Evon

I did not have the time to visit the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming, which would have been an excellent comparison with the NMWA. I decided to just visit a few galleries to get a broader view on wildlife art, along with visiting the Jackson Hole Historical Museum, to learn some history about the town I was in.
This was the first museum i saw...

The Jackson Hole Museum. Unfortunately, the museum was closed during the winter season (I later found out it was due to lack of a heating device). On the front window, there was a sign that directed me to the Historical Society, two blocks north. When I got there, I noticed that it was an old lodge cabin, and thought there would be a lot of history about Jackson inside. However, there was only one, 15 ft X 20 ft room with stuff on display. I could see a kitchen and work room behind the main room, and a library to the left. This was it. I was fairly disappointed by the lack of information about the history of Jackson on display. There was a case devoted to the stories of old time characters that lived in Jackson, along with an Apron exhibit. This was a really quirky exhibit, and made me think of Aminiah Robinson. The two styles were so different. You couldn't perceive culture in these women's tales of cooking and baking, it was their stories that gave you a sense of the Western ranching style of living. Overall, I did not learn very much about the origin of Jackson, but I understood the importance of ranching life and how these people share a special connection to their animals. This made me understand that some hunters are this way as well. Those who don't over hunt and mistreat the game have a bond with this way of living. It however, is sort of a search for control and power over something that is ultimately less than human. I still don't know what I think about hunting....anyways...
Although ranchers don't view horses aesthetically, their relationship is very domesticated and humane. I see owners of horses treat them like owners of dogs would, and there really is no difference. I think this also says a lot about perceptions of animals in our culture. Is just painting an animal more ethical than using its bones and hide for shelter?

I think there are around 30 art galleries in the downtown area, which is considerably a lot for an 8 block-long downtown. The first gallery that caught my eye was Wild by Nature, a gallery devoted to a Jackson artist, Thomas Mangelsen. He is a fairly famous wildlife photographer, who focuses mostly on plains and mountain mammals native to Wyoming. The gallery definitely provided a variety of work, from close ups of pronghorn antelope, to glorious pictures of the Tetons.

I have to say, I am pretty bored with the same old portraits of the Teton Mountains. In every gallery I went into, the majority of the works are oils and photographs of Jackson landscape. The animals that are depicted seem to be commercial works, and very cheesy. I later found out from the NMWA's security guard, Bob, that the most typically known wildlife art is this cheesy, romanticized work I saw downtown. It seems strange to me that the art in the galleries was so dependent on tourism, and the revenue from shoppers in the summer and winter season. I feel like I could see this truth much easier because I was in Jackson in the off-season.