Community Fine Arts Center celebrates the beauty of Wyoming's Red Desert

From the Community Fine Arts Center in Rock Springs:

Please join us for a variety of art-related events in January at the Community Fine Arts Center in Rock Springs and help celebrate the beauty of the Wyoming's Red Desert 

Wednesday January 2, 2013: 

Free Public Lecture and Discussion by Joan Hoffmann 

"History of American Landscape Painting and Public Lands"
7 pm - 8 pm

Thursday January 3, 2013:

Art Class by Joan Hoffmann
For more details call:307-362-6212

Free Exhibition Critique
4:30 pm -5:30 pm

Free Exhibition Opening Reception
Free refreshments!
5:30 pm– 7:30 pm

Exhibition Duration:
January 3-28, 2013

Art and Landscapes the Red Desert is is a professional-level juried art exhibition that includes photography and fine art pieces by local and national artists. The intent of Art and Landscapes of the Red Desert is to create a dialogue about public lands in the Red Desert and communicate how these lands are used and their significance to those who live, work, play in, and otherwise value this area. The BLM is currently revising its 20-year management plan for large portions of public lands in the Red Desert and it is our hope that a visual dialogue will encourage community engagement with this public land planning process.

Supported in part by a grant by the Wyoming Arts Council, through funding from the Wyoming State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts

Crazy Woman Fine Art Gallery in Buffalo holds open house Dec. 8

New co-op gallery in Laramie holds artists' reception Dec. 2

Sean Hart is holding an artists’ reception at his new co-op gallery in Laramie, 404 S. Second St. It’s on Sunday, Dec. 2, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mimosas and coffee cake will be served, along with artwork by Bruce Amimanni, Patrick Kelly, Allison Wagg, and Sean Gote, photography by Jennifer Faulkner and Ryan Parker and jewelry by Dolores De Harte. Sean invites everyone to slide on by and see what these artists have to offer. See you there.

"The Art of Storyelling" this weekend at Casper's Corridor Gallery and Wind City Books

"Glitch" by Karla Oceanak with illustrations by Kendra Spanjer. Spanjer's work will be featured in "The Art Of Storytelling"
art show and book sale in Casper Nov. 30-Dec. 1.

From the Nov. 23 Casper Star-Tribune Weekender section:

The Corridor Gallery and Wind City Books in downtown Casper present an art show and book signing celebrating “The Art of Storytelling.”

The gallery show features original artworks used in illustrated books by artists Bruce MacPherson, Aumi K. Perry, Zachary Pullen and Kendra Spanjer. In conjunction, Wind City Books will host these illustrators and many Wyoming authors in an all-day book signing.

MacPherson, of Vienna, Va., has illustrated for magazines, newspapers, games, books and national advertising campaigns. His clients include Mattel, National Geographic Society, New York Times, Texas Roadhouse Restaurants, Radio Shack, Red Robin Restaurants and many more.

Perry, of Casper, earned her fine arts degree from the University of Wyoming in 2001. She then studied drawing and painting under Hans-Peter Szameit and Sanna Tomac for three years. She has also studied with noted painters John Michael Carter and David Leffel. Aumi’s paintings have been featured in shows, galleries and private collections across the U.S.

Pullen’s character-oriented illustrations have been seen in The New York Times Book Review, Sports Illustrated, Esquire, GolfWorld, The Wall Street Journal and many other publications. His first picture book, “The Toughest Cowboy or How the Wild West was Tamed,” garnered a starred review from the School Library Journal and was placed on the Texas Blue Bonnet Master List for 2006-2007. His second book, “The Greatest Game Ever Played,” also received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. He lives in Casper.

Spanjer divides her time between being “a writer who illustrates” and “an illustrator who writes.” She and Karla Oceanak are the co-creators of an alphabetically-inspired graphic novel for middle grade readers: the Aldo Zelnick Comic Novel Series, published by Bailiwick Press. Titles so far include “Artsy-Fartsy” (December 2009), “Bogus” (June 2010), “Cahoots” (May 2011), "Dumbstruck” (August 2011), “Egghead” (May 2012), “Finicky” (September 2012) and “Glitch” (November 2012). She lives in Fort Collins, Colo.

Details:

Gallery show: Opening reception is 7 p.m. NOV. 30 at the Corridor Gallery, 120 E. Second St. The show will continue from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. DEC. 1. It is free.

Book signing: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. DEC. 1 at Wind City Books, 152 S. Center St. The art show illustrators will be joined by authors Craig Johnson, Gayle Irwin, Cat Urbigkit, Walter Jones, Curt Wendleboe, Kendra Spanjer, Bill Sniffin, Margo Bean and Gene Gagliano.

Info: www.windcitybooks.com, www.thecorridorgallery.com

UW Visual Arts Gallery opens new exhibit Nov. 16

Tsehai Johnson and Melissa Haviland’s ceramic and printmaking exhibitions can be seen Nov. 16-Dec. 14 at the University of Wyoming Visual Arts Gallery, located on the corner of 22nd Street and Willett Drive. The opening reception is scheduled Friday, Nov. 16, from 6-8 p.m.The exhibitions and reception are free and open to the public.

Johnson is a Colorado-based artist who explores the boundaries between public and private life. Through porcelain objects, interactive installations and mixed-media wall pieces, she references dense ornamentation while also exploring the disorder of everyday life. An assistant professor in the Metropolitan State College of Denver Art Department, Johnson recently was awarded an Art in Architecture commission for Denver’s Rogers Federal Building.

Haviland's artwork explores lineage, ritual and practice within objects that are gendered and classed, such as fine china, which have both feminine and upper-class connotations. An artist-printmaker living in Athens, Ohio, she received her master of fine arts degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and bachelor of fine arts from Illinois State University. She currently teaches printmaking, drawing and papermaking at Ohio University.

The Visual Arts Gallery is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m-5 p.m. For more information, email Diana Baumbach at dbaumbac@uwyo.edu.

Call for applications: UW Gallery 234

From a University of Wyoming press release:

Applications for spring 2013 art exhibitions at the University of Wyoming Gallery 234 will be accepted through 5 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4.All UW faculty, staff and students can apply. For an application, go to www.uwyo.edu/union/cac/gallery234/ and click on “exhibit application.” Applications can be submitted to the UW Campus Activities Center.

Gallery 234 is an educational gallery that provides a space for “creative and critical expression of the visual arts,” as well as offer “exhibitions of social responsibility and artistic substance” for the university. The gallery has hosted a variety of exhibitions this semester.

“Photographs are a common medium, but other media such as comic-book style storytelling, drawing and sculptures have been represented in the gallery,” says Ashley Dallum, the Gallery 234 coordinator.

Reception for "Found, but not Captured" exhibit Nov. 2 at UW's Gallery 234

From a UW press release:

The exhibition “Found, but not Captured” by artist Jessica Neuwerth can be seen through Nov. 3 in the University of Wyoming Union Gallery 234 in Laramie.

A reception for the exhibition is scheduled from 6-8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2.

A UW senior in biology and environment and natural resources, Neuwerth is a Wyoming native with a passion for photography. She says she uses her photography as a “semi-therapeutic form of expression.”

Neuwerth’s work is largely driven by Wyoming landscape and nature.

“Our state has gorgeous things, both large and small, and I hope to artistically express their versatility,” she says.

For more information about Gallery 234, visit www.uwyo.edu/cac.

Photo: “15 Fairytales” is one of Jessica Nueworth’s many works featured in the “Found, but Not Captured,” exhibition.

Jenny Wuerker: Busy Buffalo summer with the gallery and mural projects

Artist Jenny Wuerker sent this communique about her Buffalo gallery's busy summer, as well as some photos of the gallery and downtown murals. When in Buffalo, stop and take a look. Here's Jenny:

Thanks to all of you who visited Crazy Woman Fine Art Gallery this summer. We had an exciting and busy summer. The gallery now exhibits 11 artists, mostly oil paintings, but we also have some artist showing woodblock prints, pastels, colored pencil, jewelry, glass, and photography.  

We enjoyed regular business hours this summer, but now, unfortunately, have returned to our limited winter hours (Thurs, 1-4 pm). Please remember, we are always open by appointment, so don't hesitate to call if you are in town, (307) 217-1322. You may now follow gallery news on facebook at "Crazy Woman Fine Art Gallery", or at our web site: http://www.crazywomanfineart.com/ 

Many of you followed the progress of Buffalo's "More than a One Horse Town" mural this summer. All three artists painting the mural (Aaron and Jenny Wuerker and Marchel Kelley) have work in the gallery, and the original maquettes for both murals (summer 2012 and summer 2013) are on display. Please find more images on facebook at "Buffalo Wyoming Murals".

Summer photo of gallery with Marchel Kelly's horse and buggy out front. She gave carriage rides around Buffalo throughout the summer. Also in the buggy: Guy de Galard, Wolfgang and Maxima Wuerker.

Images of "More Than a One Horse Town" mural from this summer, 80" x 12". Downtown Buffalo Wyoming, flanking Crazy Woman Square (under renovation.) Painted by Aaron and Jenny Wuerker and Marchel Kelley. 

Next summer we will paint "A Creek Runs Through It" mural on flanking building. Follow progress on facebook at "Buffalo Wyoming Murals".

Aaron Wuerker painting

(photo taken by Diana Volk)

Historic photos of Buffalo from the 1890's turn to color as they break the picture frame, metaphorically turning to living history.

Sean Hart's new Laramie co-op gallery is looking for artists

Painter Sean Hart has a gallery at 404 S. 2nd St. in downtown Laramie. It's called 2 Bazaar Gallery. He is opening another space. He describes his plans this way:

We own another building in downtown Laramie that has been vacant for over a year and I want to open it up to artists as a gallery based on a co-op model. There is about 5,400 square feet on two floors. The second floor has a stage, lighting and sound system and possible artist studio spaces. The university and others have done plays and events there. I am not doing this to make money. It is just that the space has been empty and I have done art shows and sales there with some success. Here is my plan as I see it now. I am open to suggestions and ideas. 

I plan to charge an 18 percent commission on sales. This is what I figure it will cost for insurance, utilities, credit card fees, maintenance etc. Each artist will be required to open the gallery on a Saturday on a rotating basis. If we have 12 artists that would be once every three months. We will set up a studio space in the front window where they can work on art pieces while they run the gallery.

In the beginning we will need to advertise. A 3x4 inch ad in the Laramie Boomerang newspaper is about $60.If 12 artists contribute, that's only five dollars each. Once a month or maybe twice a month we will have an artist reception with featured artists. 

The building is ready to begin accepting art and could be open soon with just four artists to start as early as Saturday, Oct. 20. We plan a big holiday sale. 

If you're an artist interested in this venture, contact Sean at 307-742-2888 or email him any time at LYSETTE555@earthlink.net.

FABulous Women's Art Show opens Oct. 13

FMI: http://www.worksofwyoming.org/

Cody's Steve Schrepferman is featured artist at Clay Paper Scissors Gallery

From artist, gallery owner and WAC colleague Camellia El-Antably:

This month we are featuring Steve Schrepferman, a Cody ceramicist, at Clay Paper Scissors in honor of National Crafts Month. Steve is a highly versatile potter with work from the gorgeously functional (drinking from one of his cups is lovely experience in balance and texture) to quirky functional to large scale urns and vases and wall hangings. The work is often thrown and then modified and always glazed with rich, deep colors. Some of the pieces in the gallery now have an almost African sense to them. You can get a taste of his work at his website, http://www.steveschrepferman.com/, where he says:

My visual sensibility is rooted in the colors, textures, and rugged forms in the landscape of the American West. I am in awe of the immense vistas and canyons and feel a strong connection to the great physical and spiritual energy of this land. These are the energies I strive to capture in my work.

Art Design & Dine will be tomorrow, Thursday, Oct. 11, from 5-8 p.m. Clay Paper Scissors is located at 1506 Thomes, Ste B, at the southeast corner of the building facing the tracks. Steve's work will be up through November.

Also during ADD: Mark Vinich, a studio artist, has artwork in the Teacher Show at the Civic Center; Mark and Camellia El-Antably's show, "Memories & Curious Conversations," continues at the Hynds Building at the corner of 16th and Capitol.

Studio Space is available! Please come talk to us about it.

Opening reception for an exhibit by Marta Amundson will be Sept. 28 at The NIC

An opening reception for an exhibit by Marta Amundson of Riverton will be held at the Nicolaysen Art Museum in Casper on Friday, Sept. 28. The exhibit is entitled "Seven Cattle Guards from Civilization: Art Quilts from the WY Frontier." A member's preview with an artist talk will take place at 6 p.m. A free public reception begins at 7 p.m., featuring appetizers by Kyle Hunsicker of Plated Catering. The show runs through Jan. 6, 2013. Shown above: "Got Health care?" 2009. FMI: www.thenic.org 

Gallery walk-through Sept. 7 for new exhibit at UW Art Museum

Equality State Book Festival presenter Zak Pullen illustrates cover of new album by The Wiyos

Cover illustration by Casper's Zak Pullen.

Casper artist and illustrator Zak Pullen will participate in a panel discussion about children's book publishing on Saturday, Sept. 15, 10 a.m., during the Equality State Book Festival in the Casper College Gateway Building. Also on the panel are Cat Urbigkit, Karla Oceanak and Kendra Spanjer. Zak is the co-owner of the The Corridor Gallery in downtown Casper where the bookfest's author reception will be held on Friday, Sept. 14, 5:30 p.m. Zak is branching out to do cover designs for music CDs. His latest is a cover illustration for The Wiyos newly-released album, "Twist." Zak is releasing 100 CD/book combinations at $55 each. That includes a meet-and-greet jam and story session and two tickets to the Sept. 14 The Wiyos' concert at the Wolcott Galleria Theatre, 136 S. Wolcott in Casper. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Also playing will be Ten Sleep's Jalan Crossland and John Kirlin and the High Plains Drifters. A great line-up! We hate to tell you all this because we want you to attend the free bookfest events that continue that same evening at 7:30 p.m. with a reading by Wyoming Poet Laureate Pat Frolander followed by a poetry slam (with emcee George Vlastos) at 8:30. Both events are at the Metro Coffee Company downtown.

WOW Gallery & Gift Shop moving to downtown Laramie

Works of Wyoming Gallery & Gift Shop relocates to downtown Laramie

WOW has some news:

WOW Gallery and Gift Shop will be moving to 211 S. First Street in downtown Laramie:

· It will be next to Sweet Melissa’s restaurant. Good location, lousy for the waistlines!
· The new location will host “make & take” workshops.
· It will help Wyoming artists and WOW members increase sales and visibility.

The grand opening will occur in late July. Watch for special promotions.

· WOW is soliciting a few special pieces from valued members as door prizes for patrons. Please consider stewardship of WOW, a not-for-profit project of Wyoming Women’s Business Center by donating a piece.

· WOW is looking for more consignments at the new location: jewelry, pottery, glass, wood, fiber, as well as 2D and 3D fine art.

· Please keep WOW in mind wherever you see quality Wyoming made products that might appeal to downtown visitors.

WOW’s present location in the Civic Center will be used for office space, photo studio, and workshops requiring a larger space.

· WOW would love to have artists and craftspeople share their skills and knowledge by directing their own workshops. Send in a proposal, or call WOW directly.

“We have heard from a number of folks who are interested in a “First Tuesday” kind of event- social for critiques and to meet the artists, for roundtable discussions, and gallery walks to replace some of the gallery events we now produce. Your input for this matter is important! Please drop us an email with your thoughts.”

FMI: 307-742-6574, wow@uwyo.edu

Abbie Miller's "Zipped" opens May 25 at the NIC in Casper

Abbie Miller's exhibit "Zipped" will be shown at the Nicolaysen Art Museum in Casper May 25-September 9. Abbie's work was included in the Wyoming Arts Council fellowship biennial show held last year at the Center for the Arts in Jackson.

Abbie Miller's artwork draws equally from the world of fashion and textile manipulation as it does from sculpture. She creates sculptural forms through man-made textiles and clothing and explores the dynamic intersection between form, texture, surface, sculpture and the human body.

Artist Statement

At the site of connection there is a stitch. Action and material, verb and noun, praxis and theory, the stitch is the DNA of my art.

Using clothing construction techniques, I design sculptures, garments and interactive objects that examine the relationship between structure, form and surface. By altering ubiquitous, mass-produced materials into unfamiliar sensuous objects, I invite viewers to question the nature of materiality.

My use of repetition, synthetic material and design relate visually and methodically to tactics of commercial display marketing. I'm interested in these tactics for the non-verbal, instinctual reactions they stimulate. In this way my work is reflexive of mass-produced consumer culture and novelty.

Conversely the physicality and labor present in my work asks the viewer to look longer and question the value of craft and labor in relationship to material and the body. My sculptures play on design strategies, but the construction techniques suggest a tacit bodily connection beyond the physical surface.

Artful Hand Studio & Gallery in Cheyenne features "5 Jewelers" May 10-12

Plaza Diane's namesake would be thrilled to see downtown Powell these days

Andrew Michler, a writer who writes about sustainable building practices, has profiled Plaza Diane, in Powell, on his website. Take a gander at the slide show of how this old corner gas station was updated and made into a contemporary art space, both inside and out.  

The image is not great, but the photos of this arts center on the Andrew's website are sharp and show several views of the outside and inside of the remarkable transformation.

Opening reception April 18 for Susan Thulin and Suzanne Morlock at Tayloe Piggott Gallery

LuDel Deal Walker re-fuses refuse to create artwork you can't refuse

"Baby Fox"

From a Corridor Gallery press release:

The Corridor Gallery in downtown Casper proudly presents “Refuse”, a solo exhibit of Wyoming artist LuDel Deal Walter. LuDel is an accomplished artist that is following through with her first Corridor solo exhibit after winning “Best In Show” during a past Corridor call-for-entries show based upon the subject of religion. The public and press are invited to attend the opening reception of “Refuse” on Friday, March 30th at 7pm. The exhibit will show only through Sunday, April 1st. The Corridor Gallery appreciates your continued support for local and regional artwork.

Artist statement:

The Refuse of life remains. We Refuse to look at it. This work Re-fuses the discarded object with meaning. My work communicates the boundaries of where time passes into memory and life passes into death. How does memory hold the past captive? How does place tie into time and memory? This body of work refuses the passage of time by freezing the process of decay -- a stop-action of a very slow natural process. Memory seems to work in a similar fashion; as we recall people and events from our memories, they are frozen at a particular time like stop-action movie stills or loops of a single scene. I incorporate objects that are often ignored or overlooked to create meaning. The carcasses and the refuse of our lives are more than simple objects; they connect to the time when life and purpose was contained there. I am using recycled and found objects (hand-made paper, junk, bones, etc.) to represent the passage of time and the space between life and death. I find that by using images of actual carcasses and garbage in combination with textured papers and found objects, I have a stronger connection to the work because I'm forced to consider the feelings of disgust, shame and ambivalence surrounding the objects.  This body of work refuses the inevitability of  loss of meaning and purpose. We no longer revere life enough to consider the process of dying; because we can't embrace death, we can't fully embrace life. Every living thing has a quality that leaves the body at the time of death. Every object has a quality of memory.  What is that liminal quality?  Where is it? These pieces are intended to ask the viewer to consider the life and purpose that once inhabited these images. -- LuDel Deal Walter

Event Details

Event: “Refuse” Original Artwork by Wyoming artist LuDeal Deal Walter
Specifics: Located at The Corridor Gallery: 120 E. 2nd St. Casper, WY 82601
Tickets Cost/Avail: Free Admission
Opening Reception: Friday, March 30th at 7:00pm
Open Showing: Saturday, March 31st 10:00am to 5:00pm
Sunday, April 1st noon to 4pm
Information: For more information, please contact The Corridor Gallery at (307) 333-7035, Reed at (307) 259-8001 or visit www.thecorridorgallery.com