October 10, 2026: The Exhibition sculptures selected from this year's national call to artists came across prairies and mountains, delivered by their creators, poised to be placed in Moab's downtown cultural district for a year. 

The crack local installation crew and the artists met early on the drizzly saturday with hot coffee in hand.  In the space of two hours, a fine orchestration of people and art and fork lifts and helping hands put 11 new sculptures on Moab's downtown ArTTrail.  A downpour was expected to arrive later that day and it did- just as the ArtStroll commenced. An intrepid crowd gathered nevertheless in a watercolor of rain jackets and umbrellas, curiosity and creative process in the artist led, musically accompanied ArtStroll. The artists spoke about what inspired them in their pieces and this year; our relationship to water and to place, to life itself emerged as a theme. 

Participants in the ArtStroll cast their vote for Best In Show, and the Award went to Fruita, Colorado artist Jeff Bates for "Meridian", now perched at 100 E and Center in Moab. Honorable Mention went to Kansas City artist Jake Balcom for "Ripple Effect", placed near the Information Center on Center and Main.

 

Each year, Moab ArTTrails purchases a piece to donate to Moab and Grand County public sculpture collection. This year, the vote for the Keeper went to  San Antonio TX artist Simon Saleh for "Celestial Conversations", now seen on 5th West near Moab Regional Hospital.

The connections between the seen and unseen world, the play of light and shadow, the pops of color that peek out from corners on the trail await your next visit to Moab's central cultural district. It certainly has been a dream come true to bring the show to Moab again this year! Check back on moab arttrails dot org for  our upcoming audio guide of the artists' descriptions of the rainy ArtStroll of 2026 .

You can click here for a map of the ArTTrail: it is a handy tour guide to see and learn more about the exhibition that will grace Grand County's shared downtown spaces for the coming year.   Moab ArTTrails takes public input on which piece they'd like to see in the permanent collection, and purchases the winning piece for donation to the public's collection.  

All the pieces in the temporary exhibition are for sale throughout the year, and voting for this years' "Keeper" is  now open until the 15th of September 2027.

A gratitude big as the desert sky to all participating artists for presenting their works, for making the journey to celebrate the intersection of place, people and the beauty we share.

 Please get in touch if you'd like to participate or know more about the program. 

 Each year, a rotating volunteer selection committee, composed of local community members, merchants, artists and civic representatives convene, discuss and select a show out of a wide pool of submissions from a national call to artists.

Heartfelt thanks to the talented artists who submitted their works for Moab to enjoy, and for making it such a fun challenge to select just a few from all the compelling, strong submissions.

Since its inception in 2015, Moab ArTTrails has added over $125,000 worth of art to the public sphere with fourteen sculptures acquired for the public permanent collection. The ninth year of this program is produced with the kind support of the Moab Arts Council, the Moab Arts & Recreation Center,  the City of Moab, RAP tax funds, and the grace of a whole host of totally wonderful artists, foundations, private contributors, arts lovers, civil servants, builders and friends. 

See you on the ArTTrail!