Posts Tagged ‘Teton Art Lab’
Jackson Needs a United Arts Nation
Shattering news for the Art Association that its most recent executive director, Nick Van Hevelingen, has walked. When an organization of the size and complexity of the Art Association—still the Center for the Arts’ most significant tenant in terms of square footage—loses two new executive directors in such short order, it’s safe to assume internal conflict exists. Unfortunately, the Art Association isn’t the only local non-profit grappling with leadership and staffing issues.
My first impression of Van Hevelingen was that he was a natty dresser. Pressed and sharp, his business experience and pedigrees surely impressed board members. I was impressed. My first conversation with Van Hevelingen was surprising, because he openly discussed his frustrations. Pacing the room, he fiddled with connections and hook-ups on his computer. He produced a folder thick as a New York City phone book; that folder was full of research and plans to restore Glenwood Street’s Western Motel. The idea was to renovate the hotel’s single floor annex, clean up the hotel rooms and facilities and turn the building into artists
studios. I and a friend had come to talk about the Art Association becoming the anchor group for a public-art-in-store-windows initiative. He liked the idea, and said that insuring such a project would be relatively easy, but that he and staff would not be able to do the footwork of canvassing Town Square commercial real estate owners. Fair enough.
Travis Walker compiled the research in that folder. The Western Hotel project never happened, for the reason most projects-in-waiting don’t happen. No money. It seems Van Hevelingen hoped funding would come from a source other than the Art Association; the emperor had no clothes. Walker’s group backed off. Too bad, because reviving that space and bringing artists back downtown would help connect the Center for the Arts to Jackson’s Town Center. Visitors would be able to see artists as they worked. And those visitors would walk across the street to the Center and experience the Art Association’s superb gallery space and exhibitions.
It’s curious that despite strong suggestions from Jackson’s most prominent industry consultants that local non-profits consider consolidating, almost nobody has done it. Why?
The answer can only be ego. And it’s so past time to get over that.
Until our economy improves, non-profits should actively look for ways to hook up to solve common issues. Walker’s Factory Studios now provides affordable space for a large number of Jackson’s contemporary artists. But there is high demand for more space. Wouldn’t the ideal be to have those artists back downtown, making art that could be displayed in town? We should think of Jackson’s cultural health as a whole, not as individual entities fighting for dominance. The Art Association has traditionally been Jackson’s power contemporary arts hub. Many young artists got their start there. That’s changing, much as the world’s economic balance has changed.
Let’s think globally, locally. Our non-profits are countries whose fortunes are changing; creative groups barely on the map a few years ago now provide sustainable solutions and venues. Until recently, Germany‘s economy was troubled. Now the country is an economic model and much of the world would love to use its credit cards.
At September’s United Nations General Assembly, driven by national political agendas, the United States attempted to block a Palestine bid to gain U.N. membership. President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, an underdog on the world stage, forcefully broke with the Obama administration and proposed a compromise: enhance Palestine’s status to that of an observer state.
“This would be an important step forward,” Sarkozy said. “Most important, it would mean emerging from a state of immobility that favors only the extremists.”
It’s not the size of your sign anymore; it’s innovation that counts. You may be an activist non-profit; you may be a “get it on the ground” organization. If you share a “big picture” cause with other groups, don’t isolate; seek strength by finding ways to come together.
Jackson artist Travis Walker (yes, Teton Art Lab’s and Factory Studios’ Travis Walker!) is the next National Museum of Wildlife (NMWA) Art Lanford Monroe Memorial Artist-in-Residence! I love this.
Friday, August 5, 10:00 am-2:00 pm, Walker will demonstrate his painting techniques and make some fun art at the Museum, setting up in the Museum’s expanisive lobby area, across from the admissions desk. From 2:30-3:00 pm, spend time with Walker as he leads a tour of the Museum’s Rungius Drypoints exhibit.
Walker is a satellite, zooming in and out of our landscapes, freezing vast spaces and solitary formations. We’re light years away from a moment just
captured. Flaxen parachutes float forever. Still purple evening shadows never give way to night. These landscapes are our ideal; they’re uninhabited, but histories are embedded. Deserted cabins hold the energy and sadness of generations. Blank windows and headlights, eyes of the universe. Beneath Walker’s surfaces is an extraterrestrial glow he never quite paints down, a light peeking out from behind closed doors.
Walker has moved his studio space into town. He’s painting his giant trailer paintings upstairs from Jackson eatery E Leaven. And he’s the artist-of-choice for Jackson’s newest “Glamping” grounds, Fireside Resort. For information, phone (307) 732-5438.
•
Altamira Fine Art winds up its summer show series with two “Best of the West” artists—perpetual cowgirl Donna Howell-Sickles and iconic contemporary cowboy artist Duke Beardsley. Open Range is on exhibit August 2-15, with an artists’ reception on Thursday, August 4, 6-8 pm.
Howell-Sickles’ heroic cowgirl images were among the first contemporary Western Art works to catch my eye. What gal wouldn’t want to feel the way her Cowgirl does? Howell-Sickles looks a lot like her muse, a figure inspired by the image on a c. 1935 postcard. “Greetings from a Real Cowgirl from the Ole Southwest,” said the card, which depicted a cowgirl on her horse.
“The image spoke to me and I had no idea why,” says Howell-Sickles. “I surrendered to the attraction, and as I used the Cowgirl in my art I slowly filled in the blanks about my fascination with the imagery.” All manner of Western critter are in love with this Cowgirl, and she returns the affection. Paintings are banners of zestful primary color; this Cowgirl is mythical, often encircled by a Resistol’s round white brim.
I’ll have what she’s having!
Beardsley “has been drawing and painting images of the American West most of his life,” says the gallery. “Duke’s work blends modern
artistic elements with the traditional icons of the west. The result has made him a consistently popular favorite among fans of contemporary western art.” Iconic and romantic, Beardsley’s contemporary paintings of cowboys and their horses harken back to the West’s earliest pride-of-place and sense of purpose. These guys are independent and strong; so are their horses. Trust them, ride with them.
Beardsley also paints landscapes. Check them out. Beautiful.
Saturday, June 18, 2011, the doors at Factory Studios open at 6:30 p.m. sharp. Doors will close at 7:30 p.m. and Art+Cloth+Street kicks off. If you show after 7:30, you don’t get in. The show is a fundraiser for the Factory Studios and tickets are $75 for front row seats and a limited edition Teton Art Lab print & four drink/raffle tokens; $20 for standing room and one token. Tickets are on sale at Valley Bookstore, Shades Café and via Factory Studios.
An “evening of art and fashion,” the show features exciting new work from three of Jackson’s most creative emerging clothing designers, Abbie Miller, Calla Grimes, and Owen Ashley.” Local arts specialists Lyndsay McCandless and Suzanne Morlock will discuss–perhaps debate–the intersection of clothing, art, and fashion. A runway show follows.
Abbie Miller/A.M. Renegade : “I’m working with the idea of geometry instead of drape,” she said. “I always like to see how far I can tip everything to the stage of bad proportion or ugliness, and then pull it back to a point where its flattering on the body. I like a play between natural and urban, earth tones and synthetic colors. It has to do with my fascination with cities and my weird romance with construction sites mixed with the experience of living here…” www.abbiesumiller.com
Calla Grimes: “My approach to designing clothing starts really with my own desire to wear easy everyday clothing that features the body’s best assets,” Grimes said. “I love to feel that I am in a wonderful piece of clothing that can be worn day into night, with a very strong element of the feminine. I use linen, linen blends, wool jerseys and fine knits, and silks of every kind.” callajacobson@gmail.com
Owen Ashley/Ashelter: Owen Ashley is a Jackson native and a founding designer for Anomoly Farm. His own label, Orson Ashelter, features functional outdoor-inspired fashion. “You can wear all of it outside and it won’t get ruined,” he said. “If it is meant to keep you warm it will; if it is supposed to keep you cool it will.” Ashley is currently working with shotgun-perforated vinyl faux leather, reclaimed from the Jackson Hole Airport. owen@anomalyfarm.com
www.factorystudios.org. Contact: Abbie Miller, abbgrab@gmail.com or 307-760-5035
•
“The landscape is the tangible connection between man and God. It is a very humbling task—trying to paint the unseen qualities of a landscape as well as what is seen.” – Glenn Dean
Altamira Fine Art presents Bill Schenck, Glenn Dean and Logan Hagege in a new show, Earth & Sky, opening Thursday, June 16, with an artists’ reception from 5-8pm. Works remain on exhibit through June 26.
Schenck is the West’s Roy Lichtenstein. A bold, flattened pop-art style is Schenck’s hallmark. A former Jackson Hole resident, the artist now
lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His work reflects his environs and their people. In his early paintings, a sense of ‘makin’ a bit of fun’ of Western cowboys and cowgirls was common. Though Schenck continues to paint in a bright comic book style, a new reverence for indigenous peoples is evident. Native Americans are depicted in softer romantic hues, horses are purple spirits set against vast Southwestern deserts. “His work is characterized by hot colors, surreal juxtapositions and patterning which explore clashes between wilderness and civilization, the individual and community, nature and culture, freedom and restriction,” notes the gallery.
Hagege was born in 1980; he’s a mere 31 years old. A biographical profile describes Logan as being influenced by diverse past masters: Gustav Klimpt, N.C. Wyeth, T.W. Dewing and
Maynard Dixon. In Hagege’s works I see Klimpt’s sensuality of line; N.C. Wyeth’s dramatic, historic compositions; Dewing’s proud, emblematic portraits; and Dixon’s electrifying Southwestern vistas. I can’t help thinking that German painter Hans Holbein (1497-1543), the greatest portraitist of his day, has cast his spirit into Hagege’s paintings.
Dean is a landscapist. Maynard Dixon’s powerful influence reappears in Dean’s glowing Southwest mesas and endless skies. Clouds billow & morph, pulling us toward Heaven. Ranch hands and cowboys are tiny figures passing through great canyons and deserts. Nature is dominant. Western landscape painters of the early 1900′s “…emphasized the importance of seeing the color of light combined with interesting compositions and seemingly effortless designs, while carefully observing the simple and basic characteristics of a specific location,” says the artist. “It still feels like I’m at a magic show when I see work by those artists.”
Magic runs through it; and by “it,” I mean this show. www.altamiraart.com
•
Saturday, June 18, is “Saturday U” day at the National Museum of Wildlife Art. Two presentations to note:
9-10 a.m. — “The Oglala Lakota (Sioux) and the Modernization of American Culture, 1848-1890,” presented by Jeff Means, history assistant professor.
10:15-11:15 a.m. — “Public Art and Community: Building Partnerships through Art,” presented by Susan Moldenhauer, UW Art Museum director and chief curator. Why is public art important, and what can it do for a community? Moldenhauer discusses how the program “Sculpture, A Wyoming Invitational” was created and implemented.
For more details, or to register for college credit or Professional Teaching Standards Board (PTSB) credit, call Susan Thulin, CWC outreach coordinator, (307) 733-7425.
Heather James Fine Art knows it’s Spring, even if Northern Rockies denizens feel the jury’s still out. If you want a breath of fresh art air, a trip to your favorite gallery is a particularly 
renewing. Heather James director Lyndsay McCandless notes that Heather James’ Jackson Hole gallery is fully open. The gallery has provided images of works by Chagall, Deborah Butterfield, Hiromitsu Kuroo, Yuko Ueda, Kees Van Dongen, Penelope Gottlieb and Bruce Dorfman.
Themes of renewal, fertility, earth, spiritual and religious iconography — and the potential destruction of Nature mark the collection. Gottlieb’s heavily colored botanical prints and images are reminiscent of drapery and upholstery textile designs. Look again. Chains, jagged blade-like shapes, and invasive species threaten and choke Gottlieb’s natural landscapes and their avian populations.
McCandless can picture Butterfield’s horses “…out in a luscious field of green grass, providing some hope that I will see grass again soon.” And Kees
Van Dongen’s Bouquet de Fleurs inspires thoughts of ”rich perfumes [inhaled while] walking through royal gardens.”
The gallery’s Palm Desert location is currently exhibiting Color Speaks: Five Artists from the Art Students League of New York. “All of these artists have unique ways of exploring color and form,” says McCandless, and they “ultimately transport” viewers to a place of contemplation.
•
Friday, April 29, check out the Jackson Hole Review’s (JH Review) new inaugeral issue. The party starts at 6:00 pm at the Factory Studios, 1255 Gregory Lane, in Jackson. Published locally, the magazine features contributions from writers, poets, photographers and visual artists “from all over the country.” The new issue’s theme is “connect/disconnect” ….Hold the phone! Idaho writer Kim Barnes is featured in the issue.
Bring $10 and the money will buy you entry, get you a copy of the magazine (don’t know its usual newsstand price), refreshments and entertainment. Prizes, too. Special ones. For attendees.
The publishers wish to thank: Teton Library Foundation, the National Museum of Wildlife Art, Grand Teton Music Festival, Falls Printing, Valley Bookstore, Jackson Hole Writers’ Conference and the Jackson Hole Public Art Initiative.
For more information, email info@tetonartlab.com.
This is cheating, but I’m sure Erin O’Connor will forgive the indescretion. I’m going to repeat other people’s comments about O’Connor’s latest successes. She’s on the short list for a certain summer plein air event, but I’m not allowed to tell you about that quite yet.
It’s cheating even more to boil down a description of Erin’s light to this: She paints like Dixon. O’Connor is not as well known (yet) as I think she should be, but that may soon change. Notices and awards are piling up, the latest being an article featuring the artist in Spring 2011′s issue of Plein Air Magazine. The article, “Living Lightly and Painting Boldly,” describes O’Connor’s artistic learning process, talks about her mentors and the life she lives as a plein air artist; a life that dictates small spaces, creative use of time, flexibility and an ability to swiftly capture landscapes that capture her. Fine examples of the artist’s work are depicted. Here’s a comment from O’Connor’s Facebook page:
“As a plein air painter who also lives out of his vehicle, when necessary … I can really relate to you, and your approach to the direct-study of landscapes. And SUCH beautiful images … you have a perfect eye for developing the sweep of your compositions [no cameras necessary]. Your article confirms what I suspected the moment I first saw you ‘working’ that morning at Winter Park … when you paint, you are in ‘direct conversation’ with the natural world. Never let anything keep you from your work and workplace … you set a high example for the rest of us! Thank you for sharing your experience.”- Williamson Tapia
O’Connor was selected as the 2009 Joshua Tree National Park Artist-in-Residence. Congrats on all past and presents successes, Erin.
•
Hot Glass, Cold Beer, Be Here.
Friday, March 25, blow yourself to a fun evening with the Teton Art Lab Glass Gang. The latter is hosting its first fundraiser at Jackson’s newest arts venue, the Factory Studios. $20 gets you in and goes to support the non-
profit Factory mission. Artists Danny White and John Hogan will be executing a “hot glass performance” and you can probably leave the party with your own piece of hand blown artisan glass.
Oh, says Travis: “Free Beer!”
The party starts at 6:00 pm, ends at 9:00 pm. ONLY fifty (50) tickets are available, and that ensures a good time to be had by all. No crushed glass. Call Rob Hollis at 307-248-1785 or respond on FB to reserve tickets.
•
This is just fun. I did not know the National Museum of Wildlife Art had this link to play with.
If you click here, you will find a neat art exercise. “Create a Composition with Carl Rungius” explores basic art principles; famed landscape painter Tucker Smith leads you through the game. The home page I found bobbled back and forth like a seesaw; balance is a component of strong paintings. You can review a series of principles or just jump ahead to creating your own “painting.” A nice interactive project, an enjoyable addition to NMWA’s interactive offierings.
This week’s NMWA ”Art Alive @ 12:05″ features demonsrations by sculptor Sandy Scott .