By Katy Niner

All up-and-coming. All vanguards of their fields. All Jewish.

Heeb magazine shines an irreverent spotlight on secular Jewish culture, and every year it features "a roundup of 100 people you need know about" - Jewish bloggers, comedians, illustrators, chefs, activists and entrepreneurs. On Friday, a traveling exhibit of some 40 of their portraits - taken by the magazine's top photographers - and accompanying profiles will open in Jackson.

Brought here by the Jackson Hole Jewish Community and Planet Jackson Hole, the exhibit will live at Lyndsay McCandless Contemporary through March 28 and kick off with a reception dovetailing with the gallery's monthly First Friday event. First Friday begins at 5:30 pm with beer and wine, and from 7 to 8 pm, an open bar in hoor of the Heeb 100 will serve drinks, including a Manischewitz martini. DJ Vert-One of Four4 Productions will spin most of the evening.

"The exhibit is really a vehicle for the Jackson Hole Jewish Community to say 'Look, here we are. We've been here all along,'" said Mary Grossman, publisher of the Planet, a member of the Jackson Hole Jewish Community board and a longtime Heeb supscriber.  While the Jewish community of Jackson is the centerpiece of the event, all are wellcome, Grossman said. "It's an art opening for anyone," she said.

Lyndsay McCandless Contemporary has organized a complementary show of works by Jewish artists living Tetonside. Painter Steven Glass recruited participating artists: David Gottfried, Morris Weintraub, Ralph Mossman, Lia Kass, Laurie Thal, Shannon Troxler, Anika Youcha, EJ Hirschfield, Jamie Dakis, Gal Bar-or, Jesse Brown and himself. 

While some of the works may incorporate Jewish symbols - Glass, for instance, includes Hebrew words in one painting - the unifying feature will be the shared association of their creators. The show hangs through March 15.

When Glass picked up the Heeb 100 issue of the magazine, he felt inspired by the people he did not know and surprised by those he recognize but didn't know were Jewish. Similarily, Grossman expects the show and reception will expand people's awareness of the size and makeup of the Jewish community in Jackson. It also aims to lure intellectual Jewish youth - Heeb's target audience. "For any religious organization, it's always challenging to get the young hipsters involved," she said. "one of the big taglines [of Heeb is that] Jews can be cool too. The subjects of the show are very smart and ambitious."

Likewise, gallery owner Lyndsay McCandless initially indetified with the progressive mission of Heeb. "I was really intrigued by the fact that it's an edgy, political and innovative magazine. It is pushing the boundaries and honoring Jewish culture while at the same time making fun of it too." Once she perused the portraits and profiles, she became buoyed by their ambitions. "It was really inspiring to read about people who are very creative, innovative, socially conscious and entrepreneurial. I thought that might be a good thing to have in our lives right now," McCandless said.

Born in Brooklyn in 2002, Heeb takes a no-holds-barred approach to covering trends in secular Jewish culture, an irreverence that beings with its name itself, a reappropriation of an anti-Semitic slur.