Jalan Crossland plays Thermop and Basin before heading off to Key West Songwriters Festival



Ten Sleep's Jalan Crossland performs Friday in Thermopolis and Saturday at the Basin City Arts Center in Basin. Get the details here. Next week, he's off to perform a series of concerts at the Better Angels Songwriters Festival in Key West, Fla.

Miss "V" launches her new CD at the Basin City Arts Center Nov. 11

Miss "V" The Gypsy Cowbelle announces a CD Release Party on Friday, Nov. 11, 7 p.m., at the Basin City Arts Center in Basin. "The Itinerant Lady" features songs recorded at 11 different studios around the U.S. (thus the title). Artists accompanying her on the CD include Mike Hurwitz, Liz Masterson and Richard Chon. Miss "V" will perform some of her new songs at the Basin event.

Next stop on "The Itinerant Lady" tour is the Villa Grove Cafe in Moffat, Colo., where she will perform from 5-7 p.m., on Sunday, Nov. 13.

Next stop: the Western Music Association conference in Albuquerque where she will conduct a showcase on Thursday, Nov. 17.

Bring Miss "V" and her music to your community via a Wyoming Arts Council Arts Across Wyoming grant. Get more info at here.

Greybull's GPS Art Club chosen to create ornaments for Wyoming's Christmas tree for D.C. display

Greybull’s GPS Art Club has been chosen to design and create the ornaments for Wyoming’s tree for the 2011 National Christmas Tree display in President’s Park in Washington, D.C., the National Park Foundation announced today. [Shown above: Video from 2010 Christmas tree lighting ceremony.]

Local artists and local youth were selected from each U.S. state, territory and the District of Columbia to design and create 24 ornaments.  Twenty-three of the ornaments will be hung from the state or territory tree as part of the National Christmas Tree display in President’s Park.  One of the ornaments will decorate the White House Visitor Center Christmas tree, which showcases one ornament from all 56 states, territories and the District of Columbia.

“The decorating of the state and territory trees in President’s Park is a highly anticipated holiday tradition,” said Neil Mulholland, President and CEO of the National Park Foundation.  “We look forward to including the creations of Karyne Dunbar and the GPS Art Club, representing Wyoming during the 89^th annual celebration.”

As one of America’s oldest holiday traditions, the National Christmas Tree Lighting began on Christmas Eve in 1923, when President Calvin Coolidge lit a Christmas tree in front of 3,000 spectators on the Ellipse in President’s Park.  Since 1923, each succeeding President has carried on the tradition of what now has become a month-long event presented by the National Park Foundation and National Park Service.  In addition to the National Christmas Tree display, President’s Park hosts a variety of family-oriented holiday attractions, such as the Santa’s Workshop, nightly holiday performances, a Yule log, nativity scene, and model train display. 

“It is an honor to be selected because we are a small community, yet typical of so much of Wyoming, said Karyne Dunbar, artist and teacher. “We are excited to be a part of the National Christmas Tree display because Wyoming has a very wonderful blend of cultures that we can hope to represent with our ornaments.”

“Our participating young artists were quick to get involved as we discussed possible themes that would best represent our state. They have been inventive with materials, trying for a good blend of images that really say Wyoming mixed with Christmas sparkle and optimism.”

Four weeks of holiday events in President’s Park will kick off with the 89th National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony hosted by the National Park Service and National Park Foundation, the official charity of America’s national parks, on Thursday, December 1, 2011, at 5:00 p.m. EST. This year’s talent line up for the lighting ceremony will be announced in November.  Talent announcements, as well as other event details and a live web stream of the ceremony will be available at www.thenationaltree.org.  

Tickets for the event will be awarded via an online lottery system, providing the general public a chance to obtain free tickets to the ceremony.  The online lottery will be available beginning at 10:00 a.m. EST on Thursday, November 3 (or 9:00 a.m. CST, 8:00 a.m. MST and 7:00 a.m. PST).   The ticket lottery remains open through 9:59 a.m. EST on Monday, November 7 (or 8:59 a.m. CST, 7:59 a.m. MST and 6:59 a.m. PST). Visit www.thenationaltree.org for more information.

About the GPS Art Club: Students have been meeting with teacher Karyne Dunbar for after school studio time for the past 29 years. Both middle school and High School students can participate and adults have joined in activities from time to time. Art Club  members participate in art activities, special workshops, field trips and fund raisers. They provide prize money for purchase awards and scholarships.

FMI: www.nationalparks.org, http://www.facebook.com/nationalpark, http://twitter.com/goparks

Medicine Wheel/Medicine Mountain National Historic Site dedication Aug. 26

A dedication ceremony for the Medicine Wheel/Medicine Mountain National Historic Landmark will be held on Friday, Aug. 26. Events will begin at 10 a.m. at the Porcupine Ranger Station located three miles north of Hwy. 14A on Forest Road 13 in the Bighorn National Forest.

The Medicine Wheel National Historic Landmark was expanded by an additional 4,000 acres (from 110 acres) to include part of Medicine Mountain. U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced the expansion of this Bighorn Mountains site in July. It also got a new name: Medicine Wheel/Medicine Mountain National Historic Landmark.

This is a sacred site to Native Americans.

Performers at the ceremony include J.D. Old Mouse, the Crow Drum Group, and a Gourd Dance by Northern Cheyenne tribal members.

Lunch will be provided at noon and there is a site visit to the Medicine Wheel at 2 p.m. A dinner will be held at 6 p.m. in Lovell at the Lovell Community Center.

FMI: Dave McKee, 307-674-2636 or Holly Wardell, 307-674-2655.

Teresa Jordan and Hal Cannon on stage Sept. 13 at Basin City Arts Center

Pronghorn Press asks: Heard any good books lately?

Heard any good books lately?

We have!

Wyoming's Pronghorn Press has announced that some of its best-selling titles are available now as downloadable unabridged audiobook files. Also, if you check out the site, you can get a free download of one of Annette Chaudet's stories. Go to http://pronghornpressaudio.com/

Annette is Pronghorn's publisher and editor. She says that the press's newest title is Tom Ringley¹s Wranglin' Notes, A Chronicle of Eatons' Ranch 1879-2010. Tom Rea's book about the Hole in the Wall Ranch will be out next month.

She adds that the press will be converting a number of titles into multi-format ebooks after the first of the year. So stay tuned, Kindle users.

Troxel & Krieger on stage Nov. 13 at Basin City Arts Center

Wyoming Arts Council roster artist Jeff Troxel and Trevor Krieger, dynamic guitar & fiddler duo, will perform at the Basin City Arts Center in Basin on Saturday, Nov. 13, 7 p.m. Guitarist Jeff Troxel and fiddler Trevor Krieger bring a concert of traditional and contemporary fiddle and folk music along with their original songs to the Basin City Arts Center. Both of these award-winning musicians began playing at an early age and both have racked up significant musical accomplishments.

Find out more about Jeff and his music at http://www.sonicbids.com/epk/epk.aspx?epk_id=151907

Wyoming Humanities Council launches "Civility Matters" initiative at Heart Mountain site

From a SPCR press release:

A year-long initiative, sponsored by the Wyoming Humanities Council, titled “Civility Matters,” kicks off at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center near Powell Saturday, September 18 at 11:15 a.m.


Featured at the event is National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Jim Leach and Former U.S. Senator Alan Simpson, a board member of the Heart Mountain, Wyoming Foundation.

Following the kick-off of “Civility Matters,” Leach and Simpson will also participate in “A Conversation on Civility with NEH Chairman Leach and Senator Alan Simpson” at Northwest College in Powell at 1 p.m.

Two journalism and political science students will interview Leach and Simpson with the session introduced by Northwest College President Paul Prestwich and moderated by faculty member Lou McPhail. The public is welcome.

Leach, a long-time Republican Congressman from Iowa, who became head of the NEH in August 2009, will provide a major address, “Civility in a Fractured Society,” at 7:30 p.m., that evening at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody. Both events are free and open to the public.

The events coincide with Leach’s 50-state “American Civility Tour.” Additionally, the Wyoming Humanities Council announces 12 months of promotion and online and face-to-face programs on the topic of civility, offering residents of the Cowboy State broad opportunities to consider the meaning of civility, both in the context of the nation’s democratic commitments to freedom of expression and in the context of an increasingly global world.

With funding provided by the Wyoming State Legislature through the Wyoming Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, programs include a partnership with the Casper Star-Tribune, featuring opinion editorials by humanities scholars and professionals, state leaders and Wyoming citizens; statewide book and film discussions; a publication with selected readings; an innovative summer public discussion series in Wyoming’s community and state parks; a community grant initiative; and a statewide tour by a national humanities scholar, who will culminate the year with presentations at Wyoming potlucks and schools.

The Wyoming Humanities Council is a nonprofit organization that is an affiliate of the University of Wyoming and the National Endowment for the Humanities. It provides community programs and funds community grants across Wyoming. The Wyoming Humanities Council, the Heart Mountain, Wyoming Foundation, and the Buffalo Bill Historical Center are sponsors of Leach’s Wyoming visit. For more information about the Wyoming Humanities Council, call 307-721-9243 or visit www.uwyo.edu/humanities.

Paul Taylor performs in Basin Jan. 8

The Basin City Arts Center, 121 S. Fourth St. in Basin, presents Paul “Walkingstick” Taylor in concert featuring “Matilda and the Dream Time” at 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 8.

Paul is a Wyoming Arts Council roster artist. He is an Australian storyteller, didjeridoo player and educator who shares the culture of his homeland.

Tickets available at the door are $10 for adults, $7 for seniors 60 and over, $5 for kids 12 and under, and $35 for an immediate family.

For more information, call Wendy at 307-568-2915.

Mont. Shakespeare comes south of the border

Montana Shakespare in the Parks will be performing "The Tempest" and "Two Gentlemen of Verona" in several Wyoming communities this summer. The events are free and open to the public.

Here's the schedule:

July 14, Powell, "The Tempest," 6:30 p.m., Washington Park
July 15, Cody, "Two Gentlemen of Verona," 6:30 p.m., Canal Park
July 16, Worland, "The Tempest," 6 p.m., Sanders Park
July 17, Greybull, "The Tempest," 6 p.m., Greybull City Park
July 19, Sheridan, "Two Gentlemen of Verona," 6:30 p.m., Kendrick Park
July 27, Alpine, "Two Gentlemen of Verona," 6:30 p.m., Nordic Inn

This summer's tour of Montana Shakespeare in the Parks to communities in Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota and Idaho is partially sponsored by a a $10,000 grant from the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation.

FMI: http://www.montana.edu/shakespeare

Piatigorsky "mini-tour" features solo guitarist

Guitarist Jack Sanders will perform five concerts at northern Wyoming venues as part of a Piatigorsky Foundation "mini-tour" during the final week of October.

A solo guitarist, chamber musician and teacher, Sanders has performed both nationally and internationally. His performances have included the Sitka Summer Music Festival, Kapalua Music Festival of Hawaii, Arrowhead Bach Festival and solo appearances with numerous orchestras, including the Illinois Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Santa Fe, Modesto Symphony, Orange County Chamber Orchestra and South Coast Symphony. Recently, he was featured as a soloist with The California Philharmonic.

An accomplished luthier, Sanders builds classical and flamenco guitars, as well as historic reproductions of vihuelas, baroque guitars and 19th Century instruments. A faculty member of Pomona College, he has taught guitar-building courses at the California Institute of the Arts and Pomona College.

The Muriel and Dr. Seymour Thickman Family Charitable Foundation in Sheridan underwrites the Piatigorsky Foundation concerts in Wyoming. This is the fifth year the Thickman Foundation has made it possible for Piatigorsky Artists to perform in Wyoming communities and schools.
The Piatigorsky Foundation is a national arts services organization whose mission is to bring live classical music to individuals who do not have the geographical access or financial means to attend major concerts in larger cities.

Evan Drachman established The Piatigorsky Foundation in 1990 in honor of his grandfather, renowned cellist Gregor Piatigorsky, who deeply believed in the healing and inspirational power of classical music.

The upcoming Wyoming concerts featuring the talents of Sanders are scheduled for:

• Sunday, Oct. 26, 2 p.m., Dubois, Headwaters Arts and Conference Center, 20 Stalnaker Street; call 307-455-2687
• Monday, Oct. 27, 7 p.m., Lander, Trinity Episcopal Church, 860 South 3rd Street; call 307-332-8253
• Tuesday, Oct. 28, 7 p.m., Greybull, First Presbyterian Church, 433 First Avenue South; call 307-765-2208
• Thursday, Oct. 30, 9:20 a.m., Sheridan High School, 1056 Long Drive; call 307-672-2495, ext. 1112
• Thursday, Oct. 30, 7 p.m. Sheridan Senior Center, 211 Smith Street; call 307-672-2240.

All performances except the Sheridan High School concert are free and open to the public.

FMI: Rita Basom, WAC, 307-777-7743.

NW College Studio Singers perform with Ronnie Bedford & Friends

The Northwest College Studio Singers will open the season by opening for the 2008 Ronnie Bedford and Friends concert tour Oct. 7 and 8 in two Big Horn Basin communities and Billings, Mont.

On Tuesday, Oct. 7, the 14-member group performs at 11 a.m. at Billings West High School, followed by a 1:45 p.m. performance at Billings Skyview High School.

The singers return to Wyoming Wednesday, Oct. 8, for a 10 a.m. concert at Greybull High School, followed by a 2 p.m. program at Hot Springs County High School in Thermopolis.
Later that evening, they'll open again for Ronnie Bedford and Friends as part of Thermopolis's October Month of Music. The concert begins at 7 p.m. in the Hot Springs County High School Auditorium. Admission is$5 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens.

Ronnie Bedford, a jazz drummer (and WAC Governor's Arts Award recipient) who spent most of his career on the east coast, called on local friends for this tour: Rob Rumbolz on trumpet, Craig Olson on sax and Jeff Troxel on guitar.

The Studio Singers will open with a lineup of familiar jazz standards that includes the likes of Frank Sinatra's "I've Got You Under My Skin" and "I Could Write a Book" by Rodgers and Hart. Also on the program is the ballad "If I Loved You" and a Steely Dan-type arrangement of the 1950s tune "Ruby Baby."

Meet bookfest presenter Annette Chadet

Annette Chaudet established Pronghorn Press in 1998 after producing several books for private clients. She then started a writing contest to produce Hard Ground, Writing the Rockies, the first in a series intended to capture contemporary life in the West in poetry and prose, fiction and non-fiction. The book was a success and followed by four more Hard Ground collections as well as Dry Ground, Writing the Desert Southwest; Dense Growth, Writing the Pacific Northwest; and Foreign Ground, Travelers’ Tales.

Pronghorn Press has since expanded into other genres. It publishes a new poetry title in the Women & Words series each year, have a sci-fi/fantasy imprint, Antelios, as well as Higher Shelf, a metaphysical/self improvement imprint. Pronghorn has recently added PrairieWinkle for children’s picture books.

Although Pronghorn is a small press, Annette is gratified that there are 54 titles on her list and some of them have garnered national reviews. Montana Spring by Richard Magniet is an award-winning novel of life in the early days in Montana and Never Summer (Pronghorn’s first poetry collection in 2002) by Chris Ransick, won the Colorado Book Award and saw the author become the Poet Laureate of Colorado.

The list at Pronghorn Press is an eclectic mix and Annette likes it that way, enjoying working with a variety of material. The High Country Gardens series by Cheryl Anderson Wright has also been a success with three titles in that series. Pronghorn’s current best selling title is Men to Match Our Mountains by Wyoming’s Chief Game Warden, Jay Lawson.

Chaudet is an editor AND writer. She's found a variety of outlets for her work over the years in anthologies, books, magazines and newspapers. In the 1980s and 1990s she published two small cookbooks, two small gift books and a collection of Christmas poetry. She also created a self awareness set called Take The Power. She has five titles currently in print including Beyond the World, a Novel of 18th Century France, a collection of short stories and two nonsense verse children’s books, A Jungle Book and The Nose Book. She is currently at work on the "autobiography" of Mary Magdalene.

Annette will appear on the Equality State Book Festival panel, "Publishing from the Ground Up" at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20, at the Nicolaysen Art Museum and will be available to sign her books following the panel.

http://www.pronghornpress.org/

"Sitting Pretty" fund-raiser for Greybull C of C

"Sitting Pretty 2008" is an artist-embellished-chair project undertaken in the town of Greybull as a fundraiser to benefit its Chamber of Commerce.

Artists from throughout Wyoming -- many from Greybull -- and the Rocky Mountain region participated to create a collection of 24 unique works of art that are currently on display in the windows of the main street merchants through the summer and which will be sold at auction on Sept. 6.

It is not necessary to be present to participate in the auction. You may enter a maximum bid in advance of the auction on Sept. 6 or participate during the auction via telephone. Please contact the Chamber of Commerce before Sept. 1 at 307 765-2100 to make arrangements. The Chamber can also provide additional copies of "Sitting Pretty" book from Pronghorn Press at $14 post-paid as well as posters at $5 post-paid that feature all the "Sitting Pretty" chairs.

Preview the "Sitting Pretty" art and contributing artists

Old Timer's Celebration in Hyattville July 26

The 99th annual Old Timer's Celebration will be held in Hyattville in Big Horn County on Saturday, July 26.

It includes a street fair during the afternoon, and the Hyattville group will be joined this year by the Guardians of the Range organization. July 26 has been designated National Day of the American Cowboy. The Old Timer's Association and the Guardians have numerous events scheduled throughout the day to honor local old timers as well as cowboy culture.

WAC roster artist Hub Whitt of Thermopolis (shown in photo) will perform cowboy music on the downtown stage from 2-3 p.m.

For more information on National Day of the American Cowboy, please click here.

For more information on the day's events, click here.

NOWOODSTOCK VIII Aug. 8-10 in Ten Sleep

NOWOODSTOCK VIII: The Ten Sleep Music Festival will be held August 8-10 at Vista Park in Ten Sleep.

Performers include Desert Flyers, Steve Thorpe, Special Consensus, T-Bird Huck and MVP Band, Cosmic Connection, Jalan Crossland Band, Street Smart, Danny Many Horses Rael, and Dan Haley.

Admission is $15 for Friday and Sunday, $20 for Saturday, and $30 for a weekend pass. Military personnel serving from 2000-present show your DD214 or Military ID to receive two free weekend passes. Senior citizens get in for half price on Sunday and kids 12-and-younger are free.

FMI: Pat O'Brien at 307.431.2022.

Artists in Greybull "Sitting Pretty"

Greybull will have another artistic fundraiser to look forward to this year as Pronghorn Press, a local publishing company, organizes a painted chair project to benefit the Greybull Chamber of Commerce.

“I have a relatively low profile as a Greybull business,” says publisher Annette Chaudet, “and I’d like to do something to benefit Greybull and our Chamber which will, in turn, benefit the whole town.”

Chaudet participated in the last chair project herself and has been included in a number of fiberglass animal projects around the region including “Horse of Course” and “Big Horn Magic” in Billings, “Where the Buffalo Roam” in Casper and two of Rawlins’s “Pronghorn Pride” projects in Rawlins. She has also designed a project called “Art of the Books” as a fundraiser for libraries and arts groups all over the country and has written a book on how to put the projects together.

“The chairs seemed to resonate here and this year ‘Sitting Pretty’ will include anything which is intended for sitting which could be chairs, benches, or stools but could also include cushions or even something like a rocking horse. It will be fun to see where the artists’ imaginations take them,” says Chaudet.

Chaudet is asking for “suitable seat” donations. They should be sturdy, not upholstered (though a covered seat on a chair is acceptable) and probably not metal though there are a few styles of older metal chairs that were made to resemble wooden ones that will work. “We need things that have a paintable surface for our artists to work on. Many artists may supply their own seats but we want to have something to offer those who don’t.”

For artists wishing to participate, you can pick up an entry form at the Chamber of Commerce, or call and one will be sent to you. “We need to know how many people want to participate so that we will have display space.” The deadline for entry reservations is March 1. Finished pieces will be delivered no later than May 24. Artists and groups from around the region are invited to participate.

Chaudet will also be looking for some community sponsors to contribute to advertising and the planned posters, tee shirts and the project book she intends to produce. “I’ll also be happy to have a few volunteers when it comes time to place the chairs for display and then to help with the auction!”

“Sitting Pretty’s” pieces will be displayed downtown throughout the summer so that visitors and locals can enjoy them and then will be auctioned at a September event.

“This is a great opportunity for community involvement. I would encourage teachers to have their classes work on chairs. Groups, organizations and businesses as well as individual artists can all become a part of the project. How fun it would be if groups like the Red Hats, the Arts Guild, and Headstart created pieces. It will bring the community together and benefit the community through the Chamber. It’s a win-win event.”

For any questions, entry forms or pick up and delivery information for donated seating contact Annette Chaudet at Pronghorn Press 307-765-2979 or at pronghorn@tctwest.net. The Chamber will also have information sheets and artist forms.

PHOTO: "Aspen 5" by Annette Chaudet is an example of what "Sitting Pretty" is all about.