Sunday, January 18, 2009

Arts in the Land of the Sun

Here is your trusty Wyoming Arts Council correspondent shown outside of the Heard Museum in Phoenix. My son and I visited the museum for a few hours on Saturday to view its extensive Native-American collections, which includes both traditional and contemporary galleries. We could have spent days at the museum. During our visit, we sat in on a day-long session of Navajo elders recounting traditional winter stories. We ate a lunch of burritos made of Navajo frybread.

On Friday, I was at the Arizona Arts Commission conducting the WAC's peer panel for performing arts fellowships in music performance. Deliberations were conducted by our two fine Arizona judges: Brad Richter and Ruth Lara Vichules. I have the panel results in sealed envelopes. They can't be released until I phone the two winners and one honorable mention when I return to the office on Wednesday. Watch this space for more on the fellowship results.