Phillips Gallery

10/07/2026

10/07/2026

Setting a dramatic mood in our downstairs/Dibble Gallery, ceramic sculptor Connie Jo Erickson’s large hand-built vessels and figures mirror the curves of the human form, while also taking inspiration from the rock formations of her native state. She builds abstractions in stoneware clay, etching designs and patterns that seem to be called for in each specific piece. For this exhibit, she has leaned into animal forms and is moving toward further seeing how they may be abstracted in stoneware.

"At times, I tell people I’m retired. And it’s true that I no longer teach. However, I spend hours every day pushing my aging hands to the limit, transforming clay into sinuous, abstract shapes. It’s a passion. Not work. I savor the slow process of building my pieces, a coil at a time, in a reverse-motion reel of rock eroding over millennia. While I start with a shape and a feeling, little design and textural surprises that enhance the form make their presence known. You can easily see my fascination with the curves of the human form—and less easily, influences of rock formations in my native state of Utah. For this show, I added familiar pets to the menagerie of forms: cats, dogs, and a giraffe. It’s only a matter of time until a pet giraffe craze hits. Today more than ever, I find working with clay is something I can turn to that allows me to stretch into new ideas, built on a deep foundation. The continual process of coming up with new ideas allows my creativity to flow and keep me whole." - Connie Jo Erickson

To see more of Connie Jo Erickson's work, please pay us a visit. You may also see her pieces on our website at Phillips Gallery This exhibit, along with Connie Borup on our Main Floor, remains on display through October 9th.

09/30/2026

Connie Borup’s work cannot simply be described as landscape; it is the transforming light of dusk - the afterglow of day that spell-like, borders on dream and reverie. Her paintings are intimate places of contemplation, silent worlds undisturbed by humankind or any narrative reference. – Art critic, Jane Connell

Phillips Gallery has had the pleasure of representing Connie Borup’s work for more than 35 years. Beginning each session with deliberation and working in absolute silence, she produces strikingly graceful and tranquil landscapes. During the past few years, she has been taking a more intimate look at water as it relates to compelling moments along the riverbank. The play of leaves afloat on its shimmering surface, partially submerged grasses and trees or elegant branches that create underwater configurations are her muse. She is drawn to designs that generate visual and meditative interest. “Reflections and shadows give me a chance to stop and observe complex patterns in nature,” the artist says. Focusing on such intricacy serves as a restorative foundation for Borup and unsurprisingly the resulting serenity is transcendent to the viewer.

A Kaysville native, Borup received a Bachelor of Arts degree in German in 1967 from the University of Utah. In 1973 and 1992, she received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in painting and drawing, also from the University of Utah. In 2003, she was a recipient of the Utah Governor’s Award in the Arts. Many know her as a beloved art instructor at Rowland Hall and/or, if they were fortunate, to have studied under her during her short stint teaching painting and foundation drawing at the University of Utah.

To see more of Connie Borup's work, please pay us a visit. You may also see her pieces on our website at https://www.phillips-gallery.com/september_show_2026.html This exhibit, along with Connie Jo Erickson in our Dibble Gallery, remains on display through October 9th.

09/04/2026

Thank you, Artists of Utah and Dave Gagon for this "15 Bytes" article on our current exhibit, Our Delicate Ecosystem, on display through September 11th.

Our Delicate Ecosystem, on view at Phillips Gallery through September 11, continues the enduring environmental mission of gallery owner Bonnie Phillips. It is a cohesive collection of photography, …

07/09/2026

"I’ve been making photographs for 80 years, capturing film and digital images on every continent except Antarctica. Whether in a street scene, a landscape, or a candid portrait, my eye is drawn to a glimpse of the color red. It’s a common thread woven through my work over these many years. This show is a small selection of my photo library and demonstrates that inclination towards a red “highlight.” It encompasses both digital capture and scans of 35 mm slides, printed by me.

I took my first pictures when I was eight, with my father’s 1915 Kodak 2C Autographic, which I carried around in its case “just to be ready.” I saw my first darkroom when I was ten and soon established my own makeshift version in the basement laundry room of my childhood home on 4th Avenue, where I developed film and made contact prints.

By the time I was in college I had my first Leica camera, was newly married, and off to the Philippines for a two-year Naval assignment. There I had no darkroom, and for the first time focused on color photography, using mostly Kodachrome film. Upon release, my wife Terrell and I traveled widely, beginning our lifelong love of travel and capturing color images of the wonderful things to see in this world.
In my first true home darkroom in my 20’s I printed mostly black and white photos, but eventually it became possible to process color film in a home darkroom. It was a tedious process, often demanding over one hour to make one acceptable color print.

The advent of digital photography came in the late 90’s and soon afterwards I retired from my career in the oil business, diving into this remarkable new technology, taking digital photos and printing them on dot matrix printers.

In the last 30 years, I have worked on capturing high- quality images, adjusting them in Photo Shop as I would in a darkroom, and then making higher quality prints than I ever could in a “wet” darkroom. I can also now make high quality digital scans of my library of color slides and color negatives. This show includes both digital photos and photos captured originally on film.

I can now travel back in time through eighty years of my old color slides and negatives and print them out with stunning results. We photographers live in a miraculous age. Thank you for letting me share a bit of my work with you."
- Paul Dougan

To see more of Paul Dougan's work, please pay us a visit. You may also see his pieces on our website at https://www.phillips-gallery.com/New_Site/paul_dougan_june_2026.html. This exhibit, along with David Cassil and Lindey Carteron our Main Floor, remains on display through July 10th.

07/02/2026

"By studying the details of just one truth," Lindey Carter notes, "I am able to make sense of the chaos that surrounds me.". Rooted in the artist's personal philosophy that unexpected beauty thrives within life's shadows and trials, these works serve as an intentional sanctuary from daily chaos. Her distinctive style relies on low horizons and an unconventional technique: applying watercolor to canvas meticulously prepared with gesso. Gentle striations in the medium create a rich backdrop, while crevices of intensified color offer moments of visual pause. Like poetry, each diffused brushstroke informs a tranquil reverie of vast Western skies and vaguely familiar vistas. Carter earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Weber State University in 2004.

To see more of Lindey Carter's work, please pay us a visit. You may also see her pieces on our website at https://www.phillips-gallery.com/New_Site/carter_lindey_june_2026.html. This exhibit, along with David Cassil on our Main Floor and Paul Dougan in our Dibble Gallery, remains on display through July 10th.