The 32nd annual Western Design Conference Exhibit + Sale in
Jackson Hole, Wyoming, concluded
on September 8, 2024, with 15
award-winning artists taking home Excellence in Design awards in a
variety of mediums and categories for cash prizes totaling
$15,000. Award-winning handcrafted
work included $5,000 Best in Show
honors for a wood-and-forged steel table by Kelly Maxwell Designs
and Red Tail Forge Works, the
Exhibitors' Choice award for furniture maker Jerry Van Vleet, and the new Best Western
Artistry award for a sheepskin-upholstered sofa by Tim Groth.
JACKSON
HOLE, Wyo., Sept. 17,
2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Of the nearly 100
juried artists from around the country who were selected to
participate in the 32nd annual Western Design Conference Exhibit +
Sale (WDC), September 5-8, 2024, in
Jackson Hole, 15 earned Excellence
in Design Awards to receive a total of over $15,000 in cash prizes. "The decisions were
anything but easy with an astounding range of truly museum-quality
handcrafted work to choose from, spanning more than two dozen
states from across the country," says WDC executive director
Allison Merritt, who notes that the
level of artistry and caliber of work was outstanding with
attendees filling the Snow King Event Center in Jackson, Wyoming, to view the remarkable
offerings, chat with artists and makers, and enjoy complimentary
happy hours and catered bites.
"The decisions were anything but easy with
an astounding range of truly museum-quality handcrafted work to
choose from," says WDC executive director Allison Merrit.
WDC Exhibitors' Choice awards are highly coveted because they
reflect confirmation of talent from the event's participating
artists each year. An extraordinary piece of furniture by
Jerry Van Vleet, of Legendary
Heirloom in Polson, Montana,
earned the prestigious Exhibitors' Choice Award this year,
combining fine woodworking, glass, intricate arrowhead inlays and a
live row of flames to create a glowing ambience of warmth and
light. A second Exhibitors' Choice honor – for Best Booth Design –
went to interior design firm Tali Oren Design for her Jackson Hole
Game Room, a welcoming space, conceived as a chic Western living
area. Denver- and New York-based Oren's carefully curated room
captured the spirit of the four-day Western Design Conference,
which offers fresh examples of new-meets-Old West functional
art.
The WDC's top prize, the $5,000
Best of Show Award, went to Kelly Maxwell Designs and Red Tail Forge Works out of Nashville, Tennessee, for a table made with a
sustainably sourced cross-section of American timber as its base,
and sprouting delicate hand-forged steel branches and leaves to
support a finely honed top. Wooden Sound, out of Preston, Idaho, took home the Best Artist in
the Woodworking category award for a wonderfully wise-in-design
table with refined game-board inlay and a pair of wood-and-leather
chairs.
Tim Groth Furniture happily received a new-this-year honor, the
Best Western Artistry Award, from WDC sponsor Mountain Living
magazine. Judged and presented by members of magazine staff to the
juried work from the WDC thought to best represent the type of
Western artistry celebrated by the magazine, Groth's superb wooden
sofa upholstered with sink-into sheepskin, wool and leather and
cleverly decorated with rivets and joinery won the artist a
$1,500 cash prize from Mountain
Living. Matt Downer Designs, out of Rico,
Colorado, earned the Best Artist in the Mixed Media category
this year, taking home $1,000 for his
handcrafted heirloom table. And Ashley
Delonas, of Mountain Girl Studios out of Pocatello, Idaho, returned to the WDC for the
fourth year to win the Best Artist in the Accents category for her
glass and found-antler chandelier, one of a series of Delonas works
akin to statement jewelry for the home, crafted with precision and
passion.
William Mendoza's Quill Bill
Creations, out of Pine Ridge, South
Dakota, earned the Best Artist award in the Fashion category
for his distinctive jewelry handmade from porcupine quills to honor
the Native American belief in quillwork as sacred and healing, both
in its creation and adornment. Another Native American-inspired
piece, a striking headdress, its feathers painstakingly crafted
from steel, won the Honorable Mention in the Accents category for
Northern Lights Steel, earning a $200
prize sponsored by Wyoming Whiskey.
Cowboy couture walked the runway again this year at the Western
Design Conference Exhibit + Sale's Thursday night opening Preview
Party + Fashion Show, sponsored by handcrafted agave spirits
distillery Wild Common, as designers won awards in the Fashion
category. Jennie Montana of
Bozeman, Montana, earned the Best
Collection Award, recognized by the judges for her exquisite work
weaving fibers of locally ranched bison, alpaca and sheep into her
one-of-a-kind appliquéd coats and capes. Stella Thomas Designs of
Oklahoma also wowed the
live-fashion-show guests, receiving the Honorable Mention for
Fashion Show with her superb collection of wearable art and
sculptural clothing designs crafted from must-feel fabrics and
textures. The Best Artist in the Jewelry category went to
world-traveler photojournalist Liz
Gilbert's Shompole Collection out of Brooklyn, New York, while another New York-based designer, Yuta Powell, earned a Fashion category Honorable
Mention for her Western wear, and Chrissy Glenn Sculptress of
Cody, Wyoming, received the
Honorable Mention in Jewelry for her sterling silver arrowhead
necklace.
A full list of all the 2024 Western Design Conference Design
Excellence Awards can be viewed here.
About the Western Design Conference Exhibit + Sale:
Celebrating 32 years in 2024, the annual Western Design Conference
Exhibit + Sale is a four-day, multimillion-dollar event that brings
together craftspeople, collectors, interior designers, architects,
and fashion designers with a love of the West. The Western Design
Conference was founded in Cody,
Wyoming, to promote contemporary artists working in
historical American craft methods. The Western Design Conference
Exhibit + Sale moved to Jackson
Hole in 2007, where Executive Director Allison Merritt continues the strong commitment
to Western arts in Wyoming while
expanding the reach of the show. Additional information, including
schedules and tickets, is available at westerndesignconference.com
and on Facebook and Instagram.
Media Contact
Amy Stark, Word PR + Marketing,
303.548.4611, amy@wordprmarketing.com
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SOURCE The Western Design Exhibit + Sale