk heap that I stumble upon,” he said. “There’s plenty of abandoned trash out there.”

After he collects items, he reassembles everything into a mix of robots, genies, wizards and more.

Anyone who drops by Eddie McStiff’s garden room on Saturday night can treat themselves to hors d’oeuvres, and the first 25 people who walk through the door will receive free MIK prints.

At the other end of Main Street, the Love Muffin at 139 N. Main St. will be highlighting Alina Murdoch’s “Skullscapes,” which include vibrant images in pen and ink that are scanned and digitally painted. Murdoch’s work explores the people, geography, and imagery of the West.

Triassic Industries at 7 N. Main St. will feature local artist Rosie Boone, whose books are hand bound from recycled leather and lined with unique painted fabrics from Telluride, Colorado. Each clasp holding the hand-torn watercolor pages is picked from the La Sal Mountains near Moab.

At 39 E. 100 North, Moonflower Community Cooperative will be hosting a life-size display of native bird artwork designed by the fourth-grade class at Moab Charter School.

Just up the street, grandfather Ramon Swapp and granddaughter Annazella Morrison team up to present “A Different View” at the Moab Arts and Recreation Center, 111 E. 100 North. As the name of their show implies, their work ask viewers to see the world from a different perspective.

The Museum of Moab at 118 E. Center St. will be hosting one of the more unique displays this weekend. It will present art works in clay, paper mache and colored pencil, as well as acrylic, watercolor and tempera paintings created by 4- to 6- year-old students from Moab Montessori Center.

Across the street and down a block, Jen Williams will be showcasing her jewelry at Moab Yoga, 37 E. Center St. Inspired by her passion for mountain biking and fashion, Williams creates jewelry from recycled bike parts. Her jewelry captures the playful spirit of mountain biking in “beautiful feminine form,” according to a Moab Art Walk description.

Other artists are welcome to join the event; anyone who is interested in doing so can contact Urbanczyk at jenni@triassicstone.com.

“I am really hoping more individual artists will come out looking for venues,” she said.

Moab Art Walk returns on April 11

“It is both great for the artist and the business venue, all the while promoting arts in Moab.”

When: Saturday, April 11, 6 to 9 p.m.

Where: Downtown Moab

Cost: Free

For more information, go to moabartwalk.com.