Meet the Arts Council Board

The Wyoming Arts Council board meets Feb. 1-2 at the Hitching Post Inn in Cheyenne as part of this week's 25th anniversary celebration of the Governor's Arts Awards. The board will meet from 1-5 on Thursday and 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. on Friday. The traditional public comment session will begin at 1:30 p.m. on Friday at the Hitch. This is your opportunity to offer your comments about the WAC and/or the board, or to quiz us about our policies. The WAC has undergone many changes in the past year so it's a good time to come out and see what's new.

The GAA dinner and awards ceremony starts at 6 p.m. on Friday at the Taco John's Center next to the Hitch. Dinner will be served at 7, followed by the awards presentation by Gov. Dave Freudenthal at 8. We also have some great entertainment on tap. One of the honorees this year is poet and teacher Barbara Smith of Rock Springs. This continues the WAC tradition of honoring writers, literary groups and patrons in the state. During the past 25 years, awards have gone to David Romtvedt, Charles Levendosky, Gaydell Collier, Neltje, Ucross Foundation, and Wyoming Writers, Inc. It's not too early to start thinking about other lit people and orgs that have contributed mightily to Wyoming's literary tradition.

Unfortunately for procrastinators, the registration deadline for Friday's GAA gala event already has passed. See you next year.

Labels: artists' communities, awards, poets, writers, Wyoming Arts Council

- posted by Michael Shay @ 10:06 AM 0 comments

 
"Jentel Presents" Feb. 6

The Jentel Artist Residency Program in Banner features a "Jentel Presents" event open to the public at Davis Gallery, 38 South Main, Sheridan, on Tuesday, February 6, from 5:30-7 p.m. "Jentel Presents" is a community outreach program that features presentations and readings by the visual artists and writers at the residency.

Presenters include:

Jon Taylor, New Bedford, Mass. Jon is a multimedia artist using aspects of architecture, fashion, sculpture and urban farming to critique oddities of human behavior. His recent research includes gastro economics, biotechnical skinterface, alimentation and indentured hyper promotional colonization

Ann Joslin Williams, San Francisco. Ann’s collection of linked stories, The Woman in the Woods, won the Spokane (Wash.) Prize for short fiction. A former Wallace Stegner Fellow, she teaches at the California College of the Arts

Ricardo Wilson, Los Angeles. Ricardo is an L.A. native who has traveled to Panama and Jamaica to write and conduct research for his first novel, The Death of Sam Brown.

FMI: Lynn Reeves, 307-737-2311, jentel@jentelarts.org

Labels: artists' communities, readings, writers

- posted by Michael Shay @ 11:07 AM 0 comments

 
Jentel Deadline Jan. 15

Spend a month of creative time in northern Wyoming at the Jentel Foundation. Next postmark application deadline is Jan. 15 for sessions May 15 through December 13. Four visual artists and two writers selected for each session. Scenery is great, contemplative time is even better.

Labels: artists' communities, poetry, writers

- posted by Michael Shay @ 10:34 PM 0 comments

 
Happy Birthday to Ucross

The fall 2006 issue of the Ucross Foundation annual report and newsletter features a long list of accomplishments of Ucross residents. As Executive Director Sharon Dynak notes in the introduction: “In all, 1300 individuals have been awarded Ucross residencies since we opened our doors 25 years ago.”

That’s a lot of writers, artists, and musicians who have enriched their art through a WYO experience. Wyomingites have benefited too, as we get to experience residents’ work in words and music, and appreciate art on display in the Big Red Gallery. Not to mention the huge (and artful) Fourth of July bash Ucross hosts every year.

Another intriguing thing about Ucross is its working ranch, which raises all-natural beef and continues its experiments in “organic meadow rejuvenation.” The Nature Conservancy and the Apache Foundation have rejuvenated the native flora which has led to higher numbers of native fauna.

So, the environment at Ucross nurtures both antelope and artists. Just a few reasons why Ucross won a 2005 Governor’s Arts Award.

Labels: artists' communities, poets, writers

- posted by Michael Shay @ 4:35 PM 0 comments