Local chocolatier Oscar Ortega knows art. His creations often look too beautiful to eat, but do it! There are more where they came from. Ortega owns two chocolate and pastry shops in Jackson, he has competed in numerous international competitions, and he is a pastry business consultant. He recently decided to turn his attention toward partnerships in the Jackson community that has long supported his business endeavors and eaten his desserts.
Ortega has collaborated with three local artists to create limited edition chocolate bars that are for sale online and at both of his locations: Atelier Ortega, his pastry kitchen and shop on Scott Lane, and CocoLove, his retail shop on Glenwood Street. Ortega has dedicated one chocolate box design for each artist, featuring one of their works that depicts the wildlife of Jackson Hole.
“I remember talking to Amy Ringholz about a project together, but we never had the chance to do something,” Ortega said. “I started thinking about upgrading my chocolate boxes and the idea came to me. In collaboration with an artist, I could develop the bar, the mold, and we could use one of their most famous paintings on the box.”
Ringholz is one of the featured artists, with the box displaying her signature painting “Steadfast Love” of a canine staring down the viewer. Carrie Wild‘s painting “Rendezvous In Color Twenty-Five” is presented on another box, with neon and gold bison grazing across the label. “Nightfall” by Shannon Marie Schacht graces the third limited edition box with a profile of an owl with a bright yellow eye.
“Each bar has been created with a different package, a different bar design, a specialty blend of single origin chocolate, and a postcard insert [detailing the collaboration],” said Ortega.
Ortega says he would like to pursue more of these partnerships with other artists in the future, but he hasn’t yet decided who and when. For now, he is focused on promoting the current project in gratitude for all the support that our valley has provided him.
