Jackson Hole, Wyoming – Two works on paper commissioned by the National Museum of Wildlife Art for the current exhibition “Silverspot: a Graphic Novel” have been selected for inclusion in the Society of Illustrators Annual Exhibition, announced Bronwyn Minton, assistant curator of art for the museum. Minton invited some 65 artists, many from the Jackson Hole area, to illustrate assigned pages from Silverspot, the Life of a Crow, a short story about the life of a wise old crow by writer, artist and Boy Scout founder Ernest Thompson Seton for the exhibition, on display at the museum through February 16, 2013. Participating artists Jordin Isip and Hala Swearingen submitted their works created for the Silverspot exhibition to the Society of Illustrators and were accepted as part of the society’s prestigious annual show and accompanying book.
Jordin Isip, Page 5, Lobo, the kingwolf of New Mexico…, 2012, Mixed Media on Paper, Collection of the Artist
The premier showcase for illustrators and animators, the Society of Illustrators Annual Exhibition features more than 400 pieces judged most outstanding out of thousands of submitted works by artists worldwide created throughout each year and selected by a jury of professionals. This year’s selections, including Isip and Swearingen’s Silverspot pieces, will be on display at the Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators in New York City from January 4 – March 2, 2013, and the entire show will be presented in the book ILLUSTRATORS 55, America’s Original Annual of Illustration.
The National Museum of Wildlife Art’s Minton has become known for the inventive projects she’s been doing for more than 10 years, drawing on a broad community of artists, many of them from Teton County, to create special works around an assigned concept. For Silverspot, guest artists received a brief passage from the Seton story to be reproduced in a mandatory font and illustrated on a provided 16-by-20-inch sheet of paper with set borders for consistency and to be easily reproduced in book form. Beyond those simple guidelines, artists were free to choose materials, technique and approach. Minton gave the artists a month to complete their panels. “It’s a really fun way to engage other artists,” she said in a recent interview in the Jackson Hole News & Guide. “It’s like Christmas for me when they all start coming in.”
Silverspot: A Graphic Novel hangs until February 16, 2013 at the National Museum of Wildlife Art. Books are $25 and available for purchase at the Museum shop.
A member of the Museums West consortium and accredited by the American Association of Museums, the museum, officially designated the National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States by an act of Congress in 2008, provides an exciting calendar of exhibitions from its permanent collection and changing exhibitions from around the globe.
A complete schedule of exhibitions and events is available online at www.wildlifeart.org.
The museum is also active on Facebook and on Twitter at @WildlifeArtJH.