Teton Valley to roll out inaugural arts festival

By Jeannette Boner , of Jackson Hole News & Guide.

Over the years, artists in Teton Valley, Idaho, have opened their studios and homes to the public, welcoming in locals, travelers and appreciators of all mediums of work.

This fall a collective groundswell of artists in Teton Valley will roll out a more formal collaboration aimed at showcasing the deep well of local talent.

The new event is called the Teton Valley Homegrown Arts Festival, and it is set to be held all over Teton Valley — from Victor to Driggs to Tetonia and Alta, Wyoming — and all places in between the Big Hole and Teton Mountain ranges. The new festival will start on Saturday, Sept. 9, and run through Saturday, Sept. 16.

“This is a community festival,” said Jason Borbet, an internationally renowned painter based in Victor. “All I did was to plant a seed.”

Teton Valley has an eclectic and growing community of artists who continue to elevate the community’s pride through their work and creativity.

“Things are happening on this side of the Tetons,” said Borbet, who is known as the artist Borbay. “I think this is a perfect time to try our hand at a festival like this.”

The festival has been created as “an appetizer,” to the Tetons’ main course, the Fall Arts Festival.

“We don’t have any desire to compete with Jackson but only want to provide another option for folks coming in to see more art,” Borbet said. “And maybe people would extend their trip to Jackson and come to Teton Valley?”

Brian McDermott, the executive director of the Teton Regional Economic Coalition in Driggs, got onboard with gusto after Borbet called last winter asking if the chamber-like organization would get behind the festival.

“Jason called me up last November and said, ‘Hey McD, Jackson has their chamber sponsor the art festival over the hill, and I think we should commit to something like that too,’” McDermott said. “The idea fits for us as a business and tourism management agency.”

McDermott acknowledged that Teton Valley was in a good position to grow its offseason, because tourists tend to taper off after Labor Day as Jackson Hole continues to hum along at a steady pace through the fall.