Email
PrintPalette Parade
Arts and entertainment thrive in the Tetons
Fausto, by Ashley Collins. Mixed Media, Oil on Panel, Aged Paper, Fire Resin Finish, 48”x72”, Diehl Gallery.
At the first wink of warmth, Teton townies start planning full days outdoors. Echoing the allure of rivers and trails, the cultural landscape beckons with its bounty of art and entertainment experiences.
The Grand Teton Music Festival fits a year’s worth of music into a seven-week sweep from June 30 to August 14. On Tuesdays, the festival makes classical music accessible through free chamber concerts. Wednesdays’ Spotlight Concerts veer from classic fare with eclectic acts, and musicians create their own programs on Thursdays during the Musicians’ Choice Chamber Music Concerts. Fridays and Saturdays bring the Festival Orchestra Concerts, conducted by music director Donald Runnicles or illustrious guest conductors. Orchestra highlights include a French soiree featuring mezzo-soprano Susan Graham on July 9 and 10 and violin virtuoso Sarah Chang on July 16 and 17.
In his fifth year with the festival, maestro Runnicles arrives invigorated from his first year helming the Deutsche Oper in Berlin and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Still, Jackson Hole remains his summer roost, as it has become for many of the festival musicians, who excuse themselves from their prestigious home orchestras.
Similarly sweeping in scope, Dancers’ Workshop brings world-class performances to Jackson. Festivities begin with the second annual Summer Dance Celebration featuring two nights with Contemporary Dance Wyoming on June 11 and 12. August marks a coup for the community when the Chamber Ensemble of the New York City Ballet journeys to Jackson for a weeklong residency culminating in three performances on August 6 and 7. The stunning streak continues with Ballet Jazz Montreal on October 1.
Equally expansive, the National Museum of Wildlife Art welcomes summer with a bevy of new exhibitions. Two shows spotlight the sketches and etchings of Karl Bodmer, one of the first European artists to render the North American frontier in the early nineteenth century. The menagerie of Maurice Sendak, inhabited by both tame and wild animals, stages a gallery rumpus in “Wild New Ways.” On July 8, the museum toasts its summer suite with a reception featuring an actor-led interpretative gallery tour of the Bodmer shows, and a Sendak talk by Patrick Rodgers, traveling exhibitions coordinator from the Rosenbach Museum and Library.
The third Thursday of every month (save September), the Jackson Hole Gallery Association hosts an evening Art Walk; participating galleries fly colorful banners.
The new Heather James Fine Art brings a stunning spectrum of genres, periods, and cultures to Jackson: Impressionist and Modern, classical, post-war, and contemporary, Old Masters, and photography. Across the way, Altamira Fine Art presents contemporary Western works, or as its June group show is titled, “Art of the West Now.” Likewise contemporary, Diehl Gallery signals summer with “The Fete,” an annual show featuring new works. Post-war and contemporary artists also thrive at Tayloe Piggott Gallery, formerly JH Muse Gallery.
For fine antiques, visit Cayuse Western Americana, a trove of cowboy, American Indian, and National Park treasures. And Western art mainstay Trailside Galleries begins its season with its annual Salute to Summer group showcase in June, a diverse array complemented by individual spotlights on landscape artists Robert Moore and Michael Godfrey and contemporary wildlife artist Linda St. Clair.
This season, Legacy Gallery hosts a string of one-man shows: John Coleman on July 1, James Ayers on August 5, Gary Lynn Roberts on August 19, and Kyle Polzin on September 10. The recently expanded Astoria Fine Art hosts the paintings of a rising star, twenty-five-year-old Josh Clare, from June 8 to 15. From July 1 to 10, Astoria introduces the stainless steel wall sculptures of Brent Lawrence, his first major show in Jackson.
Mountain Trails presents its Western Artists of America–Western Heritage Show from July 2 10, and from August 6 through 13 spotlights the wildlife art of Edward Aldrich. September brings the paintings of Wyoming’s own Ty Barhaug and Tom Saubert of Montana; the weeklong show starts with a reception September 15.
Galleries West considers “Connections: Jennifer L. Hoffman and D. Lee,” a show that opens July 2, while August welcomes “Interpretations of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem,” a group show opening on the 19th.
Trio Fine Art is owned by a graceful threesome of local artists who take turns showing their work there this summer: Lee and Ed Riddell on July 8, Kathryn Mapes Turner on July 29, and September Vhay on August 19.
Whimsy abounds in the new Just For Fun room at A Horse of a Different Color—think sculptures made from golf clubs or bicycle parts. From July 31 to August 1, the gallery stages a demonstration by Brad and Sundie Ruppert of Vintage Sculpture, who add Western panache to their found-object works.
Photography, too, is featured prominently downtown. From September 10 to 19, Wild By Nature will present wildlife and landscape photographs, including new polar bear photos, several Yellowstone winter scenes, and images pulled from owner Henry Holdsworth’s book Moose of Yellowstone and Grand Teton.
Twice a summer, creative flair fills Miller Park when the Art Association’s Art Fair brings nearly two hundred international, national, and local artists to Jackson from July 16 to 18 and again August 20 to 22. The association also hosts free exhibitions in its galleries in the Center for the Arts. “Mountain Light, 2010,” an annual exhibit by Dave McNally, features new landscapes and portraits inspired by his travels to places like Nepal. And coinciding with the York City Ballet, artist Mark Nowlin presents a dance-themed exhibition, “Dance, Dance, Dance,” from August 6 to 27.
In the Center for the Arts’ Center Theater, a star-studded lineup of performers graces the stage through its Center Presents season. Highlights include matchless pianist George Winston on July 19, British singer/songwriter Joan Armatrading on August 1, and jazz innovator Herbie Hancock on August 26. Thinking globally while also acting locally, the Center spotlights homegrown talents when the Jackson Hole Hootenanny takes to the stage July 26, and when Anne and Pete Sibley return for an intimate evening September 19.
In July, Off Square Theatre Company presents a pair of plays, staged on alternating nights. Petticoat Rules, a revival of the musical by Jackson’s own Pam Drews Phillips with New York writer Mary Murfitt, stars the colorful female pioneers of Jackson Hole. It opens July 8 and runs through the 30th. And Always … Patsy Cline, a moving musical tribute to the legendary country singer, opens July 10 and wraps up the 31st.
The creativity coursing through the valley peaks during the 26th annual Fall Arts Festival, September 9 to 19. Organized by the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce, the festival explores all creative aspects of the community and beyond, from historic ranch tours to Western haute couture. Festivities start with the Western Design Conference Exhibition and Sale, the world’s largest showcase of Western furniture, home accessories, and fashion, from September 9 to 12 at the Snow King Center. On September 10, galleries and restaurants team up to present fine art and fine food during the Palates & Palettes Gallery Walk from 5 to 8 p.m. The culinary spotlight continues September 12 with Taste of the Tetons, as valley chefs plate their specialties (a gourmet gathering encircled by the juried art fair Takin’ It to the Streets). The festival hits high notes on September 18 with the Quick Draw and Auction, a feat of artist focus, and the Jackson Hole Art Auction, a premier sale of past and present masters of the American West.
For weekly in-depth coverage of arts and entertainment in the valley, pick up a copy of the Jackson Hole News&Guide’s Stepping Out section.
