BYU-Idaho Radio · Moonshot 5x5 in Jackson Hole
Art is important to the town of Jackson. Jackson Hole Public Art is dedicated to bringing all forms of art to the public eye and uses art to teach about the city’s local history.
Recently, they’ve also wanted to inspire other artists who are hiding creative ideas to show them to the world. In an effort to do so, Carrie Geraci, the director of Jackson Hole Public Art, helped create a new event that’s held every year called Moonshot 5x5.
“Moonshot 5x5 is a fast-paced presentation where creatives in our community are invited to present their wildest public art ideas with five slides in five minutes,” she said in an interview with BYU-Idaho Radio.
Moonshot 5x5 encourages these artists to “shoot for the moon.” The ideas presented this year did just that. There were proposals for a lot of great ideas, such as an alleyway in downtown Jackson dedicated to murals of local artists, a corpse mural where local artists would all contribute a part of their artistry to the same piece, and an augmented reality system where you would visit murals all over the world.
As great as these ideas are, the winner came up with something that tells inspires artists and teaches about the history and culture of Jackson Hole.
“I wanted to combine the science and the art, the left and the right side of the brain,” said Tenley Thompson, this year’s winner of the Moonshot 5x5. “I wanted to use the science of dendrology, ‘tree dating,’ to reflect our local history and culture. So, my presentation was titled ‘Tree Time,’ and it’s the idea of understanding our history through the history of the trees here in the Teton’s.”
Thompson hopes her winning idea will encourage someone to bring the art piece to life. She also inspires up-and-coming artists to never give up on their bright ideas.
“There are plenty of great ideas out there, and as you walk around on the landscape of your stomping grounds, think big. Think about the amazing things you can bring to your community,” she said.
If you want to learn more about the Moonshot 5x5, including to sign up and participate in next year’s event, visit Jackson Hole Public Art’s website.