Posts from ‘Public Art’
This logo just makes me want to ride my bicycle so bad!
The Jackson Hole Public Art (JHPA) Initiative is rolling out its new Rolling Gallery program, a platform for “artists and scientists to collaborate on artwork for Jackson Hole Community Pathways that highlights endangered and at risk species.” The project is another example of how wilderness and art are connected; that history has been repeating itself since the late 19th century, and whether we admit it or not we’re all descendants of those early naturalists, artists and expeditions. We’re still on expedition, in fact. If we weren’t, we’d not be here.
Craighead Beringia South has a Pottery Sale goin’ on–and all proceeds from this holiday gift fundraiser go to support the organization’s wildlife research and education programs. I believe some darn decent wholesale deals are available–a big, cheery pile of platters, bowls, cookie jars and mugs are in stock.
The sale is out in Kelly, Wyoming. Hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00 am – 4:30 pm. Address is 6955 E. Third, in Kelly. Goods are available through Wednesday, November 23rd. Even with the aforementioned operational hours, please call 307.734.0581 if you’re planning a trip to the Beringia “store.” Remember our wildlife this holiday! http://beringiasouth.org/
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Got an email from a representative of the 2012 Democratic National Convention, to be held in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“Calling all artists, designers, and other creatives! We want YOU to be the designer behind one of the 2012 Democratic National Convention’s Official posters. Here’s what you have to do — create an original 18 x 24″ poster using the 2012 Democratic National Convention official logo and incorporating and interpreting one (or more) of the following themes: 1). Americans coming together; 2). Building a better future; 3). Opportunity and Empowerment
To register, download the logo, get more details, and to read the official rules, check out our website at www.charlottein2012.com/postercontest
Deadline for submissions is December 31st, 2011, at 11:59 p.m. (EST). The winning poster will be sold in our online store, and the winner will receive a framed print of their poster (guess the Party thinks the artist won’t have one of those already…) and $1 of each poster sold.
I can’t wait to see what you come up with. (Nor can I!)~~~~Sincerely, Dr. Dan Murrey, Executive Director
Have fun with that, Jackson artists! I know many of you are worthy of the challenge.
Walter Hood’s name is now familiar in Jackson; the Oakland, California landscape architect is the creative visionary man-with-a-sculpture-trail-plan. And that plan will soon materialize at the National Museum of Wildlife Art (NMWA).
Hood will materialize July 26 and 27; Tuesday, July 26, 7:00-8:00 pm, Hood will talk about design projects he considers his best (count public spaces at San Francisco’s De Young Museum among them), share his philosophy and ideas about art in public spaces, and generally electrify the audience. Hood is a professor of architecture at the University of California at Berkeley. The talk is free and takes place in the museum’s Cook Auditorium.
Wednesday, July 27, Hood will lead museum members on a hard-hat trail tour. Two years ago Hood discussed the idea of the trail with NMWA, but it was not clear the project would happen.
“The Museum is doing the project, the funding came through and it’s taken hold,” Hood says. He describes NMWA’s landscape as “emerging,” taking precedence over what had been a a parking space focused expanse.
“This is a divine process, it took place slowly—but the we are transforming the landscape, making it more useful. I refer to the idea of sociability of space. Society has been building for cars, we are used to getting in our cars. That’s the antithesis of nature, and Jackson is all about nature! So taking the trail is a no-brainer. We’re a ways from finishing the trail, but I’ve already seen so many people walking the area and using those bike paths.”
Hood knows that change can be hard. But once we’ve changed, we embrace and adapt to better systems put into place. “We think things are more complex than they are. Even New York City
is implementing Portland-like planning. You can now bike on Broadway, it’s so much more pedestrian friendly! The same thing is happening in Jackson.”
“As the trail takes shape it is very exciting to see what a great space it is going to be for people and for sculpture,” says NMWA Curator of Education Jane Lavino. “Walter has given us a fabulous design. Because this feature will be free and open to the public it will be a great way for the Museum to reach out. We’ve already seen ways in which this project has paved the way for new partnerships. Plans are underway for an artist-in-residence who will work with community members to create a sculptural piece for the trail. There are also plans for some “behind the scenes” sculpture installation viewing opportunities.”
For information, contact Jane Lavino (jlavino@wildlifeart.org) or call 307.732.5417 www.wildlifeart.org
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Edward Riddell & Lee Carlman Riddell’s joint show, Gratitude, is on exhibit July 27-August 13, 2011 at Trio Fine Art, in Jackson. The show features paintings and black & white photographs depicting Tuscany. An opening reception takes place Thursday, July 28 from 5-8 pm. The Riddells will talk about their work from 6:30-7:00 pm.
A few years ago, the couple began a love affair with Italy, a country known for its romantic cities, landscapes, art and people. As they tell it, Ed Riddell took Lee to see Florence, Italy where he’d studied as a Stanford University art student. They have returned every year since, and earlier this year Ed’s photographs of the Tuscany region were featured in a show at Montalcino, Italy’s Caffe Alla Loggia.
When such an offer is extended to Americans, it’s a great honor. Tuscany has embraced the couple, and they consider Tuscany a spiritual home.
Tuscan doorways, flowers’ shadows cast against simple white windowsills, city skylines, wheat fields and wildflowers, laundry hung out to dry; these are the subjects of Lee’s sunwashed and delicate
oil paintings. Lee composes her paintings—ranging in size from 6″ square to 12″ x 24″—from memory, field sketches and photographs. She has fashioned her own painterly combination of oil and watercolor techniques.
Ed Riddell’s new photographic process eliminates glare by eliminating glass. His 21”x28” black and white prints are laminate coated, staving off moisture and adding image longevity by protecting the photographs from ultra-violet light. The photographer frames his images of Italy’s cultural and pastoral beauty with contemporary, hand-rubbed aluminum panels.
The artists’ work is also included in Wyoming’s Ucross Foundation Art Gallery’s exhibit, In The Presence Of Trees, June 30 – September 6, 2011.
www.triofineart.com 307.734.4444.
Since the Town of Jackson’s wide-reaching DRD (Downtown Redevelopment) plans were voted down via public referendum seven years ago—a true, in-your-hands measure of community sentiment expressing its will that we not over-develop our town, not turn it into a playground for mismatched, overbuilt developments, not speculate that we can match Teton Village’s resort destination allure—-we’ve watched development happen. When citizens said “no” to DRD, development rights were simply granted individually, one project at a time.
And here we are, with a fist full of empty commercial space, large quantities of unsold real estate units, and a community that feels ever more transient. Too many citizens wonder if they should stay in the valley or leave it.
Town planners and community have been, for years, giving their lives over to creating an acceptable plan for this special place. We have been asked to trust our comments are truly heard by our leaders, charged with representing the public’s interest. As a community, we cannot afford to know we’ve all been whistling dixie. We want a logical process of implementation.
Otherwise, for all these years, our community has merely engaged in an exercise.
Preserving environment and quality of place, managing growth, and creating a viable, broad-based economy are Jackson’s great challenges. We need a certain critical population mass to achieve
that balance, but most crucial is ensuring we promote and protect our wildlife, its habitat and other environmentally sensitive areas.
We must continue moving towards making the arts a part of the Town of Jackson’s future. We can remind all visitors of our history by including beautiful and lasting public places in our Comprehensive Plan. That sort of planning aids in building tourism and helps us towards finding out what level of economic success we can expect to reach. We should, as Candra Day has said, be strengthening sustainable tourism practices, using cultural assets as tools. Growth should incorporate landscaping, parks, and grace of space. Let’s create space both sacred and fundamental. Without these provocative elements, we forfeit a higher level of urban vibrancy.
Officials must strategize to attract new businesses–businesses offering solid, long-term employment—to Jackson. Attract and establish products and services desired and supported by locals and visitors. Strive to fill all this empty commercial space, rather than plan for more building.
It still appears that developers are feeling encumbered by wildlife. Our core economic stability lies in protecting and preserving the power of this place. All new projects should be primarily concerned with that goal. Geography and wildlife are our golden eggs–they will only become more precious.
Keep downtown vibrant, give it an identity separate from Teton Village’s—we cannot match that profile—and use it as a place where families who can’t afford $400 a night lodgings may stay. We want to keep those “families of five from Toledo.” We want them to be able to come hereand experience the wonders of this place–we want to educate them. If we do not, why will anyone want to protect this place?
Former Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance Director Franz Camenzind has said, “We come home, there’s a moose in the yard. We pick up the phone, call our friend in Atlanta, and get them to guess what’s outside our window. It’s not just going to the parks to see these animals, it’s having them right there with us. Living with them. Nobody has the diversity of wildlife we do, let alone have it as visible as it is, interwoven with community.”
Back in catch-up mode thanks to that culprit, Spring Break. Very late breaking news, below:
Members Only, the Art Association’s 2011 exhibition of works by Art Association members of all ages, opens at the Artspace Main Gallery in the Center for the Arts Friday, April 15. A reception will be held 5:30-7:30 pm. Presented in memory of former Art Association board member Norman Shapiro, the show celebrates community creativity. Cash prizes and children’s class scholarships will be awarded.
Also opening April 15: Solidarity, featuring work by Amy Jurekovic and Amanda Sullivan in the Artspace Theater Gallery, is an exhibition about examining, celebrating, and defining self. 5:30-7:30 pm. www.artassociation.org
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Artists have until April 22, 2011, to submit qualifications and concepts to create art that will “enhance” Jackson Hole Community Pathways System North 89 pathway underpass. The underpass, scheduled for construction this summer, will consist primarily of four concrete retaining walls. Those surfaces will act as canvas for the artist whose ideas for embellishing the walls best meet non-profit visions for the space. The underpass will be a connector and gateway to the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s new sculpture trail, designed by Oakland based landscape designer Walter Hood. It also provides bike and pedestrian access between the Town of Jackson and Grand Teton National Park, running parallel to the National Elk Refuge.
Budget for the project is $25,000. To find out more about the project—and learn more about budget fund allocations—contact the Jackson Hole Public Arts Initiative by logging on to their website here. 307-413-1474.
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From the National Museum of Wildlife Art:
“Master wildlife artist Carl Rungius first visited Wyoming and Yellowstone in 1895, inspiring his life’s work of depicting Western animals. In a new exhibition, Above Timberline: Engravings by Carl Rungius, May 7 through October 2, 2011, the National Museum of Wildlife Art, which maintains the largest public collection of Rungius’s art in the U.S., will display its complete set of Rungius drypoints, featuring examples of many of his favorite subjects, the Rocky Mountains’ famous game animals in their natural habitat.
Also a big game hunter, Rungius used his anatomical knowledge of wildlife to create accurate portrayals. Equally accomplished as a painter of wildlife and landscapes, his work also serves as a valuable record of the
animals and their environment, while his reputation as a premier wildlife artist won him fans including President Theodore Roosevelt, whom Rungius worked with to help make positive changes in wilderness preservation and big game hunting.
The pieces on display in the museum’s new Above Timberline exhibition use an intaglio engraving technique known as drypoint etching, where lines are scratched directly into a cold metal plate, leaving ragged “burr” edges. While the burr is removed in copperplate engraving, in drypoint it is left intact to produce softer lines and a more painterly effect.” www.wildlifeart.org
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Painter Scott Christensen has three new works available; all measure 10 x 12 inches and are fine choices for those starting plein air collections. You can find out more about Christensen and his work at www.christensenstudio.com. Email kristinm@christensenstudio.com.
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A certain local arts writer continues to display aggressive hostility towards Jackson gallery arts. Does he consider everyone but himself an establishment enemy? His alter ego is a cross between a
Kennedy sailboating skipper and William F. Buckley, Jr.—-a Montauck Yacht Club member charicacture. And he sometimes goes out searching for his brother “Teddy.” Calling Dr. Freud! Therapists would opine that the excessive talk about his and others’ sex lives are distractions from ……….well, good luck with that.
