Zion National Park hosts art invitational from 2 to 7 November

Zion National Park hosts the Art Invitational from 2 to 7 November 2026 in Zion Canyon, with Springdale venues and a live painting programme inside the park. The event page describes sixteen invited landscape painters and places their work against the sandstone scenery of southern Utah.

Art Invitational brings painters to Zion Canyon in November

The Zion Forever Project, the official non-profit partner for the park, has scheduled the Art Invitational for 2 to 7 November 2026. The programme combines artist demonstrations, outdoor painting and a silent auction, while a related exhibition at Worthington Gallery in Springdale runs through 8 November.

Public demonstrations are planned at Cable Mountain Lodge from 3 to 5 November. The organiser lists different painters for each day, including Arlene Braithwaite, John Cogan, Margaret Larlham, James McGrew and Roland Lee. The Friday gala and art sale is ticket-only, so it is separate from the public demonstrations and the Saturday programme.

On 7 November, the Wet Paint and Silent Auction programme moves to Zion Lodge inside the park. The organiser says all sixteen artists will paint live there, linking the event directly to the landscape that supplies its subject matter. The organiser’s November programme gives the event dates, venues and participating artists.

Why Zion sandstone shapes the art programme

The park lies on the edge of the Colorado Plateau, where uplift and erosion have produced deep canyons and exposed layers of Navajo sandstone. The National Park Service describes cliffs rising about 2,000 feet above parts of Zion Canyon, while the Virgin River continues to cut through the rock.

That geological setting gives the Art Invitational a specific connection to its venue. The artists are not simply exhibiting in a nearby town: the Saturday session places them inside the park, where the North Fork of the Virgin River and the canyon walls form the landscape being interpreted. The park was established in 1919, giving the November programme a setting shaped by more than a century of national-park protection. Further geological context is available in the National Park Service geology overview.

Visiting Zion National Park: what travellers from Western Europe should know

• The Art Invitational runs from 2 to 7 November 2026 across Zion Canyon, Cable Mountain Lodge, Worthington Gallery in Springdale and Zion Lodge.
• The public demonstrations take place from 3 to 5 November, while the 7 November Wet Paint and Silent Auction programme is inside the park; the 6 November gala is ticket-only.
• The event’s subjects are the park’s sandstone cliffs, canyon forms and Virgin River landscape, so visitors encounter an outdoor setting with uneven ground and changing elevations rather than a single indoor venue.
• Entry requirements depend on your nationality; UK travellers can check the FCDO travel advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, Irish travellers the Department of Foreign Affairs at ireland.ie.

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Frequently asked questions about Zion National Park

When does the Art Invitational take place at Zion National Park?

The Art Invitational runs from 2 to 7 November 2026, with demonstrations, live painting and a silent auction at listed venues in Zion Canyon and Springdale.

Where is Zion National Park and how do you get there?

The park is in southwestern Utah, with the event using venues in Springdale and inside Zion Canyon. The organiser lists Cable Mountain Lodge, Worthington Gallery and Zion Lodge as programme locations.

What is the Art Invitational at Zion National Park?

It is a November 2026 programme involving sixteen invited landscape painters, including demonstrations and a live painting session inside the park on 7 November.