"Picturing Faith" exhibit at UW

From a press release:

A series of photographs showing the place of religion in American society will be on display through March 23 in the University of Wyoming Classroom Building west entrance lounge in Laramie.

The UW Department of Religious Studies, along with others, sponsors "Picturing Faith: Religious America in Government Photography, 1935-1943." The exhibit is curated by Colleen McDannell, University of Utah Sterling M. McMurrin Professor of Religious Studies.

She will present a free public lecture Thursday, Feb. 12, at 5:10 p.m. in Room 133 of the Classroom Building. Refreshments will follow the lecture.

The Historical Division of the Farm Security Administration in 1935 began making a photographic survey of economic struggle and social dislocation in Depression-era America. The resulting "sociologists with cameras" entered the homes and churches of the poor and also the middle class.

They photographed people in prayer, domestic shrines, dinner graces, parishioners going into their churches, revival meetings, and even the gospel trucks of itinerant preachers. Picturing faith in the exhibit's series of photographs shows the place of religion in American society through the lens of some of America's most well-known photographers such as Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange and Gordon Parks.

"Picturing Faith" also presents the works of equally talented but lesser-known photographers such as John Collier Jr., Marion Post Wolcott, Russell Lee, Jack Delano and Marjory Collins.

Also sponsoring the exhibit are the Wyoming Humanities Council, UW Foundation, the Office of Academic Affairs, the College of Arts and Sciences, the American Heritage Center, the Department of History, the African American Studies Program, the Master of Fine Arts Program, the American Studies Program, the Department of Art, the Chicano Studies Program, the Women's Studies Program and the Art Museum.

For more information, contact Quincy Newell, UW Department: Religious Studies assistant professor, at (307) 766-2144 or e-mail qdnewell@uwyo.edu.

Photo: Religion in America -- Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother" is among images in a series of photographs depicting religion in American currently on display in the University of Wyoming Classroom Building west entrance lounge. (Photo Courtesy of Library of Congress)

New Deal-inspired photos to tour Wyoming

From a Wyoming State Parks and Cultural Resources press release:

A traveling exhibit featuring the photos of New Deal inspired Wyoming projects will be on display at venues throughout the state beginning next month.

The exhibit, celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the New Deal, features 14 large-format contemporary black-and-white photographs taken by Wyoming Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources photographer Richard Collier. Wyoming Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Program Administration sites are depicted in the Collier photographs.

The New Deal, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s massive Depression-era program to put Americans back to work, resulted in an alphabet soup of federal programs. Millions of people took part in these programs resulting in a myriad of projects. Americans planted trees, created parks and zoos, wrote plays, recorded histories, created paintings and photographs, and built highways, bridges, dams, courthouses, schools and stadiums.

Among the structures chronicled in the photographs are the Museum and Castle at Guernsey State Park, a band shell in Lingle, a swimming pool in Veteran and the Wardwell Hanger in Bar Nunn.

The exhibit is currently scheduled to be on display at the following locations:

• August-September, Carbon County Library, 215 Buffalo Street, Rawlins
• October–November, Uinta County Museum, 36 10th Street, Evanston
• December, Fremont County Library, 1330 West Park, Riverton
• January, Park County Library, 1057 Sheridan Ave., Cody
• February, Weston County Library, 23 West Main St., Newcastle
• April, Sublette County Library, 144 South Tyler Ave., Pinedale
  

If interested in hosting the traveling exhibit during the coming year, please contact Nancy Weidel at 777-3418 or nweide@state.wy.us.

New Deal celebration draws crowd to Guernsey

More than 250 people attended the 75th anniversary celebration of the New Deal on Saturday, May 3, at Guernsey State Park.

All of us were thankful that the ceremony was held Saturday under sunny skies and not on Friday, when 60 m.p.h. wind gusts pushed snow through the canyon, shutting down county roads. The wind had been so fierce that the umbrella tent set up for the band was lifted from its moorings and slammed into a tree. It took park service guys all day to get it down and find replacements for the poles bent in the storm.

Saturday's audience sat in folding chairs, munched homemade cookies and sipped lemonade while Prickly Pair of Dubois (shown above) serenaded them with songs from the 1930s. Others toured the park museum, an historic rock building constructed in 1936 by the New Deal's Civilian Conservation Corps. During the New Deal, Guernsey was home to two CCC camps. It was also one of the few camps in the U.S. that was allowed to use skilled labor, which contributed to the multitude of structures in the park that not only look good but are intact 75 years after their construction. That includes the displays inside the museum, as well as its sturdy exterior.

Wyoming State Parks and Cultural Resources Director Milward Simpson opened the ceremonies. The flag ceremony was conducted by the Wyoming Youth Challenge Color Guard. They posted flags representing the U.S., Wyoming, and the CCC, the same type of flag that flew here in 1936.

Next at the podium was Gov. Dave Freudenthal (shown above in front of museum). He said that he had a fondness for the museum, as the rock for its floor was quarried in his hometown of Thermopolis. His parents grew up prior to the Great Depression and were married right out of high school on March 6, 1929. The Depression began on Oct. 29, 1929, with the "Black Friday" stock market crash. Gov. Freudenthal's father would tell his eight children that the president thought that "the day that I married your mother was so important, he closed the banks."

That sort of humor was indicative of the can-do spirit that prompted President Franklin D. Roosevelt to launch the CCC as one of the first acts of his administration once he took office in 1933. Dr. David Kathka of Rock Springs followed the Governor and talked about the New Deal's history. There were eventually 19 CCC camps in Wyoming, each containing about 200 men. The two at Guernsey competed against one another and planted trees and built roads and trails. They built the museum, picnic shelters and the Million Dollar Biffy, one of the most elaborate and well-constructed outdoor restroom facilities in the country.

Dr. Kathka noted that the CCC workers woke up early to the bugle's call and labored most of the day. Each camp was run as if it was a military camp which also served as preparation for the world war that was on the horizon. But the men -- most of them in their twenties -- also played hard, especially at the park's summer water carnival. Photos of camp activities were on display in the museum.

Michael Pettigrew, the mayor of the town of Guernsey, also spoke. Todd Thibodeau from Wyoming State Parks talked about the camp's history. Not widely known, he said, is that Guernsey was the first collaboration between the CCC, Bureau of Reclamation (which built the reservoir dam) and the U.S. Forest Service to create the prototype of a public recreation area. It served as a model to build other recreation facilities at Bureau of Reclamation reservoirs across the U.S., especially in the West.

After the ceremony, there was more time for cookies and music. The event was funded by a grant from the Wyoming Arts Council via a grant from the NEA's American Masterpieces program. Prickly Pair is featured on the WAC's artist roster. Les Hamilton, one of the group's three members, grew up in the Big Horn Basin where his father worked for the CCC in the 1930s. The day's events concluded with guided tours provided by park personnel.

For a profile of Orman Millikin, the local rancher who, as a young man, worked with the CCC at Camp Guernsey and was honored by the Governor at Saturday's ceremony, go to http://www.trib.com/articles/2008/05/04/news/wyoming/doc481bd3f5289f0815347652.txt

"Grapes of Wrath" tonight at Atlas Theatre

Harry Woods sends this reminder:

The Cheyenne Little Theatre Players' fourth (and final) 2008 Readers' Theatre production, "The Grapes of Wrath," plays tonight (Friday, April 11) at the downtown Atlas Theatre in Cheyenne at 7:30 p.m. It's directed by Keith Thomson. If you haven't secured your tickets, please do so. We received a grant from the Wyoming Arts Council to help fund the project. It has a large cast of 19 wonderful readers aged 10 to over 70. The story certainly has parallels to present-day events.

Readers Theater: "The Grapes of Wrath"

The Cheyenne Little Theatre Players will present "The Grapes of Wrath" in its fourth Readers Theater production of the 2007-2008 season. One performance only, on Thursday, April 11, 7:30 p.m., at the Historic Atlas Theatre in downtown Cheyenne. Tickets are $10.

Keith Thomson will direct this adaptation by Frank Galati of John Steinbeck's classic novel about "Okies" fleeing the Dust Bowl to California in the 1930s. Keith notes that readers theater is a bit different from traditional stage offerings. He said this in today's Wyoming Tribune-Eagle story by Karen Cotton:

"This is similar to radio drama theater.... Your voice is your acting tool as opposed to using your physicality.

"In this show, people will be playing multiple characters. But the main leads will be playing their own characters."

FMI: CLTP at 307-638-6543.

"The Grapes of Wrath" is funded by an American Masterpieces grant from the Wyoming Arts Council. The focus of these grants in 2008 is the 75th anniversary of President Franklin Roosevelt's "New Deal" program during the Great Depression. For more info about these grants, contact the WAC at 307-777-7742.

Guernsey Museum celebration on May 3

The State of Wyoming is hosting a celebration at the museum at Guernsey State Park from 1-3 p.m. on Saturday, May 3. The State Historic Preservation Office photo exhibit of New Deal-era buildings and projects will be on display. Refreshments will be served. Entrance to the park that day will be free and tours will be provided at 3 p.m.

Master of ceremonies will be State Parks and Cultural Resources Director Milward Simpson. A flag ceremony will begin the event at 1 p.m. There will be a number of speakers, including the mayor of Guernsey, and a representative from the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), which built the historic building in the 1930s. Prickly Pair (pictured above), a musical group on the Wyoming Arts Council artists' roster, will provide entertainment throughout the afternoon.

Invited guests for the Guernsey event include the Governor and First Lady, elected and county officials; legislators; Air and Army National Guard officers and officials; Guernsey, Douglas, Lingle, and Torrington elected civic officials; the State Parks & Cultural Resources Commission; the Historical Society; local American Legion members; national and local Civilian Conservation Corps alumni; local ROTC, Platte County and Converse County School District schools; and officials from Camp Guernsey.

Call the WAC for details at 307-777-7742.

What would Dorothea Lange do?

She'd apply for an American Masterpieces "New Deal" grant. This Wyoming Arts Council program provides funds for projects that celebrate American New Deal era artists and their work. Click here to start a new application.

Dorothea Lange was a photographer best known for her work during the 1930s for the Farm Security Administration. She was a trailblazer in documentary photography.

Funding available for "New Deal" arts projects

In celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the New Deal, the Wyoming Arts Council will offer grants of up to $5,000 for arts projects related to American Master artists from the New Deal era.

Projects should focus on artwork created by American New Deal era master artists, or by contemporary Wyoming master artists inspired by or documenting New Deal artwork.

Some recognized master artists of the period include Aaron Copeland, Bella Lewitsky, Glenn Miller, Busby Berkeley, Zora Neale Hurston, Ernest Hemingway, Louis Armstrong, Vardis Fisher, Lawrence Welk, Clifford Odets, Woody Guthrie, Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, and many more. Contemporary artist examples are winners of WAC fellowships or artists who have national recognition through the NEA or other major awards.

Applicants will need to make an argument for why someone is a master artist. Funded projects will be required to advertise this program as part of the WAC American Masterpieces New Deal project. Events may take place between February 23 and June 30, 2008. Planning, rehearsals or other preparatory work may take place from January 1, 2008 on.

Possible ideas for arts projects include:
• Concerts or performances
• Literary readings and publications
• Update of Wyoming: A Guide to its History, Highways, and People
• Radio shows / plays
• Exhibits of artwork created in the New Deal era
• Contemporary exhibits inspired by the New Deal/Great Depression
• Cowboy songs and poetry gatherings
• New Deal era film festivals
• Lectures or symposia about New Deal arts

Requests may be for up to fifty percent of the proposed project cash expenses -- a 1-to-1 cash match requirement. Maximum request is $5,000. Grants will be fully funded or not at all.

Deadline: Applications must be submitted at least six weeks (42 days) before the project start date.

FMI: Marirose Morris, Arts Access Specialist, mmorri@state.wy.us; (307) 777-7723; FAX (307) 777-5499; TDD (307) 777-5964.

Click here to start a new American Masterpieces application.