NMWA fundraiser results in many boxing matches

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

By PJH Staff

Last Friday, 283 art lovers joined the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s Paintbox Society to celebrate the fourth biannual Out of the Box Show and Auction. Over 130 boxes were created by local and national artists and auctioned off to raise funds for the museum’s adult and youth education programs. The museum had set a fundraising goal of $55,000 for the event, and raised $54,000.

“We’re pleased by the amount raised and by the turnout, especially since there was so much happening in the valley on Friday night.” said Marketing Director Zeenie Scholz.
Some boxes that generated a buzz included one by world-renowned wildlife painter Bob Kuhn, which auctioned for $5,400, the highest bid of the night. Others that garnered high bids included Ricki Arno’s, “Rosie’s Cowboy Sweetheart,” Kathy Turner’s “A Real Gem” and Julie Chapman’s “Caballo.”

I witnessed several patrons sparring over a dazzling box created by Shannon Troxler. The traditional box pictured a crane nestled in the trees; the backdrop was dotted with red flowers and gold leaf. The box sold for $360. Sandy Faraday said she bid on the box because Troxler had a “wonderful style” and was a fan of her work in general.
So how does an artist think outside the box when designing a box?

“The challenge is taking a concept, like a box, and exploring the idea,” said artist Ben Roth who submitted two abstract metal boxes. “But then you must also make it sellable and appealing to the public; that’s the challenge.”

Look for the next Out of the Box Show and Auction in 2009.
— Mary Grossman

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Ciao Gallery, the artists’ cooperative at 145 N. Main St. in Victor, Idaho, hosts a reception for photographer Dell Cullum and painter Kate Miller 6-9 p.m. on Saturday.
Cullum, a new resident of Tetonia, Idaho, specializes in wildlife and landscape photography. A New York native, Cullum began studying photography in the U.S. Navy.

After military service, he worked as a photographer in Hawaii, traveled the country doing scenic landscape photography, then moved back to New York where he joined the fire service. He was the first Fire & Rescue Photographer for NYS Fire District, documenting live calls and training drills for fire companies and police departments.

On Sept. 11, 2001, Cullum witnessed the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and was assigned to photo-document the scene while also performing his duties as a firefighter and rescue technician. He donated his 9/11 photos to a gallery; proceeds from their sale went to funds for fallen firefighters.

A week before Christmas 2001, Cullum resigned from the fire service and left New York for Arizona and then Texas. His interest in wildlife naturally led him to Yellowstone and his new home in Idaho.

He recently published his first book, “Nature & Wildlife Enhanced Collection: Volume 1,” which includes images from Wisconsin, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Texas and New York.

Kate Miller’s collection at Ciao includes landscapes, figurative work, portraits, Western scenes and even equestrian work, some realistic, others with surreal or expressionistic touches.

Miller hails from southeastern Ohio, where she got interested in art at a very young age and pursued it through high school and college, graduating in 2006 with a BFA from Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. She moved to Jackson Hole soon after, where, when not doing graphic design work and painting, she snowboards, hikes, rides horses and engages in other outdoor activities.

In addition to art, wine and hors d’oeuvres, Teton Valley singer-songwriter Willow Star will perform during Saturday’s reception. Contact the gallery at (208) 787-4841 or ciaogallery@yahoo.com, or visit www.ciaogallery.com.
-Richard Anderson

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Stare a grizzly in the eyes, glimpse the secret underwater life of cutthroat trout, or bask in the alpenglow of an evening in the Tetons at “Fin, Fur and Fire,” a show of never-before-displayed photos by Madeleine Stikkel, at the Snake River Brew Pub.

Opening just last week, Stikkel’s show of medium- and large-format photos may depict subjects we all have seen a thousand times before, but the Jackson shooter manages to find a way to make them fresh. Perhaps it’s the crispness or drop-dead gorgeous color her gear is capable of capturing. Perhaps it’s that age-old combination of patience and luck paying off with just the right moment for her to expose her film. Or perhaps there’s something about Stikkel’s own personality that found its way into her image of swans resting on ice, buffalo crossing a river in Yellowstone, or the moon setting behind the Grand.

Stikkel graduated in 1990 with a BA in environmental biology from the State University of New York in Buffalo. Over the past decade she has worked for Hogan Films as a cinematographer and photographer, contributing to “Yellowstone Wild,” which aired on National Geographic Explorer, and the BBC-produced “Beaver: The Master Builder,” which was narrated by Sir David Attenborough. In 2002, she opened Professional Photo Gallery in downtown Jackson with four fellow photographers.
The Snake River Brew Pub is located at 265 S. Millward St.
-Richard Anderson
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Jackson Hole painter Jim Wilcox won the prestigious Frederick Remington Award earlier this month at the Prix de West Art Show and sale in the National Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.

The Remington Award goes to the best painting in the show, which is widely considered one of the best art shows in the nation. Wilcox won for “Fiery Farewell,” a glowing sunset over an alpine lake. The prize carries a $3,000 purchase award.

This isn’t the first success Wilcox has had at Prix de West. In 2002, he won the Remington Award for “The Fifth Season,” depicting melting spring ice on Taggart Lake, and in 1987, he won the highest honor in the show, the Prix de West Award, for a painting of the sunset over the Sleeping Indian, “Three Last Minutes of Glory,” which is now part of the museum’s permanent collection.

This year’s Prix de West Show included more than 300 original works of art by more than 100 of the nation’s top artists. Other prize-winners with Jackson Hole connections include sculptor Gerald Balciar, who won the James Earle Fraser Sculpture Award for his mountain lion sculpture, “Ledge with a View”; and painter Bob Kuhn, who won the Major General and Mrs. Don D. Pittman Wildlife Art Award for “Resting Cat.” Both are contemporary favorites at the National Museum of Wildlife Art.
-Richard Anderson

Courtesy picture
Jim Wilcox’s “Fiery Farewell”

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NMWA fundraiser results in many boxing matches | Planet JH News Article: Arts Beat

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