ART: Build It and They Will Come

Jackson Hole’s artistic backdrop has become a scene, and finding center stage is less important than dancing among the aisles of multi-disciplinary creations.

Jackson Hole’s artistic backdrop has become a scene, and finding center stage is less important than dancing among the aisles of multi-disciplinary creations. With an iconic landscape, almost 40 western and contemporary galleries, and sophisticated community support, Jackson Hole looks about from an artistic point of view. The panorama spans coffee shops to high-end hotels, studios to collectors’ homes, the library to the stage, and the art fairs to the national art market.

An explorer could begin at The Center for the Arts. Positioned with what appears to be perfect timing and location, The Center met with immediate success in 2005 by supporting non-profit art organizations under one roof — 17 to date. Proof that Jackson Hole was ready for this elevated level of cohesion, the Art Association reports that they nearly tripled their studio, display and education space by moving into The Center, which in turn led to the rapid tripling of membership and classes. The equine energy of Deborah Butterfield’s work, Arnold Newman’s “One World, One People,” “The Book as Art,” and funky Y.A.R.D Art from high school students show the range of the Artspace Gallery.

“One of the things that has resulted from The Center’s original plan to provide a safe and sound environment for the arts is the creation of unique cultural derivatives, the cross-pollination that happens with the movement from stage theatrics, to visual art, to dance and music,” says Stephen Schultz, the Executive Director of The Center for the Arts. “This new hybrid is beginning to show itself. We offered an affordable place for all types of artists to do their work, and now they are interacting.”

Pure collaboration came when Off Square Theatre Company presented a rock and roll version of Shakespeare, the Association’s Artspace Gallery hung a show called “A Midautumn Art Dream,” and The Center presented the movie, “American Graffiti.” Large-scale and small-scale performances find an audience at The Center Theater, and people increasingly travel from afar to hear the likes of Buddy Guy and Willie Nelson. Dancer’s Workshop brought the force of Lines Ballet to the 500-seat Center Theater, and their studios inspire a dizzying array of dance classes. A snapshot of The Center reveals back-to-back reasons to applaud, leaving arts explorers with just enough time to hoof it to the latest gallery opening.

Schultz describes the current vibrancy as both symbiotic and one “that feeds on itself. And once you get that going, it becomes an artistic community. Not only are benefactors to the arts coming to Jackson but artists are flocking here, being inspired, and finding the tools they need to progress.” Meanwhile, Tim Sandlin, author and Director of The Jackson Hole Writers Conference, adds that writers have been congregating in Jackson since the early 1900s.

With a grassroots poetry reading, a rotating public art spot, art studio tours, and hip openings in the contemporary galleries where local musicians perform among the paintings, artists in Jackson Hole are flexing and building bodies of work to share at every level. Meanwhile, nationally recognized performers and western artists continue to adorn the artscape. As many executive directors within the non-profit realm attest, it’s the exposure to well-established artists and national trends that pushes regional and local artists. Grand Teton Music Festival also provides by bringing over 200 musicians from leading orchestras across the nation to perform symphony and chamber concerts.

In May 2008, the National Museum of Wildlife Art earned federal designation as the NMWA of the United States, and their Western Visions show annually closes the Fall Arts Festival. Each September in Jackson Hole
is rich with events and food and art appreciation as part of the festival, including the Western Design Conference, which has opened the festival for two years.

The Cultural Council’s annual 2008 Award for Creativity went to gallery owner Lyndsay McCandless, whose speech encouraged artists and patrons to “art it forward” and maintain the momentum of Jackson’s creative energy. Ideas emerge from every corner these days as businesses apply creative solutions, musicians play at the base of the ski hill, an artist blows glass into antlers, the Neville Brothers visit the community radio station, West African drumming shares the stage with western swing dancers, a metal artist loans a bowl made of flattened spoons to a wedding caterer, and a powerhouse of energetic children voluntarily giggle their way through art, theater, music, and dance classes outside of the school day.  

Although there is not yet a highway sign that says “Slow Down for Art,” the fast clip of the art scene keeps residents and visitors dancing as they choose among the many cultural experiences. “In Jackson, anything goes,” says Schultz, “throw it out there and see if it sticks. It’s a mentality that encourages growth and experimentation.”