Posts from ‘Sculpture’
One Nest ~ Many Fish!
It’s been in the Western winds: Jackson Hole artist Kathryn Mapes Turner and her brother, sustainable builder Mark Turner, have launched an innovative project. Though the siblings are Jackson-based, they’ve deep roots in the Washington D.C. area, owing to their family’s political legacy.
They’re smart, these two.
Their “One Nest” collaborative project combines sustainable building design and broadly embraced aesthetic with art created in one of the West’s most prominent art markets. In “the heart of Virgina horse and wine country,” near Shenandoah National Park, is a home designed by Mark, filled with artwork by his sister Kathryn. On Saturday, May 18th, 4-8:00 pm, and Sunday, May 19th, 2-6:00 pm, the public is invited to tour the structure, survey the land and take in the art.
Mark’s company, Greenspur, Inc., is, says the builder, inspired in part by Wallace Stegner’s words: “There it was, there it is, the PLACE where during the best of our lives friendship had its home and happiness had its headquarters.” Kathryn’s plein air and studio paintings are inspired by the natural world, light and “wide open spaces.”
It’s a great concept, and how much more fulfilling could it be than to co-create such a complete project with family you love?
May’s open house is in fact the project’s Grand Opening, and though it is free reservations are necessary; if you wish to attend, I’d sign up quick!  The D.C. crowd will descend! The link to reserve a visit can be found here. Links: http://onenestproject.com/2013/03/21/space-greenspur-inc/  www.turnerfineart.com  “One Nest” address:  3322 Carrington Road, Delaplane, VA 20144. Â
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Pinedale’s Winning Entry, “Time to Make Waves.”
 ”If children are a measure of our future, Wyoming’s future will follow a path of creativity and imagination.” ~ Wyoming Representative Tim Stubson, Casper.Â
Imagination and creativity link all of us. Creativity bridges the often times daunting distances between Wyoming’s citizens, and it takes special care and effort to send the message to our children that those distances can be vaporized. Like a morning meditation zeroing in on awakening creativity and imagining our potential, we must strive to dissolve what we believe are our limits. And we must show the rest of the country what we are making here. What can we be to the big wide world? Hundreds, if  not thousands, of miles may lie between Wyoming’s creativity and other, larger arts centers and communities. Every reach counts.
Photo Courtesy Kevin Wittig and Mountain Pulse
Fifteen years ago a Chicago art exhibit, “Cows on Parade,” made history. The idea behind the exhibit was to get as many artists, celebrities, designers and other creative personalities to decorate fiberglass cows and spread them out across the city. The show was a great tourism draw and has been emulated many times over; all the cows were auctioned off for charity.
“Traveling Trout” is a big school of artistically designed fiberglass fish; 37 Wyoming schools took part in a fish-art competition, and winners were announced late last month. The entire exhibit is on display at the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s outdoor sculpture garden and trail through October 6, 2013. You can see them from the road, breaching and diving, snagging fireflies. Thousands of dollars in cash prizes were awarded to the winning students and schools, and that’s a great cause. Later this fall, the exhibit will travel around the rest of the state. www.wildlifeart.org
Frank Tenney Johnson (1874-1939) Apaches at Moonrise (Eventide)
“The point of the show, and everything else we do at Heather James, is to bring works of excellence by a large variety of artists and genres to the viewing public and collectors. This show is no exception,” says Heather James Fine Art’s Shari Brownfield, gallery director. “Our goal is to always be searching for fine examples of paintings or sculptures by great artists. When you get all these greats together, and curate them either into an integrated thematic or genre show, it’s amazing the conversations elicited just by hanging certain works side by side.”
Joseph H. Sharp (1859-1953) Taos Moonlight
Right now Heather James Fine Art, known for its Post War, Contemporary, Latin American, Impressionist and Modern Art, as well as collections and works from all corners of the earth, is showcasing an impressive collection of (and I’m linking you to the best-known museum for this genre, the Autry) American Western Masters. Now on display at Heather James’ Palm Desert location, the works come from a variety of private sellers. Together, they comprise one hell of a show. Represented artists are Maurice Braun, Gerald Cassidy, William Gollings, E. Martin Hennings, Frank Tenney Johnson, William R. Leigh, Frederic Remington, Joseph H. Sharp (sigh…love Sharp) and Olaf Wieghorst. Provenançes include institutions such as the Smithsonian, the Museum of Fine Art in Santa Fe, the Gerald Peters Gallery and private collections in Jackson Hole, Dallas and Houston, Denver, and the state of Florida.
“Art is knowledge at the service of emotion.” ~ José Clemente Orozco
“Northwest Contemporary,” curated by the Nicolaysen Art Museum’s Lisa Hatchadoorian, the Missoula Art Museum’s Stephen Glueckert, the Aspen Art Museum’s Jacob Proctor and the Boise Art Museum’s Sandy Hawthorn, opens at the Art Association of Jackson Hole on Friday, March 22nd, 5:30 – 7:30 pm. This opening reception is free; the show remains on display through April 21st.
Local artists Suzanne Morlock (“Free Fall,” below) and large-scale installation artist Abbie Miller have, according to the Art Association’s Thomas Macker, transformed the gallery space into ” re-contextualized environments of form and tactile texture.” Â All textures are tactile, but these are undoubtedly very enticing to the touch.
And, testifies Macker,  your body will “re-map” as you move through this show. The work “allows you to feel weightless as your eye glides through serpentine forms in a white cube cage.”
Go WITH your eyes, don’t let them wander off by themselves!
Most furniture designers – Â small custom shops or factories – let the rectilinear shape of the boards and power tools dictate design. So that’s what you see. I do things the other way around; that’s what informs my designs. ~ David Trapp
Ninety percent self-taught, woodworker David Trapp has built custom furniture and sculpture in his Victor, Idaho workshop for 30 years. Through a series of local connections and using machinery, books and tools he’d bought, he began gaining commissions to design furnishings, cabinets and most recently, abstract sculpture. His craftsmanship is flawless, but he’s not had Jackson gallery representation since his days at the former J.H. Muse Gallery, where his work sold extremely well. Trapp did benefit from his relationship with the great California woodworker Sam Maloof.
Sam Maloof
“Sam is still considered by most woodworkers to be the best furniture maker and designer in the country. He conducted regional classes, and anytime he was anywhere close, I would go,” recalls Trapp. “We got to be friends; three decades back I began working with Sam.”
In the woodworking world, it’s pervasive to take pride in the length of time spent working on any piece. While teaching a semester at Rhode Island’s School of Design, Maloof blew that preconception out of the water. Trapp was there.
Susan Moldenhauer
“In essence, the heightened level of credibility we might gain as a town/ arts group by affiliating ourselves with a major university is huge. The types of programs, events, associations that could be brought to Jackson – or that we might find a way of attending en masse in Laramie, are also considerable.” - Mariam Diehl
Not long ago I was fortunate to meet the University of Wyoming’s Art Museum Director Susan Moldenhauer, a familiar figure to many Wyoming artists and to other museum staff and associates in our state. Moldenhauer was accompanied by university Foundation Relations representative Katrina Woods McGee. Soft-spoken, finely academic, curious, creative and warm, Moldenhauer is also an accomplished photographer. We spoke of the challenges of juggling multiple responsibilities. When she organizes museum exhibits, she “does it with an artist’s eye,” accomplishing the task with an equally strong administrative sense. Some of you may have seen Susan at this past weekend’s three-day “CLICK!: A Weekend for Wyoming Visual Artists,” held at UW.
CLICK! provides opportunity for otherwise isolated Wyoming artists to network; they also have the opportunity to meet regional and national artists such as Eminent Visiting Artist Judy Pfaff, a McArthur Fellowship Genius Award recipient. Pfaff’s show, I Dwell in Possibility, exhibited in Jackson during the summer of 2010 at the Tayloe Piggott Gallery.
Susan’s brief visit here ideally sparks greater interaction between Jackson’s arts and UW. Pushing through our wintry “fourth wall” can be a challenge, but imagining a richer conversation is so exciting. Exhibits expected to be in place at UW later this spring include:
Redefining the Edition: 13 Japanese Printmakers
Haitian Art from the permanent collection
Judy Pfaff: running between hot and cold (working title)
Teaching Gallery: History of Mexico, Islamic Art History, Printmaking, Photography (all permanent collection)
Carol Prusa: Emergent Worlds
