2019 Artist In Residence

Carol Johansen is the 2019 Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument’s Plein Air Artist-in-Residence.  Johansen, a plein air painter and landscape artist, says that in this residency she wants to “investigate the stunning landscape and spend time making my paint marks to record what my eyes see and my heart feels.” Her goal is to “create paintings that speak of the intimacy of this barren, yet beautiful area.” She plans to work with both adults and students at the Escalante Elementary School to feel the creative joy of expressing a response to this rugged country through their own art making.

This artist has lived her adult life in Mount Pleasant, UT, on the Colorado Plateau’s northwest cusp. Her first experience in the GSENM was as a plein air painter during the 2008 Escalante Canyons Art Festival Competition. However, Johansen says her special interest in the Escalante area and its rich history comes from knowing that her relatives lived and worked on the Colorado Plateau and in what became the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, helping to establish early communities. “Working on my family history, I realized I have deep connections in the area,” she said.

For further information about Johansen’s art or the GSENM AiR program, visit the artist’s website at www.caroljohansen.com

The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Artist in Residence – Plein Air Program is a partnership effort of BLM-Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM), the Escalante Canyons Art Festival, Glen Canyon Natural History Association and Grand Staircase-Escalante Partners.  The program receives supporting funds from the Glen Canyon Natural History Association’s GSENM Aid to Parks Program.