Things to do / Travel Guide
While you can always purchase the typical tourist knickknacks, shopping in the Yellowstone area can be a true treat if you focus on the buzzing local art scene, Indian local crafts and western antiques.
Bozeman, Montana Art Galleries
Western realism and landscape works are staples of the local art scene, and dozens of galleries offer visitors a chance to bring an artistic piece of Yellowstone back home with them. In the town of Bozeman, about a half-dozen galleries are scattered downtown, exhibiting western realism and landscape work. There is a strong presence of contemporary arts at the Emerson Center for the Arts and Culture, a favorite venue for local exhibitions. In Livingston, more than a dozen local galleries display the work of local artists, focusing on western realism and landscape art such as paining, pottery, basketry and jewelry.
Cody and Jackson, Wyoming Art Galleries
Hundreds of artists call Cody home, and as a result the town has become a hub for the regional arts. Embracing its cowboy culture, more than a dozen art galleries specialize in realist sculpture, wildlife and landscape paintings, western realism, and bronze sculptures. Visitors will also find beautiful classic western and contemporary western home furnishings designed and built by local furniture craftsmen and women. These are serious galleries, representing many of the west's most famous artists.
Jackson's more than 30 art galleries surrounding the town square provide plentiful opportunities to buy throughout the year, but it is in mid-September, at the annual Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival, that many of the nations top collectors of western art, landscape painting, and realist bronze sculpture pour into the town for serious sales. In the summer, the Mountain Artist's Rendezvous Art Fair gives nearly 150 contemporary painters, sculptors, and craftspeople a chance to shine in downtown Miller Park for two, weekend-long runs in July and August. Jackson is often referred to as the "art center of the Rockies," and shoppers won't be disappointed with the variety of art up for sale. One can find Indian art and jewelry, photography, southwestern style pastel pottery, and works by some of the west's best painters.
Specialty Shopping in Yellowstone and Montana
In addition to your standard tourist knickknacks, practically every Yellowstone gateway town offers unique stores and boutiques with quality western clothing and jewelry, Indian crafts, furnishings, furs, gifts, western antiques, home accessories, and other locally crafted items. The downtown districts of Jackson, West Yellowstone, Bozeman, Butte, Helena, and Cody have plenty of such pickings. The Cody Rodeo Company is a great place to find a wide selection of cowboy hats, western wear, rodeo memorabilia, and decorative items. The Teddy Bear Shoppe in Dubois, inside the Black Bear Country Inn, has more than 500 different teddy bears on display and for sale making it a top pick for the young and young at heart. Jackson, and even Gardiner, host a selection of fine book stores offering western books with coffee and smoothies to accompany the reading.
|
|
|