"The smoke was so intense that day I could look directly at the sun without discomfort. Breathing was the real problem. My Covid mask acted as an air filter as I rode my bike home. I made this painting of the sun setting over a nearly empty lake bed." -John Erickson, Western Fire, 2021, mixed media
"Sometime soon after hearing about Phillips Gallery’s plans for an exhibition on the Great Salt Lake, I came across some discarded art catalogues at the University of Utah. One included a painting by George M. Ottinger, “Antelope Island”, an 1866 landscape which provided me a starting point for this image." -Maureen O'Hara Ure, Ghost Lake, 2022, mixed media on panel, 16 x 20 in.