Posts Tagged ‘National Museum of Wildlife Art’
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
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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
I love you so much I could eat you right up! That’s what Paul Meyerheim’s 1915 oil painting “Lion and Lioness” says to me.
Ain’t love complicated? The National Museum of Wildlife Art (NMWA) plans on having some Valentine’s Day fun exploring the complexities of love and romance. Tuesday, February 14th, NMWA’s evening happening, Mix’d Media, will host a “love/hate” museum scavenger hunt. “Love Is In the Air – Or Is It?” takes place at the Museum 6-9:00 pm.
I had not heard this, but NMWA’s Amy St. Pierre says its common practice for museums to conduct naked scavenger hunts on Valentine’s Day! (Where are those museums, and how do I find them?) “Our subjects are naked all the time,” says St. Pierre, assistant curator of education for the museum. “So we’ve decided to remove the anthropomorphism and send our guests in search of true animal instincts.” The Jason Fritts Trio will set the mood, and thematic refreshments will be served. There will be chocolate. Attendees also get a chance to create small, ‘lovely’ sketch/journaling books. And, you may be entered for a chance at romance-inspiring prizes including dinner for two at Trio Bistro and wine from The Liquor Store. Cover is $5. Become a Museum member and get your name entered in a raffle for $150 gift certificate to Adventure Rentals. XXOOO! www.wildlifeart.org
In neighboring Sublette County, the town of Pinedale has big plans for 2012. According to a recent edition of the Sublette Examiner, “Main Street Pinedale”—a group of Pinedale citizens working to promote its downtown by “capitalizing on its uniqueness and by using historic preservation to generate economic and entrepreneurial growth”— will host a series of conferences that will work to raise Sublette’s cultural profile.
Events surrounding the conferences include “CLICK! A Weekend for Wyoming Visual Artists.” The Sublette Examiner writes:
“The name “CLICK!” suggests that thing that happens when you reconnect with colleagues and get inspired by new ideas, which occurs continually when Wyoming artists congregate,” said Sue Sommers, a local artist who helped organize the event, and is hoping to expand on the visibility and interconnectedness of Wyoming’s art community with those near and far – something she also tackled recently with the Pipeline Art Project….Like Pipeline, CLICK! is working alongside the Wyoming Arts Council (WAC) [sharing] a database of Wyoming artists and helps plan and partially fund the project.”
CLICK! takes place March 30 – April 1, 2012 at the Sublette County Libray, Pinedale. More registration info will be available soon. To read the Examiner’s full article, “click” here.
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In case you live in a cave–and the only peeps I know doin’ that are Bears 399 & 610–you know wildlife painter Amy Ringholz is Jackson’s 2012 Fall Arts Festival (FAF) poster artist. At 34, Ringholz is the youngest FAF artist to date.
Her winning painting, “Dreamers Don’t Sleep,” a 72 x 60″ ink and oil on canvas, will be showcased in the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s lobby January 22 – March 23, 2012. A wonderous portrait of the region’s wildlife, its magnificent Teton Range, a sparkling night sky, the painting also includes 25 painted flowers, to in honor of NMWA’s 25th anniversary. The painting is set to be unveiled at the museum Sunday, January 22, at 3:00 pm
Inspired by Fritz Scholder and Egon Schiele, Ringholz is a contemporary painter—the first contemporary FAF artist in over a decade. As this year’s Festival artist, she joins some of the West’s most notable working artists: Russell Chatham, Bill Schenck, Donna Howell-Sickles and 2011′s Dwayne Harty.
Locally, Ringholz is represented by Altamira Fine Art. Her work has been exhibited at NMWA, the Rockwell Museum of Western Art and Desert Caballeros Museum. She’s been featured in Southwest Art, Western Art & Architecture, and Western Art Collector magazines.
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Altamira Fine Art also represents 2009′s Fall Arts Festival poster artist R. Tom Gilleon. Altamira has confirmed that prices for Gilleon’s works will “increase significantly” as of May 1, 2012.
Gilleon has a major museum exhibition January 28 – May 27, 2012, at the Booth Western Art Museum. He is planning a one man show at Altamira in July. For more information, contact Altamira at 307.739.4700. www.altamiraart.com
