Ben Steele: Featured Artist of the 2026 Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival

The 42nd Annual Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival, hosted by the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce, is a community-wide celebration of art, artists and the enduring creative spirit of the West. At the heart of the festival is the QuickDraw and its community fundraising auction, which brings collectors and artists together in support of Jackson Hole—this year with Altamira Fine Art artist Ben Steele serving as the festival’s featured artist. Ben Steele’s featured artwork, entitled Old West Colors, will be auctioned off on September 19 via in-person and online bidding.

Ben Steele has been selected as the featured artist for the 2026 Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival, and Altamira Fine Art is proud to stand behind an artist whose work has helped redefine the visual language of the contemporary West.

Created especially for the festival, Old West Colors brings Steele’s wit, nostalgia and unmistakable visual intelligence to one of Jackson Hole’s most recognizable subjects. The monumental 72 x 48 inch oil painting will be offered through the Fall Arts Festival’s online auction on Saturday, September 19, 2026.

Auction registration and bidding details will be released closer to the event. Join our advance list to receive the auction link, bidding instructions and important updates before the piece goes live.

At first glance, the painting feels immediately familiar: a well-used box of crayons, a panoramic view of the Tetons and the visual ephemera of an imagined American childhood. Look longer and the associations begin to overlap.

The crayon box becomes a monument. The landscape becomes an image within an image. Yellowstone yellow, mountain blue and the weathered red of a vintage package transform into Steele’s own palette for Jackson Hole.

Steele is known for bringing the history of art into conversation with the objects and imagery of popular culture. In Old West Colors, he turns his attention directly toward Jackson Hole, combining the mythology of the American West with the playful language of childhood creativity. The result is both affectionate and sharply considered: a painting about how the West is remembered, reproduced and continually reimagined.

At six feet tall, Old West Colors has an immediate physical presence. Its scale turns an ordinary art supply into something iconic, while the Tetons rise behind it with the theatrical clarity of memory.

The painting was created for this particular moment in Jackson Hole. It honors the landscape, the town’s visual history and the generations of artists who have come here to interpret the West in their own language.

Before the auction, the original painting will travel to select locations in Jackson and Teton Village, offering visitors an opportunity to experience the work in person throughout the summer and Fall Arts Festival season.

Wherever you encounter it, scan the accompanying QR code or register below to follow the painting to the auction.

Old West Colors will be available through an online auction on Saturday, September 19, the day of the Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival QuickDraw.

You do not need to be in Jackson Hole to participate, but advance registration may be required by the auction platform. Altamira Fine Art will send subscribers the official auction link, registration instructions, bidding details and timing as soon as they become available.

Join the priority list now so you do not miss the registration window or the opening of online bidding.