Sunrise, North Rim, Grand Canyon, 1928 Oil, 33 in x 57.75 in

Mabel Frazer, an independent and spirited artist with roots in rural Utah, was a mainstay on the faculty at the University of Utah for thirtythree years. "Her religion and her art took precedence over everything else in her life," according to her sister, Madeline. As a young woman, she followed her dream to New York, studying at the School of Industrial Art, the Beaux Arts Institute of Design, and the Art Students League, where she also taught. In 1920 she accepted a position at the University of Utah teaching a wide variety of subjects including art history, sculpture, textile design, painting, silkscreen, and ceramics, many of these subjects new to the department. During a leave of absence in 1930 she studied and painted in Italy, where two of her paintings were exhibited at the Uffizi. She retired from the university in1953 but continued to paint until her death at age ninety-four.