Donations to Carbon County Library book sale will be matched by Wyoming State Legislature

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Poetry takes center stage today in Wyoming State Legislature

Wyoming Poet Laureate Pat Frolander of Sundance read from her work today in the Wyoming House. Pat read  "Houston Creek" (from her new collection Married Into It) and "Requiem in Lace" about her pioneer grandmother -- "smallpox and snakebite/she dealt with it all." She also read to the Wyoming Senate on this second-to-the-last day of the Wyoming State Legislature. Arts supporter Rep. Rosie Berger (R-Sheridan County) opened today's House session with another poem -- a Bible reading from Ecclesiastes 3: “There is a time for everything/and a season for every activity under heaven/…a time to plant and a time to uproot/…a time to tear down and a time to build.” Those lines were the inspiration for a sixties rock song, "Turn, Turn, Turn" made famous by The Byrds. Thanks to Sara Needles for the smartphone photo.

Zombies descend on Wyoming State Capitol

The Zombie lobby turned out in force during lunchtime today at the Wyoming State Capitol.  Represented were the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Zombies (ASPCZ) and kids concerned by rumors that the Legislature is considering forced labor for children of the undead. In reality, the gathering was a promotion for a film being shot in Wyoming later this year. Entitled "From the Trailer to the Grave," auditions are being held at 3 p.m. today at Cheyenne's Atlas Theatre and on Sunday in Laramie. Film director is Worland native and UW grad Harrison Sweeney. FMI: http://www.fromthetrailertothegrave.com

Presentation on historic ranch architecture Feb. 15 at Wyoming State Museum

A presentation focusing on the LX Bar Ranch in northern Wyoming will be held at the Wyoming State Museum Multi-Purpose Room at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 15.


The original ranch owned by Senator John B. Kendrick is still intact and features several large stone structures built by Swedish stonemasons in 1910. The ranch is located along the Powder River and near the Montana State Line.


The slide presentation will be conducted by Ken Tobin and Megin Rux of Tobin and Associates, a local architectural firm.
            
The ranch is considered to feature some of the nicest ranch architecture in the state. The current owner, who wishes to remain anonymous, would like to donate the site to the State of Wyoming. That proposed donation will go before the Wyoming State Legislature this session. For more information about the presentation, please call 777-7021. View a video shot at the ranch by Jodie Baxendale at http://vimeo.com/34907344

UW's African-American and Diaspora Studies launches new speaker series named for Liz Byrd

Wyoming State Sen. Harriet Elizabeth "Liz" Byrd (left) looks on as Gov. Mike Sullivan signs the legislation establishing the Martin Luther King, Jr./Equality Day holiday in 1990. Sen. Byrd worked for almost a decade to get the legislation enacted. 

From a University of Wyoming press release:

To recognize her many contributions to Wyoming, both as an educator and legislator, UW African American and Diaspora Studies (AADS) recently created the Harriet Elizabeth "Liz" Byrd Speaker Series. AADS is working to raise $25,000 to endow the series, which will bring minority educators and speakers to UW and serve to honor the woman who sponsored legislation that, in 1990, established Martin Luther King, Jr./Wyoming Equality Day as a state holiday.

Liz Byrd in the classroom

"I can't think of a better person to represent the University of Wyoming," says AADS Director Tracey O. Patton. "She's emblematic of what we all hope to accomplish in life. I think every person on this planet would like to affect positive change for the world. Very few of us get to do that but she did. She has made lives better in the state of Wyoming."

http://www.uwyo.edu/profiles/extras/liz-byrd.html

Register now for the Wyoming Writers, Inc., conference June 3-5 in Casper

Don't miss the 2011 Wyoming Writers, Inc., Conference

Ramada Plaza Riverside Hotel and Conference Center along the North Platte River in Casper, June 3–5

Presentations, Workshops, Agent Pitch Sessions, Contest, Open Mic!

Presenters:
Author Lucia St. Clair Robson
Poet Chris Fischbach
Peter McCarthy, Vice President of Marketing at Random House
Editor Katie Dublinski, Graywolf Press
Agent Peter Steinberg, Steinberg Agency

FMI: http://www.wyowriters.org

Conference: bowercorner@juno.com
Contest: phdugan@silverstar.com

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

Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund board meets Feb. 11

Contact: Renee Bovee, 777-6312

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund Board will meet Friday, February 11, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Wind River Room of the Plains Hotel, downtown Cheyenne.

During the meeting, the board will hear from grant recipients, who will present brief presentations on the successes and challenges of their programs. Grantees will also be invited to share impressions of the Cultural Trust Fund from throughout the state and discuss where resources should be directed in the future.

The Board will attend the Governor’s Arts Awards banquet that evening. An agenda for the meeting is available on the WCTF website, http://wyospcr.state.wy.us/CTF/index.aspx.

Cultural Trust Fund Board members are: David Reetz, Chair, Powell; Nancy Schiffer, Kaycee; Barbara Smith, Rock Springs; Mike Shonsey, Cheyenne; and Sara Needles, Laramie.

Date change for "Civility Matters" in Cheyenne

From the Wyoming Humanities Council:

Join Us for "Civility Matters! The Decline of Legislative Civility — But Not in Wyoming."

Friday, December 10, 5:30-7 p.m.

Historic Plains Hotel, 1600 Central Avenue, Cheyenne.

Join us for refreshments and conversation about Wyoming’s place in the national debate over declining legislative civility.

Leading the dialogue at 6 p.m. will be Rutgers University legislative scholar Alan Rosenthal speaking on “The Decline of Legislative Civility — But Not in Wyoming.” Rosenthal, a professor of public policy at Rutgers University, researches and teaches about state legislatures and state politics.

The author of numerous books on state legislatures, he has worked with legislatures in most of the states and with the three national legislative organizations. His most recent book is Engines of Democracy: Politics and Policymaking in State Legislatures. In 2006 he was the recipient of an award for lifetime achievement from the National Conference of State Legislatures and the State Legislative Leaders Foundation. He is currently chairman of the New Jersey Legislature’s Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards.

"Civility Matters!" is a multi-year initiative of the Wyoming Humanities Council which offers promotion and online and face-to-face programs on the topic of civility. Residents of the Cowboy State will have 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.

Funding is provided by the Wyoming State Legislature through the Wyoming Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources, the University of Wyoming Outreach School, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. "Civility Matters!" complements the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) 50-state American Civility Tour, conducted by NEH Chairman Jim Leach in 2010-2011.

The Wyoming Humanities Council is a nonprofit organization affiliated with NEH. For more information about the event or the Wyoming Humanities Council, call 307-721-9243 or visit www.uwyo.edu/humanities.

Bruce Richardson: Wyoming leaps into the future as a great arts state

Many Wyomingarts readers have read Bruce Richardson's columns in the WAC's Wyoming Artscapes newsletter. Bruce stepped down as Wyoming Arts Council board chair this past summer, but is still on the board. He writes eloquently about Wyoming and the arts. Here's an op-ed piece that was published in the Oct. 10 Casper Star-Tribune:

Wyoming is a top arts state, right now!

By Bruce Richardson

The report on cultural activity in Wyoming released this week by the Wyoming Arts Council and presented by Governor Freudenthal tells a dramatic and important story. Wyoming is a leading state for culture and the arts with a ranking ahead of every state in the Mountain West except Colorado. Overall we are 34% ahead of the regional average. Many would identify New Mexico, with Santa Fe and Taos, as a national arts leader. It’s good, but not as good as Wyoming. We have more photographers, writers, choreographers and visual artists per capita than regional and national averages and we buy and sell visual art at an astounding rate: 123% higher than the national average. Leading the way is Jackson, perhaps the top arts town in the United States with an overall ranking an incredible eight times larger than the national average. Cody is three times the national average and we find strengths across the state with a wide distribution of creative jobs in many places.

I am not surprised. Everywhere I go I meet artists, see art making, hear about new books being written, meet musicians and mainly see regular folks singing, dancing, writing songs and going at photography in a serious way. An Arts Council survey of folk arts in Crook County found great work being done on almost every ranch and a report on Sheridan and Buffalo found 1,123 people working in the creative economy. Any weekend in Casper has a blitz of readings, performances, gallery openings, and museum activities. A list of what’s happening would fill this page.

The CVI statistics still may puzzle some. In absolute numbers a lightly populated state comes up short. Of course we have fewer photographers than California, but what really matters in arts and culture is not total numbers, but concentration. The CVI measures that. Wyoming, about the size of Cincinnati, has five large art museums (including one of the best for Western art), five professional symphony orchestras (including probably the best summer orchestra in the US), some ten playhouses, a concentration of bluegrass festivals and more, much more.

So what do we do about this?

• Congratulate ourselves! We’re a top arts place and plenty creative! Great scenery and great culture! And we’re just getting started.
• Treat the arts and creative economy as a serious part of the Wyoming economy worth investment and attention from the Business Council and economic development units everywhere.
• Realize that arts education is workforce development and the best way to build a creative workforce. How about arts integrated throughout the curriculum? How about putting arts in the Hathaway Success Curricula requirements? How about a Wyoming Arts High School? The town that builds that school will be a magnet and will leap into the future.
• Recognize that arts and civic vitality go together. Careful studies from the University of Pennsylvania show that places with high art activity have more active citizens, better living conditions and, this just in, happier people. See the piece about San Luis Obispo in last week’s Parade magazine. Smart city governments support the arts.
• Use arts in tourism promotion. The CVI shows that people come to Wyoming to buy art and they buy lots. Let’s lure more of this business.
• Keep at it. Arts and creativity are the ultimate individual activity. Go out and write a song and sing it online, build a kiln, give a kid a fiddle, have some folks over for music, buy a painting and you are doing something for yourself and everybody else.. No wonder that this individualist, can-do state has so much art and so many people are playing and working to build a creative future. Bravo!

Bruce Richardson (brichard@uwyo.edu) is a board member of the Wyoming Arts Council. 

New portraits of seven Wyoming governors to be unveiled at evening reception in Cheyenne

One of three painters of recently-completed Wyoming Governor portraits: Russian-born artist Galina Perova of Salt Lake City

A public reception for the newly unveiled official portraits of seven Wyoming governors will be held Friday, August 20, from 5 to 7 p.m., at the Historic Governors* Mansion, 300 East 21st Street, Cheyenne.

This year's Governor's Portrait Project features artistic renditions of Governors John E. Osborn (1893-1895), DeForest Richards (1899-1903), Bryant B. Brooks (1905-1911), Leslie A. Miller (1933-1939), Nels H. Smith (1939-1943), Lester Hunt (1943-1949) and Milward Simpson (1955-1959).

Artists for this year's portraits are Robert Kuester, Galina Perova and Michele Rushworth.

The portrait exhibition will be held in conjunction with the mansion's newest exhibit, "Road to the Capitol," which explores the process one takes to become elected Governor of Wyoming.

Additionally, the exhibit examines the first state election between F.E. Warren and George Baxter.

Visitors can also learn about this year's gubernatorial candidates, and kids 17 and younger can cast their vote for the next Governor of Wyoming in a mock election.

The Governors' Portrait Program was created by the Select Committee on Legislative Facilities in 2005. The Wyoming Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources is also a partner.

The Select Committee on Legislative Facilities has been a champion of this program to ensure that the State of Wyoming honors former governors with an official portrait.

The program unveiled five original portraits: J.J. "Joe" Hickey, Stanley K. Hathaway, Clifford P. Hansen, Michael J. Sullivan and James E. Geringer, in 2007.

The completion of the seven new portraits brings the number of portraits in the state collection to 25, which includes nearly all elected governors after statehood, who have served at least one full term.

For more information about the Historic Governors' Mansion and/or exhibitions, please call 777-7878. For more information about the Governors Portrait Project, please contact Renee Bovee at 307-777-6312.

WAC announces new OSG grant category

The Wyoming Arts Council announces its new Operating Support Grant program (OSG). This grant program will help fund the ongoing work of Wyoming’s established non-profit arts organizations. OSG funding may be used by organizations to support any of their general operating expenses, including salaries, marketing, rent, utilities, insurance, supplies, exhibits or artistic fees. Based upon the organization’s total operating budget, this program will allow requests to range from $7,000.00 to $15,000.00 per applicant organization. The application process will be conducted online with an application deadline of April 12, 2010. The funding requested must be for operating support and arts projects beginning July 1, 2010 and ending June 30, 2011.

Because of the wide range of expenses the grant can include, OSG applicants are required to submit more detailed information than other WAC grant applicants. The additional information allows the WAC grant review panel and board members to get a more detailed picture of the applicant organization’s overall structure,management practices, fiscal stability and activities.

A Wyoming based, non-profit arts organization may apply for an Operating Support Grant. Organizations may not use a fiscal sponsor in this grant category. All applicants to this grant program must have tax-exempt status under section 501 (c) 3 of the IRS code, must have held that status for at least two years, and must also comply with certain other requirements.

Wyoming non-profit arts organizations are limited to receiving either an Operating Support Grant OR Grants to Organizations funding each fiscal year. Organizations may apply through both programs this year, but will only be awarded the higher of the two grant awards. No first-time applicants will be accepted into this grant program.

All grant applicants are strongly encouraged to contact WAC staff to determine which grant category will best support their arts organization or arts projects.

For assistance with the Operating Support Grant Program call Randy Oestman at (307) 777-7109; FAX (307) 777-5499; TDD (307) 777-5964.

Arts in the Wyoming Legislature this week

The Wyoming Legislature will be getting a double dose of homegrown arts this week.

On Thursday, March 4, Wyoming Poet Laureate David Romtvedt of Buffalo will read his work in each chamber. David is a member of the Wyoming Arts Council artists' roster. Find out more by going to http://wyoarts.state.wy.us/Apps/Roster/Results.asp.

Saratoga's Cora Wood, the youngest perfomer at this year's Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada, will perform at the Legislature on Friday, March 5. For more info about Cora, go to www.cowboypoetry.com/corawood.htm

Wyoming Arts Council board meets Feb. 11-12

The Wyoming Arts Council will hold its next quarterly board meeting on Thursday and Friday, Feb. 11-12, at Little America in Cheyenne.

The WAC board invites individuals and organizational representatives to attend any part of the meeting to observe the board process, and to address the board during the public comment session at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 11. Comments about the agency's policies, funding priorities, on-line granting system, and other arts-related topics are welcomed.

Topics to be addressed include: review and award process for the Arts Council’s Art Works for Wyoming grants, using American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding; discussion of future Arts Summits; approval of Wyoming artists to the WAC artists’ roster; selection of counties to be included in the state’s Community Vitality Index study; and development of a timeline for the Arts Council’s next five-year strategic plan.

The meeting coincides with several other Friday, Feb 12, arts events. The Wyoming Arts Alliance sponsors Arts Advocacy Day from noon-1 p.m. at the State Capitol, and the annual Governor’s Arts Awards gala begins at 6 p.m. at Little America.

The mission of the Wyoming Arts Council is to enhance the quality of life for the people of Wyoming by providing resources to sustain, promote and cultivate the arts.

To obtain a detailed meeting agenda, make reservations for the Governor’s Arts Awards, or for more information, call the WAC at 307-777-7742. On the web at http://www.wyomingartscouncil.org

Legislative Artwork Donation Program Selection Committee meets Jan. 11

From a SPCR press release:

Members of the Wyoming Legislative Artwork Donation Program Selection Committee will meet to review seven artistic pieces donated during the past year for display in the State Capitol Building.

The meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m., January 11, in Room 302 of the State Capitol.

During the meeting, the Committee will review the artwork donated by five Wyoming artists and decide whether to formally accept the donations, attend to any framing or matting issues of the artwork, approve signage and determine the location where the pieces will be displayed on the second and third floors of the Capitol.

Additionally, the Selection Committee will review a proposed artwork donation schedule and establish a timeline for the next round of promotion and marketing for the program.

The goal of the Wyoming Legislative Artwork Donation Program is to acquire and showcase appropriate artwork that represents Wyoming. The artwork will be exhibited in the Senate and House of Representative chambers, the respective chamber lobbies and galleries, and possibly expanded to common areas on the second and third floors of the Capitol.

The artwork may be acquired for display through donation, temporary loan or direct purchase.

Selection Committee members are Senators Wayne Johnson and E. Jayne Mockler, Representatives Pete Illoway and Mary Throne, former Senator John Hanes, former Representative Pat Nagel, Wyoming Arts Council Manager Rita Basom and Wyoming State Museum Manager Manny Vigil.

For more information about the Legislative Artwork Donation Program, please contact Renee Bovee, Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources, 2301 Central Avenue in Cheyenne, 82002; 307-777-6312.

Look who's reading "Deep West"

During the 2009 Legislative Session, many Wyoming legislators took time out from the House and Senate floors to have READ posters created of themselves. These posters will be displayed at the libraries in the legislators' districts.

Here are some legislators with the obvious good taste to read the 2003 collection "Deep West: A Literary Tour of Wyoming," sponsored by the Wyoming Center for the Book and published by Pronghorn Press in Greybull. They are (from the top): Rep. Sue Wallis (R, HD-52), Recluse, on the right, shown with Campbell County Librarian Patty Myers; Rep. Debbie Hammons (D, HD-27), Worland; and Sen. Dan Dockstader (R, SD-16), Afton. To see all the READ posters, go to http://wyla.org/read.

HB0218 update--passes first reading

HB0218 was read in the House this afternoon (ended 5 minutes ago, in fact). Rep. Harvey gave a nice introduction, and Rep. Craft spoke passionately in favor of the bill. She particularly complimented the teacher groups for all coming and supporting each other.

Rep. Harshman brought an amendment, ultimately withdrawn, which would remove foreign languages (and the arts) from the Hathaway altogether, saying that doing so would return the Hathaway to how it was originally intended to be. He said twice that HB0218 is a "special interest" bill. This amendment was withdrawn, but Rep. Harshman said he would introduce it again on Second Reading.

The bill did pass first reading. Second reading is likely to be Monday or Tuesday.

Have a nice weekend!

HB0218 update--Hathaway Success Curriculum

As of this morning, House Bill 0218 had moved up on the House's schedule from about 10th from the bottom to 13th from the top. This means there is a strong chance it will get heard today or tomorrow.

If it does get heard, and then passes, it must be scheduled for second reading by end of day Tuesday the 9th. If it passes second reading, it must be scheduled and pass third reading by end of day Wednesday the 10th.

From there it will go on to the Senate.

Wyoming Big Horn Basin Nature & Discovery Center

Sue Blakey from the Dancing Bear Folk Art Center in Wyoming sent this update on the Wyoming Big Horn Basin Nature and Discovery Center:

House Bill 239 asked for $15 million to help build the first phase of the facility in Hot Springs State Park. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Lorraine Quarberg (Thermopolis), Rep. Debbie Hammons (Worland); Senators Hank Coe, Gerald Geis & Ray Peterson.

On Jan. 30, Thermopolis and Worland residents appeared before the House Committee on Minerals, Business & Economic Development. Speaking in behalf of the bill was Milward Simpson, director, Wyoming State Parks & Cultural Resources; Diane Shober, director, Wyoming Travel & Tourism; Sara Needles, director, cultural resources, Wyoming State Parks & Cultural Resources. Also speaking were Frank Manning, Hot Springs County Commissioner; Toni Casciato, Thermopolis Town Council; and Sue Blakey, Hot Springs Greater Learning Foundation.

The Committee passed the bill 8 to 1 in favor and left the funding intact. On Tuesday, Feb. 3, the bill was read in the House Appropriations Committee. It passed 7 to 1 but the funding was cut to $100,000. Unfortunately in re-wording it, the bill ended up stating that $1 million must be raised before the state provides $100,000. This did not seem to be the intent of the committee, however; and Rep. Quarberg has assured us that she will ask for amendment.

From here, the bill goes to the House floor, and if approved, moves on to the Senate, where it goes through the same process.

Our thanks to all those who have made the drive to Cheyenne to attend. From Thermopolis: Kevin Skates, Hot Springs State Park superintendent; Dr. Guy & Beth Drake; Jacque Michel, CPA; Kyle Gillette, Schutz-Foss Architects (Gillette); Jackie Manning; Bev & Dave Koerwitz. From Worland: Eric Decker, Big Horn Basin Resource Conservation & Development Council; Mark and April Whitlock, also representing the Council.

You can follow the bill’s progress on http://legisweb.state.wy.us/

HB0218--Hathaway Success Curriculum Update

We had a very exciting day at the Legislature yesterday! The House Education committee was unanimous in their acceptance of the proposal to change HB0218 to reflect Fine and Performing Arts, and unanimous in their acceptance of the bill. Four teachers presented in support of the bill:
Cindy Schmid, Cheyenne
Amy Simpson, Cheyenne
Sheila McHattie, Casper
Kelly Bembry-Hennings, Cheyenne

Many other teachers, and some administrators, also attended to show their support.

The House Education committee made a number of supportive comments about this bill, and several representatives commented that they had received a lot of email on the topic. The committee was joined by the chair of the Senate Education committee (Senator Coe), and also Senator Dockstader. Senator Dockstader, who is married to an art teacher in Star Valley, was kind enough to give the presenting teachers advice on the process, and help us all by talking to a number of legislators. Superintendent McBride was also there and provided some comments on the bill.

This bill still has a number of hurdles to overcome before it is law, but it is well on its way. What’s next?

The bill is waiting in line on the docket to be presented to the Committee of the Whole (the House). The Majority Floor Leader sets that schedule. The House Floor Majority Leader is Edward Buchanan (Torrington). The bill must be read by the end of the day on Monday, February 9 in order to continue through the process.

If it does get read by end of day Monday, February 9, it will then be voted upon by the Committee of the Whole (House). If it passes, it goes to second reading. It must be read and voted on by the end of the day on Tuesday February 10 to continue to its third reading.

It must have its third reading and voted on by the end of the day on Wednesday, February 11. If it passes, it moves on to the Senate Education Committee. If it doesn’t pass, it is dead.

All House Bills must have achieved third reading by Wednesday, February 11, or they are dead.
These are the stages that must occur between now and the time the HB0218 is presented to the Senate side.

So, still a ways to go before it becomes law.

Arts Advocacy Day luncheon Feb. 13