Posts from ‘Conservation’
Art of Writing in the Environment
The Grand Teton Association’s summer writing program, “Writers in the Environment,” produced by Jackson author Tina Welling, is a superlative venue for writers looking for a workshop that takes place outdoors, under the canopy of the Park’s crazy blue summer skies, under the sheltering pines. The 2012 list of workshops has been announced.
June 9, 2012: Writer, musician and former Wyoming Poet Laureate David Romtvedt’s workshop will focus on ancient Chinese poetry. These writers ventured out in small boats and chanted poems to the full moon. “Sometimes they drank too much wine and fell out of their boats,” notes Welling. The Chinese poems and the way they integrated the life of the individual with the natural world will be explored.
July 14, 2012:Jackson, Wyoming writer Jayme Feary specializes in narrative nonfiction and is a frequent magazine contributor. The Wyoming Arts Council awarded him a 2011 Fellowship in Creative Nonfiction. He earned an MFA from the University of Montana, where he taught composition and creative nonfiction. His workshop, ”Storytelling–The Secret Behind ‘Show, Don’t Tell,” How can we shift our writing from telling to showing? Practice writing a really great scene.
August 11, 2012: “Write From the River,” Hannah Hinchman’s writing workshop, explores side-channels, gathers interesting debris, cuts through layers and finds its way around obstacles. Outdoor time to reflect, respond and “read the currents.” Hinchman has taught field journal workshops across the country for 25 years. Her second book, A Trail Through Leaves: the Journal as a Path to Place is used as a text in several environmental studies programs.
September 8, 2012: Matt Daly is the author of Wild Nature and the Human Spirit: a Field Guide to Journal Writing in Nature. His writing appears in numerous publications, including To Everything On Earth, Stories of the Wild and Ahead of Their Time: Wyoming Voices for Wilderness. He teaches creative writing workshops in Wyoming for teens and adults. During Daly’s three-hour workshop participants will complete a series of writing exercises to be used as compost for short poems. Participants will have the opportunity to hone descriptive and poetic language as they record sensory experience, to practice the use of honest voice as they make connections between experience and personal beliefs, to adapt journal entries into poems and to share writing with peers.
Workshop attendees meet at 9:00am at the flagpole in front of the Moose Visitor Center, then drive to the Lucas/Fabian cabins to sit on the porch, beside Cottonwood Creek, to write.
Contact Tina Welling for more information. Tina@TinaWelling.com http://www.grandtetonpark.org/
The Grand Teton Association Presents the 2012 “Artists in the Environment” Plein Air Summer Series Schedule, Grand Teton National Park
Gregory I. McHuron
Date: June 9, 2012
Location: Blacktail Pond
Time: 4:00 – 7:00 pm
Gregory I. McHuron has been painting wildlife and landscapes throughout the United States and Canada for 35 years. A Syracuse native, he was raised in Colorado, Wyoming, Alaska and California.
McHuron has long painted Jackson’s surrounding area and the West, capturing a wide variety of subjects. He is active in many arts organizations, including the Wyoming Artists Association, Wind River Artist Association, Scottsdale School of the Arts and The Lodge at Palisades. His paintings are featured at the National Museum of Wildlife Art and the CM Russell Show. Grand Teton National Park, Isle Royale National Park, and Gates of the Artic National Park and Preserve include McHuron’s work in their permanent collections.
“People have said that they are immediately struck by my strong sense of design–then, the interesting color combinations, juxtapositions, and light and dark patterns,” says McHuron. “The common thread in all my work is that I was there.” McHuron often puts himself in extreme conditions in order to get the painting he wants. Standing in rivers and on the edge of cliffs, bobbing in a raft down the Grand Canyon, or accidentally finding himself in the middle of a buffalo stampede aren’t unusual circumstances.
McHuron co-founded “Artists in the Environment” with landscape artist Conrad Schwiering. He is represented by Jackson’s Trailside Galleries.
Chicago, Chicago—-That city plans to bump up its international arts scene by repeating its successful “Gallery Weekend Chicago” this fall. The event is a compact arts festival, targeted to attract the nation’s highest end art collectors and curators to the city, and expose them in a very pointed way to the best of Chicago’s trending art. Here’s what “Gallery Weekend Chicago” is all about…..
A dozen of Chicago’s best contemporary art galleries participate. Visiting curators and collectors are chauffered to each of the galleries and museums for private tours; tours are led by Chicago’s own curators and arts specialists–arts historians, I would hope, and museum directors. Reservations at the city’s finest restaurants are secured, special menus planned. Private VIP parties happen. Chicago’s own prominent collectors help guide the process, mingle with the weekend’s guests, and sing the praises of local arts.
Chicago throws in a private boat tour. Jackson Hole’s version might arrange a series of educational expeditions into Yellowstone, Grand Teton National Park, and other regions. Jackson Hole’s exclusive dude ranches and collectors could open their doors. Eco-tours, river floats…you get the picture. Chicago has an official hotel for their event; we have so many great lodges that we might be able to rotate them annually. And why stop here? Let’s reach out to our friends in Cody~~~the Buffalo Bill Historical Museum, Simpson-Gallagher Gallery and other arts specialists would be partners. Schedule artists’ studio tours, arrange pack trips. Dubois is pretty cool!
Through February 25th, noted plein air painter Scott L. Christensen is offering to critique other artists’ work. He’s doing so for the benefit of Friends of the Teton River; critiques are $50 each, and all proceeds benefit the conservation non-profit. Artists may present up to ten paintings for review.
“Friends” executive director Adonia Ripple notes it is a great honor to have Christensen dedicating work to the organization. “As an angler, Scott understands the value of protecting the Teton River watershed, and the FTR mission of clean water, healthy streams, and abundant fisheries,” says Ripple. “As an artist, there is also support for conservation of wild things, simply because of their aesthetic value. Sometimes we protect things because of their singular beauty. A rare fish species, a perfectly aging cottonwood forest along the river, the sing of water over river cobbles in the spring. With each brush stroke over his landscapes, he is saying, ‘I value this, and this, and this part of this bit of light.’ That is also what we are doing here at FTR; there is the science behind what we are protecting, but there is also the soul.”
For his part, Christensen says working to protect healthy streams, clear water and abundant fisheries in the Teton River is an honor in itself. To find out more about arranging a critique, contact Debbie at Christensen’s studios by phoning 307.787.5851.
Recently, a Jackson economics summit/conference/brainstorming session took place. I’ve now had a chance to read some reviews of that gathering–how accurate they are I can’t say, because I didn’t attend. From time to time, I have my own little economic tutorials with friends and mentors.
Jackson Hole has always been a seasonal economy. We’re a tourist destination because our region is so astoundingly beautiful, is adjacent to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, is “Western,” has a great and growing arts sector, and when the snow falls skiers go nuts to come here. Until a few years ago, the lion’s share of full time jobs in Jackson were related to the construction and real estate industries. One of my mentors points out that real estate and construction don’t really create economic growth or wealth; they are the residuals of wealth creation. And yes, those are good jobs for Jackson, and it feels like the market will re-shape and rebound to a certain extent (see the Hole Report)—but smart money won’t rely on construction to sustain Jackson’s future. It’s millionaires and billionaires with fortunes built elsewhere who have erected big houses, supplying jobs for architects, landscapers, construction companies and real estate agents. And, we’re a tax shelter. They’ve also supported many of our critical non-profits.
