“Major Bison” wanders to Teton Village

There will be a new attraction in Teton Village.

“Major Bison,” the large, bright red bison sculpture that stood along the Moose Wilson Road has been moved to a green field along McCollister Drive.

Local artist John Simms, in collaboration with the Teton Village Association and Diehl Gallery, found the site.

It’s part of the Teton Village Association’s public art initiative. It is intended to activate and beautify vital spaces.

With a long career as inventor, artist, and local legend, Simms is known around the world for creating tools for avalanche forecasting, fly-fishing gear, and the company “Simms Fishing products.”

According to Jackson Hole Public Art, Simms creates metal sculptures that play on his background in geometry. “My work took a definite leap into the mathematical and geometric,” remarked Simms. “I am fascinated by the possibilities inherent in the most basic forms—the circle, triangle, and rectangle. I am aware of the negative spaces only after construction of the piece, and consider them as serendipitous aftereffects. There is so much more to the piece than its structure. Much of the beauty is in the shadows cast and the changing organic negative spaces.”

KIFI 2019