February 5, it’s all happening at the Art Association.
Really! Sounds like a happening, 1960’s style, with symbolism and emotions and poetry readings and exploration of the human body’s nuances (Our Bodies, Ourselves, a ground breaking book about sexuality and women’s bodies, still available and updated, btw…), power and faith, Arlo Guthrie and Aristotle.
Arlo, Aristotle, Art Association: Triple “A” alliteration.
These shows represent a quantum leap forward for Jackson’s art community. Don’t miss it. A joint opening reception happens at the Center for the Arts on Friday, February 5th, at 5:30 pm.
Show #1:
Nekkid, a group figure exhibition, includes a noon Brown Bag Lunch Art Talk with participating artists. In our “democratic”, post-industrial, high-tech country we still struggle with being cool with nudity (unless you are John Edwards). This show offers a chance to probe that resistance. Works in various media alternately explore and celebrate the human body. As part of the evening’s festivities the spirit of the Beat Poets will resurrect, with live poetry readings.
Participating artists include, but may not be limited to: Eliot Goss, Sue Sommers, Shannon Troxler, Suzanne Morlock, Susan Thulin, Bobbi Miller, Amy Larkin, Barbara Trentham, Mark Nowlin, Jenny Dowd and Valerie Seaberg.
Writers/poets to date include: Sarah Kariko, Marcia Casey, Valley Peters Bradley and Nicole Burdick.
(Bressler, where are you in this? You write great poetry about nudes! Get going, don’t make me bring out the poem you wrote a few years back…..yes, I still have it, it’s bookmarking my souffle recipe.)
Show #2:
Power & Faith: The Photography of Paul Adams will be on display in the 
Artspace Loft Gallery. Here, I defer to Paul Adams’ quotation describing the inspirations for his work.
“Through most of my professional photographic career I have tried to make beautiful photographs simply for the sake of beauty. Recently though I find myself motivated more by the same challenges the American folk singer Arlo Guthrie faced when he said, “For me it is not enough to write a song that is good. I want to write a song that is good for something.” The stimulating and exciting challenge for me as a photographic artist is to try and seduce the viewer into thinking as deeply as they feel. As we look into the faces of these Spiritual Leaders I hope to accomplish Aristotle’s goal for art when he said, “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.”
Show #3:
The Scotch and Watercolor Society, comprised of painters Barbara Barella, Holly Bishop, Barbara C. Kuxhausen, Skip Larcom, Michele McDonald and Joan Melius, deliver their creative messages solely in watercolor.
Watercolors are considered by many to be the most difficult paint medium to master. Artists in this show offer up a variety of impressions, interpretations and subjects in their paintings. The exhibition will be on display in the Artspace Theater Gallery. Perhaps a fine single malt will be served.
Show #4:
Art Association Ceramics Director Sam Dowd is, in my opinion, a great ceramicist. His space-inspired clay compositions are sheer intergalactic fantasy.
It’s exciting that Dowd’s collaboration and guidance of Jackson Hole High School 
students has resulted in this new art project and show, Blast from the Cast.
On display in the Artspace Lobby Gallery, students from Shannon Borrego’s art classes will mount their sculptures and vessels. Students have learned the slip cast mold process, and created works depicting, or speaking to, objects “chosen from life,….making a plaster mold… to produce several reproductions. The students then created clay projects that incorporated, repeated, and altered the mold pieces.”
And that’s quite a process. Results are colorful, well-designed and fanciful. Art created by youth is the most free; with Dowd teaching them, these students may hang on to that creative joie de vivre.
The Art Association may be contacted via their website, or you may phone 307.733.6379.
Tammy Christel 
