Transitions Artisans' art show and sale set for Sept. 9 at Carnival Antiques in Cheyenne

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NPR to air Memorial Day story on Utah veterans using sweat lodge ceremonies to overcome PTSD

In honor of Memorial Day, NPR's All Things Considered is airing our Deep West Radio Documentary about an unusual healing ceremony that is being offered to veterans at the Salt Lake City VA Center—a Native American sweat ceremony. Conducted by a medicine man in a dome-shaped structure or lodge, these sweats are helping veterans overcome symptoms related to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and are drawing increasing numbers of non-native veterans. This story is part of a larger documentary project called First Nation Warriors that is in development by the Western Folklife Center's Media Department.This television documentary will explore Native American service in the US military, and the warrior traditions that help returning soldiers readjust to life back home.

"Let Their Voices be Heard" co-author addresses "Body Image Awareness" week at UW

How society views body image will be explored through a series of discussions and interactive demonstrations during "Body Image Awareness" week Feb. 21-26, at the University of Wyoming in Laramie.

On Tuesday, Feb. 22: Betty Holmes speaks about the book that she co-authored, "Let Their Voices Be Heard: Quotations from Life Stories Related to Physical Activity, Food and Eating, and Body Image." Holmes works for the Wyoming Department of Health and was WIN the Rockies regional project coordinator. WIN the Rockies helped to educate community members to value health, respect body size differences and enjoy the benefits of self-acceptance, physically active living and healthful and pleasurable eating. Event is free and open to the public at the UW Union west and center ballrooms, 7 p.m.

For a complete list of the week's activities, visit the University Counseling Center website at http://www.uwyo.edu/ucc/ or call Tracy at (307) 766-2187.

Casper NIC Fest

Casper NIC Fest

June 18-19, 2010

Amazing Arts!

Dozens of artists from across the country will be showcasing and selling their works - paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography, jewelry and more - in 2010.

In addition, the Nicolaysen Art Museum's galleries will be open and free to the public throughout the festival.

Great Entertainment!
This year, NIC Fest's Main Stage will feature 14 different musical groups performing throughout the weekend.
On Saturday, during breaks on the NIC Fest Main Stage, visitors can wander down to the corner of Beech and 2nd street to hear the unique African/Cuban drum sounds of Tanbores Afro-Cubano. This group from Colorado, led by Colorado University professor Thomas VanSchoick, plays traditional and contemporary rhythms from Africa and Cuba. Some of the styles that they will be playing are Rumba, Yambu, Guaguanco, Guarapachangueo, Rumba Columbia, Bembe, Guiro, Iyese and Bata Rumba. Some of the more interesting percussion instruments that group members will play include Conga, Bata, Cajons and Chekere drums. Other members of the group include Dave Crowder, Scott Mast, Eric Walker and Maurizo Capperelli.
In addition, the Wyoming Shakespeare Festival Company will kick off its 2010 summer tour of the state with a special performance at NIC Fest on Sunday.

Plus, NIC Fest also offers lots of other unique things to see and do, such as the annual Art on Wheels car show, chalk art competition and Kiwanis pancake breakfast.

NIC Fest is held primarily on the grounds of the Nicolaysen Art Museum & Discovery Center, 400 E. Collins; but also makes use of the City of Casper’s Historic Monument Plaza and Walkway (just north of the museum) and Gazebo (west side of Beech Street) as well as three surroundings streets – Beech, Kimball and Collins, which are closed for the event.

http://www.nicfest.org/index.html

Putting the "art" in children's mental health

Artist & author Carlton Davis to speak at UW Disability Awareness Days

Carlton Davis is an artist and author of the book "Bipolar Bare."

Hammocking as an art form

Go Hammocking! from Bland Hoke on Vimeo.

FMI: http://centerofwonder.blogspot.com

Apply now for "Arts in Healthcare" grants

Johnson & Johnson, working in partnership with the Society for the Arts in Healthcare, seeks to promote the use of the arts to enhance the healthcare experience for patients, their families, and caregivers. From 2001–2009, grants have been provided to 117 programs in the United States and Canada representing leading models and initiatives in high-quality healthcare through the use of arts. Proposals are now being sought from healthcare and/or arts organizations that have established arts in healthcare programs with evidence of initial impact.

Deadline is Oct. 15, 2009

FMI: http://thesah.org/template/page.cfm?page_id=15

No woes here

California cows might be the happiest, but as far as people go, Wyoming comes in at #3 in a Happiness Poll. Read the full article at
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090311/ap_on_re_us/states_of_happiness.

Call for entries: Open Minds Quarterly

Diane Laprairie, editor of Open Minds Quarterly, sends this announcement:

It's that time again, when poets pick up their pencils and enter the BrainStorm Poetry Contest for individuals living with mental illness. You can join in, too, by entering your best poetry by March 20, 2009. The top three poems, judged by a panel of mental health consumers and family members with literary interests, will be awarded prizes and be published in Open Minds Quarterly, a literary journal dedicated to publishing the writing of individuals living with mental illness.

Rules and entry form are available at http://www.nisa.on.ca/ or by calling 1-705-675-9193, ext. 8286.

The BrainStorm Poetry Contest is organized by Northern Initiative for Social Action, a consumer-run mental health organization in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. We offer a number
of occupational opportunities for people living with mental illness to focus on their own individual talents and gifts.

The BrainStorm Contest is intended as a fundraiser for NISA's psychosocial literary magazine
Open Minds Quarterly, as well as a way to support other consumer/survivors by awarding prizes to the top three winners. Prizes are $250 for first place, $150 for second place, and $75 for third place.

UW prof honored for Photovoice Project

From a UW press release:

University of Wyoming College of Education faculty member Kent Becker's innovative effort to use photography to raise awareness of children's mental health needs was recently honored by UPLIFT Wyoming, a division of the National Federation of Families.

Becker, a UW Department of Counselor Education associate professor, received UPLIFT's 2008 Making A Difference Advocacy Award for his work establishing the Wyoming SAGE Photovoice Project (http://www.photovoicewyoming.com/).

Becker received the award during UPLIFT's banquet, held in conjunction with the Governor's Roundtable on Children's Mental Health.

"This had a lot of meaning for me," Becker says. "The Photovoice Project is geared toward increasing awareness around children's mental health, about hearing their voices. To be given an award by this group really means a lot to me."

Photovoice is a technique that combines equal parts photography, research, group process, storytelling, social action and development of awareness of personal and community issues.

"The project's focus is toward the experiences of youths and families who have been in residential treatment or who have been clearly on the verge of being placed," Becker explains.
Peggy Nikkel, UPLIFT executive director, describes the qualities that Becker's selection represents.

"The outstanding qualities of Kent's advocacy efforts through Photovoice are his compassion and empathy for youth and families struggling with mental health and substance abuse," she says. "He is able to combine this with his diverse educational and clinical background to support parents and youth in becoming a dynamic voice for change in Wyoming."

Roundtable participants witnessed the project's power during a plenary session featuring the work of Becker and students in UW's counselor education doctoral program. Project participants also presented a narrated slide show featuring representative profiles. Presenters included Photovoice Project participants Lori Hutchinson and Susan Bentley and doctoral students Michael Bishop, Kelly Hubbell, Kristin Douglas and Konja Klepper.

Fellow counselor education faculty member Serena Lambert is the project's co-researcher. A qualitative research expert, Lambert will collaborate with Becker on data analysis and publishing related to the Wyoming SAGE Photovoice Project.

For more information, contact Becker at (307) 766-3123 or e-mail kwbecker@uwyo.edu.

"Raw Days" by Dexa! Dog (a.k.a. Bo Moore)

Bo Moore of Green River, winner of the 2007 Frank Nelson Doubleday memorial writing award, has a new book. Writing under the pen name Dexa! Dog, the title is “Raw Days/Candid Views on Manic Depression and the Human Condition.” The book is available on amazon.com using search words Dexa! Dog or Raw Days. Here’s the link to the book’s amazon.com page: http://www.amazon.com/Raw-Days-Candid-Depression-Condition/dp/1440405263/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1225464511&sr=1-1. You can also e-mail Bo at dexadog at ymail.com and she will sell you a copy. Bo says that she is working on two more books as Dexa! Dog.

Here’s how amazon.com describes the book:

Candid essays on manic depression from a bipolar writer. Her experiences have launched personal, cultural and social inquiry into how we understand ourselves in the interplay between physical reality and the mind.

Here’s what Colorado writer and 2007 Blanchan/Doubleday judge Laurie Wagner Buyer has to say about Raw Days:

Dexa Dog may be an alias, but the woman behind the mask in Raw Days delves deeply into the essence of identity and what it means to be alive in a troubled culture. While not even the best scientists or spiritual leaders know why the human mind works or does not work, Dexa Dog does a beautiful job of exploring the dark labyrinths and circuitous passages into how we define reality and how we fail at supporting brilliant minds that function outside the box of what most consider normalcy.

Whatever label one wishes to place on the condition called bipolar, manic depression or mood disorder, it is clear that people who live, work and create within this altered state of being are both blessed and cursed. Stretching our somewhat staid literary parameters by blending memoir, poetry and commentary on today’s culture, Raw Days is a must read for anyone who is intrigued with the ever-expanding universe called the human mind.

Interesting that Bo’s book arrives in the same month in which Congress approved mental health parity legislation that, according to Mental Health America, “will broadly outlaw health insurance discrimination against Americans with mental health and substance-use conditions in employer-sponsored health plans.” Good news for the estimated 67 percent of adults and 80 percent of children requiring mental health services who do not get it.

Next week, Nov. 5-6, is the Governor’s Roundtable on Children’s Mental Health at Little America in Cheyenne. Guest speakers include Governor Dave Freudenthal (of course), Dr. Brent Sherard, Rodger McDaniel and Beth Stroul, among many others. There will be music by recording artists Lindsay Rush and a session about the fantastic Wyoming Sage Photovoice Project that features visual diaries of teens and families with mental health issues. Perhaps you saw the recent exhibition at Metro Coffee in Casper. All conference events are free, but you have to register for luncheon and banquet. Get more info at Wyoming Uplift.

It always comes back to the arts, doesn’t it?