British-American Natalie Clark, an artist who divides her time between Washington D.C. and the beautiful, mountainous region that includes Wyoming’s Teton Mountains, opens a new solo exhibition, Crystalline, at Skew Gallery this month. Skew, a Calgary, Alberta gallery, debuts Clark’s show October 13, 2011 with an artist’s reception from 6-8:00 pm. Clark’s work remains on exhibit through November 12, 2011.
A familiar figure around Jackson Hole’s art scene, I first met Clark when she worked at the former J.H. Muse Gallery (now the Tayloe Piggott Gallery). A world traveler, Clark is influenced by every country she visits; she has a talent for capturing the core of a culture. Works are a fusion of contemporary design elements, ethnology and nature’s organic forms and vivid colors. Be it Rio, Johannesburg, or the Australian Outback, Clark searches out distinct, but universal cultural threads.
Clark’s sculptures are, these days, constructed from steel and informed by a visit to South Africa’s diamond mines. Polyhedrons (three dimensional geometric solids with straight lines–yes, I had to look that up!) and crystalline-like forms culminate in large scale installations. Individual shapes are “clustered together to resemble something totemic, [a] forest, iceberg or other geological formations. Crystalline also includes works infused with the colors of Bhutan’s prayer flags: fire red, blue air and green water.
The artist’s education and experience includes a Masters in Fine Art from the Art Institute of Chicago. She was a finalist in a 9/11 design competition and has received international media coverage.
Skew Gallery’s address is 1615 10th Avenue WS, Calgary, Alberta. www.skewgallery.com Information: 403.244.4445.
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There’s always something new going on with Jackson Hole artist Ben Roth, the artist who keeps life simple so he can do his work. Roth accomplishes quite a bit, yet he’s EVERYWHERE, I see him everywhere! 
Roth’s Council of Pronghorn,a collaboration with Terry Tempest Williams and Felicia Resor, has been on exhibit New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine. At one time on exhibit at Jackson’s Center of the Arts courtyard, the installation is part of a group show entitled The Value of Water and remains up through March, 2012. Americans for the Arts recognized Roth for last summer’s Vail, Colorado installation sculpture, and he’s anticipating a new installation project that will be installed near Colorado Springs. Another project, a metal screen chameleon, will be shown in Boulder, Colorado in December.
Finally, Roth has been chosen to create a permanent sculpture for a new public building at Cheyenne’s Warren Air Force Base. Three sandhill crane sculptures—composed of metal screen and bronze—will soar across an atrium’s ceiling space. The piece will be installed next January.
“I’m also building a scarecrow for the public art fundraiser,” says Roth. “And getting ready to deliver a large, cast bronze outdoor sculpture to California in early November.”
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And now for that story on Wyoming’s wind farms. Looking for something educational to read on a long flight between D.C. and Denver, I noticed Fortune Magazine’s article on Wyoming’s wind energy projects. Grabbed it.
The Power Struggle for Wyoming’s Wind brings home the point that no matter how much wind blows across Wyoming, no matter how many wind towers are built, their success depends on transmission infrastructure.
Journalist Ken Otterbourg writes: “Along the highways around Cheyenne and Casper, plenty of turbines rise out of the sagebrush and scrublands. Wind energy here is already generating about 1,400 megawatts of power, but that’s perhaps a tenth of the state’s potential. And in the past year the industry has come to a dead halt. There are political obstacles, but the main problem is this: Wyoming has run out of power lines connecting it to the rest of the country. And until it gets more, that epic wind is just moving dust and dirt eastward, one gust at a time.”
The article describes the different ways wind power is transmitted, and lists the many political, regulatory, monetary and logistical roadblocks to successfully building enough interstate power lines. California is Wyoming’s biggest potential wind energy customer. But before the state’s largest energy companies can build, they need to secure purchase agreements with California. “None now exist,” Otterburg says. Bill Miller, president of Anschutz Exploration, says he’s hugely optimistic about success. Otterburg quotes Miller: “The project will stand on its economic merit. I’m confident that our purchase price — should we get to a point sooner or later with a power purchase agreement — will be competitive with anybody.”
The Power Struggle for Wyoming’s Wind provided an expansive, easy-to-understand overview of Wyoming’s wind energy goals. We need interstate commerce; let’s hope California and Wyoming can work it out.
Tammy Christel 
