The Meeteetse Museums’ second annual “Art of the Basin: An Artistic Rendering of Northwest Wyoming” is now open to the public.

A panel of judges narrowed 48 “wonderful” submissions down to 16 for the juried art show and sale, with the pieces put on display in the Meeteetse Museums’ Olive Fell Gallery.

First place was awarded to a photograph by Barrie Lynn Bryant of Kirby, titled, “Moon Setting over the Hernandez’s.”

Judges Karen McWhorter of the Whitney Museum of Western Art at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West; Ken Schuster of the Brinton Museum; and Tammi Hanawalt of the National Museum of Wildlife Art described it as a poignant photo that conveys “a quiet, somber mood.”

“A sense of loneliness pervades the scene,” they wrote, which features a single trailer situated in a windswept, snowy landscape and surrounded only by telephone poles. “This scene might be a common one along any number of roads in Northwest Wyoming, but the way in which the photographer captured it here is surely uncommon.” 

When reviewing the work, the judges concluded the photographer likely titled their photograph in homage to Ansel Adams famous, Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico. Appropriately, then, it might be said that, just as Adams wrote of the scene he photographed in 1941, this photographer’s subject seemed, ‘an inevitable photograph.’”

Bryant is a multidisciplinary artist with innovations in frame design, woodworking, gilding, digital imaging, and photography.

“I am fundamentally a collaborator, whether it be with photography, wood, gold leaf, artwork, my wife, life, the void, whatever,” he said. “Through collaborations, I feel that I accomplish tenfold what I might otherwise be able to do alone or through egocentrism. And I prefer to pursue the unknown and to brave new territory often, which means I get to entertain the probability of failure as much as I do triumph.

“In retrospect,” Bryant said, “my best art happens when I am able to cross the threshold that’s usually just one step beyond any failure. It’s a good feeling to know my failures will always be rewarded.”

Second place was awarded to Sue Sommers of Pinedale for her painting “Angus Bull Sketches” and third place was awarded to Paul Kethley of Powell for his painting, “A Shepherd’s Rest.”

The show also features the work of AB Word, McKenzy Ellisen (honorable mention), Maggie Bassett, Austin Kennedy, Jen Litterer-Trevino, Stephanie Rose, Rhonda Schmeltzer, Amanda Black and Ed Lavino (honorable mention).

The works will be on display until Dec. 11. Each piece is available for purchase, though purchased works must remain in the show for its duration.

Sponsors include Cody Ace Hardware, the Wea Market of Meeteetse, Bank of the West, and the Elkhorn Bar and Grill. For more information, call 307-868-2423 or visit the Meeteetse Museums at 1947 State St.