Public art innovator Walter Hood speaks in Jackson July 26

Speaking of public art projects...

Jackson Hole's Public Art Initiative is still young but has launched some neat projects, with more in the works. The program recently announced that "Sky Play" (see artist's rendering above), by Wisconsin artist Don Rambadt, will be featured in the bike path underpass at the National Museum of Wildlife Art site north of town.

Renowned landscape architect Walter Hood, designer of the National Museum of Wildlife Art ’s under-construction sculpture trail, will discuss “Art in Public Places” at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 26 at the museum in Jackson. The event is free and open to the public. Known for his innovative and people-friendly designs of such high-profile public spaces as the grounds for the De Young Museum in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, Hood is expected to "share insight into his philosophy about creating multitasking public spaces that are both respectful of the land and rooted in their communities."

Walter Hood

If you're in Jackson this summer, the museum offers "hard hat tours" of its sculpture trail daily at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. through September. The new sculpture trail is set to open September 2012. The tours are free and open to the public and will meet in front of the Museum Shop.

Goal of the National Museum of Wildlife Art's new multimillion-dollar Sculpture Trail:

Further integrate the national museum’s collection with its natural Wyoming setting. The trail also will connect to a recently constructed Jackson-to-Grand Teton National Park pathway via a new underpass for easy biker and hiker access. 

Important sculptures planned for the new outdoor space include a casting of Simon Gudgeon’s streamlined bronze bird form “Isis” that was installed in London’s Hyde Park in 2009, a life-size elk bronze titled “Black Timber Bugler” by Tim Shinabarger, and eight larger-than-life bison in a sculpture by Richard Loffler called "Buffalo Trail" to be installed on the hillside with its own separate path.