MakeSpace Kayenta opened in Kayenta Art Village in November 2021 as a studio where artists could learn, make work and meet each other. Five years later, its anniversary open house lands on Friday, Nov. 6. That is also the village's monthly First Friday, when the market, galleries and open studios run from 4 to 8 p.m. and the Center for the Arts at Kayenta screens a film.
That timing changes how the evening should be planned. The studio's celebration sits in the middle of a four-hour free window, and a ticketed documentary starts half an hour before that window closes. Someone who shows up at 7 p.m. will catch only part of it. Someone who arrives at 4 p.m. and takes things in order can see all of it. The nights before and after are busy too, so the first week of November is the fullest stretch on the village calendar this fall.
Five Years on the North Side of the Village
The studio has a history that most people who walk past it on a First Friday probably don't know. Studio Manager Kaylee Fisher told St. George News that it started as a conversation between its founder and co-founder Ginny Northcott about the local arts community needing a dedicated space. It grew into a nonprofit creative studio offering classes in oil, acrylic, encaustic, watercolor and other mediums.
Matt Pectol, the current owner, started at MakeSpace as an instructor. He began teaching oil painting there in 2022 and was asked to take over ownership in fall 2024. In the same St. George News article, he describes the move as going from teaching individual classes to running an art school and a business.
"I want to continue growing MakeSpace as an art school and make it a place where people can come to really learn how to become an artist." Matt Pectol, speaking to St. George News
The class list shows what that goal looks like in practice. The article highlights a five-day landscape painting workshop with oil painter David Shevalino, where each student finished at least five paintings. One of the studio's newest offerings is a class on drawing fundamentals and rendering form taught by Larry Gerber, who has spent his career teaching at some of the country's top art universities.
The open house will celebrate the artists, instructors, students and community members who have shaped the studio over its first five years. MakeSpace's directions page puts the studio on the north side of Kayenta Art Village. The arts calendar XHBT lists a 6 p.m. start, with no end time.
Friday, Nov. 6, by the Clock
Here is how the evening lines up, based on each organizer's listing.
| Time | What | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 to 8 p.m. | First Fridays at Kayenta: Southern Utah Market, galleries, open studios | Kayenta Art Village, 881 Coyote Gulch Court | Free |
| 6 p.m. | MakeSpace Kayenta fifth-anniversary open house | MakeSpace, north side of the village | Not listed |
| 7:30 p.m. | DOCUTAH presents "Snowland" | Center for the Arts at Kayenta | $12 including fees |
The film starts at 7:30, while the market runs until 8, so anyone heading in for the screening loses the last half hour on the plaza. That leaves the 4 to 6 p.m. window for the market and galleries, the studio after 6, and a short walk to the Center for the Arts before 7:30.
The Plaza Is Free, the Film Is Ticketed
The free part of the evening runs every month. Kayenta Arts describes First Fridays as a monthly event with art and music, plus a curated boutique market from Southern Utah Market selling local art, crafts and farmers market favorites. Southern Utah Market describes its own format as "Pop-Up Night Markets every First & Last Friday," with handmade goods from local vendors. A community listing on STG Newsletter says about 20 vendors set up on the plaza with art, food and baked goods, plus live music.
The open studios are the part of First Friday that MakeSpace's anniversary adds to. A studio that has spent five years teaching paint and drawing to people from beginners up is a natural stop between the galleries and the market tables.
The 7:30 screening belongs to a separate program. Kayenta's ongoing partnership with DOCUTAH brings that festival's "Best of Fest" series to First Fridays, a lineup of audience favorites and award winners. According to Utah Tech University, the First Friday screenings take place at the Center for the Arts at Kayenta, and "Snowland" is the November 2026 film. The Kayenta Arts listing for "Snowland" describes a woman who built a fantasy world she calls Snowland over decades of artistic work, as a way of surviving a painful past and finding herself again. The film is the only part of Friday evening with a listed price, $12 including fees, through the OvationTix page.
Dinner in a Narrow Window
Fitting dinner into the 4 to 7:30 stretch is the hard part. The obvious choice inside the village is Xetava Gardens Cafe. Its own site lists weekday hours of 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., weekend hours of 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and weekend brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Kayenta Art Village directory says the cafe is now open seven days a week, but its posted schedule doesn't completely match the cafe's site. It's worth calling ahead on a night this busy. Even with an 8 p.m. close, an early dinner between the market and the film works.
The Nights on Either Side
The village is busy for more than one night. Friday sits between two evenings that draw different crowds to the same building.
Thursday, Nov. 5: The DomÃnguez-Escalante Expedition
The night before First Friday, Dr. Charlotte Hansen Terry gives a Voyager Lecture called "The DomÃnguez-Escalante Expedition and Spanish Mapping of the North American West." Social hour starts at 6:30 p.m., and the talk begins at 7:30. Tickets are $12 to $25 including fees on the lecture's OvationTix page. The 1776 expedition passed through what is now Southern Utah, so a talk on how it mapped the West makes sense in a building with red-rock views.
Sunday, Nov. 8: Wigs & Wine
The weekend ends with the Kayenta Arts Foundation's fundraiser, Wigs & Wine, at the Center for the Arts at Kayenta. It runs from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Doors open at 5:30 and dinner is served at 6:30. The event page lists a five-course Zion Desert to Table dinner with wine pairings, entertainment from Jason Cozmo and auctions. Tickets are $150, and every guest has to wear a wig.
That makes three different price points on the village's calendar in four days. The plaza on Friday is free, the lecture and film cost $12 and up, and Sunday's dinner is $150 and helps fund the foundation that runs the Thursday and Friday programs.
December Uses the Same Calendar
After this week, the next First Friday is Dec. 4. The schedule matches November's, so anyone who learns this month's timing can use it again.
- Tuesday, Dec. 1: Utah Poet Laureate Lisa Bickmore. Social hour at 6:30 p.m., presentation at 7:30.
- Friday, Dec. 4, 4 to 8 p.m.: First Fridays at Kayenta, with the market, galleries and open studios, free to attend.
- Friday, Dec. 4, 7:30 p.m.: DOCUTAH presents "Better Up There."
- Saturday, Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m.: "Cassia Streb / Sandstone Quartet: Music as Architecture," followed by an artist reception.
The first week of December has the same pattern as this one: a talk earlier in the week, a free Friday with a 7:30 film and a ticketed evening that weekend.
At Dustin & Angie Hammer, we pay attention to the details that make a neighborhood worth calling home, and in Kayenta those details include a studio celebrating five years on a First Friday. If you're thinking about life near Kayenta Art Village or have questions about the community, please Contact Us. We would be glad to help.