Archive for July, 2009
Art Quickie: Be the Mural
A nice family arts activity came over the ListServe wires: Take part in the Community Mural Project this Sunday, July 19, 1-4:00 pm. Head over to the newest Community Pathways tunnel under Highway 22, near the Teton Science School Jackson Campus entrance. Sponsored by the NeWest Community, this tunnel mural project is an easy “paint by numbers” effort.
The mural’s design is completed, and all that’s required is your inner artist and a penchant for sharing conversation and creativity. Once the mural is done, come back time after time to take pride in your contribution to our arts and pathways.
All paints and materials will be supplied. This is a free and open family event. And certainly, come on your own.
For more information email Kelli & Kasey Jones at highfivectrs@gmail.com. Kelli is a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist at Teton Adventure Camp. Phone: 307.690.0571.
Trio Fine Art, a cooperative gallery featuring the works of Kathryn Mapes Turner, Lee Carlman Riddell and September Vhay, (the gallery also represents tonalist Russell Chatham) has sent news of each artist’s activities, as well as thoughts for the gallery’s summer season.
Vhay received the Fine Art Print Imaging Award for her painting “Afternoon Sun,” pictured above. She placed fourth at the annual Ex Arte Equinus International Equine Art competition, sponsored by Horse Art Magazine. Vhay continues painting in oils, a departure from her well-known watercolors. The artist looks forward to a summer of reconnecting with gallery visitors and friends after a long winter spent in studio.
Turner, recently returned from a painting trip to Italy, says her 2008 highlights include a week of painting with the Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters in Winter Park, Colorado and a week in the Teton wilderness. Her painting of a Belgian horse “Standing in the Light,” was accepted in Lexington, Kentucky’s American Academy of Equine Art Show. Turner’s Tuscany paintings are featured in her current exhibition, “Practices in Presence, “ on display July 2 -18. Come see!
Riddell has also enjoyed time painting in the Italian countryside and is looking 
forward to seeing friends and patrons at the gallery this summer. Riddell participated in NMWA’s 2009 Out of the Box Show & Auction, and donated a painting to the Greater Yellowstone Coalition’s Silent Auction fundraiser. Riddell is also teaching oil painting, a happy pastime for artist and student.
Trio Fine Art’s summer hours are Wednesday – Saturday, noon to 6:00 pm. Check the gallery out–you can link to all the artists’ websites via the Trio website–at www.triofineart.com. Phone contact: 307.734.4444
Big and tall western landscape painter Greg McHuron is this summer’s second Artist in the Park, and he will set up his easel on Saturday, July 11, 4:00-7:00 pm at Colter Bay’s Picnic Area North Beach, in Grand Teton National Park. Look for the gold van and banner.
Artists in the Park, an annual summer painting tradition produced under the auspices of the Grand Teton Association, provides accessible outdoor arts education for all. The sessions are free; just show up, set up your chair, and watch our magnificent landscapes come to life on canvas. You’ll make a good friend of McHuron by bringing him a nice cold beer. It’s hot out there.
McHuron is an award winning plein-air oil and watercolor artist who has been painting full-time in Jackson since 1975. One of the founders of the Artist in the Park series, McHuron’s extended backcountry wilderness painting trips are legend. The recipient of many plein air painting awards, his work can be found at Trailside Galleries in Jackson, the Jackson Hole Visitor Center (McHuron’s work is easy to spot; it’s the giant mural depicting wildlife and alpine terrain), and the National Museum of Wildlife Art, among other venues.
For information, contact Liza Millet at 917-864-9395 or the Grand Teton Association, at 307-739-3606.
Chinese checkers! That’s what I think of as I watch the gallery space shell game over on Downtown Jackson’s Center Street.
Until quite recently, Mark Tarrant directed Jackson Hole’s Mountain Trails Gallery; he’s now director of the town’s newest gallery, Altamira Fine Art Inc. The upscale gallery will be housed in brand new digs at 172 Center Street, downtown Jackson.
Center Street’s “gallery row,” a block north of Jackson’s antler arched Town Square, is historically one of the town’s most popular art strolls. In the past eighteen months, Jackson’s downtown rents have soared. Diehl Gallery moved to a more affordable location, only to find that the coveted Center Street space it vacated remained empty, and the owners are now offering cheaper rent. Across the road, the venerable DiTommaso Gallery closed its doors last summer. That building was torn down and replaced by a contemporary structure with lots of glass, designed by Jackson-based architect Larry Berlin. (Berlin also does a mean abstract painting—I’ve got one.)
Altamira is its new occupant. The 4500 square foot gallery opened July 1 with John Nieto: American Master. The show runs through July 14.
Meanwhile, Tarrant’s previous shop, Mountain Trails, is expanding, and has moved out of its original Center Street space in order to occupy what is perhaps Wyoming’s most prime commercial space—155 Center Street, sitting pretty on Jackson Town Square’s northeast corner. I stopped into last month’s Gallery Stroll opening and the joint was jumping. My former NMWA co-worker, Ray Polito, is working on some marketing there, and Pam Flores is the new gallery director. That address’ previous tenant, the now defunct Earth & Vine, was rumored to have paid as much as $36,000 per month in rent. Trailside Galleries occupied the same space before Earth and Vine; their new, two-story contemporary stone and timber gallery is located down the road, on East Broadway.
Got it?
Altamira will specialize in western contemporary art, specifically John Nieto, Rocky Hawkins, Mary Roberson, Greg Woodard, Amy Ringholz, R. Tom Gilleon, Ted Knight, Logan Hagege, Steve Seltzer, Jared Sanders and Paul Rousso. Many of these artists were previously part of Mountain Trail’s roster.
Unfamiliar with the term “altamira,” I did some snooping around. There are a series of complex Spanish Altamira caves, Altamira hotels…Altamira is also a Sausalito, California treatment center, but I bet the gallery hopes to invoke visions of beautiful alpine vistas. And hey, art is always good therapy. Welcome, Altamira!
The gallery’s new website is www.altamiraart.com.
Horses. Wildlife. Robert Redford. Michael Jackson.
Jackson’s Diehl Gallery (155 West Broadway, in Jackson) 5th Annual Fête happens
July 3, 5:00-9:00 pm. The gallery plans a stylish event, one featuring over 30 artists, including several new to the gallery’s roster.
Ashley Collins is one of those artists; she’s a 25-year painting veteran. Noted for her abstract figurative images of horses, as well as her Colorfield works, she’s collected everywhere.
And where’s everywhere? Diehl says private and public collections in Sydney, Dubai, Munich and New York display her work. Super famous collectors include: Robert Redford, 20th Century Fox, Deborah Winger, Danny Sullivan III (race car driver) , Ringo Starr, the Sultan of Brunei,…maybe even the Sultan of Swing. It’s a pretty impressive list, and I note several outdoor enthsuiasts are included. Collins has exhibited worldwide for years, including exhibitions with Rauschenberg, Dill, Motherwell, and (Jim) Dine.
Diehl’s release just said “Dine.” As well as just “Rauschenberg,” “Dill,” and “Motherwell.” But, they also said “Ringo Starr,” not “Starr,” and “Robert Redford,” not “Redford.”
Collins will have a solo exhibition later in the month, on July 23, at the gallery. Time: 5:00-8:00 p.m. This will also be a fundraiser, and for information, you can phone 307-733-0905.
Signed, “Christel”
Item #2:
Oh, baby, I was blind to let you go,
Won’t you please let me back in your heart?”
Bring your heart, soul and pretty faces to what may—or may not be—a final First 
Friday at Lyndsay McCandless Contemporary, good to go on Friday evening, July 3, 2009.
I’ll be there…
McCandless is trying to make it all work, but let’s really help, eh? We come, we drink wine, we have a good time and do the moonwalk, but let’s buy some art, too.
What do you say? Here’s the deal:
Lyndsay McCandless Contemporary is holding a First Friday “Rent Party.” Admission is free, but don’t expect free wine & beer; bring it. Don’t expect to not buy a little bit of art; bring it. Let’s put our money where our thirsty mouths are. This art will be affordable. We all easily drop $100 on outdoor gear, or a night at the Bistro, or a new phone, or on groceries we eat in a couple of days, a massage, liquor.
Let’s drop a little bit of dough on some art, art that will last a long time. Art that, every time we take pleasure in it, will remind us that we supported a purpose we love. Before it’s gone…potentially gone. Full circle mode.
If you’re not yet clear on the rent party concept, it’s a party to help with rent.
Rent parties have historical context relating to music. According to Wikipedia, a “…rent party (sometimes called a house party) is a social occasion where tenants hire a musician or band to play and pass the hat to raise money to pay their rent, originating in Harlem during the 1920s.” The rent party concept embraces jazz, and specifically “cutting contests,” wherein jazz pianists took turns trying to out play each other at rent parties. LMC’s July 3 First Friday may include a little bit of contemporary cuttin’.
Works up for sale include individual vessels from Jenny Dowd’s latest installation and her small “object drawers.” Matt Flint’s paintings are gorgeous and affordable. “I was kind of miffed about an article I saw that talked about the attendees of (Lyndsay’s) First Friday events not being able to afford the “high priced work” on the walls. My prices have gone up recently due to demand, but I certainly do not want to edit out a group of people who support my work, but can not afford it,” says Flint.
Be ready to transport your art home—no plastic bags will be on hand. BYOB, be of legal drinking age, and enjoy a truly collaborative arts party. Support First Fridays for real.
All I need (buh buh buh buh ba! )All I want (buh buh buh buh ba!) All I NEED.. is one more chance to show ya that I love ya!
Item #3:
Galleries West! “All Things Wild” is their July 4th weekend opener. And as you might guess, the exhibition features new works focusing on wildlife from six Galleries West artists: Michael Calles, Kate Ferguson, D. Lee, Lori McNee, John Potter, and Debbie Edgers Sturges. The show opens July 3rd with a reception from 5-8 PM and will remain on display through July 15.
The gallery notes that wildlife as subject is an intrinsic, important part of Jackson Hole’s art history. How could it not? It’s one of the reasons we are all here, and we’re passionate about all wildlife, from giant grizzlies down to tiny pikas. “All Things Wild” artists express their own passions in this special show.
The gallery provided these artist profiles:
“Michael Calles looks to historical masters of the wildlife genre to inform and 
inspire his beautifully expressive canvases. Lori McNee (love her!) creates still life vignettes populated with tiny birds and natural elements that comment on our delicate relationship with nature. John Potter, a Chippewa artist, paints nature and wildlife to express his love of creation and his connection with a powerful Creator. Kate Ferguson renders her paintings with intimate detail and careful observation. D. Lee is an alla prima painter, meaning she finishes the majority of her paintings in one sitting, so her pieces exhibit a direct approach with loose and expressive brushwork. And Debbie Edgers Sturges’ paintings are bold, brightly colored, and large, with huge brushstrokes and animals that directly engage the viewer.”
For more information, contact Galleries West Fine Art at 307-733-4412 or visit www.gallerieswestjacksonhole.com.
