BY KAREN BOSSICK
Last spring Natalie Smith gazed with pride as she looked upon her mixed media on canvas work titled “Holy Mackerel” hanging in Friedman Memorial Airport.
“I just debuted my art in London and Milan. Now Hailey!” said Smith, a German-born artist who came to the United States to study painting and performance art at the University of Texas and University of Montana before moving to Hailey where she specializes in abstracts and landscapes such as Baldy.
Get ready for more art debuts as the Friedman Memorial Airport is about to unveil a new round of art created by artists who were inspired by the Sun Valley landscape. The airport staff will hold a reception for the artists and the community from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, at the airport terminal.
Hors d’oeuvres and beverages will be served, and parking will be validated.
The new exhibition features 51 pieces of art ranging from a “Sun Star Tapestry” by Adriel Jeremiah Wool to the painted “Zeus Buffalo Skull” by Anette Wachter. It includes Tod Hamacheck’s “Rock’in Color” photograph on metal displaying the bright colors of aspen set against snow-covered mountains. And it includes an interesting painting titled “Breathing Space” of ghost aspen set against a mountain backdrop by Pamela Street.
“You are the first line welcoming our visitors to the valley. And your creative talents are what they remember as they leave the valley after their stay here,” said Claudia McCain, a longtime leader among arts advocates in the Wood River Valley.
The exhibit started when airport representatives asked the local arts council if they could curate a rotating exhibition to engage airplane passengers as they arrive and depart. Typically, several exhibition pieces sell—often within the first couple days of being mounted.
Photographer Thia Konig exhibited a Rust Panel Diptych photographic image printed on metal with dye sublimation that was inspired by a road trip through Idaho during the last exhibition.
Mimi Stuart, who has painted vivacious works utilizing 24 gold, silver, copper and egg shell for celebrity clients and such venues as the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, shared her work “Jubilation” during the last exhibition.
“It’s about life in Sun Valley--the joy and excitement of living in Sun Valley,” she said. “The rejuvenation of the spirit –that is the spirit of Sun Valley. This place always rejuvenates you.”