Eight new applicants have been accepted onto the Wyoming Arts Council’s 2008-2009 artists roster:
- Christopher Amend, Gillette, painter
- Carolee Bowen, Evanston, musician (oboist)
- Matt Daly, Jackson, poet
- Jenny Dowd, Jackson, sculptor and book artist
- Rod McQueary, Recluse, cowboy poet
- Andy Nelson, Pinedale, cowboy poet and performer
- Bryan J. Ragsdale, Green River, singer and songwriter
- Sue Wallis, Recluse, essayist and poet
This is the first year that the WAC has received applications (two, no less) from Recluse in northwest Campbell County. No surprise that they came from talented husband-wife duo Sue Wallis and Rod McQueary. They’ve been active participants in the cowboy poetry scene for decades, appearing often at the annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada. You may also recognize Sue’s name as a state legislator from House District 52. Rod and fellow cowboy poet Bill Jones collaborated on an acclaimed healing series of poems about their Vietnam experiences in the book “Blood Trails.”
Fellow Campbell County resident Christopher Amend is best-known for his three decades of teaching in the elementary, high school and college levels. Along the way he’s been perfecting his own craft in painting and drawing. His abstract work is drawn for experience as well as classical and religious images. He’s exhibited his work at Gillette’s AVA Center and, most recently, at a one-man show at the Cam-Plex Heritage Center.
Carolee Bowen lives in the opposite end of the state. A long-time activist on the Uinta County arts scene, the Evanston resident plays the oboe with various regional symphonies and also is part of Trio Dolce, a chamber music group that’s also on the WAC roster.
You’ll be able to see bios and contact info for all 57 WAC roster artists when the new roster goes up on the web site by July 1. It also will be available in printed form in August. Feel free to browse the listings and find an artist, performer or writer that you can bring to your community through the Arts Across Wyoming grants program.
FMI: Karen Merklin, WAC grants specialist, 307-777-7742.
