Springville High School Art Gallery

A high school gave Springville an art museum, and the town has been 'Art City' ever since. Springville High began gathering a permanent art collection early in the century, and in 1937 — with New Deal labor and money — it built this gallery to house the paintings and hold its annual exhibit. The apostle David O. McKay dedicated it as 'a sanctuary of beauty and a temple of meditation.' Claude Ashworth designed it in Spanish Colonial Revival style, its red floor tiles fired on site. It grew into the Springville Museum of Art, the oldest in Utah.

What the plaque says

Dedicated July 4, 1937, by LDS Church Apostle David O. McKay as a "sanctuary of beauty and a temple of mediation, " this edifice is one of over 230 public works building constructed in Utah under the New Deal programs during the Depression years. It was built to house the Art Association's permanent collect and as a place to hold the annual exhibit sponsored by the school under the direction of Wayne Johnson, curator. Designed by architect Claude S. Ashworth and constructed of reinforced concrete, it is an excellent example of the Spanish Colonial Revival style in Utah. The red tile for the floors was fired and finished at the site. A well-matched two-story wing was added in 1964, a gift from the Clyde Foundation.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Thistle Landslide — 12 mi
  The ruins of a town destroyed by a massive landslide in 1983
• Bridal Veil Falls — 12 mi
  A dramatic double waterfall cascading 607 feet into Provo Canyon
• Sundance Mountain Resort — 16 mi
  Robert Redford's intimate, arts-minded ski resort on the slopes of Mount Timpanogos, in the North Fork of Provo Canyon.
• Aspen Grove — 17 mi
  The mountain-base trailhead for Mount Timpanogos and Stewart Falls

More markers nearby

• Springville Presbyterian Church — steps away
• The Pioneer Mother — 0.4 mi
• Springville's First Camp Site — 0.7 mi
• First Mills in Utah County — 1.5 mi