In case you haven’t heard, local artist Abbie Miller won a big fat art award for her work with big chunks of eye-popping colorful materials; big chunks that turn into arcing, molten-like sculptures. There is no art like it in Jackson—and I’ve been wondering, how the heck does Miller build those things? Don’t they tip over? Is velcro involved? What is she dreaming about that manifests in those organic, bubbling pieces?
Anyway, Miller’s award was bestowed by Bonnie Laing-Malcolmson, Curator of the Contemporary Northwest Art Award. What is the award? It recognizes “underexposed visual artists from the Northwest,” and winning works will be exhibited next fall at the Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon, where Laing-Malcolmson is a curator.
Laing-Malcolmson hits the Jackson art circuit when she appears at The Rose, on Wednesday, August 1, 5:30 pm. She’ll give a talk, “Northwest Manifest: Jackson Art in Regional Context,” that will be followed by an interactive Q&A session. The evening is free–buy a drink at the bar if you please. The talk is part of Culture Front’s ongoing discussion series; this presentation is a collaboration with J.H. Public Art.
From Laing-Malcolmson’s perspective, Jackson’s arts are multi-dimensional, produce great work, and some artists’ work–like Miller’s–is edgy and experimental; Laing-Malcolmson combs the northwest looking for talent. She feels Jackson’s arts and artists support each; we’ve been talking about that lately, right folks? So let’s be our most supportive, and attend. If you tell me you didn’t show up because of the full moon, I’ll bop you! For more information, contact Meg Daly, at [email protected]
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Jackson’s Tom Mangelsen,—aka Thomas D. Mangelsen—Art Wolfe and Frans Lanting, world-renowned photographers all, have something to teach you. The three amigos photographers embark on the First “Masters of Nature Photography Seminar,” Friday, November 9 – Sunday, November 11th, 2012, at San Francisco’s InterContinental Hotel.
You may have to travel a bit to see real wildlife, but the three shooters promise to change the way seminar attendees experience and use their own cameras. For years, Mangelsen has been chronicling the lives of grizzlies in our region, and he uses his observations to promote conservation and wildlife protection in Grand Teton National Park and the Greater Yellowstone region. This seminar looks to empower others to promote similar causes with their work. Presentations from each photographer will be mixed with panel discussions, Q & A sessions, and reviews of images submitted by attendees. Industry expert Patrick Donehue will share successful marketing strategies.
And it all happens in San Francisco! Yay! Airfarewatchdog, take me away!
Get full details on the weekend’s activities by visiting www.mastersofnaturephotography.com. Tom Mangelsen’s gallery, Images of Nature, is located at 170 N. Cache, in Jackson, Wyoming.
Tammy Christel 
