Archive for September, 2009
“The Earth is at a crossroads never before experienced. My hope is that we begin a new path, one of enlightenment, understanding, appreciation, and tolerance for all living things.” – Tom Mangelsen.
Here in Jackson Hole, wildlife photographer Tom Mangelsen needs no introduction. Our arts, particularly our conservation-based arts, have long looked to his intuitive, prescient practice of seeking out species and their habitats around the globe. Tom Mangelsen is a given, thank goodness. But preservation of wildlife, its assured survival, will never be a “given.” We are responsible, and Mangelsen has taken up the sword. He won’t put it down.
His awards include “Outstanding Nature Photographer of the Year” honors from the North American Nature Photographer Association and “Wildlife Photographer of the Year” from the BBC.
So welcome the chance to take in his work – a significant and renowned oeuvre – and reconnect to the wildlife and landscapes
Mangelsen spends eight months a year exploring. The National Museum of Wildlife Art opens “On the Natural World: Photographs by Thomas D. Mangelsen,” on October 1. The exhibition remains up through April 25, 2010.
“These animals, even the most seemingly insignificant ones, are the barometer of the health of this planet,” says Mangelsen. “It doesn’t take long to realize that we are on that same chain, we are all linked in nature.”
I am the proud owner of Mangelsen’s quintessential book, “The Natural World.” It is a prized possession. Through his looking glass I peer. I close my eyes, fan the pages and stop. I do this several times, opening my eyes to see where I’ve landed.

Lord, he’s been written about. But my guess is, Tom (May I call you “Tom?”) is most proud of his connection to Jane Goodall, Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and a UN Messenger of Peace. She thanks Tom for his “magnificent enterprise,” and she speaks of his work:
“There I found myself in a magic place, for the breathtaking photographs around the walls transported me to faraway countries, some loved and familiar so that looking at them woke a yearning to be back, others that provided tantalizing images of other worlds I had yet to experience. Here, at last, were photographs that had captured…the very essence of the wilderness scenes depicted.”
I wish I could be there this Thursday, but I’m traveling. You all go, you hear? What better place to take in Mangelsen’s work than within the rustic stone walls of the Museum, crouched on its butte like a watchful cougar?
For information, log on to www.wildlifeart.org or phone 307.733.5771.

2009 Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival Schedule of Events
(Note: This calendar reflects ongoing and slated events beginning Wednesday, Sept. 16. For a complete calendar of events, visit www.jacksonholechamber.com)
SPECIAL NOTE: R. Tom Gilleon, 2009’s Fall Arts Festival Poster Artist, will sign posters of his painting “Yellow Leaves Moon” (50″x50″ oil), above, at ALTAMIRA FINE ART, a change from original venue plans. Prior to the Fall Arts Festival, the painting is on display at the historic Wort Hotel, in Jackson. See details below for Wednesday, September 16. Galleries West Fine Art
7th Fall Round Up
This annual Fall Arts Festival group show features new works by all of Galleries West artists. Please note: Artists’ reception takes place during the Wednesday (September 16) night ART walk.
Galleries West Fine Art, 307-733-4412 www.gallerieswestjacksonhole.com
The Best of Astoria, September 11-20th
Includes the 2nd Annual Greg Beecham Wildlife Showcase. Astoria Fine Art, 307-733-4016, www.astoriafineart.com
J.H. Art Association: Members Only Exhibition
View an eclectic and extensive body of work by hundreds of talented Art Association members. On display through November 30. Check it out at the Artspace Lobby Gallery, Center for the Arts.
Mountain Trails’ “American Visions Group Show”
Running Sept. 1-20. The show features all Mountain Trails artists, with several
being on hand and demonstrating throughout the Festival. These artists are: Carrie Fell (Grand Opening), Ken Rowe, Buckeye Blake, Jeff Ham and Vic Payne. Call Lisa Shannon for details! Her phone: 307.734.8150.
A Horse of a Different Color Gallery:
Toland Sand
Celebrate Toland Sand, an internationally known glass artist. His medium is cold-worked glass, the creation of glass sculpture by constructing three-dimensional forms. On display through September 30. 307-734-9603
Wednesday, September 16
Jewelry and Artisan Luncheon at Teton Pines
In conjunction with the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s Western Visions Show & Sale, enjoy an elegant luncheon at Teton Pines Resort & Country Club. Artisans (jewelry, fiber and leather) preview and sell their handmade goods. Ladies only! Register by September 10, 2009 by calling 307-732-5412.
11:00am – 4:00pm.
$100 per person or $500 per person for a package including Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday plus other Western Visions events.
www.WesternVisions.org
Gallery ARTWalk 5:00-8:00 pm
Join more than 30 Jackson art galleries for the special Wednesday ARTWalk. Enjoy fine art and experience the vibrant Jackson art scene. Look for the ART walk banners! Various locations, see gallery map, 5:00-8:00pm, open to the public.
Poster Signing with Tom Gilleon at Altamira Fine Art
3:00-5:00 pm
Meet Fall Arts Festival poster artist Tom Gilleon and receive a personally signed poster of his featured painting, “Yellow Leaves Moon.” Altamira Fine Art, 3:00-5:00pm, open to the public. An artist’s reception follows immediately after. 307-734-8150.
Galleries West Fine Art, 5:00-8:00pm
Reception for the 7th Fall Round Up. Meet and visit with many Galleries West artists.
307-733-4142, www.gallerieswestjacksonhole.com.
Thursday, September 17

Wild West Preview Party 6:30-10:30 pm
As part of the 22nd Annual Western Visions, artists and patrons have an opportunity to view the art, place their ballots, and mingle. The Jewelry and Artisan Show & Sale, Photography Show & Sale and Sketch Show & Sale are also open to the public during this event and the artisans are in residence. The evening includes delicious fare, a full bar and entertainment. Register by September 10, 2009 by calling 307-732-5412.
Location: National Museum of Wildlife Art
$100 per person or $500 per person for a package including Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, plus other events.
www.WesternVisions.org
Center Street Gallery, 5:00-8:00pm
Marshall Noice and Robert Deurloo Show
Marshall Noice is a contemporary landscape oil painter from Kalispell, MT. Robert Deurloo is a wildlife sculptor working in bronze and exotic patinas from Salmon, ID.
307-733-1155, www.centerstreetgallery.com
Friday, September 18
22nd Annual Miniatures and More Show & Sale, 5:30-9:30pm
This is the final opportunity to place bids prior to the evening’s drawing and auction. The evening features hors d’oeuvres and beverage, and most importantly,
the names of the winning bidders are drawn. The Jewelry and Artisan Show & Sale, the Photography Show & Sale and the Sketch Show & Sale will be on display and guests are invited to make purchases. Call 307-732-5412. Register by September 10, 2009. Call 307-732-5412.
Location: National Museum of Wildlife Art, 5:30-9:30pm.
$100 per person or $500 per person for a package including Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, plus other events.
www.WesternVisions.org
Legacy of Nature Group Show, 1:00-4:00pm
The Legacy of Nature Group Show featuring wildlife and sporting art. Artists include paintings by Ken Carlson, Luke Frazier, Michael Coleman, Brian Grimm, Chad Poppleton, Julie T. Chapman, Trevor Swanson, Jan Martin McGuire, and sculptures by Ken Bunn and Tim Shinabarger.
Legacy Gallery. 307-733-2353, www.legacygallery.com

E.I. Couse, (1866-1936), "Moonlight"
Jackson Hole Art Auction Preview 10:00 am – 7:00 pm
The Jackson Hole Art Auction is a premier Western Art Auction featuring art from Past and Present Masters of the American West. Historically recognized Western American Art is the focus, including works by the Taos Society of Artists, Deceased American Masters and Top Contemporary Western and Wildlife Artists. The Jackson Hole Art Auction is presented in association with Trailside Galleries and Gerald Peters Gallery.
Location: Center for the Arts
866-549-9278; www.jacksonholeartauction.com
Saturday, September 19
14th Annual Jackson Hole QuickDraw Art Sale & Auction
9:30 a.m.
Nationally, regionally and locally recognized artists paint and sculpt while spectators look on. Each new artwork will be auctioned off following an hour-long “draw.” “Yellow Leaves Moon,” 2009’s featured poster artwork by R. Tom Gilleon, will also be auctioned.
Location: Jackson Town Square, 9:30am, open to the public.
Please note 2009’s earlier time slot for this event.
Jackson Hole Art Auction Start: 1:00 p.m.
The Jackson Hole Art Auction is a premier Western Art Auction featuring art from
Past and Present Masters of the American West. Historically recognized Western American Art is the focus, including works by the Taos Society of Artists, Deceased American Masters and Top Contemporary Western and Wildlife Artists. The Jackson Hole Art Auction is presented in association with Trailside Galleries and Gerald Peters Gallery.
Location: Jackson Hole Center for the Arts
866-549-9278; www.jacksonholeartauction.com
Galleries West Open House, All Day
Visit the gallery any time throughout the day for hors d’oeuvres and beverages. Many Fall Round-Up artists will be on hand during the day.
Galleries West Gallery
307-733-4412, www.gallerieswestjacksonhole.com
Trailside Galleries Fall Gold Show, 3:00-6:00pm
This annual event will show new works by all of their gallery artists with special showcases for Kyle Sims (wildlife painter), Lindsay Scott (wildlife artist), Bonnie Marris (wildlife painter), a small grouping by Mian Situ (Chinese figural painter) as well as a small grouping by wildlife painters Adam and Dan Smith.
307-733-3186, www.trailsidegalleries.com.
SPECIAL EVENT: JACKSON HOLE CONSERVATION ALLIANCE
CELEBRATES 30 YEARS WITH “THE ART OF CONSERVATION: 30 ARTISTS, 30 YEARS.”
This event coincides with Jackson’s Fall Arts Festival. The Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance’s 30th Anniversary gala takes place at the Jackson Lake Lodge this evening, beginning at 5:30 p.m. A live and silent auction featuring works by renowned artists follows, and benefits the Alliance’s across-the-board conservation efforts. Participating artists want to make a difference, and you can, too.
A highlight of the auction is Robert Bateman’s “Bison,” a limited edition print not commercially available. A great American icon, the bison remains under stress, a symbol of conservation controversy. Two works by Bateman, including “Bison,” will be auctioned at 7:15 p.m. The auction includes oil paintings, watercolors, photography, bronzes, hand blown glass, ilfochrome, pastels, and more. Participating artists include:
Huntley Baldwin, Robert Bateman, Elke Bieber, Tina Close, Luke
Frazier, Natalie Goss, Eliot Goss, Jeff Hogan, Henry Holdsworth, Kal
Kallaugher, Fred Kingwill, Thomas Mangelsen, Mimi Matsuda, Pamela
McCool, Greg McHuron, Dee Parker, Mary Rasmussen, Audrey Roll-
Preissler, William Sawczuk, Kay Stratman, Lee Stroncek, Laurie Thal,
Shannon Troxler, Amy Unfried, September Vhay, Mary O. Waid, and
Andrew Weller.
Bidders may register for absentee bidding. Post-dinner admission is also available. For information, contact the Jackson Hole Conservation
Alliance office at (307) 733-9417.
- Sunday, September 20
Art Brunch Gallery Walk, 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
Join Jackson’s 30-plus art galleries for brunch and festive beverages at this Fall Arts Festival closing-day celebration! Brunch, Bloody Marys, and spectacular art.
Various gallery locations, see gallery map, 11:00am-3:00pm, open to the public.
West Lives On Gallery Open House, 10:00am-4:00pm
Featuring over 12 of West Lives On Gallery artists.
307-734-2888, www.westliveson.com.
Monday, September 21
Sleep…………….(All Day)
Greg Woodard’s “Native Americana,” an exhibition of his new sculptural works, opens with an artist’s reception at Altamira Fine Art on Thursday, September 17, 2-4:00 pm. The show, currently on display, remains up through September 21.
Woodard is largely self-taught. I’ve chosen to share his portrayal of a wolf, “Last Stand,” carved from apricot wood, because the continued successful sustaining of our region’s wolf population is, currently, at the top of conservationist’s lists. But Woodard is widely known for keenly specific bird sculptures. A master falconer, Woodard has been a contender in the Ward World Competition in Ocean City, MD, recognized as the most prestigious bird carving competition in the world. That is big stuff.
The arts overlap with with conservation and conscientious hunting. We can all co-exist if we are mindful and creative. As Woodard notes, understanding environment, habits and characteristics of wildlife is crucial to us, crucial to survival. His love of the wild is present in his work.
For information, email connect@altamiraart.com.
Item #2:
Chris Burch sends this headline:
“THESE ARE THE PEOPLE IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD: CENTER OF WONDER SHOW FOCUSES ON COMMUNITY DURING FALL ARTS FESTIVAL!”
Where: Lyndsay McCandless Contemporary, 130 South Jackson Street
When: September 11, 5-8 p.m. (Palates & Palettes Night!)
Sponsors: Center of Wonder, LMC, Art Association, Community Foundation, Rocky Mountain Bank, Wyoming Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts.
Many locals have a hidden–or not so hidden–creative side. You probably know some of them, but others come as a surprise. This exhibit, curated by Christian Burch, consists of 30 wooden silhouettes of these secret creative people.
Maybe they can be placed around downtown Jackson? Our version of NYC’s bronze, life-sized sculptures of businessmen and other citizens, sprinkled around that city. A nice echo of last winter’s cut-out wildlife figures spread around Wilson and its environs.
Says Burch, ” The show, … in collaboration with Bland Hoke and The Center of Wonder, consists of thirty wooden silhouettes of Jackson Hole citizens painted by an equal number of Jackson’s own local artists. The free-standing figures have been painted so that one side represents what is known of the person, while the other side is painted to reveal something that might not be known. “ Works will be auctioned off to benefit non-profits chosen by the artists.
Information about public art programs will be on display and computers will be available for people to comment on the Teton County Comprehensive Plan review.
Item #3 (excuse the black text…hey, it stands out!)
Teton Artlab spotlights favorite local artist Craig Spankie, on September 11. Jackson natives Mark and Wade Dunstan and Abbie Miller contribute, too. Mark and Wade are the children of Kaidi Dunstan and grandkids of Art Association founder Georgie Morgan. (Abbie is making a huge inflatable dress! Heck yes. – TW) The opening takes place during the FAF festivities that evening. But don’t call Travis, he has a new baby. Call Spankie, now an old hand with babies: 699-0687.
Item #4

Came across a headline the other day about Scottsdale, Arizona’s Museum of Contemporary Art. Its attendance “surged” and grew by more than 6,000 visitors since the economic bomb fell, and the museum has enjoyed more than 40,000 visitors in the past fiscal year. That’s more than last year, but less than its 2005-2006 high, a 47,291 visitor count. The link to that article is here.
It’s here! Can you believe it? I can’t. Here we go…Fall Arts Festival starts NOW.
Trailside Galleries’ September line-up is remarkable. September 1-20th, its annual “Fall Gold” spectacular will showcase an almost impossibly extensive selection of wildlife, cowboy, landscape and other manner of Western art. The show will be up most of the month; “Fall Gold’s” opening reception happens Saturday, September 19, 3-6:00 p.m. Many Trailside artists will be in attendance, and the list of artists represented in this year’s show is:
Cyrus Afsary, Bill Anton, Wayne Baize, Gerald Balciar, Bruce Cheever, Brent Cotton, Pino Dangelico, Stan Davis, John DeMott, Andrew Denman, Michael Desatnick, Robert Duncan, Nancy Glazier, Michael Godfrey, Veryl Goodnight, Lanny Grant, George Hallmark, Matthew Hillier, Terry Isaac, Joffa Kerr, Francois Koch, Calvin Liang, Z.S. Liang, Mike Malm, Dan McCaw, Danny McCaw, Greg McHuron, Dan Mieduch, Jim Morgan, Brenda Murphy, Scott Myers, George Northup, Ralph Oberg, Dino Paravano, Andrew Peters, Howard Rogers, Sherry
Sander, Bill Sawczuk, Lindsay Scott, John Seerey-Lester, Suzie Seerey-Lester, Mian Situ, Ryan Skidmore, Adam Smith, Dan Smith, Tucker Smith, Gordon Snidow, George Strickland, Richard D. Thomas, Kent Ullberg, Curt Walters, Morgan Weistling, Kathy Wipfler, Sarah Woods, David Yorke and Jie Wei Zhou.
Trailside shines a special light on new works by wildlife artists Kyle Sims, Bonnie Marris (she has a gift for portraying grizzlies–check out the work over Emma’s desk, upstairs at J.H. Auction headquarters), Lindsay Scott, Dan Smith and Adam Smith. Each artist will have their own showcase; an artists’ reception will be held for these artists at Trailside on Saturday, September 19th.
If that isn’t enough, Western art legends Mian Situ and Richard D. Thomas will
have their own showcases too.
How does Trailside pull all this off? With a remarkably energetic, devoted staff and two floors of gallery space, which, if you haven’t seen it, is impressive.
Trailside Galleries partners with the Gerald Peters Gallery for the 2009 Jackson Hole Art Auction, taking place September 19 at the Jackson Hole Center for the Arts.
For information, email Cara Kelly at cara@trailsidegalleries.com.


