The 11th annual Evening of the Arts is an opportunity for a few of the many artists in Oneida County to display their talents; different artists are invited to participate each year. Sponsored by the Nell J. Redfield Hospital Foundation, the event will be on Thursday, April 4, from 6:00 – 8:30 p.m. at the Event Center at the Fairgrounds. 

Jerry Camp (Oil Painting)

One of the featured artists this year is Jerry Camp, who grew up visiting cousins in Malad Valley. He and his wife Nancy moved to Malad two years ago from Taylorsville, Utah. Jerry is glad to be living at last in the place that he has often thought of as “home”.  He will exhibit his oil paintings at the Evening of the Arts.

Jerry lived in northern Utah while growing up, graduating from Granger High School.  He says he has always liked to draw and started painting in oils in high school.  He took art classes in high school and continued to improve his talents through workshops, classes, and collaborations with other artists. Landscapes and flowers are Jerry’s favorite subjects for his paintings; he refers to them as “Happy Paintings.” While oil painting began as a hobby, he now exhibits and sells his works in the Relics Gallery in Holladay, Utah. He is a member of the Intermountain Society of Artists and the Oil Painters of America.

Jerry continued his family business of shoe repair and then moved to art and framing as a career. While he usually purchases frames, he finishes them to complement the works of art he is preparing.

Jerry and Nancy are the parents of a daughter and have two grandchildren.  Jerry immediately became involved in his new home community through service in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and membership in the American Legion. He served in the United States Army for two years, including one year in Vietnam.

Allison Eliason (Photography)

A familiar photographer in Oneida County, Allison Eliason will display a sample of her works at the Evening of the Arts.  Allison grew up in Drummond, Montana, and attended BYU-Idaho, graduating with a degree in exercise physiology.  While attending college, she would often go to Salmon to visit her brother, who worked on a ranch there.  After meeting Brayden Eliason in Salmon, her visits became more of an opportunity to see Brayden than her brother.  She and Brayden live in Holbrook with their four children and help operate the Eliason family ranch.

Allison has always been interested in photography, excelling in 4-H photography. She started following Brayden around the ranch and decided that she needed to document ranch life. Her favorite subjects are cowboys, cows, and horses. Realizing the importance of connecting people to the rural lifestyle and community, she started a blog ten years ago, using her photographs to demonstrate the good (and sometimes not-so-good) aspects of ranch life.

Allison writes for the Idaho Enterprise, which provides another opportunity to use her photography to explain ranch life through her columns about agriculture. She also covers all sports at the schools and the community for the Enterprise. She teaches 4-H in Holbrook, is an EMT, works with the Stone School PTO, and is the Relief Society President for the Holbrook Ward. She was an assistant girls’ basketball coach at Malad High School this year.

Everyone is invited to the Evening of the Arts to see Jerry’s oil paintings and Allison’s photography as well as the artistic works of Shelby Blackner and Chesley Lewis and the beautiful quilts created by the Oneida Quilters. Art projects by Malad students will also be on display.  

Admission is free, but attendees will want to bid on dozens of unique, colorful, and useful gift baskets during the live and silent auctions. All proceeds from the auction will go to remodeling patient rooms and purchasing equipment for our local Hospital.