Summer in the Arts

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

By Matthew Irwin

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-If you talk to local arts organizations about how they’re getting through the down economy, they’ll probably tell you that though the bad economy has caused them to roll back programming, it has provided some needed course correction.

Whereas the almighty tourist dollar continues to be a focus of marketing efforts, arts orgs have decided to draw more on local talent and provide more community-oriented experiences.

This redirection could represent a sea change in the local arts scene, not only in the way organizations plan programming, but also in the willingness of residents to support the arts in an official capacity, say, through language in the Comprehensive Plan update.

Though this idea certainly has skeptics in Jackson Hole, the reported influx of volunteers, who also happen to be patrons or workshop students or event attendees, says otherwise.

What happened?
When I moved back to Jackson Hole in September 2008, I was encouraged by news of a sprouting arts scene. Jackson Hole Film Festival had wrapped its fifth year; the Jackson Hole Music Festival was a success in its first; a number of galleries, supporting young, innovative artists, had become the social hubs of town.

Within a few months, both festivals and Teton Artlab closed. And too many people were eager to point out that the folks who attend functions at Lyndsay McCandless Contemporary couldn’t afford the high-end work on its wall. Evidence, some people argued, that Jackson can never be an arts community.

Nationally, half-century opera houses were closing, artists and musicians were looking for work in a shrinking market.

But, I knew there must be some good news in the arts, so I decided to do a preview of what’s to come this summer – a time when arts organizations tend to do well according to the Wyoming Arts Council – that also might give us an idea what to expect in the future.

State of the Arts
Most of the people with whom I spoke eagerly provided data on the impact arts can have on an economy. They pointed me to studies by the National Endowment for the Arts and Americans for the Arts.

For example, Jim McNutt, president and CEO of the National Museum of Wildlife Art, said that the arts have a direct impact on an economy in terms of jobs.

Karen Stewart, executive director of the Art Association, said that students are shown to have higher test scores if they’ve studied and practiced an art form.

At the Center for the Arts, spokesperson Richard Anderson said that arts organizations come and go, but that the trend continues upwards.

Teton County receives more state arts grants than any other region, if for no other reason than because JH has so many arts organizations, according to Rita Basom at the Wyoming Arts Council.

The arts also become more important to people during difficult times: “Music and drama can transport a listener to a place where one can be better equipped to confront the problems and hardship, to negotiate the issues as an inevitable part of life,” said Donald Runnicles, music director of Grand Teton Music Festival.

Nonetheless, cuts have been made. The Center, the Art Association, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Off Square Theater and Music on Main have all reduced exhibitions or performances, for the most part limiting visiting acts and trying to preserve free and public programs.

The Arts Council will also make some budget cuts this year, but grants will be the last area they touch, Basom said.

GTMF, however, has been able to keep a full season, said spokesperson Amanda Flosbach, by relying on volunteers and on funding from many sources, including corporate sponsors, individual gifts and, of course, ticket sales.

Teton Artlab bounced back with a one-year lease on the Art Association’s third-floor studio. Stewart said that bringing in Artlab is something the Art Association should have done earlier, but the economy made it necessary.

Now, Artlab is carrying the torch for the First Friday Artwalks, started locally by Lyndsay McCandless.

It will also spend the summer collecting materials for its second “Field Notes”?book on local culture.

Center executive director Steve Shultz has recently made it his mission to change local perceptions of the center from “for the rich” to “for the community.” The free Latino festival, Celebracion, last month, was a part of that effort. However, the cost of bringing an act like Branford Marsalis – a “raging success” according to Anderson – continues to be a challenge.

Over in Driggs, Idaho, the Teton Valley Foundation rolled back its free Music on Main series from eight to five weeks, and put more emphasis on local acts and national bands whose routes bring them close to the area. Talent buyer Shannon McCormick said that he asked bands to accept lower offers to help the nonprofit provide the same level of music it did last year.

Riot Act Inc., a local theater company that has subsisted off ticket sales and the occasional grant, is upping its grant applications and holding a fundraiser, Friday, to pay for a fall production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Riot Act doesn’t have its own theater, so its not burdened with the cost of keeping one up, and it typically holds its shows in small spaces like the Black Box Theater or Dancers’ Workshop Studio One.

Founder Macey Mott also told me about a new collaborative project with members of Dancers’ Workshop, which doesn’t yet have a name. It asks locals to get involved in a performance from conception to the final curtain.

DW also shifted to a collection of free performances and classes, last weekend, dropping an annual gala that spokesperson Alissa Davies said was somewhat contrary to what the organization is about. Instead, DW presented dance as a public art to get more people involved as performers and spectators.

Public art as a tool to awaken awe of nature is also a goal of the Center of Wonder. Founding director Carrie Geraci and Public Art Ambassador Bland Hoke, creator of the Snowtorium on Snow King Mountain, are pushing for language in the Comprehensive Plan update to provide a basis for funding public art programs, as well as zoning for live-work spaces for artists to cut costs.

Off Square Theater changed its line-up to include Petticoat Rules: The Jackson Hole Revue, over a morbid Martin McDonagh play.

Two week ago, we all got the news that Lyndsay McCandless would be shutting the door on her gallery, but though she has a hard time calling it a blessing in disguise, McCandless sees it as an opportunity to provide more of the “community-based art experiences,” such as films and performances, for which her space on Jackson street has already become known.

One idea she has is to create a weekly art market during the summer. She would invite local artists of just about every medium to showcase and sell their work in her space, after the Town Square farmers’ market on Saturdays.

Accessibility
Jackson provides everyone with the opportunity to explore an art form they’ve never before experienced – this came from GTMF’s Flosbach, but you could probably figure it out with a look at the summer arts calendar accompanying this story. It’s 12 pages long in Microsoft Word, and it represents just about every art form imaginable. Moreover, many of the shows are free.

The Art Council’s Basom told me that the relevance of art in Wyoming can be seen everywhere and in everything. She meant that art influences our environment in the shapes and colors of our streets and buildings, signs and clothing, but looking at the summer arts calendar, I think that one can say that art, in the strict sense, will be everywhere in Jackson Hole this summer. JHW

PHOTO: COURTESY ARTLAB/ZACHARY S. ALLEN

PERMALINK:
Summer in the Arts | Planet JH News Article: Cover Stories

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