Backstage at the Utah Arts Festival 2022: Mason Fetzer will keep crowd guessing as long as possible in 10th 100 Artists/1 Image installation

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In the first year of the 100 Artists/1 Image installation at the Utah Arts Festival, the image was an Indigneous American but since then every image has been an animal. Mason Fetzer, who has designed the project based on ideas from color theory that he has consistently tested over the years, normally prefers having those festival patrons who believe they have no skills to paint a tile because it emphasizes the project’s community spirit.

This will be the 10th year for the installation, which comprises 100 plywood tiles in the 20-foot by 20-foot mural. Visitors will be invited to paint a tile, as soon as the festival opens at noon on June 23. If past years are a reliable predictor, the installation will be completed by early evening on June 24. Once a part of the Urban Arts venue near the crescent archway of the City Library, the installation is now housed near the City-County Building on Washington Square, close to where the Art Yard is located for kids’ activities.

100 Artists/1 Image. 2021. Mason Fetzer.
Photo Credit: Les Roka.

The great fun for many visitors is trying to guess what the final image will be and Fetzer has managed to keep the mystery up until near the moment of its completion during a majority of the years that the project has been featured at the festival. The image selection is never a capricious process. The first year’s image was one that Fetzer had envisioned for a while as a community installation piece. Often, he selects the image after he decides what colors he likes to play with each year,

Some years have offered marvelous tests of his color theory.  One of the most tedious was a black-and-white image of a lion. Several years ago, he succeeded at stumping the crowd up until the last moment possible in back-to-back years with a bison and grizzly bear, respectively, The grizzly bear image comprised a lot of white and green panels, which threw many festival visitors off guard who were expecting to see dark-colored fur. 

Bison 100/ONE Mural. Mason Fetzer. Utah Arts Festival 2015.

The bison image included lots of orange, black and white so many were incorrectly guessing that it was a tiger. Fetzer has enjoyed observing from year to year how color drives an individual’s perceptions and perspectives almost instantaneously. 

He sets parameters where the technical difficulty is challenging but not tedious and he always throws in a little curve ball with color. Some of the best projects for testing his theory involve two shades of one color. Likewise, trees and clouds are not rendered literally but as shapes of color.

Last year’s majestic rooster was a winner, because the colors in some of the tiles were ideal for catching the different angles and shadows of life during the day. This year, Fetzer is trying a paint color that he has never used before in the project.

100 Artists/1 Image, 2016. Mason Fetzer.

The project stands out especially as a cost-effective way to create a community piece of art for a public space. Over the course of the project, the cost has gone from $500 to approximately $1,000. As in 2021, Fetzer is using a lighter plywood that has a finer quality which makes it easier to leave some tiles or portions of tiles unpainted and thus the negative space becomes part of the final image.

Fetzer is a long-time artist who works with painting, graphic design and photography. For Fetzer, the 10th year of the project has added special meaning. The Fetzer clan is one of the best known and most involved families for the Utah Arts Festival and the organization. This year, Fetzer’s son, Townes (named after the famous singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt), who is turning 11, joins the project as his father’s assistant. Previously, he painted a tile or so ever since he was old enough to hold a brush. 

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Les Roka
I am a native of Toledo, Ohio, having received my Ph.D. in journalism and mass communication from Ohio University's Scripps School of Journalism in 2002. In addition to teaching at Utah State University and the University of Utah, I have worked extensively in public relations for a variety of organizations including a major metropolitan university, college of osteopathic medicine, and community college. When it comes to intellectual curiosity, I venture into as many areas as possible, whether it’s about music criticism, the history of journalism, the practice of public relations in a Web 2.0 world and the soon-to-arrive Web 3.0 landscape, or how public debates are formed about many issues especially in the political arena. As a Salt Lake City resident, I currently write and edit a blog called The Selective Echo that provides an entertaining, informative, and provocative look at Salt Lake City and its cosmopolitan best. I also have been the U.S. editorial advisor for an online publication Art Design Publicity based in The Netherlands. And, I use social media tools such as Twitter for blogging, networking with journalists and experts, and staying current on the latest trends in culture and news. I also have been a regular monthly contributor to a Utah business magazine, and I have recently conducted a variety of editing projects involving authors and researchers throughout the country and the world, including Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Lebanon, Cyprus, the United Kingdom, France, and Japan. I’m also a classically trained musician who spent more than 15 years in a string quartet, being involved in more than 400 performances.

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