JACKSON HOLE, WY.- The opportunity to meet and mingle with top artists is just one reason to attend the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s annual Western Visions®, a month-long Jackson Hole art celebration that combines lectures, hands-on workshops and fabulous artsy parties with the chance to see and purchase the best of Western contemporary art. This year’s event, August 18 – September 26, 2012, which commemorates 25 years for both the museum and Western Visions, will include special honors for artists who have participated in the annual fundraiser for the museum since its beginning.

Western Visions’ 2012 Featured Artists, sculptor Richard Loffler and painter Tucker Smith, will join the 25th-anniversary hoopla with special events including an art workshop on horseback with Smith and the unveiling of Loffler’s 64-foot-long sculpture “Buffalo Trail,” the final major installation on the museum’s new Sculpture Trail, both on September 13. Loffler will discuss the more than four-year sometimes grueling process in creating his heroic-size bronze for the trail, and is offering a small-version replica of the last bison in the sculpture, titled “Making a Stand,” as his donation for this year’s show and sale. A passionate observer of wildlife, Smith will join guests for lunch with a chance to see the world through his painter’s eyes on a horseback ride at Spring Creek Ranch – first meeting at the museum in front of his special donation for this year’s auction, titled “Through the Aspens.”

Scheduled events for 2012 Western Visions include the Sketch Show & Sale and Original Prints Show & Sale, August 18 – September 23; the Jewelry and Artisan Luncheon, September 12; the 25th Annual Wild West Artist Party, September 13; and the 25th Annual Miniatures and More Show & Sale, September 14. A coffee-in-the-gallery Art A’ Brewin’ event September 26 allows a final in-person chance to browse works still available for sale. For a complete calendar of events, visit www.wildlifeart.org or contact Jennifer Lee at 307.732.5412. As always, the major Western Visions festivities are also cornerstone events for the Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival, September 6 – 16.

This year’s Western Visions gets a digital upgrade with its own iPhone/iPad app, Art Capture by Collectrium. In other digital news, patrons can view the event catalog at www.westernvisions.org and learn more about the featured artists by watching short films about them both on the website and on iPads at the museum. For the second year, participating in the silent auction for artwork at the fundraiser’s main event, the Miniatures and More Show & Sale, will be made easier through a digital bidding system, and patrons with smartphones can scan tags in the catalog and throughout the events for info via Microsoft Tag Reader.