Jackson Hole Art Blog

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.

February 5, it’s all happening at the Art Association.

Really!  Sounds like a happening, 1960’s style, with symbolism and emotions and poetry readings and exploration of the human body’s nuances (Our Bodies, Ourselves, a ground breaking book about sexuality and women’s bodies, still available and updated, btw…), power and faith, Arlo Guthrie and Aristotle.

Arlo, Aristotle, Art Association: Triple “A” alliteration.

These shows represent a quantum leap forward for Jackson’s art community.  Don’t miss it. A joint opening reception happens at the Center for the Arts on Friday, February 5th, at 5:30 pm.

Show #1:

Nekkid, a group figure exhibition, includes a noon Brown Bag Lunch Art Talk with participating artists. In our “democratic”, post-industrial, high-tech country  we still struggle with being cool with nudity (unless you are John Edwards).  This show offers a chance to probe that resistance.   Works in various media alternately explore and celebrate the human body.  As part of the evening’s festivities the spirit of the Beat Poets will resurrect, with live poetry readings.

Participating artists include, but may not be limited to: Eliot Goss, Sue Sommers, Shannon Troxler, Suzanne Morlock, Susan Thulin, Bobbi Miller, Amy Larkin, Barbara Trentham, Mark Nowlin, Jenny Dowd and Valerie Seaberg.

Writers/poets to date include: Sarah Kariko, Marcia Casey, Valley Peters Bradley and Nicole Burdick.

(Bressler, where are you in this?  You write great poetry about nudes!   Get going, don’t make me bring out the poem  you wrote a few years back…..yes, I still have it, it’s bookmarking my souffle recipe.)

Show #2:

Power & Faith: The Photography of Paul Adams will be on display in the Artspace Loft Gallery.    Here, I defer to Paul Adams’ quotation describing the inspirations for his work.

“Through most of my professional photographic career I have tried to make beautiful photographs simply for the sake of beauty. Recently though I find myself motivated more by the same challenges the American folk singer Arlo Guthrie faced when he said, “For me it is not enough to write a song that is good. I want to write a song that is good for something.” The stimulating and exciting challenge for me as a photographic artist is to try and seduce the viewer into thinking as deeply as they feel. As we look into the faces of these Spiritual Leaders I hope to accomplish Aristotle’s goal for art when he said, “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.”

Show #3:

The Scotch and Watercolor Society, comprised of painters Barbara Barella, Holly Bishop, Barbara C. Kuxhausen, Skip Larcom, Michele McDonald and Joan Melius, deliver their creative messages solely in watercolor.

Watercolors are considered by many to be the most difficult paint medium to master.  Artists in this show offer up a variety of impressions, interpretations and subjects in their paintings.  The exhibition will be on display in the Artspace Theater Gallery.    Perhaps a fine single malt will be served.

Show #4:

Art Association Ceramics Director Sam Dowd is, in my opinion, a great ceramicist.  His space-inspired clay compositions are sheer intergalactic fantasy.

It’s exciting that Dowd’s collaboration and guidance of Jackson Hole High School students has resulted in this new art project and show, Blast from the Cast.

On display in the Artspace Lobby Gallery, students from Shannon Borrego’s art classes will mount their sculptures and vessels.  Students have learned the slip cast mold process, and created works depicting, or speaking to, objects “chosen from life,….making a plaster mold… to produce several reproductions. The students then created clay projects that incorporated, repeated, and altered the mold pieces.”

And that’s quite a process.  Results are colorful, well-designed and fanciful.  Art created by youth is the most free; with Dowd teaching them, these students may hang on to that creative joie de vivre.

The Art Association may be contacted via their website, or you may phone 307.733.6379.

Time for Jackson’s annual Latino arts tradition, our Day of the Dead Altar Walk–to be followed by a Day of the Dead Party at Lyndsay McCandless Contemporary. Happening on Monday, November 2 – you will have changed your clocks back an hour by then – the walk begins at 5:30 pm, departing from the Center for the Arts lobby (check to see which lobby, east or west).  Walk along Pearl Avenue with other D.O.D. enthusiasts and savor–appreciate–the great creativity, spirit and love behind these traditional altars.  Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebrates life, and offers up kudos to loved ones moved on to another dimension.

They’re still with us, though—you can be sure of that.  Be open to receive them, and messages from your loved ones will come to you.

Following the walk, join the festivities at Lyndsay McCandless Contemporary; it’s a party for all ages with delicious Mexican fare, sugar skull decorating AND…a LIVE ALTAR PERFORMANCE.  Cool.

If you can’t make the Walk, you have until November 3 to visit the altars.  Check with Ladrillos para los Artes, our local organization supporting Latino cultural arts and programming.  All events are free and family friendly.

Altar Walk Store Fronts: Center for the Arts, Bank of Jackson Hole, Cloudveil, Arteffects,Pearl Street Bagels, Antler Motel, JH Meat and Fish Co., Bon Appe Thai, Betty Rocks, Lyndsay McCandless Contemporary Gallery, Our Lady of the Mountains Catholic Church.

Altar artists: Susan Thulin, Nona Yehia, Jennifer Daniels, Alissa Davies, Babs Case, Meleta Buckstaff, Vanessa Sultzer, Stacey Walker, Madeleine Mundt, Cindee George, Teton Literacy Students, Middle School Students, Spanish Council at Our Lady of the Mountains.

Other D.O.D. inspired activities are listed here.  Contact Oona Doherty at 690-5264 for details.

Traditional Mexican Cooking Class
Friday October 30
Our Lady of the Mountains Catholic Church
5:00pm-7pm
Space is limited. To register contact Oona Doherty: 690-5264 or oonadoherty@gmail.com

Children’s Sugar Skull Decorating Workshop
Sunday November 1
2-4pm Children 5 and up
Teton County Library
No sign-up, drop-ins welcome.

Day of the Dead Altar Walk
Monday November 2
5:30pm
Begins in the Center for the Arts Lobby

Day of the Dead Fiesta
Monday November 2
6:00pm-9:00pm
Lyndsay McCandless Contemporary Gallery
130 South Jackson Street
Homeade Mexican food and beer, dead bread and hot chocolate and sugar skull decorating!

Teton County Parks & Recreation sends word that they are in need of the following items for a large-scale children’s crafts project.  The Kids Club After School program will undertake the project in December.  If you or your friends are inclined to save items from your recycling, TCP&R can use the following items; these can be dropped off at the Rec Center in town….that’s where the big pool is, ya’ll.    Thanks from them, in advance for your…

Small cardboard boxes – cereal boxes – snack boxes – paper towel tubes - toilet tissue tubes – extra cardboard – plastic bottles – socks – buttons – any small and large boxes – egg cartons.

What, no string?  No yarn?  Ask about yarn and string.

Maybe a Christmas Village is in the works?   Contact Angela York, Youth Recreation Coordinator, at 307.732.5756 or (cell) 307.200.1565.

Item #2:  National Museum of Wildlife Art’s “Harvest on the Hill”

One of the valley’s favorite fall family traditions happens soon: The National Museum of Wildlife Art’s November “Harvest on the Hill” celebration.  The special First Sunday event takes place Sunday, November 1, 1-4:00 pm, at the museum. Free to area locals – the first 600 to arrive get a free T-shirt – the afternoon is filled with fun events.  A “Harvest” stalwart, Deanna Banana the Clown, will be on hand.  The musical group Two Rivers will perform their own brand of “Celtic Western” music and a leaf print arts project activity for kids and adults takes place 1-3:00 p.m.  And, of course, be sure to enjoy the Museum’s galleries; leave your cider in the lobby, though!

Arrive early!  The tees are popular and this is one of Fall’s best family events.  Gets you in the spirit. Leaf bag fights optional.  For information, call 307.733.5771.

Item #3:  LMC’s Boo-yah!

Lyndsay McCandless Contemporary’s Halloween party plan is this:  Macbeth Party!  The gallery space hosts a “lively evening” of costume contests and playing around, Halloween-style.  There will be sword fights, and members of Off Square Theatre’s Macbeth cast will make spooky, spectral appearances.  Bring lots of garlic and dry ice for the cauldron.  The fun happens October 30, 6-9:00 pm at Lyndsay McCandless Contemporary, on South Jackson Street.

Item #4:  Coffee

My friend Jim VanNostrand, who is in St. John’s hospital, inspired by a giant hospital coffee machine, asked me to put this bit of philosophy on my blog:  “There Is No Life Before Coffee!”

Feel better, Jim!  Love, Tammy

Yikes, I hope there’s still time to check out Jarrod Eastman’s artwork over at Full Circle Frameworks--A party happened this past Friday evening, and judging from what Rocky Vertone posted on Facebook, Eastman’s works look pretty alive and fun.   I’m so not a smarty when it comes to the lingo of the 20 and 30-something Jackson art crowd, but I do know that Rocky’s venue is one-of-a-kind and that he is providing a much needed service for up-and-coming Jackson Hole artists.

Available Eastman art includes original works and limited edition prints.  Vertone also says some “one off” pieces are up for sale at very affordable prices.   So check it out, give Vertone a buzz for an update.   733-0770 at the shop.

Item #2: Art Association Offers Fall Classes

The Art Association of Jackson Hole has a full and diverse fall arts class schedule.  Painting, drawing, ceramics, mixed media, metals, fiber, glass, photography, printmaking and sculpture are all on the roster.   Classes are taught by an impressive group of artists, including but not limited to:  Valerie Seaberg, Alissa Davies, Sam Dowd, Sharon Thomas, Kathy Turner, Amy Larkin, Georgia Mayer, Abbie Miller, Greg Epstein, Aaron Mitchell….

Visiting artists for adult classes include: Lian Quan Zhen (Class: Spirit of Life: Watercolor and Chinese Painting), Charles Reid (Figure in Watercolor), Donna Rozman (Ceramics, Color and Design), Danielle Corriea, Daniella Woolf, Rebecca Stern & Bronwyn Minton (Encaustic & Photographic Processes), Dan Haga (Advanced Silver Workshop), Bob Smith (Wildlife Photography), Elizabeth Opalenik (The Figure in Motion) and Johan Hagaman (Sculpting in Concrete: From High Art to Yard Art).

There are plenty of art classes for kids, too!  Check out The Avery Mathieu Youth Scholarship Fund page to learn about a meaningful way to contribute to the Art Association’s ongoing commitment to youth.

For information, log onto the Art Association’s website here, or email signup@artassociation.org. You can download a pdf describing all courses and special programs.    Phone:  307.733.6379.

PS: Rumor has it that the position of Art Association E.D. has been offered to someone from the field of applicants interested in that job.

Item #3:  New Casting at Galleries West

Jackson hole sculptor R. Scott Nickell has a new bronze in the works – an Arapaho Dancer. The figure depicts a warrior relating his story of valor through ceremonial dance.  If you’ve ever attended a pow wow, you know how gorgeous and mesmerizing these dances are.

Says Nickell, “Gripping a war shield in one hand and a gunstock war club in the other, (the dancer’s) performance illustrates the act of counting coup during battle.  In Native tradition, counting coup (touching an adversary with the tip of the war club) was a braver feat than killing an enemy, since it involved more danger to the warrior himself.  Feathers were given as rewards for these acts of bravery and were displayed like medals of honor by the warriors.”

I haven’t told you about the deal: Nickell is offering a pre-cast discount for those ordering before November 15th.   Pre-cast price is currently $5500, but if ordered by November 15th, a 5% discount is applied.  Time to start thinking about those holidays…..For full details on the piece and special payment arrangements, contact Galleries West at 307.733.4412 or email info@gallerieswestjacksonhole.com.

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.

Jackson Hole artist Suzanne Morlock will join the U.S. non-profit Cross Cultural Collaboration (www.culturalcollaborative.org) , an educational organization working with students from around the world, to work on a variety of paper-making projects in Ghana, Africa. Morlock will spend three weeks this August in Ghana, fulfilling a mission to promote cultural exchange and understanding through art.

Although Ghana provides six years of free, compulsory education, school curriculums are limited, says Morlock.  “There is a focus on reading, writing and math, but no exploration of technology or the arts,” she says.

Morlock, Teton County Library’s Public Service Manager, will work with over 40 students daily at Aba House, CCC’s cultural center.  She will supervise current projects and create new ones using papers from locally grown sugar cane fibers.

While teaching artistic techniques, these craft projects have another
purpose: creating saleable items to help students earn money for school supplies not provided by state sponsored schools. Morlock lists books, pencils and writing paper as some of the basics students still need.   She adds that the summer should see the addition of a new library and webpage design project at Aba House.

Morlock says that though weekends are weekends, children come to the program seven days a week.  The kids are learning values, rather than simply relying on bartering or begging.  Children will work with other mediums and create art using materials other than paper.

“Here in Jackson we are experiencing some economic slowdowns, and I believe this kind of service is even more important as we realize how connected we are globally.  Culturally diverse experiences strengthen and influence our communications as humans living on one planet. I’m sure I will learn more than I will teach,” says Morlock, who also needs help now with projects such as gathering and shipping books, computers and art accessories to Africa.

Want to know more?  Contact Suzanne Morlock by emailing nungua.ghana@gmail.com.

Lots and lots of National Museum of Wildlife Art news and updates!   Here is a full list of activities related to our museum on the hill.

#1:  Dr. Seuss!

Whose childhood–and by extension, adulthood–has not been charmed by Theodor Geisel’s opus?  We all occasionally find ourselves thinking “Seussical.”

“The Lorax: Original Illustrations by Dr. Seuss” is on display at the museum through September 7.   NMWA notes that the Lorax’s tale is a cautionary one, a tale ahead of its time, warning us of our own penchant for wrecking our beloved environment.   The exhibit gives us access to Seuss’ process, from conceptual sketches to to camera-ready line art.  Anthropormorphism of wildlife and our relationship to the natural world are the coal in creative story-telling engines; Disney has built an empire around these themes.   Stand out exhibit characters include Swomee-Swans and Humming-Fish.

“Seuss was not one to shy away from contemporary topics or social commentary. The Lorax is among his most pointed, taking to task a company whose greed causes grave environmental harm,” notes the Museum. ” This exhibit combines original art as it probes humanity’s relationship with nature, making a perfect match for the National Museum of Wildlife Art.”  The exhibit is on loan from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library & Museum.

Special fun-for-kids activities tied to Seuss’s art will be offered throughout the Museum. The Lorax exhibition is included in Museum admission: $10 for adults, $5 for kids 5-18, and free for children under 5. A family rate of $30 for the first two adults, first two children, and $1 for each additional child helps make the Museum affordable for larger families.

#2:  Out of the Box!

NMWA’s biennial “Out of the Box Show and Auction” is one of the museum’s best-loved events.  This year, the show and sale takes place Friday, June 12 and includes over 115 creatively altered boxes by regionally and nationally acclaimed artists.   Prices have typically ranged from an affordable $25 to $4,000 and more.  Proceeds support the Museum’s adult and youth education programs.

Each box is unique, and artists are invited to work in any medium as long as the work retains its function as a box.  The box artworks will be auctioned by auctioneer Jim Loose, and the evening’s M.C. is KMTN’s “Fish.”   Of course, there are door prizes: two CityPass books, a two-hour art appraisal by Art Appraisals of Jackson Hole, LLC, two bird-themed notions boxes and a tour of the newly opened Jackson Hole Raptor Center with guide Roger Smith.

Volunteer Chair Ann Nelson notes the event is a labor of love, with 15 volunteers devoting much of the last two years organizing the show.    “The community of Jackson Hole anticipates Out of the Box with great enthusiasm; this show will have something for everyone,” says Nelson.

Out of the Box is free for museum members, $7 for non-members; free for children.  Event admission includes light hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar.  Doors open at 5:30 p.m.    733-5771.

#3: Wyoming 2009 Junior Duck Stamp Winners!

Through August 23, take time to visit this year’s entries and winners of the Wyoming Federal Junior Duck Stamp Contest. Now in its 15th year, this exceptional program, a national art competition for students in grades K – 12 simultaneously teaches art, conservation of wetlands and natural resources, and awareness skills.

The exhibit is traditionally on display in the Museum’s King Gallery; check with the front desk to confirm.   The list of winners is long, and every entry is a winner in itself.

The following information on is provided by the Museum.

Eighteen year-old Bryant Helm, of Cokeville, Wyoming, received the 2009 Best of Show award for his painting, “Provocative.”  His oil painting depicts a striking portrait of a Long-tailed Duck.  Bryant’s painting represented Wyoming at the Federal Jr. Duck Stamp contest Wednesday, April 22, 2009, at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C. The winner of the national competition will receive $5,000, a trip to our nation’s capital along with a parent and the art teacher, and have his or her artwork used to make the 2009-2010 Junior Duck Stamp.  Proceeds from the sale of the Junior Duck Stamps, which cost $5.00, support conservation education.

Baily Schupp, a eight year-old student from Pinedale, for the second year in a row,  won the 2009 Betty Nelson Artistic Promise Award for the best art in the youngest age group.  The Betty Nelson Artistic Promise Award was established eight years ago to recognize the artistic accomplishment of students in the K-3rd grade age group and to honor the late Betty Nelson, a generous supporter of the Junior Duck Stamp program.

The 1st through 3rd place Wyoming winners of the Jr. Duck Stamp contest can be viewed online on the Museum’s web site, WildlifeArt.org.  The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place contest winners will be honored at a dinner and awards ceremony at the National Museum of Wildlife Art on Saturday July 18, 2009.

For more information, please contact Amy Goicoechea at (307) 732-5435.

Art, be not proud.  Here’s an innovative idea out of Berkeley, California that would brighten the ever-increasing number of empty storefronts in downtown Jackson. In fact, it is a wonderful idea even when times are good, when streets are paved with, if  not gold, lots of C-notes.   Local artists have a tough time finding venues; we’re very creative, and space is limited.  Artists wait months for an exhibit at PSB, Koshu, Hard Drive or the Brew Pub.   Jackson’s operative businesses could set aside a corner of their store window to display a little local art.  Take a percentage—just don’t take 50%!   Think 20%.

Berkeley’s economic downturn has inspired an innovative use of empty downtown commercial space.   Empty store window display spaces are being used to exhibit the work of local visual artists.   The practice brightens an otherwise increasingly gloomy, doldrums downtown.

According to releases, a year-long discussion between Berkeley’s Office of Economic Development and the Downtown Berkeley Association culminated in a spring kickoff of Berkeley’s new window art program.  Click here to see a slide show.

“We really wanted to bring the community into the Downtown,” said the association’s Marketing Manager Katherine Scherbel, who coordinated the project. “We wanted to make it fun and bright, celebrating the Downtown instead of letting it feel dismal and empty.”

Window displays include ceramics, jewelry, photography, paintings and works from the Habitot Children’s Museum and local high school students.  Empty commercial space had reached 15.1 percent of total commercial space when organizers began discussing the project.

The Jackson Hole Community School auctions off artwork by students and local artists this Friday, March 20, 6-8 p.m.  All proceeds benefit the Teton Literacy Program and the JHCS Scholarship Fund. The two organizations “won” the proceeds via a student vote.   JHCS is located at 1715 High School Road.   For information, contact Robin Ackerman at 307.733.5427 ext. 150.   Or, email rackerman@jhcommunityschool.org.