The 40th Annual Park City Arts Festival dates have been announced. On August 1-2, 2009 main street Park City will be transformed into a gigantic art gallery filled with paintings, prints, photography, arts, crafts, sculpture and even food artisans making Park City the place to be.

But it wasn’t always this way.  In fact, it was far from what today’s art festival includes.

In 1973 at the age of 25, my aunt Robyn Card was living in Ogden and teaching art in a local school.  A southern California native and a recent grad from Utah State, her mother suggested she attend the new and recently founded Park City Arts Festival.  Her mother was a traditionalist painter and hoped to sell something at the festival. Robyn recalls:

“The main body of the exhibit was on the sidewalks or just off the sidewalks. It was mostly just art back then with very little crafts or jewelry, especially the high end items you see today. My mom sold 4 oil paintings that first year.  There was a big dirt parking lot where the lower Main Street is today that we parked in.”

Next to them was a woman who made turquoise jewelry who also was a first time attendee. 1973 in Park City was a fun unique place with a lot of old buildings and relics from its past.  As a twenty something gal in the early 70′s, Robyn recalls that first year was a lot of fun.

“The focus of the festival in the early days was painted art, although there were some ceramics – 60′s-70′s style.  There weren’t a lot of crafts which is why I managed to sell some things that second year (1974). It was less expensive so I fared pretty well.”

She fared pretty well that first year as well.  While she was in her mom’s booth standing next to an oil painting of Native American, my Uncle Dell struck up a conversation about the painting as he had recently returned from living among the Native American’s in Arizona.  They got talking, started dating and would eventually be married.

It’s often said of the Park City Arts Festival that you’ll never know what treasure you’ll find.  In the case of my aunt and uncle, they found each other.

–images credit the Kimball Art Center

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