Show Preview | Western Visions - Southwest Art Magazine

Jackson, WY
National Museum of Wildlife Art, September 12-October 18

Steve Devenyns, In Every Cloud…A Silver Lining, oil, 9 x 12.

This story was featured in the September 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art September 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

NO SHOW on the calendar draws more attention from serious collectors of animal art than Western Visions. Now celebrating its 33rd year as the largest annual special event benefitting the National Museum of Wildlife Art, it attracts some of the finest artists working in that genre. “We are the world’s premier wildlife museum, and this is the show to be in,” says Amy Goicoechea, the institution’s director of programs and events.

Each of the approximately 100 participating painters and sculptors has sent one finished artwork, and each had the option of also sending a sketch or study, so about 180 total pieces are anticipated. All of the works are on display to museum visitors—and for sale—throughout the show’s run. This year the usual sales process, in which guests place intent-to-purchase slips in boxes beside each artwork and one lucky purchaser’s name is drawn, has been replaced by a first-come-first-served approach. Artworks are also available for purchase on the museum’s website beginning even earlier, on August 24.

: Adam Smith, Mountain Monarch, acrylic, 14 x 11.

: Jim Wilcox, Silent Season, oil, 30 x 40.

: Tamara Ruiz, Neon Night, oil, 24 x 24.

One highlight of this year’s Western Visions is being presented only online. Entitled The Jackson Hole Five: Important Painters From the West, the online panel discussion is being live-streamed on Thursday, September 17, and recorded for later viewing. It features five influential painters from the Jackson area, all of whom have works in the show: Amy Lay, Amy Ringholz, Kathryn Mapes Turner, September Vhay, and Kathy Wipfler.

The exhibition itself presents a dazzlingly wide array of mediums, subjects, and styles. “We have bronze and wood sculptures; paintings in acrylics, oils, and pastels; and limited-edition prints, drawings, and mixed-media pieces,” notes Goicoechea. “You’ll see all the charismatic megafauna, such as bison, cougars, moose, elk, deer, bighorn sheep, and bears”—and that doesn’t begin to mention “a whole swath of avian subjects, including ravens, owls, ducks, and eagles.”

: John Potter, Ascension, oil, 40 x 30.

: Lindsay Scott, Leap of Faith: The Great Migration, oil, 45 x 14.

: Tim Shinabarger, Wild Horse Island Ram, bronze, 12 x 7 x 6.

As for styles, consider the variety found among just four of the standout pieces. Mark Eberhard’s painting AUTUMN MAJESTY juxtaposes a trio of blue jays and a lone elk, all vividly realistic, against a vibrant golden background. A mixed-media painting by Julie T. Chapman, CARPE DIEM #2 (REBOUND), portrays a cougar emerging from dynamic earth-toned swashes of color. Sculptor Tim Cherry’s small tabletop bronze PROSPERITY features a gracefully streamlined goldfish, its tail in mid-swish, atop a lily pad. And in AN UNUSUAL EVENT, artist Chris Maynard has arranged tiny hopping amphibian and wading avian images that he intricately cut from two turkey feathers, composing a shadowbox tableau.

Travel precautions may prevent some artists and collectors from attending the show in person as they have in years past, but the spirit behind Western Visions remains as high as ever. Says Goicoechea, “It is a pleasure to host a fundraiser that is tied so directly to our mission.” —Norman Kolpas

contact information
307.733.5771
www.wildlifeart.org