Daniel & Kara Hidalgo
(Your HOSTS)
Daniel & Kara Hidalgo will be leading the retreat by offering guidance to painters during the painting session, helping you carry gear, watching for wildlife and doing everything they can to make you happy!
The Hidalgos have been leading artist retreats since 2015, initially with the Yellowstone Institute at the Lamar Buffalo Ranch in northern Yellowstone Park. In 2017, after leading weekly paint outs for several years, they began to offer the artist retreats out of the West Yellowstone entrance, sponsored by the Idaho Art Lab. They expanded the Plein Air in the Parks program to Craters of the Moon National Monument and Harriman State Park of Idaho in 2018 and added Juniper Mountain Lodge at the Saint Anthony Sand Dunes in 2022. You may have met the Hidalgos at some of the region's plein air festivals and competitions.
The Hidalgos founded the not-for-profit Idaho Art Lab in 2010 and have been instructing workshops at the Lab since its inception. The Lab is the largest visual art center in Idaho with workshops and rent-by-the-hour art equipment in 14 art mediums. They also host artist residencies and run the Yellowstone Teton Gallery of Art out of the facility. The couple lives in Teton, Idaho about an hour from West Yellowstone.
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Daniel has been a guest artist of the Yellowstone General Stores in Yellowstone National Park for over 16 years. He is the co-founder and Director of Education at Idaho Art Lab, where he teaches painting, drawing, sculpture, pottery and lost wax metal casting and leads weekly plein air field trips. Daniel specializes in acrylic & oil plein air painting. He has been finding the inspiration for his artwork in the quiet stillness of Yellowstone's wondrous landscapes for many years, creating hand-carved block images printed on paper made from bison dung, along with his business partner at Dung & Dunger Paper Arts Studio.
Watch Daniel's talk on the TED.com website by clicking here and follow him on Facebook: @Daniel.Hidalgo.Artist
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Kara is the co-founder and Executive Director of Idaho Art Lab, where she teaches watercolor painting workshops. She is an award winning watercolor plein air painter, also working in oils. She also teaches digital and large format film photography and analog darkroom classes. Her background is in graphic and web design which is how we can "afford" this website :) (any problems with the site please let her know). Kara helps organize and leads weekly plein air field trips around Idaho's Yellowstone Teton territory. Her specialties in painting and photography include landscapes with water features.
Follow Kara on Instagram: @kara.hidalgo and Facebook: @kara.idahoartlab