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PrintA Creative Caldera
"There's nothing else like it in the world."
Mike Parillo of Asymbol prints an edition of new work by Jamie Lynn at the Factory Studios, a project of Teton Artlab.
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When a caldera is your inspiration, anything is possible. A world-class print exhibition. An artist-made miniature golf course. A fashion show of local designers. An acid western film series.
True to its molten muse, Teton Artlab—the organization founded by printmaker Travis Walker and photographer Tristan Greszko—incubates artists in Jackson Hole. What began as a commercial gallery has evolved into a self-sustaining artist cooperative. On any given day, step inside the Factory Studios and hear the staccato cadence of Abbie Miller’s sewing machine. Or the buzz of John Frechette’s ring saw as he cuts glass. Such is the creative cacophony made possible by Teton Artlab.
Artlab opened in 2007 as a commercial gallery featuring local artists, a collection of work Walker built by practicing “karmic spending.” When he sold one of his pieces for five figures, he went out and bought a Cody Bowl painting by Michael Tierney. Beyond giving local artists a wall to show their art, Walker also allowed artists to work in the space at night and to curate shows in the gallery.
Then the economy went belly up and Walker’s wife Lisa lost her job as an editorial art director. Forced to make a change, he embraced Artlab as a public service and converted it into an educational nonprofit in 2009. The concept took off as more and more artists got involved, so much so that Artlab outgrew two different studios: its original space and another larger studio in the Art Association’s quarters.
The entire article can be read in the Winter 2012 issue of Jackson Hole Magazine.
