Posts from ‘Jackson Hole Visual Arts’
Sue Sommers (sue@suesommers.com) has sent out an appeal to anyone able to assist arts advocate Gregory Gaylor, whose studio burned down about a month ago. The fire destroyed his life’s work–all his art–his records, materials and, horrifically, even took the life of his cat. It’s almost impossible to imagine Gaylor’s pain. If you can help Gaylor begin anew, please mail your contributions to this fund, established to help him do just that. Mail your check to: The Gregory Gaylor Art Fund, Rock Springs National Bank, PO Box 880, Rock Springs, WY 82902. You may also email Gaylor your good wishes: kgaylor@sweetwaterhsa.com. Snail mail: 628 B Street, Rock Springs, WY, 82901.
•
The Tayloe Piggott Gallery welcomes contemporary artists Celia Gerard and Tadaaki Kuwayama. A reception for the artists takes place Friday, May 18, 5-8 pm. Works remain up through July 10, 2012.
Kuwayama’s work uses simple geometric structure and color–grey and yellow wall panels are juxtaposed against 
cylindrical forms arranged on the gallery floor. There’s a John Cage-like sense of open space and music, of the simple rearrangement and compression of air, made visible through color. “Kuwayama can focus on color, the subtle patina of a green or pink, or silver that emanate across the surface of the aluminum squares or rectangles. Each painting is a presence, a harmonized order of form and color,” says the gallery.
The Teton County Library has selected Brian Brush and Yong Ju Lee’s Filament Mind as its new lobby entrance (designed by Gilday Architects) public art installation.
“Suspended threads of gossamer fiber optic cables will span the length of the new lobby, and each thread connects on the wall next to the label of a unique library subject category,” says the Library. “The cables will interface with the library’s own “mind,” the Wyoming State Library catalog. Each time a library user throughout Wyoming searches a person, place, idea or book, an individual fiber optic thread fires a glowing light or color related to the library subject category returned from that search. In this way, Filament Mind resembles a luminous “connectome,” or map, of synaptic brain activity, firing away the thoughts of people extended through the mind of the library.”
Robert Kuhn, Flat Out, 1985. Acrylic on Board. 14 x 18 inches. JKM Collection®, National Museum of Wildlife Art.
Talk about a party! Here in Jackson, we’re proud to know our cultural treasure, the National Museum of Wildlife Art (NMWA), is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
“From a private collector’s dream and a rented Jackson Hole storefront to a landmark building, national museum designation, and more than 5,000 artworks boasting familiar names from Audubon to Warhol, the National Museum of Wildlife Art has come a long way in 25 years,” says the museum. “In addition to its quarter-century anniversary, 2012 also marks the fall completion of the museum’s new Walter Hood-designed Sculpture Trail and the spearheading of a national exhibition providing a visual record of the American West as seen through the eyes of National Geographic’s legendary photographers opening in October.”
The museum’s collection began inauspiciously in 1962 with a small painting titled “Favorite Panfish” by Les Kouba given to Bill Kerr by his wife, Joffa. Two years later the couple bought a Carl Rungius piece, “Wanderers Above Timberline” on layaway, and by 1987 they had amassed one of the finest collections of wildlife and sporting art in the country. Together with several others, on May 17, 1987, they opened the then “Wildlife of the American West Art Museum” in a 5,000-square-foot space on Jackson’s Town Square.
Do you sense a plein air trend? It’s good.
This June, a time when our wildflowers should be popping, the National Museum of Wildlife Art (NMWA) will hold Plein Air Fest 2012 on museum grounds. A one-day event, the festival will feature approximately 40 artists painting from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm. Picture that!
It’s all part of NMWA’s opening week festivities that will celebrate the official opening of its new sculpture trail, designed by Oakland, California landscape architect Walter Hood. “Participating artists agree to arrive at the festival with an artwork no more than 25 percent completed, and the pressure is on as they must finish by 2 p.m.,” says the museum. “The Plein Air Festival’s fresh artworks will be sold by “intent to purchase” with potential buyers putting their name in a box next to the artist whose piece they’d like to own for a set price. The lucky purchaser for each piece will then be drawn at random.”
The public is invited to watch the artists work, and a BBQ cook-off, live music and kids creative activities are all scheduled. Artists will compete for a “Best in Show Award,” to be chosen by visitors. Tickets for the BBQ cook-off tasting/voting will be $10 for 10 tastes, $25 for unlimited tastes. The museum’s Rising Sage Café will also offer hamburgers, hot dogs and drinks for sale. www.wildlifeart.org
Get a “Sneak Peek” at the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s (NMWA) upcoming exhibition, Rugged Impressionism: The Masterful Field Studies of Carl Rungius, on Monday, April 30, at 11:30 am. Adam Duncan Harris, NMWA’s Curator of Art, will be on hand for a special preview of this show that takes an in-depth look at Rungius’ intriguing artistic process. The talk takes place in the Museum’s Kuhn Gallery, and participants will get a first, special look at Rungius’ spectacular landscapes before the show opens to the public. NMWA is home to this country’s largest public collection of Rungius’ work.
The Museum’s artist biography tells us that “Rungius’ ability to capture the heart-stopping chance encounter between man and animal sets him apart from many of his talented colleagues. Equally accomplished as a painter of wildlife and landscapes, Rungius quickly developed an enthusiastic following among fellow artists and patrons.” The talk is free for members, or with Museum admission. www.wildlifeart.org
•
Visiting artist Ricki Arno wants kids and parents to know that she will be teaching a special class at the Art Association this summer. June 25 – 28, join Arno as she takes you on an artistic, humorous creative journey: Cirque Des Tetons Workshop! The class is for kids in grades 6 and up, and parents, aunts, uncles, even grandparents are encouraged to sign up along with the kids.
The class will create a “dazzling mixed media CIRQUE DES TETONS, complete with weird side show characters, daring high wire and trapeze artists, a handsome or beautiful Ring Master, ferocious wild animals, amazing jugglers, a supernatural magician, colorful clowns, and whatever else tickles and delights our fancies,” says Arno. “A collaborative, ongoing “Circus Street Art Wall” will capture the excitement.”
To find out more, and to sign up, contact the Art Association at (307) 733-6379. Those interested in the class are also welcome to contact Arno at rarno@nyc.rr.com, or phone (917) 741-4834. http://www.artassociation.org/education/childrens/s12-69-Cirque.html
