Arts
STEPPING OUT Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 9
Artlab to break in new downtown studio –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Who: Local artists, Teton Artlab What: Big Haus Studios opening When: 6 to 9 p.m. Friday Where: 160 S. Cache How much: Free Web: TetonArtlab.com –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– By Katy Niner
T
he new Teton Artlab studio project shares a lot with the old jail: physically and etymologically. Big House, slang for jail, and Bauhaus, the seminal German arts and crafts movement, combine to coin the name Big Haus Studios at 160 S. Cache. Both tropes suit the Big Haus ethos: a Teton Artlab project that brings 10 creative studios to the 1970s office building beside the long-shuttered former jail. Travis Walker, co-founder of the Artlab, sees Big Haus as a collaboration between artists and the Artlab. On Friday, Artlab invites people to come explore the new site starting at 6 p.m. The event will spill into the parking lot behind the building shared by the old jail and courthouse. Jackson folk/indie rock quintet Elk Attack will perform on the back stoop, garage-band style, and Pica’s Taco Truck will sell food and margaritas. In keeping with the Artlab’s educational mission, Big Haus features shared work spaces: a printmaking
Wallis carefully lines up the layers of a photograph at Big Haus Studios. He’s one of the 11 residents of the new Teton Artlab project.
JACLYN BOROWSKI / NEWS&GUIDE photos
Alex Keenan learns how to screenprint photos in individual layers Thursday under the guidance of fellow artist Aaron Wallis at Big Haus Studios. The new arts collaborative hosts an opening event Friday with art, food and live music.
studio downstairs, hallways to hang work, and an upstairs gallery space. During the grand opening Friday, residents’ work will hang on the walls, as well as that of friends of the Artlab, like Craig Spankie. Scottie Craighead, back in town for the summer, will transform the gallery into a woodsy world housing his repurposed furniture mounts, replete with sod on the floor and paper hides on the walls. A silent auction featuring work by Artlab alumni as well as current residents will help raise funds for the Artlab’s Caldera Festival, the concert event scheduled for Aug. 18 featuring Andrew Bird and Sharon Van Etten. Donated works include raven prints by Craighead, a print and painting by Victoria Reynolds, a complete Street Bible by Aaron Wallis and more. Big Haus continues where the Factory Studios left off. In February, Teton Artlab decided to vacate the former candy factory on Greg-
ory Lane, citing a dispute with the landlord over fire-code violations. The artists and entrepreneurs who filled the Factory scrambled to find new studios. Those who could wait for space until April joined Artlab in the Big Haus. Like its predecessor, Big Haus provides subsidized studio and display space for artists; same concept, only slightly less space. To comply with the property’s zoning, Big Haus can only house certain creative disciplines like graphic design, printmaking, painting, sculpting and fiber arts. The new roost’s downtown location is significantly more convenient for client-based businesses like XOWYO paper and press. By being across the street from the Center for the Arts, Big Haus helps to create a creative campus downtown, Walker said. To nurture that, Big Haus is offering printmaking classes. Big Haus will not be the public
Big Haus residents - XOWYO paper and press - Camille Davis - Dedicate - Brooke Kemmerer - Wendell Field - Mike Piggott - Aaron Wallis - Abby Czesnakowicz - Travis Walker - Tristan Grezsko hub the Factory was. Instead, Walker is focusing his time on the residents and cultivating relationships with like-minded creative organizations. He is also busy organizing the inaugural Caldera Festival. While summer will likely see more artist volunteers stopping by, he thinks of Big Haus as a place of creative work. Come winter, he expects to host artist residencies.
New critique class aims for cross-pollination, candor ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Who: Artists What: Critique workshop When: 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays Where: Photography Studio, Art Association How much: Free Web: ArtAssociation.org ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– By Katy Niner Writers, sculptors, dancers, photographers, actors, painters — all artists, all disciplines are welcome to join Thomas Macker’s new critique class. The only requirements are that participants commit to the concept of candid critique and to the full (free) workshop. Macker has wanted to introduce critiques to Jackson ever since moving from Los Angeles, where he studied photography and media at the Califor-
nia Institute of the Arts. In LA, Macker showed his work to friends and peers. In Jackson, he has found most artists work in isolation. “Not only are artists working in a vacuum by being in Jackson, they are working in a vacuum within Jackson,” Macker said. Macker hopes to change that: starting Tuesday night, he will host weekly salon-style sessions in the photography studio at the Art Association. Every week, two artists will present their work and fellow participants will offer critiques. The free workshop will run for eight weeks through Aug. 14. Depending on how many people sign up, artists will present at least once, ideally twice, over the course of the class. Sign up by calling the Art Association, 733-6379. For the concept to work, Macker feels all participants must commit to showing up to at least six of
the eight sessions. Everyone must contribute, and everyone must be invested in the idea of forging something as a class, Macker said. “The goal of the course is to cross-pollinate and exchange ideas,” Macker wrote in the course description. “However, this course will require rigor and respect from participating artists.” Participants can bring whatever work, in whatever state, they want. “This will be a great opportunity to workshop a new or ongoing body of work or revisit a recently completed project,” Macker wrote. Macker hopes the class grows, with artists’ interest, into a seasonal offering. While participants are not required to present with words, Macker has found the exercise of articulating his art useful. “I want to talk about why the artist feels like the work they are doing is important to them,” he said.