Bias aside, our block rocks. We are surrounded by greatness: Café Genevieve to the west, Healthy Being Juicery to the east, Workshop to the north. Terra lives three doors down (always tempting us with its sartorial windows), and our café architect, E/Ye Design, sits within eye-shot across the street (observant texts fly at us like “What’s with photo shoot on your porch?”). There’s Spark, the co-work space filled with creative types who are always in need of caffeine. At a moment’s notice, we could buy art, get a tattoo, style our tresses, outfit a kid, and peruse properties. Our stretch between King and Willow serves as a microcosm of Jackson and its quirky currents.
And this week, our merry band grows with the arrival of Daly Projects, a contemporary gallery devoted to “Jackson art now,” says its founder Meg Daly. A long-time arts advocate in Jackson, Meg likes to live at the frontiers of valley expression: through her biweekly column, Culture Front, in Planet Jackson Hole; through her arts blog, the first of its criticism kind in Jackson; and most recently, through her representation of top Teton talents.
Ever open to the opportunities life sends her way, Meg seized upon an overlooked spot that opened up in December. Diving into her long-held dream to open a gallery, she transformed the space into a light-washed warren of art, tucked between East Pearl and Willow (the entrance is across the street from Town Hall at 125 East Pearl; enter through the main door, descend the internal staircase, et violà).
After many busy weeks of prep, Meg unveils Daly Projects on Thursday with a Grand Opening fete from 5 to 8 p.m. Her inaugural show, Frontiers, features work by painters Mark Morgan Dunstan, Katy Ann Fox and Todd Kosharek, and fiber artist Abbie Miller.
Before attending the opening, we thought it might be helpful to understand the context of Meg’s endeavor, as sketched in her mission statement: “Daly Projects represents Jackson art now, in all its variety and flux. We celebrate artists who challenge the cultural landscape we live in. we embrace the reinvention of Western identity, values and beliefs. We embrace artists in transition, artists who are busy constructing new visions of lie in the West. Daly Projects is a dynamic mix of people and process, materials and methods, concepts and subjects. We are current, we are contemporary; we are affordable and approachable. We love to talk about art as much as we love to laugh. As eclectic as our community, Daly Projects is defined by the artists’ work we represent.”
Amen: Thus dawns a beautiful new day in the neighborhood.