Mary Burgess exhibit begins December 1 at Sagebrush Gallery, Sheridan

Mary Burgess's retrospective exhibit, "Looking Back," opens December 1st in Sheridan's Sagebrush Gallery, located in the Historic Train Depot at 201 E. 5th Street.

At 90 years old, Mary's exhibit will display a wide array of artistic styles and mediums. Among them: a watercolor Mary painted as a young girl of "Sniffles," her pet rat, and a homestead overlooking Sheridan, with an enormous moon behind it.  "This is what she was painting when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon," said Mary's daughter, Heather Plank  Heather continues: "Mother paints what's going on in the world and in her life.  Her paintings are a reflection of important events…it's a means of communication."

Mary expresses herself through a breadth and depth of mediums and artistic genres.  When asked about her wide-ranging styles, Mary said, "I was free to paint as I wished because I didn't have to worry about selling art for my supper.  That's why I could delve into so many styles.  Bernard Thomas once told me, ‘Mary, you have to settle into one style.’ ‘No, I don't,’” she smiled conspiratorially.

Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Mary traveled the world with her family as a girl, her ports of call as diverse as the paintings in this retrospective.  Discouraged from studying art or music in college, Mary majored in history at the University of Michigan, during which time she met Henry Burgess.  After WWII, they married and started their family, moving to his hometown of Sheridan when Henry finished law school.  Mary drew landscapes and scenes of ranch life in rare moments of free time.

 When painter Rupert Conrad gave a Saturday workshop, Mary and their young son, Sheridan, attended.  "Sheridan was intrigued, but decided “painting's just for a rainy day,” and he galloped off on his horse."  Mary was more than intrigued; she attended many workshops by Quang Ho and Chen Chi, among others, as well as "every class Dick Martinsen taught at Sheridan College." 

She began painting with local artists, including: Bunny Connell, Margie Newman (who taught the brushstrokes of Sume-i), Alice Fuller, Neltje, and Liz Howell. Mary became a member of the Sheridan Artist's Guild (now SAGE), the Wyoming Artists Association (where she served as president), the National Sume-i Society, which honored Mary with a national award, and the National Pastel Society.  Her work garnered national acclaim when in the sixties, one of Mary's paintings hung in Congressional Office of Agriculture in Washington D.C. 

Paintings in this exhibition correspond to phases in Mary's remarkable life. Mary has also written her autobiography, Both Sides of the Canvas, which will be available at Sheridan Stationary.  Today Mary still paints with local artists, and serves as a role model for young artists, telling them, “Be true to yourself and paint in the way that best communicates and expresses what you feel.”

Approximately 90 of Mary Burgess' works will grace the front and member galleries, lobby and hall of the Sagebrush Community Art Center through the month of December.  The Opening Reception will take place December 1st, from 4-7 pm at the Historic Train Depot. 

Cooper Center for Creative Arts screens documentary "Adapting the Rules" Sept. 20-22

Ali Grossman’s documentary film, “Adapting the Rules,” will be screened at the Cooper Center for Creative Arts at Ark Regional Services, 1174 N. Fourth in Laramie today through Saturday, Sept. 20-22. Doors open each night at 6:30 p.m., followed by the screening at 7 p.m. A panel discussion and reception will follow after the documentary. Admission is free.

Here's a snippet about the film from the Laramie Boomerang:

For years, Director Kayc DeMaranville said she had wanted to provide Laramie residents a backstage pass to the creative process at work in productions at the Cooper Center.

“We’ve always said how, if we could just sell tickets to the backstage process, that would be so interesting to see,” she said. “So we decided to film a documentary. Once we had the OK, the grant from the Wyoming Humanities Council, it was after that we decided the ‘Elephant Man’ was the right show, the right process, the right group of people to see this project through.”

The documentary offers a unique and compelling insight into the creative process of all who worked on the “Elephant Man” last year, DeMaranville said.

People First Language offers humane ways to refer to members of the nation's largest minority group

This article comes from the spring 2011 Wyoming Arts Council Artscapes newsletter set for an April 29 pub date. It was contributed by WAC staffer Marirose Morris. As Arts Access Specialist, Marirose oversees several grant programs and 504/ADA guidelines. Contact her at the WAC at 307-777-7742.

A person’s self-image is tied to the words used about him/her. People First Language was started by individuals who said, “We are not our disabilities!”

People First Language puts the person before the disability, and describes what a person has, not who a person is. Are you “cancerous” or do you have cancer? Is a person “handicapped/disabled” or does he/she “have a disability?” Using a diagnosis as a defining characteristic reflects prejudice, and robs the person of the opportunity to define him/herself.

People with disabilities comprise the nation’s largest minority group. It is also the most inclusive: all ages, genders, religions, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and socioeconomic levels are represented, and anyone can join it, at any time.

Say:	Instead of:
Children/adults with a disability	Handicapped, disabled, special needs
S/he has a cognitive disability	S/he is mentally retarded
S/he has Down syndrome	S/he’s mongoloid/Down’s
S/he has autism	An autistic person
S/he has a learning disability	S/he is learning disabled
S/he is deaf	The deaf
S/he has a speech disorder	Mute
S/he is blind, has a visual impairment	The blind
S/he has epilepsy	An epileptic
S/he uses a wheelchair	Wheelchair bound
S/he walks with a assistive device	A cripple
S/he is a little person	Dwarf or midget
People without disabilities	Normal or healthy people
Accessible parking, hotel rooms, etc.	Handicapped parking, hotel rooms, etc.

11th annual Native American Business Expo set for May 4 at Intertribal Center in Riverton

The 11th Annual Native American Business Expo/Wind River Business Conference will be held Wednesday, May 4, 2011, at the new Intertribal Center in Riverton. The target market includes those located on the Wind River Indian Reservation, Fremont County, and statewide. This year it has three main focuses: "Artisan, General Business, and Government Contracting."

FMI: Margie E. Rowell, Director, Small Business Development Center, 213 W. Main Street, Suite C, Riverton WY  82501; 1-800-969-8639; http://WyomingEntrepreneur.Biz

Call for entries: VSA & VW exhibition program

VSA & VOLKSWAGEN: EXHIBITION PROGRAM
http://vsarts.org/x5796.xml
Deadline: June 10, 2011. VSA, a program of the Kennedy Center, and Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., seek submissions from emerging artists with disabilities ages 16–25 for Momentum, a national juried art exhibition on display at the Smithsonian Institution during fall 2011. Fifteen finalists will be selected and will share $60,000 in cash awards.

LEAD 2010 -- accessibility, disability and inclusion in the arts

FMI: http://www.kennedy-center.org/accessibility/education/lead/conference.html

"The Power olf Art" workshop in D.C.

The Lab School of Washington in Washington, D.C. will host its 17th annual workshop "The Power of Art: Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities" this spring. The Power of Art is a national competition which celebrates excellence in art education and innovative teaching methods. The Power of Art is held in conjunction with and generously sponsored by the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation.
　
The one day workshop provides art teachers with a better understanding of learning disabilities, original ways to teach, and how art can be used to teach academic skills. The Rauschenberg Foundation kindly provides hotel accommodations and limited travel funds. Because the late Robert Rauschenberg, Master of Modern Art , was not diagnosed until adulthood with dyslexia, he wanted to iterate the importance and value of art education in the classroom, especially those students with learning disabilities. His son, Chris Rauschenberg an artist and photographer will attend the workshop and meet with the teachers. This is a fantastic once in a life time opportunity for art teachers nation-wide who have a large or small population of learning disabled students.
　
FMI: http://www.labschool.org/content/powerart

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Nicolaysen Art Museum & Discovery Center

Here's what visitors are saying about the exhibition "I Want Candy": "Sweet, tempting art to eat with my eyes! Mmmm - delicious!" "Indeed, I do want candy right now. Love this show." "This show makes me hungry...." "A Feast for the eyes & 'Sweetie' has not teeth!" "Makes me childlike, if only I could touch, taste and take these visually stunning yet provocative works."

Sheridan writers read Oct. 15 at Senior Center

Sheridan area writers will be presenting their work at a free reading on Thursday, October 15, 12:30 p.m., at the Sheridan Senior Center, 211 Smith St.

Participating writers: Aaron Holst, Abbie Taylor, Chris Valentine, Rose Hill, Treva Lannan, Bruce Anderson, Duane Portwood, Terry McNutt and Joan Puma Bennet.

FMI: 307-672-2240

Sign Stage Theatre presents "Dr. Doolittle"

Sign Stage Theatre’s "Dr. Dolittle" will be on stage Monday, April 6, 7:30 p.m., at Natrona County High School in Casper.

Description from ARTCORE web site:

In the story of Dr. Dolittle, we are introduced to the good Dr. who gives up treating people after Polynesia, his parrot, teaches him animal languages. He already knew sign language. Who would have thought he could learn animal languages too? His fame in the animal kingdom quickly spreads throughout the world. Using ALL his language skills, he sets off to cure a monkey epidemic in Africa, finding all sorts of adventures on the way.

Sign Stage on Tour is a specialist in Sign Language Theatre where deaf and hearing actors perform together on stage. Whenever a character speaks, the character speaking uses Sign Language but you’ll always hear the voice too. The voice comes from a different actor speaking through a microphone, sometimes on-stage and sometimes off-stage.

Visually, the stage is filled with the movement of hands and bodies yet every word is spoken to make sure all audience members, both deaf and hearing, don’t miss a thing. It’s a magical blend of language created when performing a play simultaneously in spoken English and in the spatial beauty of American Sign Language.

Tickets: Seniors (60 & over) $11, adults $12, students teachers, $6, children (12 and under) $4.