18 Jul Wyoming Honors 35 Years of Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival this September

Destination mountain town serves as dazzling fall-colors canvas for cultural extravaganza

Jackson Hole, Wyoming – July 16 2019 – Much has changed in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, since 1984, but one thing has remained constant: The area’s enthusiastic and wholehearted commitment to its support of the arts. The most vibrant and visually stunning example of that dedication, the annual Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival, has set the dates for its biggest milestone yet — the 35th anniversary of the Rocky Mountain West’s premier cultural celebration takes place September 4 – 15, 2019, and will fill the streets of Jackson and the surrounding area with activities and events devoted to highlighting and honoring the best of all things arts-oriented.

Featuring more than 50 family-friendly events — many of which are free — presented against the colorful backdrop of fall foliage against majestic mountains, and with the summer crowds long gone, this September showcase offers the perfect time to travel to Jackson to experience the mesmerizing magnitude of talented local and national artists, who display artisanship ranging from oil paintings, watercolors and sculptures to fashion, furniture and food. Named a “Best fall travel destination” by Forbes, Jackson Hole in September is a spectacular time to visit and this annual arts festival is truly a one-of-a-kind event to put on the calendar.

Left to right: The live runway fashion show at the Western Design Conference’s Opening Preview Party; crowds fill Jackson galleries and streets during the Palates & Palettes Gallery Walk (runway photo by New Thought Digital).

Among the most popular of the Fall Arts Festival favorites, the Western Design Exhibit + Salereturns to the Snow King Center, starting with its action-packed Opening Preview Party on September 5 — a smorgasbord of cocktails, gourmet goodies and hundreds of juried artists’ work to peruse, plus a live runway fashion show and the Winner’s Circle Art Auction, where past award winners receive a 50/50 split with the WDC artist awards fund for newly created works. The exhibit and sale, with its unique meet-the-maker format, continues through September 8, offering guests the opportunity to shop and talk shop directly with the talented artists and designers.

Another cherished event, the Palates & Palettes Gallery Walk, finds galleries staying open late to offer guests time to leisurely look at the collections while sipping wine, snacking on appetizers and, in some cases, taking in the vibrant live music scene. Meanwhile, locals and visitors alike clamor to sample goodies from the Taste of the Tetons event, a feast of the senses that features innovative culinary creations from Jackson Hole’s best chefs.

Taste of the Tetons attracts foodies to sample chefs’ culinary creations. QuickDraw features open air artist creations from dozens of artists that are immediately available for purchase at auction.

For architecture and design aficionados, fewer opportunities are more enticing than the dramatic and provocative Showcase of Homes Tour, which allows participants the chance to explore Jackson’s spectacular mountain homes and talk technique and craftsmanship in person with the experts behind every phase of the process, while Western cultural history fans can tour the valley’s historic ranches, where Old West meets New West and the cowboy lifestyle remains very much alive and well.

And finally, the festival finale and fan favorite, the QuickDraw event, will attract dozens of artists to the iconic Jackson Town Square, where each is given 90 minutes to paint, sculpt and sketch their masterpieces before the live auction to sell these one-of-a-kind works.

Following the QuickDraw event, guests can bid on the artists’ pieces at the live auction on the Town Square as well as bid on the beautiful 2019 featured artwork by local artists Kathryn Mapes Turner and John E. Simms as seen here in Fine Art Connoisseur.

A full schedule of Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival events can be found HERE