Here's a quick look at the notable events of 2006:

* The Motherwell of all art shows: The Salt Lake Art Center celebrated its 75th anniversary while opening an exhibition in February by major abstract-expressionist painter Robert Motherwell. Although Motherwell died in 1991, the show was a homecoming: He lived in Salt Lake City for seven years as a child.

* Between a block and an Artspace: As downtown Salt Lake City keeps pushing west, a handful of artists and arts groups abandoned the original Artspace block in 2006 for new studio digs at Artspace City Center. The restored brick building became a new Gallery Stroll focal point.

* The Bible on canvas: The West Valley Cultural Celebration Center scored a coup when it mounted Utahn Arnold Friberg's biblical paintings from "The Ten Commandments." The original oils depicted 15 Old Testament scenes that were later rendered in the 1956 film.

* Back to Mexico: Salt Lake City artist Guillermo Colmenero exhibited his skeletal sculptures at the Park City Arts Festival in August. A month later, he was in jail. By mid-November he had been deported to his native Mexico after a judge denied him permanent-resident status because of a 1995 marijuana conviction.

* In memoriam: Francis H. Zimbeaux, an acclaimed Utah painter known for his romantic landscapes and lyrical nudes, died in February at 92. His loss was followed in November by the death of painter Ted Wassmer, 96, considered Utah's oldest working artist. They will be missed.