Lögberg-Heimskringla - 18.06.2004, Side 7

Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 18. júni 2004 • 7
PHOTO: STEINÞÓR GUÐBJARTSSON
Brent Haymond stands in front of a Russian painting, one of the works in the Springviile Museum of Art. The piece is estimated at over $400,000 (U.S.).
A lot of real strong blood
J. Brent Haymond has been the Honorary Consul of
lceland in Utah since 1997. Steinþór Guðbjartsson
walked with him through the Springville Museum of
Art, where Haymond has been the president of the
Board of Trustees since 1987. He was the Mayor of
Springville from 1982 to 1986.
Steinþór Guðbjartsson
Springville, UT
The Springville Museum
of Art was founded in 1903 and
it is the first art museum in
Utah. The museum has North
America’s largest Russian col-
lection of the Soviet period and
it was the venue for Utah art
during the Salt Lake Winter
Olympic Games in 2002.
Last rnonth the dedication
of the completion of an addi-
tion to the museum, the Eccles
Wing, took place. The total
new wing area is 20,000 square
feet and the total museum area
is 40,000 square feet. The cost
of the construction was about
$4.6 million (U.S.).
Brent Haymond is proud of
the museum and not the least
the Russian collection and the
Utah art collection, which he
says is the best in Utah. “All of
it [the Russian Collection]
came out after the Wall went
down, and we have over 300
pieces from 1922 to 1990,” he
says.
No relatives in Iceland
Brent Haymond says that
virtually all his family emigrat-
ed from Vestmannaeyjar, Ice-
land, in 1886 and therefore he
does not know of any relatives
in Iceland. “But I am very
proud of my Icelandic heritage
and it has always been there,”
he says. “I have a lot of real
strong blood and that is why I
don’t have to be 100% Ice-
lander.”
His grandmother, Jónína
Guðmundsdóttir, eraigrated
with her parents and five sib-
lings. They settled in Spanish
Fork and Jónína married Leo
Harmer. For several years they
homesteaded in Alberta, Cana-
da. “Her sister’s children still
live up in Alberta,” Haymond
says.
Promotes Iceland
as much as possible
To many, Utah is like a
hidden gem, but Icelanders
have been frequent guests in
the state and Haymond says
that he has been busy as the
fhird Icelandie consuí in Utah.
He replaced Clark Thorstein-
son but Thor Leifson was the
first one.
“Icelanders living here in
Utah have been proactive in
doing different things,” he
says. “We were active in put-
ting the monument on the
Westman Islands, we were
active in the museum, and now
we are active in the 2005 cele-
bration. My position has been
to be a supporter of whatever
we try to do. For example,
David Ashby and I spent a lot
of time together working on the
2000 celebration in Iceland.
That was very successful.”
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson,
the President of Iceland, visited
Utah in 199 and again last Jan-
uary. He is expected to be pres-
ent during the festival in June
next year. “We have had a very
good relationship with the
president,” Haymond says, and
adds that the then Ambassador
to the U.S., Jón Baldvin Hanni-
balsson, came on a state visit to
Utah in 2001 and again during
the Winter Olympic Gamés in
2002.
“We have been very active
in promoting Iceland among
the government agencies here
in Utah,” he says. “Because I
travel in some interesting
places it allows me to promote
Iceland in some places where it
may not have been possible
before.”
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