Back in 2020, I helped to put on a workshop called the Fantastic Arts Conference with my wife, Shari, and Dan Dos Santos, Justin and Annie Stegg Gerard. We had some great faculty who joined us. I have had lots of requests to do something similar again, but with less pandemic… It is a lot of work, so we have resisted trying to make it happen. In comes Esther Candari, the owner of the Compass Gallery and also a wonderful artist (she just illustrated a book for Sanderson that is stunning, Isles of the Emberdark) and she offered to host it and help to plan along with her staff.

That was enough of a boost that we have decided to go for it again! So, we will have another event June 24th – 27th in Provo, Utah.

We are calling it the Creative Arts Conference!

We are thrilled that Thomas Blackshear will be our keynote speaker and demo! If you don’t know who Thomas is or aren’t familiar with his work… what?!? He is amazing and has been an art hero of mine my whole life. And absolutely wonderful human being. You’ll love hearing him speak about his work, life and also demo for us!

We will also have Micah Christensen, who is an art historian, founder of the Salt Lake Art Museum, and owner of Anthony’s Antiques and Fine Art

Scott Jones, one of the best advocates for artists out there, as well as the former director of the Legacy Gallery, Gallery Wild, and now the Cole Gallery in Seattle

Mary Sauer and amazing oil painter and nationally recognized artist. She has been a finalist in the Portrait Society multiple times and on the cover of Fine Art Connoisseur

Mike Malm is one of the best oil painters working today and creates works of extraordinary beauty. He is also a wonderful teacher

Nicole Parish is a dear friend, and you might know her on social media as Sound of the Forest. On TikTok alone, she has 3.1 million followers. She is an expert in using social media and also a beautiful artist, focusing on bugs!

Crystal Despain is a brilliant artist who has some of the best composition skills out there right now. Last year she had a painting in the Compass Gallery that was mindblowing.

I will be presenting on creating digital composition for oil painting (or other media) and photography

Emily Larson (director of the Springville Museum of Art) and Esther Candari are going to talk about things from the perspective of a museum director and a gallery director

Heather Densley, a restorer and art conservator, will speak on materials and best practices. I can’t wait for this. I have seen some of the paintings that she has restored, and she is fantastic!

Brandon Gonzales is someone who might be under your radar, but not for long! He does really incredible gouache paintings and concept work. I have been trying to buy one of his works for a while now, but the ones I like seem to always fly off the walls. I can’t wait to watch him demo!

I think it is going to be an amazing few days full of learning and friend-making. It will also overlap with the Lore show at the Compass Gallery, which will feature work from Donato Giancola and works from Brandon Sanderson’s collection. We will be doing a fundraiser (separate from the conference) on Saturday night with live painting demos by some of the artists local to Utah!

It is very easy to get from SLC  (which is a Delta hub) to Provo with hotels around the gallery as well as plenty of places to eat. It is all walkable once you get there. There is a train from the airport to Provo, and a 5-minute Uber ride from the train station will get you to the gallery and hotels around the gallery. There is also an airport in Provo that is really accessible, depending on where you are coming from.

Again, I think it is going to be an amazing event, and I hope it is the first of many to come!

You can register here. Creative Arts Conference

We are limited on space, so don’t wait too long to reserve your spot if you are interested.