Friends and family celebrate life of late artist Snow

V. Douglas Snow spent more than half a century capturing his emotions about Utah on canvas, working right up to his death in a one-car rollover last month.

On Saturday, more than 200 people gathered at a memorial service at the Salt Lake City Main Library to celebrate that work and reminisce about the life of the artist, teacher, husband and father.

Felicia Snow, the youngest of his four children, talked about how her father spent months perfecting his paintings. Wife Susan Snow described him as her best friend and a "consummate teacher."

Frank McEntire, a longtime friend and former Utah Arts Council president, said Snow "heaved his spirit into the mountains and mesas around Capitol Reef, and they kept a part of it during rendezvous, slowly absorbing him."

The Cockscomb, a rock formation at the base of Boulder Mountain in Wayne County, was Snow's "obsession" and, to him, captured the beauty of southern Utah, according to McEntire.

"To him, it captured all of the wild and beautiful places in southern Utah," he said.

Snow, an 82-year-old muralist and painter, died Oct. 20 when his car rolled off State Road 24 near Sigurd while he was driving from his home near Teasdale to Salt Lake City. Investigators say Snow, who was wearing a seat belt, died at the scene.

A Salt Lake City native, Snow -- nicknamed Flash as a child -- first visited red-rock country when he was 18 and that land became the source of his inspiration,

McEntire said. He graduated from the University of Utah and studied at New York American Art School, Columbia University and Cranbrook Academy. He also studied at the Academy of Fine Art in Rome under a Fulbright scholarship.

His murals include ones at the Leonardo museum, Salt Lake City International Airport and Snowbird. A mural titled "Capitol Reef" that hangs behind the bench at the Utah Supreme Court stirred controversy when it was installed in 1998; a gray drape eventually was put in to cover the work while court is in session.

For almost 40 years, Snow divided his time between painting and teaching, mostly at the University of Utah, according to McEntire. He said Snow left teaching, which included a stint as chairman of the U. art department from 1966 to 1971, about a decade ago to roam the desert and store impressions for his paintings and drawings.

Artist Tony Smith said Snow would "absorb the atmosphere" when he painted, and was interested in order and harmony.

"He liked things to work together," said Smith, who was friends with Snow for more than 50 years.

Smith noted that his friend said many times that he was not afraid to die and viewed death as the beginning of a wonderful adventure.

"I want to say, 'So long, Flash,' " Smith said.

pmanson@sltrib.com