In Memoriam: Rod McQueary

We end of the year on a sad note. Rod's poetry enlivened almost every Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko. He served on the WAC artist roster for many years. Recluse, Wyoming, won't ever be the same. R.I.P., Rod.

Rod McQueary

July 16, 1951–December 29, 2012

Beloved husband of Sue Wallis; treasured father of Porter, Cecile, Ian, and Justine McQueary, stepfather of Isaac Wallis, Megan Kruse, and Rys Martin; Boppa of Ezra, Cora, and Maddox Kruse; son of Eloise, and brother of Lyle and Neil McQueary; who has touched the lives of so many, many family, friends, compadres, and like-minded souls who appreciated his articulate wit…has followed his father Howard over that Last Great Divide. He was the epitome of kind.

A memorial service will be held at the Western Folklife Center in Elko, Nevada at 10 am on Wednesday, January 2^nd. Instead of flowers, please send generous contributions to the Western Folklife Center for the support of the Cowboy Poetry Gathering, the center of the art and the culture that Rod defined his life by, and the gathering place of his far flung friends. 501 Railroad Street, Elko, Nevada, 89801.

If you can make it to Elko on Wednesday, please come ready to share stories, songs, poems, and especially jokes. After a short service in the G Bar Three, we will have a potluck dinner in the Pioneer Saloon, please bring something to share. Rod’s daughter Ceci is putting together pictures and videos…if you have images of Rod that we can include please send them to cecilem@cashmanpro.com.

Family and friends will gather again on the full moon of July in Ruby Valley, Nevada and Bitter Creek, Wyoming to scatter his ashes over the mountains and ranches that he rode for the majority of his life.

Please feel free to forward and post, call each other and hold each other close…he loved you all so much…

Flores De Colores dance troupe brings back awards from Las Vegas competition



This display ad from Cheyenne dance troupe Flores De Colores recently appeared in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle. The group won a number of awards at a dance competition in Las Vegas. Flores De Colores is on the Wyoming Arts Council artist roster.

Flutter Tunnel: From Nevada's Burning Man to small villages in Sierra Leone

Flutter Tunnel

Jackson's Bland Hoke, who worked with the Center of Wonder, recently graduated from Parsons and and says that he is "a bit nomadic at this point. He is "working on a project called Flutter Tunnel and trying to get the word out about it. Here is the scoop:"

In late August, I am coordinating a group of 12 people that will be creating Flutter Tunnel for Burning Man. As you may know, this festival takes place in the desert of Nevada and lasts 7 days. Our project is designed to last much longer as we are lighting it with solar powered lamps, which are sent to Sierra Leone after the installation is dismantled. We have partnered with Books for Africa and Schools for Salone to distribute the lights to rural schools for reading at night. We realized how powerful this idea is after receiving notice from the schools exclaiming how useful the lights are for promoting a culture of reading.

Our group received some support from Burning Man, and we have raised $3000 in ten days. We are using Kickstarter, and have a week left to raise the remaining funds. If it feels appropriate to feature the project on the blog we would appreciate any extra exposure. Or if you are stirred by the concept feel free to donate! We have crafted a series of interesting rewards for your contribution! Thanks in advance and have a splendid day.

Wyoming shines at National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko

Award-winning bosal by Lander's Mike Alley

I just returned from representing the Wyoming Arts Council at the 28^th annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada. The Western Folklife Center sponsors the annual event and brings regional folklorists in to introduce sessions, stage manage the evening shows and interact with the guest artists. 

While there, I witnessed good things happening for the Cowboy State. Wyoming was well represented in the humorous poetry of Andy Nelson of Pinedale and sage rhymes of Kaycee’s Georgie Sicking.

Rawhide braider Mike Alley of Lander had two pieces place in the juried gear show at the Northeastern Nevada Museum. His bosal received first and his headstall third. Mike attended the Gathering through an Individual Artist Professional Development grant from the WAC and brought along his mentor, Jack Mease. 

Sheridan saddlemaker Don Butler taught in “A Gathering of Masters: Leather Carving Workshop,” and later demonstrated his skill at the Center’s Wiegand Gallery.

Finally, Miss “V” The Gypsy Cowbelle of Cora attended to participate in the open mic performance stage where she caught the eye and ear of Baxter Black and was invited to open for his sold-out, one-man show the following day!

The event was fun, illuminating and exhausting, and I can’t wait for next year!

--Annie Hatch, WAC Folk and Traditional Arts Program Specialist

"Buckaroo culture" icon Waddie Mitchell receives top award from Nevada Arts Council

From the Nevada Arts Council:

Cowboy poet and Great Basin buckaroo Bruce Douglas “Waddie” Mitchell is the 2012 Nevada Heritage Award recipient. With an extensive history of artistic achievement and teaching, Mitchell continues to advance the significance of our Western heritage and cowboy poetry wherever he appears. His work and life will be featured on our website this fall. Created in 2010, the Nevada Heritage Award honors and recognizes Nevada master folk and traditional artists who, at the highest level of excellence and authenticity, carry forward the folk traditions of their families and communities through practice and teaching.

Mitchell was nominated for the award by the Western Folklife Center in Elko, home of the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, which notes that he has become "an icon of Nevada, of buckaroo culture and of cowboy poetry itself."

Cody artist featured at Lucky Star Gallery in Reno

"Indian in Lavender" is one of the many portraits by Cody artist Linda Lucy Lunde featured at the Lucky Star Gallery in Reno, Nevada. They are watercolor, etching, pen and ink. The framed size of this one is 15-3/4x14 inches.

Linda is a member of the Cody Country Art League.

Here's some info on the artist from the gallery web site:

This series of Native American Indian portraits by Lunde are stunning. This portrait of a strong and brooding brave is a handsome watercolor matted and framed in beautifully complimentary tones of a muted mauve/lavender and in a metallic gunmetal grey frame.

Call for proposals: Portrait of Nevada's Governor

The State of Nevada invites professional artists with previous experience in commissioned work for an open competition to paint the portrait of Governor Jim Gibbons which will hang in the Nevada State Capitol.

A Request for Proposals (RFP) inviting artists to participate in this
competition to paint, frame and install the painting was recently
issued. The deadline to submit proposals to the Nevada Arts Council is
5:00 p.m. on July 22, 2010.

Copies of the full RFP with details on how to submit are available by
contacting the Nevada Arts Council at 775-687-6680 or by visiting the
Department of Cultural Affairs’ website at http://www.nevadaculture.org/.

Pursuant to Nevada Revised Statute (NRS) 223.121 the portrait must be
painted in oil colors and be appropriately framed. The painting and
framing must be done in the same manner, style and size as the
portraits of former Governors of the State displayed in the Nevada
State Capitol Building in Carson City. The maximum commission fee for
the preparation of the portrait, which must include the frame and
hanging apparatus, is $17,500. An amount not to exceed $2,500 is
available for artist travel required to complete the portrait.

This competition is open to professional artists living in the United
States. Artists must clearly identify proven experience by having
previously completed a minimum of two portraits which were
commissioned by individuals, corporations or units of government and
are comparable to a Governor’s Portrait. Applicants must demonstrate
the ability to complete the project as proposed, within the available
budget and the stated timeline.

A Selection Committee will review all eligible submissions using the
criteria of artistic quality, demonstrated qualifications and ability
to complete the project within the time frame and budget. The
committee will select three finalists from which the Governor will
choose the commission artist.

The Nevada Arts Council of the Department of Cultural Affairs will
manage the artist selection process for the Selection Committee and
develop and manage the artist’s contract. Notification of final
selection will be made by August 20, 2010 and the portrait must be
completed by December 17, 2010.

Pair of Wyoming Arts Council roster artists on stage in Elko Jan. 23-30

Two Wyoming Arts Council roster artists will be performing at the Cowboy Poetry Gathering Jan. 23-30 at the Western Folklife Center in Elko, Nevada. They are Miss V the Gypsy Cowbelle from Cora and Andy Nelson from Pinedale. Coincidentally, they are both Sublette County residents.

Here's some bio info on them:


Andy Nelson is a second-generation farrier who was raised in Oakley, Idaho, and traveled with his father on farrier jobs throughout the Great Basin until he went off to college. He's released one book and three CDs of his poetry and humor. With his brother Jim, Andy co-hosts the award-winning, weekly syndicated radio show "Clear Out West (C.O.W.) Radio." In 2004 Andy was named the Western Music Association's Male Poet of the Year, and for 2009, Andy was awarded the Skinny Rowland Humor Award by the Academy of Western Artists. Andy now lives in Pinedale, Wyoming, where among other things, he and his wife Jaclyn raise horses and children. Visit http://www.cowpokepoet.com/


Miss "V" the Gypsy Cowbelle has lived on a remote ranch in Wyoming for the past 13 years, honing her homesteader skills such as haying and logging with horses, sewing clothes and tack on treadle machines, building saddles and her signature "plank" banjos with hand tools, hunting and canning elk, grocery shopping once a year, concocting herbal remedies and dandelion wine, running pack strings and helping her neighbors trail cattle through the Rocky Mountains. Miss “V” has self-produced four CDs and is currently listed on the Wyoming Arts Council Artist Roster.

You can bring either of these performers to your community through a WAC Arts Across Wyoming grant. For more info, go to the WAC web site at http://www.wyomingartscouncil.org/ and click on "grants" on the left sidebar.

High school string players gather in Greeley

This comes from a University of Northern Colorado press release:

The University of Northern Colorado School of Music is proud to announce the 25th Annual Western States Honor Orchestra Festival (WSHOF) will be held November 6-8.

Established at UNC in 1983, this annual "Weekend for Strings" provides three days of intense musical training to advanced high school string players. Musicians are nominated by their directors and private teachers, then selected for the event through a rigorous audition process. Festival participants come from all states in the Rocky Mountain West – Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

This year’s festival will feature guest artists RACHEL LEE and WILLIAM PREUCIL. Other guest artists and clinicians include Doug Kershaw, "The Ragin’ Cajun;" conductors Sergio Espinosa and Russell Guyver; alternative music/improvisation specialist Julie Lyonn Lieberman; and UNC string faculty members Richard Fuchs, Juliet White-Smith, David Chew, Jim Vaughn and Kathy Moore.

The three-day event opens Thursday, Nov. 6, at 8 p.m., with a concert by the UNC Symphony Orchestra. Soloist Rachel Lee will perform Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. Ms. Lee will also perform the "Bach Double," more formally known as the "Concerto for Two Violins," by J.S. Bach with UNC violin professor RICHARD FUCHS. The program will also feature "Capriccio Espagnol" by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, "An Orkney Wedding with Sunrise" by Peter Maxwell Davies and the "Mamou Two-Step" by Doug Kershaw.

The festival concludes with a concert by Western States Honor Orchestra Festival participants on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 4 p.m.

Led by Sergio Espinosa, the WSHOF Symphony will perform "Sinfonia #2 in D" by Felix Mendelssohn and "March and Scherzo" from "Love of Three Oranges" by Sergei Prokofiev. Following the Symphony’s performance, Russell Guyver, UNC’s resident orchestra conductor, will lead the WSHOF Chamber Orchestra in a performance of "Introduction and Allegro" by Edward Elgar and Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with William Preucil, soloist.

Tickets for the 25th Annual Western States Honor Orchestra are now on sale.

Tickets for Rachel Lee’s concert with the UNC Symphony Orchestra on Thurs., Nov. 6 are $12 (adults) and $5 (students).

Tickets for William Preucil’s Saturday concert with the Western States Honor Orchestra are $15 (adults) and $10 (students).

FMI: 970-351-2200, 970-356-5000 or 800-315-ARTS. Online at http://arts.unco.edu/music/strings/weekendforstrings/default.html.

Plan now for 25th annual Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada

You may find this hard to believe, but the Western Folklife Center in Elko, Nevada, is already celebrating the 25th anniversary of its Cowboy Poetry Gathering Jan. 24-31, 2009.

There's a huge line-up for this year's gathering: The Three Amigos (Michael Martin Murphey, Don Edwards and Waddie Mitchell), Riders in the Sky, Cowboy Celtic, Baxter Black, Wally McRae, Paul Zarzyski (shown in photo), Ian Tyson, Wyoming's Echo Klaproth and Georgie Sicking, Wyoming native Teresa Jordan, ex-Wyomingite Linda Hasselstrom, and a host of others. Keynote address will be delivered by former Supreme Court Justice and cowgirl Sandra Day O'Connor.

Tickets go on sale to Western Folklife Center members on Tuesday, Sept. 2, at 9 a.m. Pacific Time. Tickets go on sale for non-members on Oct. 2.

FMI: http://www.westernfolklife.org/.

Vote for your favorite Yellowstone song

The Western Folklife Center in Elko, Nevada, sent out this announcement:

Vote For Your Favorite Song in the Yellowstone Teton Song Contest

Sixteen songs have been selected as finalists from 139 songs submitted for the Yellowstone Teton Song Contest. Please vote for your favorite song here. You may only vote once. The poll will detect whether you have voted more than once and will prevent you from voting again. The winner of the Audience Award will receive a Gibson Songwriter Deluxe Guitar valued at $2833. Grand Prize ($1,000) and Gold Prize ($500) winners will also be selected from these finalists by our judges. Voting will end at midnight, Oct. 7. Winners of all three awards will be announced Oct. 15. If you would like to be notified when the Songs from Yellowstone and the Tetons CD is released and when the Yellowstone-area concerts are scheduled, please sign up for our E-News here.

Notice that several of the songwriters are from Wyoming. One, Michael Hurwitz, is on the Wyoming Arts Council's artists' roster. You don't have to vote for Michael's song, but check out the roster if you want to bring him to your community via an Arts Across Wyoming grant.

Learn stagecraft this summer

The mission of the Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas (SILV) is to provide state-of-the-art training for individuals engaged in, or preparing to engage in, the specialization of live entertainment technology. Relying on the experience of its founders, combined with input from key industry personnel, SILV will identify the training needs and then design and implement training opportunities to meet those needs.

SILV offers three training programs this summer. See the web site for complete information.