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

Crucial role of water in Wyoming is theme of UW Art Museum Symposium Nov.9-10

Katharine Coles will judge 2013 Blanchan/Doubleday writing competition

Katharine Coles in Antarctica

Katharine Coles will serve as the judge for the 2013 Neltje Blanchan and Frank Nelson Doubleday writing awards.

These awards are designed to bring attention to writers who have not yet received wide recognition for their work, and to support emerging writers at crucial times in their careers. Poets, fiction writers, essayists, and script writers who have published no more than one book in each genre and who are not students or faculty members are invited to apply by submitting manuscripts and an entry form by the deadline.

The Neltje Blanchan Award, $1,000, is given for the best poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or script which is informed by a relationship with the natural world.

The Frank Nelson Doubleday Award, $1,000, is given for the best poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or script written by a woman author.

POSTMARK DEADLINE IS NOVEMBER 2, 2012

Applications are being mailed today to those on the Wyoming Arts Council literary arts lists. A printable application is available on the WAC web site at http://www.wyomingartscouncil.org.

Coles will travel to Wyoming next spring or summer for a reading with the Blanchan and Doubleday awardees. Details will be available in February 2013. 

Katharine Coles’ fifth and sixth collections of poems, The Earth Is Not Flat and Flight, are forthcoming in 2013 and 2015 from Red Hen Press.  Her poems, essays, and stories have appeared in such journals as The Paris Review, The Gettysburg Review, Poetry, Image, Seneca Review, North American Review, Southwest Review, DIAGRAM, and Ascent.  In 2009-10, she served as the inaugural director of the Harriet Monroe Poetry Institute for the Poetry Foundation. She is a professor at the University of Utah, where she founded and co-directs the Utah Symposium in Science and Literature. She is a 2012 Guggenheim Foundation Fellow.

In 2010, she traveled to Antarctica to write poems under the auspices of the National Science Foundation’s Antarctic Artists and Writers Program. Here is Coles speaking about her trip to Antarctica and how it influenced her writing:

In 2010, I was in Antarctica for a month during the Astral summer, returning home on the solstice that marks the Southern Hemisphere’s longest day and the Northern Hemisphere’s shortest.  I wanted to go the Antarctica for precisely the reason many people though I was crazy to do so: because it’s about as far “out there” as a person can get without actually leaving the planet.  In my own case, the voyage included a four-day boat trip each way across the Drake Passage, the world’s most notorious ocean crossing.  It was wonderful.  As a poet, I am most inspired by the places in which I am most foreign and least comfortable—and I’ve never been more foreign or less comfortable than when looking up sixty feet from the bottom of a trough to the top of its wave. 

Of course, while I was on the ice I thought and wrote about penguins and krill, about lichens and global climate change and the fragility of ecosystems.  I also thought and wrote about perception and illusion, about how we know what we think we know.

Though I have always written about nature, I haven’t until recently thought of myself as a “nature poet.”  This is partly because I’ve always been most interested in nature in the sense that scientists conceive it—as “Nature” with a capital “N,” which includes not only what we can observe with our senses also the deeper reality that gives rise to it, which is the proper object of study for physicists, mathematicians, neurologists, and philosophers.  In Antarctica, I was constantly dumbfounded by the gorgeous strangeness of the landscape around me, which was open to the gaze.  And, as I learned about the extent to which that landscape was an illusion made of light reflected and refracted by water, ice, and sky, I became even more astonished.  If what I could see was beauty, what was there to be understood was Beauty.  They are the same, but not exactly.

Reception for Paul Ng's photo exhibit set for Sept. 5 at the Community Fine Arts Center

Paul Ng's exhibit "Recollections: Two Decades of Photographic Images" will be on display Sept. 5-29 at the Community Fine Arts Center, 400 C St., Rock Springs. Opening reception will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 5, 5-7 p.m. The exhibit also features "The Red Desert Portfolio." FMI: 307-362-6212 or http://www.cfac4art.com/

Wyoming Wilderness Association offers a weekend of art and nature with painter Joan Hoffman

From a press release from the Wyoming Wilderness Association:

The Wyoming Wilderness Association is excited to be hosting a weekend of art and nature with Joan Hoffmann, extraordinary oil and pastel artist from Colorado and Vermont, conservationist and teacher.

Friday- Sunday June, 15-17th, Hoffmann will inspire painters of any medium or skill level, in a car campout near Honeycomb Buttes. Saturday morning artists will rendezvous to set up car camping near the Honeycombs, with short day hikes to paint, and campfire critiques and stories to follow. Sunday morning, artists will paint the gorgeous Honeycomb Buttes for a grand finale of an inspiring art-filled weekend. This opportunity is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Martha Tate at 307-672-2751 or visit WWA’s website at http://www.wildwyo.org/

Wyoming Wilderness Association encourages everyone to take advantage of the summer, get out and explore the wild parts of the state, and find out what makes Wyoming and its wilderness areas so special.

Susan J. Tweit named judge for 2012 WAC Blanchan & Doubleday writing awards

The Wyoming Arts Council is pleased to announce that Susan J. Tweit will serve as the judge for the 2012 Neltje Blanchan and Frank Nelson Doubleday memorial writing awards.

These awards are designed to bring attention to writers in Wyoming who have not yet received wide recognition for their work, and to support emerging writers at crucial times in their careers. Poets, fiction writers, essayists, and script writers who have published no more than one book in each genre and who are not students or faculty members are invited to apply by submitting manuscripts and an entry form by the Oct. 31, 2011, deadline.

The Neltje Blanchan Award, $1,000, is given for the best poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or script which is informed by a relationship with the natural world.

The Frank Nelson Doubleday Award, $1,000, is given for the best poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or script written by a woman author.

POSTMARK DEADLINE IS OCTOBER 31, 2011

Printable applications will be available on the WAC web site by Aug. 26. Applications will be sent next week to those on the WAC literary mailing list. 

FMI: Michael Shay, 307-777-5234 or mike.shay@wyo.gov

Blanchan/Doubleday judge Susan J. Tweit

Susan J. Tweit was trained as a field ecologist. But over the years, while she mapped grizzly bear habitat, wildfire patterns and sagebrush communities, she had a revelation: “I loved telling the stories behind the data more than collecting the data.”

Susan is the author of twelve books that explore the interrelationships that form what Aldo Leopold called the "community of the land." Barry Lopez had this to say about Susan’s 2009 book, Walking Nature Home: A life’s Journey: “It's a lovely, brave, inspiring book.... Sometimes I think the highest praise you can give a book is to say that it helped. This book does that.”

Her work has appeared in magazines and newspapers from Audubon and Popular Mechanics to High Country News and the Los Angeles Times -- and has been heard on the Martha Stewart Living Radio Network. 

Susan has taught workshops at colleges, universities, and writing festivals from University of California-Riverside and Miami University of Ohio to Wofford College in South Carolina, as well as at home and online. Audiences as diverse as the International Xeriscape Conference, Collegiate Peaks Forum, Monte Vista Crane Festival, and the Walking Words Writing Festival have called her talks "inspiring" and "insightful." She coaches individual writers, reviews manuscripts for university presses, and contributes to “The Perch” blog of Audubon magazine and Story Circle Network's “Her Stories.” Her own blog is at http://susanjtweit.typepad.com/walkingnaturehome.

She belongs to an informal network of writers and artists who speak for the land, and to Story Circle Network, Women Writing the West and Colorado Author’s League.

She is a passionate gardener who grows her own vegetables, fruits and herbs, and also enjoys the challenge of native plant restoration and "wildscape" design. She lives with her husband, sculptor Richard Cabe, in a house heated and powered by the sun, on a reclaimed industrial parcel in a high-desert valley tucked in the shadow of the tallest stretch of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.

Jill Hartley's "Wyoming Landscapes" featured in solo show at Nicolaysen Art Museum

"Canyon Sunrise in Southwest Wyoming" by Jill Hartley

Jill Hartley’s “Wyoming Landscapes” will be featured in the Nicolaysen Art Museum's Rosenthal Gallery in Casper through Sept. 9.

Jill Hartley lives and paints in the high desert country of Southwest Wyoming. Her rich landscape paintings in oil reflect the bright light of the West. Jill was born in Colorado Springs, CO. She attended college in Colorado, and moved with her husband to Wyoming in 1976, living in Hanna, Glenrock, and Rock Springs. In 1986, they purchased a small ranch on the Wyoming-Colorado border, and Jill’s studio, built by her husband and son was completed there in March 2008. Jill’s work has been widely exhibited and awarded regionally. She is a member of Oil Painters of America, American Plains Artists, and the American Impressionist Society. 

”The landscapes of Wyoming are a painter’s dream. The paintings in this exhibit are my response to the intense light, big distances, muted colors, and dramatic skies that are Wyoming. It is a good day when I feel I have successfully caught even a little of that grandeur on canvas. I want my work to take you to a place you’ve been or would like be.”

Her work is represented by Horizon Fine Art in Jackson, WY; Deselms Fine Art in Cheyenne, WY; Navarro Gallery in Sedona, AZ; and West of Center Gallery in Rock Springs, WY; and on her website http://jillhartleystudio.com.

Renowned landscape architect Walter Hood discusses "Art in Public Places" July 26 in Jackson

Renowned landscape architect Walter Hood, designer of the National Museum of Wildlife Art ’s under-construction sculpture trail, will discuss “Art in Public Places” at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 26 at the museum in Jackson. The event is free and open to the public. Known for his innovative and people-friendly designs of such high-profile public spaces as the grounds for the De Young Museum in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, Hood will share insight into his philosophy about creating multitasking public spaces that are both respectful of the land and rooted in their communities.

Two new innovative sculptural works coming to UW campus

Chris Drury, Carbon Sink: What Goes Around, Comes Around, 2011

Courtesy of the artist

A year ago, the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund awarded a second grant of $25,000 to the University of Wyoming Art Museum, in support of the ongoing exhibition “Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational”. Art has been on display throughout the U.W. Campus and City of Laramie, and this grant supports the expansion and reinvigoration with new works.

In July, land artist Cris Drury will create a new work near Old Main called “Carbon Sink: What Goes Around, Comes Around” (artist's rendering shown above, courtesy UW Art Museum blog). Made from Wyoming coal and beetle kill pine, the 36 foot diameter work appears as a vortex, rotating inward. Drury, a British artist who has been at the forefront of the land art movement since the 1970s, will be on location for three weeks to start the work.

In August, Idaho artist Gerri Sayler will install a site specific work in the new computer lab at Coe Library. Created from hot glue, the suspended work will fill the two-story space with a cloud like form that will change with the light. The work is titled “Nebulous”, and furthers Sayler’s work inspired by water in its various forms. It also introduces the idea of art for interior public spaces on campus.

In Minot, the show will go on once flood waters recede

Photo by Eloise Ogden, Minot Daily News

Have to hand it to Cheyenne's unofficial sister city, Minot, N.D. (Minot has missiles too).

The rain and decidedly un-summerlike weather has put a serious crimp in the Arts in the Parks summer concert series, but organizers hope to resume the Oak Park performances as soon as is practical. 

Read about it at Arts in the Parks on hold from MinotDailyNews.com

The show must go on, and it will, as soon as the Souris River recedes and patrons don't need boats to attend concerts.

There are many ways to support Minot's hardy people and its lively arts scene. There is the very active Minot Area Council of the Arts. Many of the city's arts venues will need restoration. That takes money, which always is in short supply in the non-profit arts world. Also see the complete list of community and government resources at http://www.minotdailynews.com/. Donations to the American Red Cross can be designated for a particular need. Go here. 

Wyoming Outdoor Council wants your photos

DO YOU HAVE GREAT SHOTS OF WYOMING’S spectacular landscapes, wildlife, and people enjoying the great outdoors?

If so, get them published in the Wyoming Outdoor Council’s annual calendar.

Previous calendars have included photographs by some of Wyoming’s best professional photographers, as well as some of its most gifted amateur shooters.

Deadline is Sept. 15, 2011

Contest Rules

·                         Photographs must be taken in Wyoming and can include landscapes, lifestyles, wildlife, and people.

·                         All photos must be submitted in digital form by email or online file sharing tool, mailed on a CD or DVD, or hand delivered on a CD, DVD, or flash drive.

·                         Photos can only be published if available in a high-quality, relatively high-resolution, digital format.

·                         Photograph entries constitute permission to use the images with credit to the photographer without monetary compensation.

·                         Please include your name, address, city, state, zip code, daytime phone number, email address, and description of your photo including where the photo was taken.

TO SUBMIT PHOTOS, PLEASE EMAIL OR MAIL TO CHRIS MERRILL:

chris@wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org

Wyoming Outdoor Council
121 Grand Avenue, Suite 200
Laramie, WY 82070

Murie Center hosts nature photography workshop June 15-18 with Henry H. Holdsworth

Teton Spring Awakening Nature Photography Workshop with Henry H. Holdsworth

Dates: June 15-18, 2011
Location: The Murie Ranch – A National Historic Landmark in Grand Teton National Park
Description: Join the Murie Center and nationally renowned local photographer Henry H. Holdsworth for a long weekend learning how to capture the essence of beauty in the valley.
Price: $1,345 includes lodging for 3 nights in a Murie Ranch cabin, all meals and tuition; $995 includes all meals and tuition only.

The Murie Center is pleased to welcome back Henry H. Holdsworth for a spring workshop that will focus on wildflowers and wildlife, with baby animals being one of the primary focal points. Enjoy a long weekend stay at the Murie Ranch while learning to photograph the wildness and wildlife of the surrounding valley under the direction of such an accomplished photographer. Register Online »

"Artists in the Environment" Plein Air Summer Series announced by Grand Teton Assn.

The Grand Teton Association presents the 2011 “Artists in the Environment” Plein Air Summer Series schedule:

Greg McHuron

Date: June 11, 2011

Location: Chapel of Transfiguration

Time: 4:00 - 7:00 pm

Plein air painter Greg McHuron (shown in photo) co-founded “Artists in the Environment” with landscape artist Conrad Schwiering, and has been painting in the Western United States for over 35 years.  Represented in galleries and museums throughout the West, he is a signature member of the Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painter Association and Artists for Conservation.

Greta Gretzinger

Date:  July 9, 2011

Location:  Mormon Row

Time:  2:00-5:00 pm

Greta Gretzinger is known for her large scale murals depicting wilderness landscapes and wildlife.  Based in Idaho and the Jackson Hole area, Gretzinger’s lively and illustrative portraits of Western life appear in public spaces and local parks throughout the region.  

Scott Christensen

Date: August 13, 2011

Location: Cathedral Group

Time: 2:00-5:00 pm

One of the country’s most distinguished plein air artists, Scott Christensen's work is part of Grand Teton National Park’s Craig Thomas Visitors’ Center prestigious permanent collection. Christensen’s paintings are included in significant national venues, such as the National Academy of Western Art, Prix de West Invitational at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum  in Oklahoma City, OK,  the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, OK, National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, WY, Denver Art Museum, Kimbal Museum, Salmagundi Club in New York, Autry Museum, and the Salon d' Arts at the  Colorado History Museum.

Erin C. O’Connor

Date:  September 10, 2011

Location:  String Lake

Time:  2:00-5:00 pm

Artist Erin C. O'Connor finds her greatest inspiration by painting directly within the environment. Noted for her participation in many prestigious Plein Air events, she is represented in collections and exhibits throughout the country. O’Connor was awarded the 2009 Joshua Tree National Park “Artist-in-Residency” post. 

Information: Tammy Christel. Email:  tammy@jacksonholearttours.com   Phone:  307.690.1983

April 25 celebration in Cheyenne includes recognition of Arbor Day poster contest winner

JOIN US IN CELEBRATING

Wyoming’s 123^rd State Arbor Day

Monday April 25, 2011   1:30 PM

State Supreme Court Building North Lawn

(24^th and Capitol)

30 Minute Ceremony to Include:

History of Wyoming Arbor Day

Official State Arbor Day Proclamation

Governor Matt Mead

Tree City USA Recognition

2011 State Arbor Day Award

·         Mike McNutt, Campbell County Parks and Recreation

Recognition of State Arbor Day Poster Contest Winner

·         5^th Grade Student Fiachra Rottinhaus, Lander, WY

Planting of special State Arbor Day Tree

·         White Fir

Distribution of seedling fir and maple trees

Cheyenne artist donates to Handmade for Japan for earthquake and tsunami relief

Cheyenne artist and teacher Connie Norman sends this:

I’ve been asked to donate to Handmade for Japan at http://connienorman.com/blog/  I have more  info on my blog with images. It is a international fund raiser. The sale of donated items will go on sale March 18 – 20, on eBay. 

I will send you the link when the site is live, but in the meantime items up for auction can be seen at

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/handmadeforjapanauction?sk=wall .

This is their Facebook site announcing updates and donated artworks. 

I copied and pasted Handmade For Japan’s mission statement below. 

Handmade For Japan

eBay auction March 18-20 to help the victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami

Description Mission:
Handmade For Japan's mission is to raise money through an online auction on March 18-20 for relief efforts to assist the victims of Japan's catastrophic earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear emissions.

Handmade for Japan is an online auction of unique, handmade art donated by concerned, invited artists. One hundred percent of all net proceeds collected via the auction will be donated to the relief efforts in Japan.

Because of the urgency of the situation, the auction will begin on eBay on Friday, March 18th and end on Sunday, March 20th. The auction items will be listed under the "Handmade for Japan" seller ID.

Previews of the auction items will be available in English and Japanese through Facebook pages and Twitter updates. All inquiries in either language should be sent to handmadeforjapan@gmail.com.

Who We Are:
Handmade For Japan was borne out of concern for Japan's residents by Japanese-American ceramic artist Ayumi Horie http://www.ayumihorie.com. She, Ai Kanazawa Cheung, and Kathryn Pombriant Manzella have mobilized to solicit, promote, and auction handmade pieces of art generously donated by talented artists throughout North America and Japan.

FMI: http://www.connienorman.com

Chainsaw sculptor Roy Pilcher featured on Channel 5

Roy Pilcher, chainsaw sculptor and proprietor of Bears & Company of Devils Tower, was featured today on the CBS-Channel 5 morning news show. Roy is a Wyoming Arts Council roster artist. Bring him to your community with a WAC Arts Across Wyoming grant. Go here for more info.

Some info about Roy from his web site:

We are a family-owned business located at Devils Tower in the northeast corner of Wyoming, near the Black Hills. Bears and Company was formed in 2004 and has continued to grow since then. The company was started after the owners of Equine Productions: a horse logging company also owned by the Pilcher family, received requests for chainsaw artwork on properties that had been thinned. Bears and Company has been a natural fit and has evolved each week. We do commercial and/or decorative art for the yards and decks of our customers. We travel to locations and have carvings in well over half of the United States. We ship UPS and take all major credit cards. 90 percent of the carvings we sell are commissioned pieces, but we do keep inventory at our shop. Thank you for your interest and please feel free to contact us about your carving. Ask about carving tutorial. 

See the Channel 5 clip here.

"TreeMiere" set for Jackson Center for the Arts

In conjunction with an exhibit by Brazilian artist Thais Beltrane, filmmaker David Gonzales presents the premiere of “Seeing Red: TreeFight’s First Year,” a documentary about the campaign to save the whitebark pine trees in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. A tree-inspired drawing by Beltrane will be raffled. Entitled "Lake Solitude," its dimensions are 28 by 39 inches. Free admission to this event on Friday, Jan. 14, 7:30 p.m. FMI: TreeFight.org

Moose, WY native John F. Turner honored by National Musuem of Wildlife Art

Photo by David J. Swift

Former Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans, International Environment & Scientific Affairs and
third-generation Wyoming rancher John F. Turner will receive the National Museum of WildlifeArt prestigious Rungius Medal on November 3, 2010, in the museum's Cook Auditorium at 10:30 a.m.

Created in 1988, the award recognizes individuals who "have made a significant addition to the public's awareness of wildlife and the habitat necessary for its survival." Turner, whose numerous accomplishments on behalf of the natural world include establishing 55 new National Wildlife Refuges.

"With his strong record of protecting wildlife, habitat and natural resources on a national level as well as his personal deep connection to the land, John F. Turner is a perfect candidate for our Rungius Medal, and we're honored to be presenting him with it," said Jim McNutt, National Museum of Wildlife Art president and CEO.

Prior to his Assistant Secretary appointment (2001-2005), Turner served as CEO of The Conservation Fund, protecting more than 2.8 million acres of parks, habitat, and open space with the national nonprofit. He also served as the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (1989-1993), where he increased wetland protection and established the most National Wildlife Refuges of any U.S. administration. Other past positions include 19 years in the Wyoming State Legislature, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the
Bank of Jackson Hole, and Chairman of the Institute of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming.

The Rungius Medal http://www.wildlifeart.org/Information/RungiusMedal is the museum's highest honor, reflecting its ongoing role of furthering the national conversation about humanity and nature. Symbolized by a gold medallion named for artist Carl Rungius, America's preeminent portrayer of animals and their surroundings, the medal is awarded to "individuals who have made lifetime and extraordinary contributions to the artistic interpretation and preservation of the world's natural heritage." Past recipients include Mardy Murie (1989), Roger Tory Peterson (1994) and Jane Goodall (2001).

The Rungius Medal award ceremony for John F. Turner is open to the public and will be followed by a reception with refreshments; those planning to attend the reception should respond to Shawn Meisl at 307.732.5449 or by email at smeisl@wildlifeart.org

"Art Along the Parkway" artists find inspiration in the North Platte River

Great article in yesterday's Casper Star-Tribune about the "Art Along the Parkway" event on Saturday, Oct. 16, in Casper.

Here are the details:

"Art Along the Parkway" is a cooperative effort among the Platte River Parkway Trust, the Casper Artist's Guild and community artists ranging from students to renowned career professionals.

All artists -- student and adult, amateur and professional -- were invited to use the river and or parkway for inspiration this summer in anticipation of the event. Artist's Guild members were available as mentors at specific locations on the parkway several times a month through the summer.

The culmination of a summer's worth of creating and planning is Saturday, inside the Tate Pumphouse at the riverfront Gegi's Bistro.

"The only criteria for the art was that the artist use the river or corridor as inspiration," said parkway trust Executive Director Angela Emery.

--snip--

Proceeds from the sale of the art will be divided 50 percent to the artist, 25 percent to the Casper Artist's Guild and 25 percent to the parkway trust.

"We hope the evening will be a focus on public art and the beauty of our trail system and the river," Emery said.

Tickets are $35 and the evening includes an array of hors d'oeuvres by Gegi, live classical guitar music, the opportunity to purchase the art at silent auction and a raffle of four items -- a 32-inch blue-ray disk combo TV, two tickets to Las Vegas on Allegiant Air, dinner for two at Gegi's and a $100 gift certificate to Sol's Shoes. Raffle tickets are $5 each or five for $20, and the drawing is at the event.

To purchase tickets, call 307-577-1206; e-mail platteriver@wyoming.org or visit the parkway office at the west end of the Tate Pumphouse, 175 W. First St., Casper.

Rick Bass, Robert Caisley, Sasha Pimentel Chacon, explore literary genres at LCCC Literary Connection

Laramie County Community College's (LCCC) Literary Connection happened this past weekend. Wyoarts was able to get over on Friday for the opening talks from slow-burning Rick Bass, delightfully frenetic playwright/actor Robert Caisley, and dedicated-to-line poet Sasha Pimentel Chacon.

Rick is a thinker, more than that, he's got the gene for "being" a landscape, just like the salmon that remember their river. His setting is the Yaak valley, northwestern Montana, close to the border of Canada. He's been there quite awhile, and his stories merge out of him like parishoners coming out of a church after service, into the bright light of something larger, brighter. His setting is the "cathedral of old forests," the last left on earth where species other than man still dominate. His landscape has become the character, like a shadow watching him and what he writes on the page. That the spirit between the land and us is like an electrical current. Being from the South, the terrain there is time, a vertical space; but in the west, it is space and horizontal. This is how the culture of story sculpts us, and how it speaks to the pliability of the of human nature. He sees in the post-agricultural landscape the confusion of anticipation with imagination, and the atrophy of that imagination from lack of stimulation. He sees the compression and slow-diminishness of landscape. The reference point for that electrical current between us and the land are still those wild places against these confused places.

Robert began with a childhood memory. He was raised in the theater, literally; he played backstage as his father performed in plays. When starring in a Lillian Hellman play, his father staggered up the stairs after being stabbed, and Robert, thinking it was real, cried out, "You killed my father!" He talked about writing a good play and the steps one needs to be aware of and to avoid. He says he constantly refers to Aristotle's Poetics as the best example of the arrangements and orchestrations of events. He also uses melodramas as a teaching tool because they are so transparent. His 7 play killers:
Obesity - too many words--remember, what you are writing must come out of an actor's mouth;
Motion Sickness - the play has no sense of direction -- so arrangement of the play is critical, but just as important as the content is the context.
Psychological Problems - characters know what they want, but audience doesn't; the characters need to act how they are feeling. Characters are characterization.
Musculosketetal Disease - if the spine is injured, messages aren't getting through.
Sedentary Lifestyle - things have to happen, has to be tension, has to set up in first act what will happen in second, etc.
Schizophrenia - doesn't know what the play wants to be or wants to be everything all at once.
Organ Transplant Rejection - take something from another work and put it into another work. Usually doesn't work there, either.
Along the way of describing these problems, Robert sprinkled in the dramatics of Shakespeare's Hamlet, as well as acting out snapshots of scenes.

Sasha's insightful lessons on poetry had me, at first, wondering why she stopped at the ends of poetry lines where there was no punctuation. She had a reason, and rightly so. I'd never thought of this in poetry, I had become proud of myself for reading the sentences of poetry, but the hidden meaning in lines, at least up until now, had eluded me. Take for instance the first four lines of  Shakespeare's Sonnet 116:

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.

Reading the first sentence, one meaning might be the recognition that marriage between like-minded people works best, that there are less obstacles to overcome. But reading just the second line as a somewhat stand-alone points to the vagaries of love, and how sometimes love seems like NOT love, that there will always be obstacles no matter what, that to be wise is to "admit impediments. Love is not love." I hadn't thought of lines in this way, and I'm not too sure I did a great job in explaining it here, but I told myself that I'd try to think about my reading-poetry repetoire a bit differently now.

Laura Pritchett emceed between presenters. Another great literary event here in Wyoming.