As children return to school following long summer breaks, their teachers inevitably ask them a timeless question: What did you do on your summer vacation?
For Jason Williams and Carrie Wild, the husband-and-wife team that owns Gallery Wild in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, their answer to that question speaks to the state of Western art—they grew bigger and better. First, they partnered with the Four Seasons in Wyoming’s Teton Village, at the base of the Grand Tetons, to provide fresh art throughout the property on a rotating basis. Second, they bought Altamira Fine Art, with locations in Scottsdale, Arizona, and in Jackson Hole. “Yeah, we’ve been busy,” Wild says about her summer. More on Altamira later.
Eldredge by Patricia A. Griffin hangs at the Four Seasons in Teton Village, Wyoming. The hotel and Gallery Wild recently partnered to show work on the property.
The Four Seasons deal came about after a long period of dealings with the luxury brand by one of the couple’s earlier businesses, Jackson Hole Wildlife Safaris. Wild and Williams would partner with expert guides to send Four Seasons vacationers off into the national parks for adventures and sightseeing. “They were really incredible programs,” Wild says. “We would hire naturalist guides, people who knew where the best spots and the best wildlife was—NatGeo photographers, filmmakers, wildlife biologists, all sorts of people—to take guests into Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks. We had a lot of success with it, but we sold the company a year and a half ago.”
Carrie Wild, Rendezvous Nocturne Grizzlies Twenty Six.0, acrylic and silver lead on canvas, 36 x 36”
When the Teton Village property fell under new management earlier this year, the Gallery Wild duo saw another opportunity to partner with the Four Seasons, this time to help them redecorate the resort and its spacious lobbies and hallways. By many accounts, the artwork on the property was stale and outdated. Wild and Williams made a simple pitch: Gallery Wild would fill the resort with art, and the Four Seasons would have cutting-edge, contemporary Western art that would help bolster its brand in wildlife-rich Wyoming. The pitch worked.
“We now have artwork in all the common areas, including the entire first floor, the lobby, the Ascent Lounge, hallways down to the spa, entryways and even in their conference and banquet centers. We have more than 50 pieces on view at any given time,” Wild says. “And every piece has a metal tag on it letting people know who the artist is and what the piece is called. There are no prices, but there are QR codes that take guests right to our website to learn more and make purchases.”
The triptych 1856 by Patricia A. Griffin hangs in a hallway.
Williams, who meticulously designed the QR codes and wall labels, recalls that the partnership with the Four Seasons happened fast. “We started rolling very quickly. And now, because we have so much work there, we think of it as a whole other gallery,” he says. “And we also plan to switch the entire collection out each season. It’s exciting to see the work in a new place and see the possibilities for our artists.”
At present, the hotel has artwork by Patricia A. Griffin, Amber Blazina, Silas Thompson, Doyle Hostetler, Carrie Penley, Caleb Meyer, Jenna Von Benedikt and many others. Much of the work plays well with Teton Village, which is known for its gorgeous scenery at the base of a national park and its quick access to iconic North American wildlife, including bears, moose and elk.
Casters 3 by Michael Kessler hangs in the lobby of the Four Seasons in Wyoming.
Cory Carlson, the regional director of marketing for Four Seasons, helps run the Teton Village location and admires what Wild and Williams have done in such a short period of time. “The hotel had a tired look to it. The art was more wall furniture, and it just didn’t speak to me. When we started talking about taking everything off and starting again, I got very excited. This is some of the most valuable real estate for displaying anything, so a lot of planning went into it. And it looks great,” he says, adding that the gallery has already started hosting art tours that are very popular. “The art is spectacular and since May we’ve already sold 18 paintings. This is the best marketing activation I’ve ever been a part of. I see people in there scanning the QR codes and taking pictures with the art. It is helping build both our brands, Four Seasons and Gallery Wild.”
Jason Williams, Timeless 15, photography on handmade paper and resin, 20 x 16”
“Jackson Hole is known for its dynamic art community, and is well established among the top art destinations in the United States,” says Ryan Grande, the hotel’s general manager. “We are thrilled to partner with one of Jackson Hole’s most prestigious Western art galleries to bring this beautiful collection to life. The gallery is ever-changing, and will offer a programming component to further engage our guests.”
Gallery Wild did not invent the art hotel—there are others in Jackson Hole, and the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs also comes to mind—but what sets Wild and Williams’ venture apart is the size and scope of their plans within the art world. The Four Seasons project arrived on the heels of another large project, the expansion to a space in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a year earlier. And then, as the Four Seasons project was starting to pick up speed, another venture landed in their laps. This is where we bring Altamira Fine Art back into the story.
Upward by Caleb Meyer is on view at the Four Seasons near Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Owned by Mark Tarrant—a charismatic and well-liked gallerist with locations in both Scottsdale, Arizona, and Jackson Hole—Altamira Fine Art maintained a steady presence in the contemporary art market, both within the Western art world and outside of it. His gallery in Jackson Hole is about as far from Jackson’s Town Square as Gallery Wild, but on opposite corners.
Duke Beardsley, Cato, oil, 60 x 32”
“What happened became a reality for us very quickly. We were talking with Mark about the art market—we had been friends for a long time so we exchanged input frequently—and then he just asked us if we wanted to take over Altamira,” Wild says. “He said it was because he loved the energy of the gallery and what we had done. He felt that we would be the best fit to carry on his legacy.”
Wild and Williams agreed to acquire Tarrant’s two galleries in Arizona and Wyoming. They saw it as making a big bet on contemporary Western art. “We are offering a fresh take on this genre of art, both with Gallery Wild and Altamira, which has this great foundation that had been established before we arrived,” Wild says. “What is great about what Mark had built was that he had a vision that Western art could go in so many different types of collections. It was a fresh perspective and it helped build a lot of great artists’ careers.”
Williams adds that all three gallery owners shared one key belief: “Western art had continued to push forward through the ups and downs of the market. It had weathered the storm,” he says. “It’s a bright spot in the art world.”
Blue Rhythm by Jenna Von Benedikt.
Altamira’s new owners have said their immediate plans are to keep Altamira Fine Art in Jackson Hole open and active, because they see it as a slightly different brand than their own Gallery Wild, and they also plan to keep the Scottsdale location open as well. “These are icons that don’t need to change,” Wild says. They’ve also reached out to Altamira’s artists to continue show schedules, plan events, acquire new work for the galleries and to get new work placed in the Four Seasons alongside Gallery Wild artists. Altamira’s stable is exceptional and includes Duke Beardsley, Geoffrey Gersten, David Grossmann, Jivan Lee, Bradford Overton, Kenneth Peloke, Howard Post, David Frederick Riley, Ben Steele, Dennis Ziemienski and many others. It also helps that both Wild and Williams are artists themselves, which establishes trust among the artists they represent.
Artwork by Caleb Meyer, right, and Nealy Riley in a hallway.
What’s most remarkable about Gallery Wild’s rise through the art market is just how far the gallery has come. Just two years ago, Wild and Williams had one gallery in one state. Today they have four galleries in three states, and a hotel showing their artists’ work as well. That is a powerful vote of confidence in the strength of the contemporary Western market. —
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