Archive for April, 2010
Federal Jr. Duck Art Winners at NMWA
A Jackson Hole cultural and community rite of Spring, the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Contest, is on view May 1 – August 10, 2010 at the National Museum of Wildlife Art (NMWA). The show hangs in the Museum’s King Gallery and a virtual exhibition can viewed on line at WildlifeArt.org/Learn/FedJrDuckStamp/.
2010 marks 16 years of Federal Junior Duck Stamp art exhibiting at NMWA.  The contest and subsequent show, lovingly administrated by Sugden Family Curator of Education Jane Lavino, has a mission to awaken children’s knowledge of the connection between wetland conservation, natural resources and, I must add, art.
Pictured top-of-page, left, is this year’s winning entry, “Flight of the Blue Moon,” by 17-year old 
Pinedale, Wyoming student Lisanne Fear.   The exhibition features the top 36 ribbon winners out of 610 total Wyoming entries. In addition to the top winners on exhibit, 64 Honorable Mention ribbons were awarded in each of the four age groups (grades K – 3, 4 – 6, 7 – 9, and 10 – 12).
Fear’s oil painting depicts a pair of Pintail ducks, a species common to Wyoming.  For her efforts Fear will have her work representing the state at the National Junior Duck Stamp contest scheduled for Friday, April 23, 2010, at the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul, Minnesota. If she wins there, she will win $5,000 and head on to Washington D.C. and also be the artist whose work is the image for the 2010-2011 Junior Duck Stamp.  Buy the stamp for $5.00 and your contribution goes towards supporting conservation education.
There are many more winners in many divisions.  Get a full listing by visiting the Museum’s website, AND by visiting the exhibit itself. Doing so is a great treat, and a reminder of the talent and heart behind each and every Jr. Duck Stamp competition. Conservation lay people will gain new knowledge of duck species.  This exhibition educates adults as well as youth.
First through Third place contest winners will be honored at a dinner and awards ceremony at the National Museum of Wildlife Art on Saturday July 24, 2010. For more information, please contact Amy Goicoechea at agoicoechea@wildlifeart.org or call (307) 732-5435. Information for next year’s contest will be posted on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service homepage at DuckStamps.fws.gov.
A gloved hand grasping a warm gun. The gloved hand, avec pistol, pushes its way through the back of a steeple-shaped enclosure, and the gun is pointed at…..?  The gun barrel is wrapped with what appears to be a barbershop pole spiral; all are framed inside a fire-engine red border.
Hold on, that tiny steeple is flanked by feral, sharp wing formations. Chubby jet propulsion feet set the base.
Hmm. Blows my theory about what this little sculpture may be about…..
It’s all subjective! And that’s the fun.
Found objects are the media of choice for artist John Thompson. His show, Accumulation, is on display in the Artspace Theater Gallery at the Center for the Arts through May 26.
Thompson says he sometimes conjures full works out of thin air. He wakes up and “there they are.” The Art Association describes Thompson’s work as experiments in color, pattern and finishes that come together in artistic statements—perhaps queries, perhaps pure observations–about universal themes:Â good and evil, positive and negative, decay and belief.
Also on display, in the Artspace Main Gallery through the end of April, is the Art Association’s 2010 Members Only Exhibition. The show is a grass roots, community inspired exhibition of artworks by all Art Association members.  Hundreds of works are on display, representing all manner of medium.  Come and see what Jackson’s creative community dishes out.  It’s great dish!
If you have an idea for a show, submit your proposal to the Art Association by May 2010, to be considered for exhibition space in the Artspace Galleries in 2011.  The Art Association’s policy and practice “….considers exhibition proposals on an ongoing basis as part of its mission to encourage a vital, creative community. The free contemporary art exhibition programs presented in the Artspace Main, Loft, Theatre and Lobby Galleries enhance the creative and educational environment of the organization and showcase a balance of local, regional and national artists. The Exhibition Committee of the Art Association considers complete exhibition proposals on a periodic basis.”
Not long ago, on New York’s Lower East Side, the world’s first Art Handlers Olympics took place. An article appeared in the New York Times.  Here’s an excerpt:
“The event, the first-ever Art Handling Olympics - a combination roast, “Jackass”-style stunt extravaganza and excuse to drink a lot – drew about 200 people at its height who came to the Ramiken Crucible gallery to watch a dozen four-man teams (art handlers are, by and large, male, and, by and large, large) go head-to-head, demonstrating their skills with a lot of fake art and untold amounts of Bubble Wrap.
“We kind of thought maybe this was the wrong time for this, because everyone who works in this field was worn out from working the Armory Show and everything that goes on around that, but it turned out it was the perfect time, because everybody needed to vent,” Ted Riederer, an artist, former art handler and one of the event’s organizers, said. For some of the events, Mr. Riederer took on the role of a cruel German curator, wearing a tight houndstooth suit and sunglasses, shouting abuse at the handlers like “Nein! Nein!” and “Hold it higher, higher, a little higher!” and “I pay you people to do this?”
dot, dot, dot……..
“Called “The Eliminator,” the final punishing round involved a kind of Nascar-pit-crew competition for the remaining two teams – one named the 
Kings of Cleats and one whose name was a slightly racy double-entendre. The teams had to take pieces of art out of a wooden crate and, with the clock ticking, assemble them into an installation with no instructions or curatorial guidance. (The “art installation” kit consisted of a blanket, a tambourine, streamers, two rattraps and other things that resembled street trash – in other words, the kinds of things many art handlers have actually had to try to assemble by themselves on the job.)
If the time constraints weren’t tough enough, the art handlers were often heckled during this round by onlookers; one shouted “Derivative!” as the artwork was thrown together. Asked if he and his friends had practiced for the event, Paul Outlaw, a member of the team that went home with the silver, said: “Other than doing this all day, anyway, and sometimes all night? No.”
At the end of the day the Kings of Cleats, in an upset, won the gold, a “lovely handcrafted medal,” as the organizers described it, embossed with an image of a hand holding up a majestic flaming tape dispenser. “Plus, of course, they win enduring fame,” said Shane Caffrey, an art handler for the Marianne Boesky Gallery (daughter of Ivan Boesky!) and the event’s lead organizer.
No money?
Mr. Caffrey laughed. “In this business?”
The tide rolls out, the tide comes back in.
Lots of closings around town lately, and people moving on.  So sad.  But there is new growth as well, buds of activity and new operating models.  Two new galleries are opening; one, Heather James, I’ve mentioned and will write more about soon.
The other is a gallery with good potential for locals:Â MADE. (Brilliant name!)Â It opens soon, in Gaslight Alley, just down from Valley Books and Brookover Photography, across the alley from Crazy Horse Native American Jewelry and next door to Bet the Ranch.
MADE’s proprietor is John Frechette, owner of Strapped, his own line of belt buckles fashioned from colorful, translucent fused glass. Frechette plans to load up the shop with handmade “products from around the country.” I take that to mean his goods are manufactured in America.
Frechette’s space will be home to Strappedglass.com. It will also be a new venue for local artists, with space dedicated to local work. Frechette plans 
to feature local artists on a rotating basis, spotlighting products for week-long intervals during peak tourist seasons. Artist “weeks” begin Thursdays and end the following Wednesday. Opening night parties happen on Thursdays too.  Frechette says it’s mandatory for artists to attend their own opening nights, but they are not required to be on premises for the full week.
Artists need to apply to Frechette to be considered.  Those who are scheduled pay $175 rent for the week, and all sale proceeds go directly to the artist; no commission is paid to MADE.  The fee also pays for opening night refreshments, e-invites and flyers advertising the event. Extra ads beyond what MADE supplies are at the expense of the artist.
Interested? Contact Frechette by emailing him:  info@strappedbelts.com. Provide the following information: Name, Business Name, Website, Mailing address, Phone, email, estimated number of invitees for your opening night, and your first three choices for an exhibition week.
Hurry, because as you might imagine, slots are filling fast.
A phone number has also been supplied:Â Â 307.690.9019
At this writing, May 20-27 is the first available artist exhibition week; Frechette has dates available into September, 2010.
Item #2
The Cultural Council of Jackson Hole has announced that 2010 Arts for All grant applications are currently available.  The Cultural Council is a non-profit arts organization that “strives to bring together arts and cultural organizations that are supporting the communication, collaboration, and promotion of cultural life in our valley…”  The Council administers the program.
Grants are available to both arts and culture organizations and individual artists.  All!
Potential grant awards are generous. Up to $6,000 may be awarded to either an individual or a group, but all grants must be matched 1:1 by the applicant.  Arts for All distributes social service tax dollars from the Town of Jackson and Teton County for arts education, says the Cultural Council’s Alissa Davies. The program’s mission includes “producing and presenting opportunities and public projects by artists that have a strong community benefit.”
Completed applications are due by June 1, 2010; there are no exceptions for late applicants.
Davies notes that no support will be provided to organizations already receiving public support from Town or County funds. Arts for All funds are allocated to the Cultural Council at the discretion of the Jackson Town Council and the Teton County Board of Commissioners.
Davies emphasizes that there are no guarantees elected officials will fund beyond this cycle.
For more information about the Arts for All program, to receive an application and guidelines, or for information about the Cultural Council, please contact Alissa Davies at 307.690.4757, or email culturalcounciljh@gmail.com.
Are you a Friend of Jeff Newsom?  If you are, you are lucky indeed. And you are probably aware that he has been diagnosed with ALS, aka Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Jeff is a musician, a beloved brother, partner and friend.  He’s our neighbor. He’s a musician. He’s also a master Dobsonian telescope builder.
A benefit to raise money and mojo for Jeff happens Saturday, April 17, 2010 at The Wildwood Room-Bill Boney’s, in Victor, Idaho.  Time: 7:00-11:00 pm.  Ben Winship will lead a long, illustrious line-up of musical guests.  Plan to donate and have a ball — there will be plenty of great food, drink AND a private Auction.
Facebook’s “Jeff Newsom Lives!” page says that “spontaneous participation events include:”
Best Song Dedicated To Jeff Newsom Contest (the more ridiculous the better)
Top Ten Conspiracy Theories by Jeff That Turned Out To Be True Contest
Top Ten Conspiracy Theories Jeff Will Offer In 2010
IF YOU CAN’T MAKE THE EVENT: Donations can be made online at:Â http://jeffreynewsombenefit.chipin.com/jeffrey-newsom-lives
I met the Newsom clan years back, at an opening for Jeff’s brother David’s photography exhibit and book release, both entitled “Skip.” Skip is another Newsom brother, seemingly physically impaired, but incredibly magic.  David photographed Skip against Idaho’s snaggly, raw landscapes and the results were beautiful. That show remains one of my all time favorites in my long memory of Jackson Hole art 
happenings. Jeff was there and so was sister Ginny Newsom.  It was a great party, held at in the barn-like structure on West Broadway that housed the former J.H. Muse Gallery.
Jeff told me about his telescopes. He drew me some sketches on cocktail napkins, and I started taking notes.  It was the beginning of a friendship with Jeff and the remarkable Newsom clan. (Ginny Newsom is working her tail off on this benefit. What a woman!) A few weeks later I found myself spending an adventurous afternoon with Jeff and his telescopes, and I wrote a newspaper story about the day.
What follows is an edited version of that original that ran in Planet Jackson Hole’s April 12, 2006 edition. I want you to know him.  Here’s to you, Jeff!  I love the stars in your eyes. Party on!  ~ Tammy
“Idahoan Enjoins Masses to ‘Come See the Moon!’”
“So there we were. We had one of these telescopes with a four-inch mirror in it, and Mars was going to make its closest pass in many years, and that’s what got it all started. You start looking through one of those things, and are blown away by what you can see! I thought, imagine what you could see with a bigger scope!”
So said Jeff Newsom of Driggs, Idaho, describing how he got interested in making telescopes. I thought that would be the subject of this story – I mean, is anyone else around here making telescopes? – no. Five minutes into my research and the full “scope” of what Newsom is doing and exploring began to crystallize and this little article became more of a humble introduction to a host of concepts and players, including, but not limited to:
Hydrogen, mirror-shaping classes, time, space, black holes, a re-examination of Big Bang theory, (which, according to www.bigbangneverhappened.org, could not have occurred), red shifts, wavelengths demonstrating a celestial object’s distance from earth; and John Dobson, renowned physicist, chemist, astronomer, “Star Monk,” and visionary who has turned empirical evidence into philosophy. Oh, and assists humans in seeing beyond their genetic programming.
“These are clouds, these are cats, these are bees, but when you see the moon through a scope you shut up,” Dobson has said. Dobson founded Sidewalk Astronomers, a tribe of knowledgeable star gazers with a public service mission to introduce all citizens to space.  Dobson began the movement by setting up his homemade telescopes on San Francisco street corners and inviting passers-by to “come see the moon.”
Jeff Newsom was attracted to Dobson’s complete altruism. Newsom learned how to build Dobsonian telescopes, made from precise, lightweight mirrors (Newsom carved his own), long focal ratios and extra wide apertures.   Newsom is also drawn to Dobson’s mix of Eastern philosophy and Western physics. Because of Dobson, says Newsom, millions of people have “gone celestial.”
Newsom founded his own chapter of Sidewalk Astronomers, joining the mission to educate as many as he can on the secrets of the stars, planets, space, time, cosmic dust and, 
well, the origins of everything. Spend a few hours with Newsom looking through his telescopes, and you may well become a convert, too. Jeff Newsom has made it possible for all of us in Jackson, Driggs and the region to look into deep space if we want to.  Newsom engineered a visit by Dobson to Jackson Hole just a few years ago.
Peering through a giant telescope pointed towards the heavens, says Newsom, is like “walking into the Winds for the first time or seeing the Grand Canyon. Your perspective is forever impacted.”
Jeff Newsom keeps giving and giving. Give back. We have his back, right?  I cannot attend this weekend’s festivities because I’m in New England; however I’m thrilled to make a contribution that I hope will help raise funds, and my wish is that you will too.  As a friend of mine likes to end letters, “touching palms.”
“Planning in the West,” the second annual conference on the topic of Intermountain West development, takes place in Boise, Idaho, June 2-3, 2010. The conference is billed as featuring “leading planners, policy-makers, architects, developers, and landscape architects from around the Rockies….to track planning and development trends, showcase best practices, and understand how thoughtful and place-inspired planning can help us shape our region in the most positive possible ways.”
Planning in the West’s keynote speaker is Mark Muro, of the Brookings Institution, a Washington D.C. based public policy think tank with a mission to “conduct high-quality, independent research and, based on that research, to provide innovative, practical recommendations that advance three broad goals:
- Strengthen American democracy;
- Foster the economic and social welfare, security and opportunity of all Americans and
- Secure a more open, safe, prosperous and cooperative international system.”
Muro studies intermountain economic trends; you can find “Mountain Monitor – Tracking Economic Recession and Recovery in the Intermountain West’s Metropolitan Areas” when you do a search on the Brookings Institute website. The study tracks trends through the fourth quarter of 2009. It looks at large metropolitan regions (Denver, Boise, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Albuquerque), and smaller areas (Reno, Fort Collins, Las Cruces, Boulder); but transpose Muro’s larger points on intermountain real estate booms, education, and diversity of economic base to Jackson’s profile, and you will get a pretty good idea of the pace of economic recovery Teton County might expect, and why.
Soft Opening for Heather James Gallery
Heather James Fine Art opens its doors at 172 Center Street, Suite 200, next door to Altamira Fine Art, in April. This month’s opening is soft. Lyndsay McCandless has been hired as the gallery’s director.
“We welcome our new neighbors, Heather James Fine Art, to the Center Street art district,” says Altamira Executive Director Mark Tarrant. “This is an important addition to the Jackson art market, providing the quality of fine art that people expect when visiting Jackson. We are working with the gallery’s director, Lyndsay McCandless, and planning cooperative events that will set the pace for the Jackson experience.”
Based in Palm Desert, California, the gallery “represents a world-class spectrum of art-bridging genres including Impressionist and Modern, Classical Post-War and Contemporary, American and Latin American, Old Masters, design, cutting-edge contemporary and photography.”
A partial list of artists the gallery represents includes American artists Marion Kavanagh Wachtel, Oscar Bluemner and Irving Norman; Latin American artists Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, Francisco Zuniga, Naum Knop and Marta Minujin; and Impressionist/Modern masters Berthe Morisot and Alberto Giacometti.
A friend passed along a recent local art “review” —perhaps “commentary” is a better word — concerning the closing of the Oswald Gallery.
I’ve been criticized for some of my own commentary, and I know the sting of having someone in our close Jackson community express strong negative feelings about what I’ve written.  I also believe that the First Amendment is one of our most precious charges. Thou shalt not shoot the messenger.
The piece I’m referring to was particularly bizarre. Is the writer trying to be facetious? If so, the effort fails. (Sign up for Satire:101) Here’s why:  The writer, an artist, should know better than to characterize all art galleries as a whorl of “…musicians, models, artists, writers, homosexuals, and wealthy patrons milling around in unbearable hipness…….”
(Dude. You have a show about rap artists interpreted as holy gospel singers.  Which isn’t such a stretch, but it’s certainly hip-hoppity.)
If, in fact, he’s pretending not to know about the gallery business, he did a good job.  If he really knew, and his writing was up to par (not saying mine is, I know my limits) we’d read his piece and think, “What a great skewering of the art scene! Brilliant!”
That didn’t happen, so I’m going forward with this post taking the position he really doesn’t know. If he does know, he should build himself a much, MUCH bigger platform before venturing out into such territory.  Think Woody Allen.  Or Colbert. Or Tracy Morgan.  Or Mike Bressler! Catch the Shouts & Murmurs “Cursing Mommy” column sometime.
The writer goes on:Â “There would always be plenty of blow and smack at hand and somehow the entire enterprise makes money and garners international acclaim.”
Are you a kid? Or are you just brain dead from your early days spent snorting and writhing around on the floor at Studio 54? Stuff happens, but this ain’t the 80′s. I understand Leya is fond of you, and she may share some of your views, and you are lucky to have someone as professional and savvy as Leya in your corner.   But for those not in on your “inside” stuff, what you write is not cutting it.
“If any of you vultures reading this article want to save 25 to 50 percent on some really nice picture frames, now is the time.”
How much will your art be worth in a few years? If your stuff doesn’t sell, by what method will you toss the carrion into the yard? Maybe you’ll go “Ebay.”
We are in a Great Recession. Not a mild recession, a GREAT RECESSION.  Picassos are selling. Big stuff. Because people with that kind of money can buy as much as they like, and are.  Many galleries are having their artists size down their work, to make it more affordable. And we’re talking about all levels of artists, all genres.  Travis Walker does a great job of coming up with innovative ways for his artists to sell, and new collectors to collect.
There’s quite a bit of information on the art market out there. Why don’t you read some of it?
I won’t touch the Wilson/butlers in the basement bit.
“Leya looks great in black, and I did not imagine anything beyond that was necessary for success in the art world.”
Perhaps you should apply for a gallery intern job this summer.  You will be lucky to get hired, even for free, but give it a shot.
“We are still surrounded by landscape paintings, of moose in front of the Tetons or Indians painted by white people. So obviously Americans prefer art that does not make us think but rather reinforces stereotypes and clichés.”
By that logic, people would be buying landscapes and wildlife art in SoHo.
Why are YOU here in Jackson Hole? It can’t be because of intense city energy, urban infrastructure and sounds, interstate highways and their traffic, or cultural diversity.
Maybe you’re here to snowboard?  On big mountains, surrounded by wildlife?
Can you name the photographers Oswald has carried since the day they opened? Lots of landscape shooters……and damn, they’re hip! One of Leya’s favorite photographers, Nine Francois, is largely about portraits of animals from the wild. They aren’t in the wild, I don’t believe, when Francois takes her photos, but they are, at their core, wildlife.  I mean, this is the West. If we were in Key West, what would you see?  Santa Fe? Cape Cod? San Antonio? Art is a reflection of place.
What do you imagine people visiting Jackson Hole and the Parks want to think about while they are here?  What do you think they want to take back with them, and why? I don’t have statistics, but my experience tells me that wealthy locals, many with several homes and access to all art markets, buy much of Jackson’s contemporary art.  We certainly need our contemporary arts in order to thrive. I adore them. I even like your work, but I’ve deleted my story about it because I feel what you are writing for your newspaper is toxic, bitter and scary; it may even foreshadow some violent act.  I hope your newspaper takes heed.
Most visitors buy art here for reasons having to do with the unmatched experiences they have in Wyoming. And many collectors buy representational and abstract or contemporary art.   Because it all has value.
Pop quiz: Who was Edward Curtis?
