New Seating for Amphitheater...This Year!!

The Arts Council received word recently that the new seating for the outdoor amphitheater at Western Park in Vernal has been ordered and will be arriving soon. In fact, the old blue vinyl covered benches in the lower seating area have been removed and the space is being prepared for the new seats. 

This will be the biggest improvement ever made in the amphitheater since it was built ... as far as audiences are concerned. The park bench seating that was originally installed in the lower portion gets uncomfortable after a short time, with little leg-room and short seat depth. The concrete "bleachers" in the upper section have been adapted by many who bring blankets, mattress pads, couch cushions, etc. and they have had a good time spreading out and enjoying the space ... until you get a large crowd. In that case, audience members needed to sit forward on the front part of the ledge and you could no longer lean back .... hard on the lower back after a while.

At one time, people were allowed to bring lawn chairs and sit on them on the bleachers ... which doesn't fare well for those that bought tickets behind them and don't have chairs. Again, the chairs actually take up two spaces and left a very short space to stand or walk in front of the standard lawn or camp chair. Because of the inherent dangers and other problems, people had to be asked to not bring lawn chairs. Strollers have sometimes been a problem, also.

With the new installation, everyone will have their own individual seat ... with a back. Those who have had to stay away because of the discomfort of sitting in the existing seating will find a pleasant surprise and find that the 2 to 2 1/2 hours of sitting required for a Broadway show are no longer completely out of reach.

People's Choice Award

 11th Annual Juried Photo Show Bigger & Better

Forty-four photographers entered 123 photos in the Arts Council's eleventh annual Outlaw Trail Festival of the Arts Juried Photo Show ... fondly called the "Photography Shootout". The 2006 theme was "Rusty Rails & Outlaw Trails" and for the third year had other entry categories consisting of "Scenic", "Portrait", "Animals" and "Digital (Enhanced or Altered)."  Divisions have been set for "Youth", "Amateur/Novice", "Advanced Amateur" and "Professional".  Cash prizes for the 2005 show equalled $1,675. Prizes for the 2006 show will be awarded at  a reception for the photographers, their families and the community on Wednesday, October 4th at 6:30 - 8 PM.

Advanced Amateur photographer Jeff Kochevar took "Best of Show" in 2005. Jeff is from Grand Junction. More and more western Colorado photographers have been entering. The photo show is on display until October 27th at the Western Heritage Museum in Western Park in Vernal.  Families and friends will enjoy doing a little "jurying" of their own and a "People's Choice" award will be named next week. All visitors to the museum are allowed one(1) vote each on their favorite until next week when the ballots are counted. All of the winners will be listed on the Photo Show page of this web-site.

The public is welcome and encouraged to visit the Western Heritage Museum, especially through October 27th ... admission is free. 

Board Seeking a Chairperson for the annual Art Show 

New energy, new ideas and someone with a desire and time on their hands keep traditional programs flowing. Everyone has a limit to how much of their own time they can volunteer and be away from other interests and family commitments.

We have grudgingly accepted Chris Smith's resignation as Chair of the annual Juried Art Show. She has done a stupendous job and someone must now try to follow in her footsteps.

As we prepare for our 18th annual Juried Art Show in the summer of 2007 ... we need a volunteer to run the show from sending invitations out to prospective entrants to pulling down the show after it's all over and helping the artists retreive their work.

Anyone interested in helping may contact Christine at the Western Heritage Museum or any of the Uintah Arts Council board-members. 

New Costume Storage Facility Completed at Western Park

After years and years of kindness extended by Alta & Lloyd Winward and their family in allowing the Arts Council to store costumes, without cost, in a building in downtown Vernal ... changes come and other arrangements must be made. Alta and Lloyd have passed on and the family needed to dispose of the property. With funding help from Uintah Parks and Recreation, a recently completed 1000 square foot costume storage room was built on the mezzanine above the kitchen and office area in the new ice arena bulding at Western Park. The room has nearly 200 linear feet of hanging racks along the walls and includes two small dressing rooms for trying on costumes. With ample open space in the middle of the room for free-standing racks, the new facility should house the materials that have been bought and gathered for the past twenty years. Having the costumes so close to the amphitheater will be extremely valuable. 

First and foremost, new seating throughout the amphitheater is pending and is, of course, our  number one priority.  Many patrons and participants have toughed it out through years of discomfort on the concrete bleacher seating or on the even more uncomfortable vinyl covered benches in the reserved seating area.  We can only guess at how many customers have been lost over the years due to the seating situation. New, folding, bucket-type stadium seating in both the upper and lower sections is in the planning stages. We're keeping our fingers crossed for the greatest physical improvement we've seen in the amphitheater since it was built.

 The other major project that was finished and used this past summer is the large, approx. 120' x 240', multipurpose ice arena building  just east of the amphitheater stage area - backstage.  The ice arena will take the majority of the floor space during the winter months but the building was available for our early rehearsals and throughout the run of "Fiddler On the Roof" for restrooms and dressing rooms that were directly accessible to performers and staff behind the stage.