Posts Tagged ‘National Museum Wildlife Art’
The National Museum of Wildlife Art’s (NMWA) 2011 “Western Visions” event was a success, bringing the Museum at least $600,000, funds that will benefit its education programs. This year, Tucker Smith’s oil painting East Fork Rams was the top-seller, going for $40,000 at the Museum’s September 16th’s finale sale. Awards were distributed to many notable and deserving Western artists; perhaps the highest honor went to painter Mark Eberhard, whose oil on board painting Snowy Owl won the Museum’s Trustee Purchase Award, making it part of the Museum’s permanent collection.
On October 6, 2011, award winning photographer John Weller will visit Jackson to present The Last Ocean: Antartica’s Ross Sea Photographs by John Weller. After reading research
and articles on enviromental threats to the Ross Sea, Weller took up his camera to document those waters, “one of the last pristine open ocean ecosystems on Earth.” Weller’s photographs will be on display at NMWA October 1, 2011 – January 29, 2012. An opening reception takes place at NMWA on October 6, 5:30 pm. Weller will speak at 7 pm, in Cook Auditorium.
“Through his remarkable images, award-winning photographer Weller takes viewers on a journey that celebrates the Ross Sea as one of Earth’s last healthy marine environments,” says the Museum. “Dramatic photos offer a glimpse into the lives of wildlife from Emperor penguins to silverfish inhabiting the remote region both above and below the Antarctic ocean’s surface.”
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Cool news from the Art Association’s Jenny Dowd: NMWA is looking for artists to collaborate in its upcoming (Bronwyn Minton inspired) exhibition Exquisite Animal: A Community Art Exhibit. Curated by Minton, the artist “game” is played by several people asked to draw a part of an animal; head, front legs, tail, fins, etc. on a “huge sheet of paper,” creating giant animal composites. Each figure presents unlikely combinations, juxtaposed into fantastical creatures. Contact Minton at bminton@wildlifeart.org for more info!
More from Jenny: She has been in contact with Bonnie Laing-Malcolmson, Curator at the Portland Art Museum. In conjunction with Laing-Malcolmson’s interest in Northwest art, she is working to build a library of art by artists in this region. Artists are invited to submit packets of work examples to be considered for future exhibitions—accepted works will not only be on display at Portland, but have the chance to travel to other museums in the area.
Very, very nice. Here’s what you do to apply: Mail a disk with up to 20 images of your work, a resume and artist statement to:
Bonnie Laing-Malcolmson, Portland Art Museum, 1219 SW Park Avenue, Portland, OR 97205.
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From the Teton County Library:
Friday, October 7, from 5:30-6:30 pm, join the Library in the Center for the Arts Lobby for reception celebrating Renewal: Altered Book
Exhibition. “Local artists have spun new creations from discarded books and library-inspired words for this exhibit, celebrating the library’s renewal through the addition and renovation now underway,” says the Library. “The opening reception will feature book art; appetizers provided by the Teton County Library Friends; and an opportunity to see our building model! Architects and library staff will be available to answer questions about our building project.”
You can also make origami! And it’s free!
Through October 28, at the Center. Contact Adult Humanities Coordinator, Oona Doherty, 733-2164 ext. 135, odoherty@tclib.org. To learn more about library programs or construction, visit www.tclib.org.
The National Museum of Wildlife Art (NMWA) brings Sculpture Trail designer Walter Hood back to Jackson on July 26, 2011. Hood will personally conduct a hard-hat tour of the site for museum members and talk about the concepts 
and planning process for a trail that will be organic, artful and integrated to its surrounding Western landscape. NMWA notes that the new trail and sculpture gardens emulate parallel projects installed at nationally noted museums–New York’s Museum of Modern Art and L.A.’s J. Paul Getty Museum, for example. Situated above Jackson Hole’s National Elk Refuge the new trail is uniquely Wyoming.
While leading the tour, Hood will talk about his initial concepts for showcasing the outdoor sculpture and how plans have developed. Important sculptures slated for the new outdoor space include a casting of Simon Gudgeon’s (also look for Gudgeon’s work at Jackson’s Diehl Gallery) bronze bird form “Isis” , Tim Shinabarger’s “Black Timber Bugler”, and eight “larger-than-life” bison sculpted by Richard Loffler. That work, “Buffalo Trail,” will be installed on a hillside with its own access path.
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The Art Association’s Jenny Dowd notes that occasionally community businesses offer artists a chance to display artwork on premises. A few weeks back an in-town Phillips 66 Station was remodeled, and the owners were looking for artwork to “liven up the walls.” Contact Dowd for info at the Art Association by emailing jenny@artassociation.org.
Interesting that a gas station, as opposed to a natural food store or restaurant or some other venue more closely associated with creativity, is offering artists a chance to show their work. I hope the effort sets an example for more Town of Jackson establishments. Bringing darkened commercial space windows to life with local art is a common practice. And it’s win-win.
Dowd has provided a link for artists wanting to sell their work at this year’s People’s Market: http://www.jhpeoplesmarket.org/ Lastly, the Teton Mudpots hold their annual summer sale outside the Art Association’s ceramics studio 10am – 5:30pm, on Thursday June 30th. For more information contact Sam Dowd: sam@artassociation.org
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Plein air painter Dennis Doheny is a familiar name in Jackson’s art scene, featured in past NMWA exhibitions. Doheny is wildly famous in his home state of California, and truly ranks amongst the country’s most distinguished plein air artists. He has twice won the Frederic Remington Award and was honored by the Autry National Center with the Masters of the American West Purchase Award. Though his work is in high demand, Doheny
has not had a one man show in five years. He’ll break that pattern on Saturday, September 24th, when an exhibition of new works débuts at William A. Karges Fine Arts, in their Beverly Hills location. An opening reception takes place 4-6 pm.
Doheny is represented exclusively by Karges. www.dennisdoheny.com/
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Jackson photographer Jeff Diener has new “Wildlife and Wildflower” images, taken last spring. His favorites include shots of “…an intense coyote and [a] mysterious Great Grey Owl.”
“I’ve always known coyotes to be curious but I was pretty surprised by this encounter,” Diener says. “This guy actually approached me, checked me out, then proceeded to lay down and relax. I shot photos for over half an hour!” Diener now offers Canvas Gallery Wrapped prints. “These are a simple and elegant approach to presentation–high quality canvas, gallery wrapped and ready to hang,” notes the photographer. http://jacksonholegallery.photoshelter.com/gallery/Wildlife-Wildflower-Photos/G0000V1dqwKNStHk/
Painter Greg McHuron will open the 2011 Grand Teton Association’s Artists in the Environment Plein Air Summer Series on Saturday, June 11. McHuron will give a public painting demonstration at Grand Teton National Park’s Chapel of the Transfiguration, 4-7:00 pm. The event is free and open to the public.
Plein air painter Greg McHuron co-founded the program with landscape artist Conrad Schwiering, and has been painting in the Western United States for over 35 years. Represented in galleries and museums throughout the West, he is a signature member of the Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painter Association and Artists for Conservation.
McHuron’s masterful triskaidekatych mural, a 13-piece painting depicting the region’s wildlife and habitat, graces the walls of the Jackson Hole and Greater Yellowstone Visitor’s Center in Jackson, Wyoming. As viewers follow the mural, they can follow the footsteps of an elk herd on the run and imagine their trumpeting call. Wetland and riparian habitat are drenched in rust and honey browns of fall; waterfowl and moose partake of the stream, yellow aspens gobbling up
their horizons. An aspen grove, surveyed by a great horned owl and guarded by a bull elk. Climb into the sagebrush and grasslands, to the timberline and snowy cliffs where big horn sheep crest the mountain’s rise. At the pinnacle, snow buries all but a giant grizzly on top of the world, caught in purest sunlight and blue sky.
McHuron paints en plein air in locations ranging from northern Alaska to the Grand Canyon. His work is part of the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s permanent collection.
“I prefer painting…en plein air as the drama and excitement that occurs all around me is difficult to recreate in a studio environment,” notes McHuron. “When I paint the rapidly changing scenes, I put into each of them the feelings and excitement that I felt while watching the scene unfold. Years of watching, analyzing and learning from nature’s school ground has helped me to understand the interrelations between organic and inorganic entities and how different lighting, seasons and locations affect how they look and react. If I can capture that particular feeling, I know that those viewing my works will come to feel some of the emotions and excitement that motivated my wanting to record this particular fleeting moment.”
I will be on hand to moderate the event. See you there!
For information, contact Tammy Christel: tammy@jacksonholearttours.com. Grand Teton Association: 307.739.3606
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The National Musuem of Wildlife Art’s 2011 Out of the Box Show takes place June 24, 2011. Doors will open at 5:30 pm, and the auction begins at 7:00 pm. A display of boxes up for sale is on exhibit beginning Saturday, June 11, 2011, in the Museum’s Wapiti Gallery. Auction proceeds benefit the Museum’s educational programs. Light hors d’oeuvres, cash bar and prizes. www.wildlifeart.org
May 25, 2011, a ”migration conservation message tops the program for the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s 2011 summer exhibitions opening reception.” That evening Harvey Locke, Founder and Strategic Advisor to the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y) and Vice President for Conservation Strategy at the WILD Foundation, will speak to the audienence at 7 pm. His remarks will be followed by a talk by artist Dwayne Harty, who has documented the migratory corridor in his paintings. The reception begins at 5:30 pm.
Attendees will be able to view The Journey of Wildlife and Art and Above Timberline: Engravings by Carl Rungius, and the Wyoming winners of the 2011 Federal Junior Duck Stamp Competition.
A companion exhibition, Above Timberline: Engravings by Carl Rungius, runs May 7 through October 2, 2011. The exhibit features the complete set of
drypoint etchings by renowned Western wildlife artist Carl Rungius, who first visited Wyoming and Yellowstone in 1895.
The evening’s events are free to museum members, $12 for non-members. 307-732-5444 for information. psackrey@wildlifeart.org.
Y2Y map courtesy Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative.
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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.