Sue Cedarholm - Founder

A native of the Rocky Mountain West, Sue Ewald Cedarholm grew up with the vaulting summits of Colorado’s 14ers filling her imagination and the lure of mountain wilderness lying beneath them serving as a constant well-spring, firing her life-long pursuit of adventure and personal exploration.

Trained as a visual artist, Cedarholm has lived in Jackson Hole for over 40 years and has gained recognition as a nature photographer, painter and designer of wearable, nature-related art attire. She has used the Tetons as her basecamp for travel to far-flung corners of the globe. For over 20 years Cedarholm has been field assistant with her mentor, Thomas D. Mangelsen, and co-leader and organizer of numerous photographic expeditions. Cedarholm has guided clients on trips to the Arctic and coastal Alaska in search of caribou and grizzly bears. She has spied penguin and elephant seal colonies in the South Atlantic Ocean on South Georgia Island and Antarctica. And she has greeted many sunrises at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, as well as in the Serengeti, witnessing migrations of elephant, Cape Buffalo, wildebeest and the parade of iconic African predators trailing them, including lion and leopard. Hiking through the wilds of the Torres del Paine in search of puma and floating the Cuiaba River in the Pantanal for the elusive jaguar are also on the list of exotic locales where Cedarholm has shared her love of wilderness with others.

In recent years, she has written for the online magazine, Mountain Journal (mountainjournal.org), where her column, Watercolor Diary, features plein air works completed as part of a mission to create one new artwork every day for a year. Her photographs also have appeared in print publications and she has served on several boards in the Jackson Hole community, including the board of the Grand Teton Association and The Art Association.

Most gratifying, she says, have been her experiences in opening peoples’ eyes to the mysteries and magic of the natural world.

“I enjoy creating memories in the company of people who are enthusiastic about having meaningful connections with nature, people who are willing to consider new ways of thinking and seeing. Nature is a powerful teacher. One is never too old or too young to have an epiphany,” she says. But it isn’t only about stepping into wild places and seeing the amazing creatures that inhabit them which makes Cedarholm feel fortunate. “Satisfaction, for me, comes from having shared experiences that, in turn, allow for reflection when you’re back in camp or have returned home and can’t wait to get out there again.”