Museum Acquires Four New Artworks

Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Each year, the National Museum of Wildlife Art invites community members to help select artwork to be purchased for its Permanent Collection.

Since Blacktail Gala’s inception in 2015, loyal supporters, sponsors, and event attendees have been instrumental in helping the Museum purchase 33 works of contemporary wildlife art. Pre-selected by the Museum’s curatorial team, the artwork is then vetted by the Museum’s Collections Committee. Finally, it is presented to guests at Blacktail Gala.

Works acquired this year include: Raven Skyriver’s charming Borealis (Walrus), a fantastic blown glass sculpture; He Xi’s Chasing Fish, painted with Ink and Chinese pigments on Silk; a commissioned artwork by Terrance Gaurdipee, painted on historic ledger paper; and Starr Hardridge’s bold and bright Cycle of Abundance painting, using acrylic over Venetian plaster.

“We look forward to Blacktail Gala all year long,” says Allie Tscheulin, National Museum of Wildlife Art’s Director of Marketing. “It is such a special and unique event because we ask our community for their input on what will become part of our Permanent Collection. We love that down the road, people who voted on Blacktail art will see their piece exhibited in one of our galleries. It truly is an event unlike any other.”

The Museum is currently working on creating and traveling an exhibition titled UnNatural Selections, which highlights contemporary wildlife art and features many pieces from Blacktail Gala purchases. It is slated to debut here in the summer of 2021 before traveling to other museums.

Blacktail Gala 2020 was generously sponsored by PLATINUM SPONSOR: Jackson Hole Jewelry Company GOLD SPONSORS: First Republic Bank, Lynn & Foster Friess, Gather/Palate, Niner Wine Estates SILVER SPONSORS: Nancy Shanik & Tom Barry, Val & Dick Beck, Long Reimer Winegar Beppler LLP, Snake River Interiors ADDITIONAL SPONSORS: Atelier Ortega, Floral Art, and Jackson Hole Still Works.

The new acquisitions will be on display at the Museum in Sullivan Hall through Thursday, March 5, 2020.

Raven Skyriver, Borealis (Walrus). Blown, off-hand sculpted and sandblasted glass. 10 x 14 x 9 in.

Terrance Guardipee’s Ledger Art, Running Eagle War Party. He will create a custom artwork for the Museum featuring local wildlife.

He Xi, Chasing Fish, Ink and Chinese pigments on silk. 15 3/4 x 14 1/2 in.

Starr Hardridge, Cycle of Abundance, 2019. Acrylic over Venetian plaster on canvas. 36 x 24 in.

The National Museum of Wildlife Art, a nonprofit founded in 1987, is a world-class art museum holding more than 5,000 artworks representing wild animals from around the world. Featuring work by prominent artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe, Andy Warhol, Robert Kuhn, John James Audubon, and Carl Rungius, the museum’s unsurpassed permanent collection chronicles much of the history of wildlife in art, from 2500 B.C. to the present. Built into a hillside overlooking the National Elk Refuge, the museum received the designation “National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States” by order of Congress in 2008. Boasting a museum shop, interactive children’s gallery, restaurant, and outdoor sculpture trail, the museum is only two-and-a-half miles north of Jackson Town Square, and two miles from the gateway of Grand Teton National Park.

www.WildlifeArt.org
IMAGES AND INTERVIEWS AVAILABLE ON REQUEST

Media Contact:
Allie Tscheulin, Marketing Director, (307) 732-5402, allie@wildlifeart.org