National best-of-Western-design awards honor artisans and designers for excellence in variety of mediums and categories at annual Jackson Hole arts event
Jackson Hole, Wyoming – September 12, 2024 – 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 in Jackson Hole, 15 received 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.
WDC Exhibitors’ Choice awards are highly coveted because they reflect confirmation of talent from the event’s participating artists each year. An extraordinary furniture piece 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 room. 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 an extraordinary table made with a stunning, sustainably sourced cross-section of American wood 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 gameboard inlay and a pair of wood-and-leather chairs.
Tim Groth Furniture happily took home 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 piece 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 earn the Best Artist in the Accents category for her glass and found-antler chandelier, one of a series of Delonas works akin to exquisite pieces of 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, earning designers 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’s 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, earned 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 Contacts: Allison Merritt, [email protected], 307.690.9719; Amy Stark, Word PR + Marketing, [email protected].
