The Grant Institute's Grants 101: Professional Grant Proposal Writing Workshop will be held at the University of Wyoming, December 3 - 5 , 2007 from 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Interested development professionals, researchers, faculty, and graduate students should register as soon as possible, as demand means that seats will fill up quickly. All participants will receive certification in professional grant writing from the Institute. For more information call (888) 824 - 4424 or visit The Grant Institute at www.thegrantinstitute.com
The Grant Institute's Grants 101 course is an intensive and detailed introduction to the process, structure, and skill of professional proposal writing. This course is characterized by its ability to act as a thorough overview, introduction, and refresher at the same time. In this course, participants will learn the entire proposal writing process and complete the course with a solid understanding of not only the ideal proposal structure, but a holistic understanding of the essential factors, which determine whether or not a program gets funded. Through the completion of interactive exercises and activities, participants will complement expert lectures by putting proven techniques into practice. This course is designed for both the beginner looking for a thorough introduction and the intermediate looking for a refresher course that will strengthen their grant acquisition skills. This class, simply put, is designed to get results by creating professional grant proposal writers.
Grants 101 consists of three (3) courses that will be completed during the three-day workshop:
(1) Fundamentals of Program Planning
(2) Professional Grant Writing
(3) Grant Research
Registration
$597.00 tuition includes all materials and certificates.
Each student will receive:
*The Grant Institute Certificate in Professional Grant Writing
*The Grant Institute's Guide to Successful Grant Writing
*The Grant Institute Grant Writer's Workbook with sample proposals, forms, and outlines
FMI please go to the above mentioned website; call (888) 824 - 4424 to register by phone; or
by E-mail - Send an e-mail with your name, organization, and basic contact information to info@thegrantinstitute.com
Monday, October 22, 2007
Antarctica Talks Culminate in Film Screening
On October 22, writer Christopher Cokinos will speak on The Fallen Sky: A Private History of Shooting Stars, an account of his experiences as a meteorite hunter in the polar regions. There will be a book-signing and reception immediately following his talk. This program is co-sponsored by the Creative Writing MFA Program and the Haub School and Ruckelshaus Institute of Environment and Natural Resources. The talk is scheduled for 7 pm.
On October 29, former director of the National Science Foundation’s Antarctic Artists and Writers Program, Guy Guthridge will present ANTARCTICA: Artists, Writers, and the “Continent for Science”. For 50 years, Antarctic Artists and Writers Program has been sending artists, writers, and scholars to Antarctica to research and create their work and to help document America’s Antarctic heritage.
At 9 pm, a pre-release screening of Werner Herzog’s film on Antarctica, Encounters at the End of the World (Discover Films) will be shown. The documentary, which has not been released to the general public, chronicles a hidden society at the end of the world. 1000 men and women live together under unbelievably close quarters in Antarctica, risking their lives and sanity in search of cutting edge science. Now, for the first time, an outsider has been admitted. In his first documentary since Grizzly Man, Werner Herzog, accompanied only by his cameraman, traveled to Antarctica, with unrestricted access to the raw beauty and raw humanity of the ultimate Down Under. Encounters at the End of the World is Herzog’s latest meditation on nature that explores this land of fire, ice and corrosive solitude.
Each program is free and open to the public.
On October 29, former director of the National Science Foundation’s Antarctic Artists and Writers Program, Guy Guthridge will present ANTARCTICA: Artists, Writers, and the “Continent for Science”. For 50 years, Antarctic Artists and Writers Program has been sending artists, writers, and scholars to Antarctica to research and create their work and to help document America’s Antarctic heritage.
Educated in the liberal arts, Guthridge spent his career developing the communication of science, engineering, and polar activities. He began his association with Polar Regions in 1970 when he joined the National Science Foundation to edit Antarctic Journal of the United States. Later, he managed the Polar Information Program -- the clearinghouse and source of information regarding Antarctica that has included scientific, technical, and public publications, translation services, and the world's premier polar bibliographic service. He also managed the Foundation programs for field participation in the United States Antarctic Program by artists, writers, youths, and teachers. Guthridge retired in 2005 and now lives aboard a boat, writing about science and societal issues about the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. His talk begins at 7 pm.
At 9 pm, a pre-release screening of Werner Herzog’s film on Antarctica, Encounters at the End of the World (Discover Films) will be shown. The documentary, which has not been released to the general public, chronicles a hidden society at the end of the world. 1000 men and women live together under unbelievably close quarters in Antarctica, risking their lives and sanity in search of cutting edge science. Now, for the first time, an outsider has been admitted. In his first documentary since Grizzly Man, Werner Herzog, accompanied only by his cameraman, traveled to Antarctica, with unrestricted access to the raw beauty and raw humanity of the ultimate Down Under. Encounters at the End of the World is Herzog’s latest meditation on nature that explores this land of fire, ice and corrosive solitude.Herzog (given name Werner H. Stipetic) was born in Munich and grew up in a remote mountain village in Bavaria. He didn’t see any films or television nor had a telephone as a child. He started traveling on foot from the age of 14. He made his first phone call at the age of 17. During high school he worked the nightshift as a welder in a steel factory to produce his first films and made his first film in 1961 at the age of 19. Since then he has produced, written, and directed more than forty films, published more than a dozen books of prose, and directed as many operas. “Herzog's cinema is a landscape of unbound passions and coded obsession,” writes Ian Penman for The Guardian. Encounters at the End of the World promises to be as compelling and emblazoned as his other documentaries.
Antarctica and this series of programs have been funded by an anonymous sponsor with additional funding from the FMC Corporation, ExxonMobile, the National Advisory Board of the UW Art Museum and the Wyoming Arts Council through the Wyoming State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts which believes a great nation deserves great art.
Each program is free and open to the public.
Bringing the world of art to Wyoming, the Art Museum is located in the Centennial Complex at 22nd & Willett Drive in Laramie. Hours for the Museum and Museum Store are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Admission is free. For more information, please call the Art Museum at 307-766-6622 or visit http://www.uwyo.edu/artmuseum
Define-a-thon featured at Utah Bookfest
For Wyomingites who attended the Wyoming Book Festival last month and the Casper College Literary Conference last week and are still yearning for more Rocky Mountain region literary activity:
You are invited to the Utah Humanities Book Festival’s Define-a-thon and Utah Literary Awards Ceremony at The City Library's Nancy Tessman Auditorium, 210 East 400 South, on Wednesday, Oct. 24. Schedule includes the Utah Literary Awards from 5:30-6:45 p.m. It honors the winners of the Utah Center for the Book Awards, the Utah Arts Council's Original Writing Competition, and the May Swenson Poetry Award. The Define-a-thon will be held from 7-8 p.m. The Define-a-thon is "a fun, competitive word game of vocabulary strength hosted by Steve Kleinedler from Houghton-Mifflin Publishers."
Stay for the reception from 8-9 p.m. Hors d’oeuvres will be served.
FMI: Szalay@utahhumanities.org or 801.359.9670.
You are invited to the Utah Humanities Book Festival’s Define-a-thon and Utah Literary Awards Ceremony at The City Library's Nancy Tessman Auditorium, 210 East 400 South, on Wednesday, Oct. 24. Schedule includes the Utah Literary Awards from 5:30-6:45 p.m. It honors the winners of the Utah Center for the Book Awards, the Utah Arts Council's Original Writing Competition, and the May Swenson Poetry Award. The Define-a-thon will be held from 7-8 p.m. The Define-a-thon is "a fun, competitive word game of vocabulary strength hosted by Steve Kleinedler from Houghton-Mifflin Publishers."
Stay for the reception from 8-9 p.m. Hors d’oeuvres will be served.
FMI: Szalay@utahhumanities.org or 801.359.9670.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Lit Conference readings highlight Thursday
I missed hearing Dana Gioia tonight at the opening reception for the Wyoming Arts Summit in Casper. Gioia, the poet who heads the National Endowment for the Arts, was due to speak some time between 6 and 6:30 at the Nicolaysen Art Museum. I dropped in at 5 to help fellow WAC staffers prepare for the onslaught of guests. Nic Director Holly Turner and her staff greeted guests, which by the time I departed at 5:45 included WAC board members Bruce Richardson, David Neary and Dave Kathka; former board member Susie Dowler; State Parks and Cultural Resources Director Milward Simpson; and Cultural Resources Director Sara Needles.
I left early because, as a member in good standing of the Casper College Literary Conference planning committee, I needed to be at our reception and reading at the Izaak Walton Clubhouse a couple miles to the east. Rattling the rafters of the log clubhouse was the Jeff Finlin Band of Colorado, which included Casper's Amy Geiske on bass. The reading began at 7 in front of an SRO crowd. First up was Casper College sociology prof Chad Hanson who read the title story of his collection, "Swimming with Trout." In it, the main character invents the new pastime of "swimming with trout," which is a lot like swimming with dolphins although there's little chance of being attacked by sharks. The character dons a wetsuit, mask and snorkel to swim the North Platte and admire the fish. Later, he plunges into a local creek to "count coup" on trout. A great story. I could see why it sets the tone for the rest of the volume.
Belarus poet Valzhyna Mort's reading was on the theme of "six love poems -- and one about a dead man." Her most powerful one was not the one about the dead man -- that got laughs. But a love poem called "Utopia." This one focuses on Molvina, a little girl with blue hair, which is basically the Belarus version of Pinnochio.
Nick Flynn first read several passages from his memoir, "Another Bullshit Night in Suck City," then read a section from his newest memoir, "The Year of the Monkey." It centered around events in 2004, which is The Year of the Monkey on what we used to refer as the Oriental Calendar but not sure what it's called now. One of those events was the release of the photos of prison torture at Baghdad's Abu Garaib Prison. Nick tied in a youthful memory of a house fire, Plato, and Vice President Dick Cheney into the piece.
Ekiwah Adler-Belendez wrapped up the evening with poems about the recent protests in Burma by the monks, his ordeals with surgery for spinal problems (Ekiwah travels in a wheelchair), and finished with a long and powerful love poem called "Cyberspace Blues."
Afterwards, I bought too many books and had them signed by the authors. I may be able to take part in some of the events tomorrow, but more than likely I'll be at the WAC Arts Sumiit all day. That's when I can hear Mr. Gioia as he opens the day's proceedings at the Casper Events Center. Gioia delivers the keynote at 9 a.m. For full schedule, go here.
I left early because, as a member in good standing of the Casper College Literary Conference planning committee, I needed to be at our reception and reading at the Izaak Walton Clubhouse a couple miles to the east. Rattling the rafters of the log clubhouse was the Jeff Finlin Band of Colorado, which included Casper's Amy Geiske on bass. The reading began at 7 in front of an SRO crowd. First up was Casper College sociology prof Chad Hanson who read the title story of his collection, "Swimming with Trout." In it, the main character invents the new pastime of "swimming with trout," which is a lot like swimming with dolphins although there's little chance of being attacked by sharks. The character dons a wetsuit, mask and snorkel to swim the North Platte and admire the fish. Later, he plunges into a local creek to "count coup" on trout. A great story. I could see why it sets the tone for the rest of the volume.
Belarus poet Valzhyna Mort's reading was on the theme of "six love poems -- and one about a dead man." Her most powerful one was not the one about the dead man -- that got laughs. But a love poem called "Utopia." This one focuses on Molvina, a little girl with blue hair, which is basically the Belarus version of Pinnochio.
Nick Flynn first read several passages from his memoir, "Another Bullshit Night in Suck City," then read a section from his newest memoir, "The Year of the Monkey." It centered around events in 2004, which is The Year of the Monkey on what we used to refer as the Oriental Calendar but not sure what it's called now. One of those events was the release of the photos of prison torture at Baghdad's Abu Garaib Prison. Nick tied in a youthful memory of a house fire, Plato, and Vice President Dick Cheney into the piece.
Ekiwah Adler-Belendez wrapped up the evening with poems about the recent protests in Burma by the monks, his ordeals with surgery for spinal problems (Ekiwah travels in a wheelchair), and finished with a long and powerful love poem called "Cyberspace Blues."
Afterwards, I bought too many books and had them signed by the authors. I may be able to take part in some of the events tomorrow, but more than likely I'll be at the WAC Arts Sumiit all day. That's when I can hear Mr. Gioia as he opens the day's proceedings at the Casper Events Center. Gioia delivers the keynote at 9 a.m. For full schedule, go here.
--Michael Shay
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
On stage tonight: WAC fellowship winners
Come on out to tonight's free reading by the Wyoming Arts Council's 2008 creative writing fellowship winners. The event starts at 7:30 in the Aley Fine Arts Center's Durham Hall at Casper College. Refreshments provided. Book signing to follow.
The WAC's lit guy, Mike Shay, will serve as emcee. He will introduce the competition judge, Nick Flynn, and fellowship recipients John Sutton and John D. Nesbitt.
John Sutton teaches English and works at the Learning Center at Sheridan College in Sheridan. He grew up in Indiana and lived in California and New York before moving to Wyoming. His winning manuscript is “Writing Floyd,” an excerpt from the book about his family history entitled Becoming White: A Family’s Journey from Slavery to Ku Klux Klan.
John D. Nesbitt is the author of numerous novels and short stories set in the American West. His most recent publications include a western novel, Raven Springs, and “Blue Horse Mesa,” a short story featured in the anthology Lost Trails. He lives in Torrington and teaches English and Spanish at Eastern Wyoming College. He received a 1988 WAC creative writing fellowship. His winning submission includes two chapters from a memoir, “Boy from the Country” and “Dunville.”
Chavawn Kelley of Laramie, this year's third fellowship recipient, will be unable to make the reading as she's in Spain working on a new book.
Nick Flynn is a poet and the author of the award-winning memoir, Another Bullshit Night in Suck City. He grew up in Boston and now divides his time between New York City and Houston, where he teaches creative writing each spring at the University of Houston.
This event is part of the Casper College Literary Conference.
FMI: http://www.caspercollege.edu/events/literary/.
The WAC's lit guy, Mike Shay, will serve as emcee. He will introduce the competition judge, Nick Flynn, and fellowship recipients John Sutton and John D. Nesbitt.
John Sutton teaches English and works at the Learning Center at Sheridan College in Sheridan. He grew up in Indiana and lived in California and New York before moving to Wyoming. His winning manuscript is “Writing Floyd,” an excerpt from the book about his family history entitled Becoming White: A Family’s Journey from Slavery to Ku Klux Klan.
John D. Nesbitt is the author of numerous novels and short stories set in the American West. His most recent publications include a western novel, Raven Springs, and “Blue Horse Mesa,” a short story featured in the anthology Lost Trails. He lives in Torrington and teaches English and Spanish at Eastern Wyoming College. He received a 1988 WAC creative writing fellowship. His winning submission includes two chapters from a memoir, “Boy from the Country” and “Dunville.”
Chavawn Kelley of Laramie, this year's third fellowship recipient, will be unable to make the reading as she's in Spain working on a new book.
Nick Flynn is a poet and the author of the award-winning memoir, Another Bullshit Night in Suck City. He grew up in Boston and now divides his time between New York City and Houston, where he teaches creative writing each spring at the University of Houston.
This event is part of the Casper College Literary Conference.
FMI: http://www.caspercollege.edu/events/literary/.
Schedule change for literary conference
Due to flight delays, Ekiwah Adler-Belendez was unable to make it to Casper for Wednesday afternoon's writing workshop, "The Inner Witness: Poems from Within." He's will fly into Casper tonight, so his workshop has been rescheduled for Friday at 9 a.m.-noon in the Strausner Center at Casper College. Ekiwah also will participate in the panel discussion at noon Thursday in the Adminstration Building's Doornbos Lounge and will be at that evening's reception from 5-7 p.m. and the reading from 7-9 at the Izaak Walton Clubhouse at Fort Casper.
For full schedule, go to Casper College Literary Conference site.
For full schedule, go to Casper College Literary Conference site.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Arts galore in Casper this week
A five-day extravaganza of art comes to Casper this week in the form of the Casper College Literary Conference (Oct. 17-19), the Wyoming Arts Summit (Oct. 18-20), and the Wyoming Arts Alliance Block-Booking Conference (Oct. 19-20).
Thursday evening (Oct. 18) offers the opening reception for the Arts Summit (5-8 p.m.) at the Nicolaysen Art Museum and the "President's Reception" for the Casper College Literary Conference from 5-7 p.m. at Fort Casper's Izaak Walton Clubhouse.
Entertainment at The Nic includes the Impact Dance Company and music by The Tremors. Music will be provided by the Jeff Finlin Band at the literary conference, followed at 7 p.m. with readings by conference presenters Ekiwah Adler-Benendez, Nick Flynn, Valzhyna Mort, and Chad Hanson. These events are free and open to the public.
For more info on the Summit, go to http://wyoarts.state.wy.us. For literary conference information, go to http://www.caspercollege.edu/events/literary/. The schedule for the WyAA conference can be found at http://www.wyomingarts.org/.
Thursday evening (Oct. 18) offers the opening reception for the Arts Summit (5-8 p.m.) at the Nicolaysen Art Museum and the "President's Reception" for the Casper College Literary Conference from 5-7 p.m. at Fort Casper's Izaak Walton Clubhouse.
Entertainment at The Nic includes the Impact Dance Company and music by The Tremors. Music will be provided by the Jeff Finlin Band at the literary conference, followed at 7 p.m. with readings by conference presenters Ekiwah Adler-Benendez, Nick Flynn, Valzhyna Mort, and Chad Hanson. These events are free and open to the public.
For more info on the Summit, go to http://wyoarts.state.wy.us. For literary conference information, go to http://www.caspercollege.edu/events/literary/. The schedule for the WyAA conference can be found at http://www.wyomingarts.org/.
Don't forget that ARTCORE offers Frank Ferrante as "Groucho" on Oct. 18, 7:30 p.m., at the Natrona County H.S. auditorium.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Portrait workshop in Casper Oct. 18-20
Sam Thiews hosts a portrait workshop at the Casper Artists' Guild, 1040 W. 15th St., in Casper Oct. 18-20, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
This workshop is geared to artists who are looking for a strong fundamental approach to portrait painting. All paintings will be done from life.
Cost is $40 per day for members and $60 per day for non-members. Lunch will be on your own.
FMI: 307-265-2655.
Read newspapers with the editors
From Rebecca Huntington at the Teton County Public Library in Jackson:
Teton County Library will pair readers with news leaders during "What's News? Reading the Papers with the Editors," a monthly brown-bag conversation from noon-1:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 25 in the Conference Room. Coffee will be provided, and participants are welcome to bring a lunch. The program is free and open to the public.
Local newspaper editors, Rich Anderson from Planet Jackson Hole, and Angus Thuermer, Jr. from the Jackson Hole News & Guide, will guide the discussion, along with occasional visiting journalists and scholars.
"There are no parameters, except that people are encouraged to read," Thuermer says. "We'll discuss whatever people want to about the reports, the practice of reporting, and journalism."
The conversation will focus on five newspapers: Jackson Hole News & Guide, Planet Jackson Hole, Casper-Star Tribune, Wall Street Journal and New York Times. Readers can find the newspapers on the rack, online or at the library. No preparation is required.
Jackson resident Walt Thulin discovered an engaging exchange when he participated in a similar news-driven discussion led by a state university. Listening to others share insights and questions about the day's events helped broaden his own interest in and understanding of the news, he says. "What was intriguing about it was here was an opportunity for people to discuss what was going on in the world - locally, nationally and internationally," Thulin says.
FMI: Contact the library's Adult Program Coordinator at 733-2164 ext. 135.
Teton County Library will pair readers with news leaders during "What's News? Reading the Papers with the Editors," a monthly brown-bag conversation from noon-1:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 25 in the Conference Room. Coffee will be provided, and participants are welcome to bring a lunch. The program is free and open to the public.
Local newspaper editors, Rich Anderson from Planet Jackson Hole, and Angus Thuermer, Jr. from the Jackson Hole News & Guide, will guide the discussion, along with occasional visiting journalists and scholars.
"There are no parameters, except that people are encouraged to read," Thuermer says. "We'll discuss whatever people want to about the reports, the practice of reporting, and journalism."
The conversation will focus on five newspapers: Jackson Hole News & Guide, Planet Jackson Hole, Casper-Star Tribune, Wall Street Journal and New York Times. Readers can find the newspapers on the rack, online or at the library. No preparation is required.
Jackson resident Walt Thulin discovered an engaging exchange when he participated in a similar news-driven discussion led by a state university. Listening to others share insights and questions about the day's events helped broaden his own interest in and understanding of the news, he says. "What was intriguing about it was here was an opportunity for people to discuss what was going on in the world - locally, nationally and internationally," Thulin says.
FMI: Contact the library's Adult Program Coordinator at 733-2164 ext. 135.
New Boots for the Depot
The Cheyenne Depot Museum Foundation hosted the “These Boots Are Made For Talking” Big Boot program in 2004. From these big boots, a licensing program has been initiated through a New York licensing company – King Features – to have products manufactured with the images of the boots.
To increase the number of boot images for the licensing program, the Cheyenne Depot Museum Foundation hosted an Images of the West! Artist Competition this spring and summer. Regional artists were invited to submit artwork in the form of a cowboy boot. If the artwork was accepted, the image(s) were submitted into the licensing program. The Artist Competition also offered three prize placements. First prize was a $1,500 cash award, with the second prize at $1,000 and the third prize at $500.
The Cheyenne Depot Museum Foundation is pleased to announce the following winners:
1st Prize – Ross Lampshire from Loveland, CO
2nd Prize – Max Larkin from Cheyenne, WY
3rd Prize (Tie) – Rose Burrows from Cheyenne, WY and
Paige Money from Buffalo, WY
These artists will receive their prize packages and will be honored at an Artist Reception and Awards Presentation on Thursday, October 25th.
The Cheyenne Depot Museum Foundation is also initiating the 2008 Images of the West! Artist Competition at the Artist Reception. Interested artists are encouraged to contact the Cheyenne Depot Museum Foundation at 307-637-3376 or go to the website at www.cheyennedepotmuseumfoundation.org for more information.
To increase the number of boot images for the licensing program, the Cheyenne Depot Museum Foundation hosted an Images of the West! Artist Competition this spring and summer. Regional artists were invited to submit artwork in the form of a cowboy boot. If the artwork was accepted, the image(s) were submitted into the licensing program. The Artist Competition also offered three prize placements. First prize was a $1,500 cash award, with the second prize at $1,000 and the third prize at $500.
The Cheyenne Depot Museum Foundation is pleased to announce the following winners:
1st Prize – Ross Lampshire from Loveland, CO
2nd Prize – Max Larkin from Cheyenne, WY
3rd Prize (Tie) – Rose Burrows from Cheyenne, WY and
Paige Money from Buffalo, WY
These artists will receive their prize packages and will be honored at an Artist Reception and Awards Presentation on Thursday, October 25th.
The Cheyenne Depot Museum Foundation is also initiating the 2008 Images of the West! Artist Competition at the Artist Reception. Interested artists are encouraged to contact the Cheyenne Depot Museum Foundation at 307-637-3376 or go to the website at www.cheyennedepotmuseumfoundation.org for more information.
Friday, October 12, 2007
From "Big Wonderful" to the Great Salt Lake
Kevin Holdsworth of Green River will be reading from his book "Big Wonderful: Notes from Wyoming" at the Utah Humanities Council Book Festival. Holdsworth's presentation, "Growing up in Utah, Finding a Home in Wyoming," will be held on Saturday Oct. 27, 5 p.m. in the Third Floor Conference Room of the Main Library, 210 East 400 South, Salt Lake City. Notice on "Big Wonderful" can be found at the University Press of Colorado web site.
Most of the events of the book festival will take place on Oct. 27 at the Main Library in downtown Salt Lake. Many other regional and national writers will be reading or speaking on panels. The Utah Humanities Council Book Festival, now in its tenth year, was formerly known as the Great Salt Lake Book Festival. For further information, go to http://www.utahhumanities.org/BookFestival.htm.
Most of the events of the book festival will take place on Oct. 27 at the Main Library in downtown Salt Lake. Many other regional and national writers will be reading or speaking on panels. The Utah Humanities Council Book Festival, now in its tenth year, was formerly known as the Great Salt Lake Book Festival. For further information, go to http://www.utahhumanities.org/BookFestival.htm.
One-day tix available for Arts Summit
By popular demand, the Wyoming Arts Council is now offering one-day tickets for the Wyoming Arts Summit Oct. 19-20 at the Casper Events Center.
While the fee for the entire conference remains at $100, you can choose to purchase a separate ticket for Friday or Saturday's events for $50. Buying a $50 ticket for Friday gets you admission to that evening's Summit Gala featuring music by the University of Wyoming Symphony Orchestra, the UW Jazz Ensemble, the Casper College Collegiate Chorale, and the Cheyenne Chamber Singers. Governor Dave Freudenthal, First Lady Nancy Freudenthal, and U.S. Sen Mike Enzi will deliver speeches. Sometime in there, dinner and dessert will be served.
Saturday's schedule includes workshops and panel sessions with Dan Kemmis from the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Missoula, Mont., Front Porch Institute Director Patrick Overton, and Wyoming Poet Laureate David Romtvedt. Lunch will be served during a town hall meeting featuring all the conference speakers.
To register, go to http://wyoarts.state.wy.us/summitregistration.htm
While the fee for the entire conference remains at $100, you can choose to purchase a separate ticket for Friday or Saturday's events for $50. Buying a $50 ticket for Friday gets you admission to that evening's Summit Gala featuring music by the University of Wyoming Symphony Orchestra, the UW Jazz Ensemble, the Casper College Collegiate Chorale, and the Cheyenne Chamber Singers. Governor Dave Freudenthal, First Lady Nancy Freudenthal, and U.S. Sen Mike Enzi will deliver speeches. Sometime in there, dinner and dessert will be served.
Saturday's schedule includes workshops and panel sessions with Dan Kemmis from the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Missoula, Mont., Front Porch Institute Director Patrick Overton, and Wyoming Poet Laureate David Romtvedt. Lunch will be served during a town hall meeting featuring all the conference speakers.
To register, go to http://wyoarts.state.wy.us/summitregistration.htm
Playwright Migdalia Cruz visits UW
From a UW press release:
Migdalia Cruz, a director, playwright, poet, teacher and actress, will visit the University of Wyoming in Laramie Oct. 18-19.
Cruz will host a lunchtime discussion Thursday, Oct. 18, from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. in the Multicultural Resource Center (MRC), Room 103 of the Wyoming Union. The event is free and open to the public.
On Oct. 19, Cruz will attend a performance of her play "Telling Tales" by the Riot Act Company from Jackson. The free show will start at 4:15 p.m. in Crane Studio in the UW Fine Arts Building. Cruz will then attend the 7:30 p.m. performance of her play "FUR," directed by UW student Anna Brownsted, in the Fine Arts Center Studio Theater. Following the play will be a discussion with Cruz, the actors, designers and the director.
"FUR" is a re-imagining "Beauty and the Beast" set in a pet shop in the California desert. The play runs Oct. 16-20. The cost is $5 for students and $10 for the public. For tickets call the Fine Arts Box Office (307) 766-6666 or visit the UW web site.
The UW theater department, Chicano Studies Program and Multicultural Affairs host her visit.
For more information about her MRC visit call Prince Amattoe, project coordinator, at (307) 766-6463. For information about her remaining schedule, e-mail Cecelia Aragon at ccaragon@uwyo.edu.
Migdalia Cruz, a director, playwright, poet, teacher and actress, will visit the University of Wyoming in Laramie Oct. 18-19.
Cruz will host a lunchtime discussion Thursday, Oct. 18, from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. in the Multicultural Resource Center (MRC), Room 103 of the Wyoming Union. The event is free and open to the public.
On Oct. 19, Cruz will attend a performance of her play "Telling Tales" by the Riot Act Company from Jackson. The free show will start at 4:15 p.m. in Crane Studio in the UW Fine Arts Building. Cruz will then attend the 7:30 p.m. performance of her play "FUR," directed by UW student Anna Brownsted, in the Fine Arts Center Studio Theater. Following the play will be a discussion with Cruz, the actors, designers and the director.
"FUR" is a re-imagining "Beauty and the Beast" set in a pet shop in the California desert. The play runs Oct. 16-20. The cost is $5 for students and $10 for the public. For tickets call the Fine Arts Box Office (307) 766-6666 or visit the UW web site.
The UW theater department, Chicano Studies Program and Multicultural Affairs host her visit.
For more information about her MRC visit call Prince Amattoe, project coordinator, at (307) 766-6463. For information about her remaining schedule, e-mail Cecelia Aragon at ccaragon@uwyo.edu.
Albany County elementary students' art show
The "Premier Showing" of Albany County School District #1 elementary student art work is Monday, October 15th. Designs of 77 young artists were chosen by schools in and around Laramie as exemplary work to be displayed in the Centennial Complex Gallery. Kathy Keenan, art teacher at Slade elementary school, spearheaded the exhibition."'Premier Showing' showcases our talented elementary art students in Albany County," said Keenan, "plus it exposes adults to their artwork." Years ago, the reception for the artists and their parents were held in the school district’s central office, "but it has been so well attended," said Keenan, "we outgrew the space." The University of Wyoming Art Museum opened its doors to this event. "The art museum has a great space to showcase the art," said Keenan. "Last year we had about 150 people. This year we are expecting between 175 and 200."
The gallery is located to the right of the Centennial Complex’s front entrance at 2111 Willett Drive. The reception begins at 7 p.m. with an introduction of the artists by Dr. Brian Recht, Superintendent of Albany County School District #1. Refreshments will be served. "Arrive early," warned Keenan. "There is expected to be standing room only." The artwork will be at the art museum for about two weeks, then it will go back to the school district’s central office, 1948 Grand Ave, where Dr. Recht has provided an oak lighted showcase to feature the talent.
Bringing the world of art to Wyoming, the Art Museum is located in the Centennial Complex at 22nd & Willett Drive in Laramie. Hours for the Museum and Museum Store are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Admission is free. For more information, please call the Art Museum at 307-766-6622 or visit http://www.uwyo.edu/artmuseum.
Arts from the hands of folks
An exhibit featuring the work of 10 Wyoming Folk and Traditional Arts practitioners is currently on display at the Wyoming Arts Council Gallery through December 21.
Each artist has received Folk and Traditional Arts grants from the Wyoming Arts Council and is dedicated at preserving and perpetuating their traditional talents. Each artist is recognized for the high quality of his or her art.
The featured artists are:
Jerry Curcio, Riverton – Overshot loom weaving
Ed Fowler, Riverton – Bladesmith
Cleo Goggles, Ethete – Beaded buckskin vests
Beatrice Haukaas, Ft Washakie – Shoshone cradleboards
Mary Maynard, Laramie – Crochet and tatting
Kevin McNiven, Lander – Cowboy music and dance
Jack Mease, Lander – Rawhide braiding
Sally O’Connor, Elk Mountain – Baskets and chair caning
Reba Teran, Ft. Washakie – Shoshone saddle & trappings
Kelly Wells, Deaver – Old-time fiddling
The Arts Council Gallery, located at 2320 Capitol Ave. in Cheyenne, is free to the public and is open Monday through Friday during business hours. Call 307-777-7742 for more information.
Each artist has received Folk and Traditional Arts grants from the Wyoming Arts Council and is dedicated at preserving and perpetuating their traditional talents. Each artist is recognized for the high quality of his or her art.
The featured artists are:
Jerry Curcio, Riverton – Overshot loom weaving
Ed Fowler, Riverton – Bladesmith
Cleo Goggles, Ethete – Beaded buckskin vests
Beatrice Haukaas, Ft Washakie – Shoshone cradleboards
Mary Maynard, Laramie – Crochet and tatting
Kevin McNiven, Lander – Cowboy music and dance
Jack Mease, Lander – Rawhide braiding
Sally O’Connor, Elk Mountain – Baskets and chair caning
Reba Teran, Ft. Washakie – Shoshone saddle & trappings
Kelly Wells, Deaver – Old-time fiddling
The Arts Council Gallery, located at 2320 Capitol Ave. in Cheyenne, is free to the public and is open Monday through Friday during business hours. Call 307-777-7742 for more information.
Congrats on U of A Poetry Center opening
Sometimes we wander away from Wyoming topics to cover important regional literary events --
The University of Arizona Poetry Center in Tucson will hold is "Housewarming Festival" for its new building on Sunday, Oct. 14, noon-5 p.m. I wish I could just jet down there for the day. Since that's not possible, we'll send good wishes to the Center, its friendly staff, and its many wonderful books and events.
I visited the Poetry Center's old building two summers ago with my son Kevin. He was taking me on a tour of the University of Arizona campus on a lovely July day, the temperature a comfortable 120 degrees in the shade (if you could find any). We stepped into the Poetry Center for some water and AC and the balm that poetry provides. You can just wander around the library and pull books from your favorite poets off the shelf. I hunkered down with a book of jazz-inspired poems by California's Al Young and later read a few of the shorter poems by the late Thomas McGrath. Spotted books by Wyoming's David Romtvedt and Charles Levendosky. Kevin and I were fortified with poetry when we had to re-emerge into the hellish heat.
It should be more temperate on Sunday for the housewarming. It features a cool new (and shady) outdoor stage. Here are some details from the Poetry Center's web site:
Tucson is home to one of the greatest poetry collections in the world and it is now open in a beautiful new library that reflects that distinction. Come celebrate with poets, music, art, performance, bookmaking, acrobats, food, and activities for everyone. The Housewarming Festival features R. Carlos Nakai, Alberto Ríos, Makako, Charles Alexander, Billy Collins, Al Perry, Tucson Madonnari, Typing Explosion, Luna Llena, Ofelia Zepeda, Marianne Dissard and Matt Mitchell, Brenda Hillman, Odaiko Sonora, Jane Miller, Robert Hass, Stories that Soar, Flam Chen, Alison Deming, Sonoran Snow Cones, Steve Orlen, Tucson Slam Team, Richard Shelton, Post & Bind, the Binary Wall Decoding Contest, and abundantly, heliographically more!
The University of Arizona Poetry Center in Tucson will hold is "Housewarming Festival" for its new building on Sunday, Oct. 14, noon-5 p.m. I wish I could just jet down there for the day. Since that's not possible, we'll send good wishes to the Center, its friendly staff, and its many wonderful books and events.
I visited the Poetry Center's old building two summers ago with my son Kevin. He was taking me on a tour of the University of Arizona campus on a lovely July day, the temperature a comfortable 120 degrees in the shade (if you could find any). We stepped into the Poetry Center for some water and AC and the balm that poetry provides. You can just wander around the library and pull books from your favorite poets off the shelf. I hunkered down with a book of jazz-inspired poems by California's Al Young and later read a few of the shorter poems by the late Thomas McGrath. Spotted books by Wyoming's David Romtvedt and Charles Levendosky. Kevin and I were fortified with poetry when we had to re-emerge into the hellish heat.
It should be more temperate on Sunday for the housewarming. It features a cool new (and shady) outdoor stage. Here are some details from the Poetry Center's web site:
Tucson is home to one of the greatest poetry collections in the world and it is now open in a beautiful new library that reflects that distinction. Come celebrate with poets, music, art, performance, bookmaking, acrobats, food, and activities for everyone. The Housewarming Festival features R. Carlos Nakai, Alberto Ríos, Makako, Charles Alexander, Billy Collins, Al Perry, Tucson Madonnari, Typing Explosion, Luna Llena, Ofelia Zepeda, Marianne Dissard and Matt Mitchell, Brenda Hillman, Odaiko Sonora, Jane Miller, Robert Hass, Stories that Soar, Flam Chen, Alison Deming, Sonoran Snow Cones, Steve Orlen, Tucson Slam Team, Richard Shelton, Post & Bind, the Binary Wall Decoding Contest, and abundantly, heliographically more!
--Michael Shay
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Groucho Lives! (on)
"The greatest living interpreter of Groucho Marx's material," Frank Ferrante will appear in An Evening With Groucho, Thursday, October, 18, 2007 at 7:30 p.m. at the John F. Welsh Auditorium in the Natrona County High School. From Animal Crackers to A Night at the Opera, co-author Morrie Ryskind called him "the only actor aside from Groucho who delivered my lines as they were intended."
Discovered in 1985 by Groucho's son playwright Arthur Marx when Ferrante was attending the University of Southern California Division of Drama, Ferrante went on to portray Groucho from age 15 to 85 in the New York, London and PBS television versions of Arthur's play. Ferrante was 23 years old when Groucho: A Life in Revue opened off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in 1986.
Ferrante played the Groucho inspired roles off-Broadway in The Cocoanuts in 1996 and regional productions of Animal Crackers at Goodspeed Opera House, The Huntington Theatre, Atlanta's Alliance Theatre, Paper Mill Playhouse and Arena Stage.
Ferrante acts and directs throughout the region, most notably at Philadelphia's Walnut Street Theatre where he directed and developed the premiere of the Pulitzer Prize finalist Old Wicked Songs. There Ferrante starred as playwright/director George S. Kaufman in the one-man play written by Frank entitled By George.
Since 2001, Ferrante performs his improvisationally based comedy in the European style cirque show Teatro ZinZanni playing an outrageous Latin lover named Caesar. In Zinzanni, Ferrante played opposite legendary cabaret star Liliane Montevecchi, Joan Baez, Sally Kellerman and The Motels' Martha Davis. In 2004, he became a question on the television program Jeopardy.
Discovered in 1985 by Groucho's son playwright Arthur Marx when Ferrante was attending the University of Southern California Division of Drama, Ferrante went on to portray Groucho from age 15 to 85 in the New York, London and PBS television versions of Arthur's play. Ferrante was 23 years old when Groucho: A Life in Revue opened off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in 1986.
Ferrante played the Groucho inspired roles off-Broadway in The Cocoanuts in 1996 and regional productions of Animal Crackers at Goodspeed Opera House, The Huntington Theatre, Atlanta's Alliance Theatre, Paper Mill Playhouse and Arena Stage.
Ferrante acts and directs throughout the region, most notably at Philadelphia's Walnut Street Theatre where he directed and developed the premiere of the Pulitzer Prize finalist Old Wicked Songs. There Ferrante starred as playwright/director George S. Kaufman in the one-man play written by Frank entitled By George.
Since 2001, Ferrante performs his improvisationally based comedy in the European style cirque show Teatro ZinZanni playing an outrageous Latin lover named Caesar. In Zinzanni, Ferrante played opposite legendary cabaret star Liliane Montevecchi, Joan Baez, Sally Kellerman and The Motels' Martha Davis. In 2004, he became a question on the television program Jeopardy.
Longfellow's reach a long, enduring one
Join thousands of people across Wyoming this fall who will read, discuss and fall in love with one book: My Ántonia by Willa Cather. It's all part of the Wyoming Big Read, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).
Until November 15, local libraries in 13 counties will have book discussions, living history performances, children's activities, dances, displays and their own book giveaways. Sen. Mike Enzi and his wife Diana, longtime supporters of reading and literacy, are serving as honorary co-chairs of Wyoming's Big Read project.
Here's more info on Big Read:
The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation announced that Longfellow's Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts, is the first grant recipient in a pilot initiative, a component of the NEA's Big Read, to celebrate great American poets and the nation's historic poetry locales. Longfellow's Wayside Inn will receive an inaugural NEA Chairman's Extraordinary Action grant of $15,000 to support a community-wide program to encourage multi-generational reading of the poetry of New England writer Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882).
NEA Chairman Dana Gioia and Poetry Foundation President John Barr announced the grant on September 26, 2007, during an evening keynote presentation on Longfellow at Cambridge Forum at the First Parish Church, co-sponsored by the Longfellow National Historic site, the Poetry Foundation, and the Paul Revere House. This marks the second partnership for the NEA and the Poetry Foundation, which jointly present Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest. Now in its third year, this national arts education program encourages the study of great poetry by offering educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition to high school students across the country.
"I am delighted to announce this new expansion of the Big Read to celebrate the deep connection between this great American poet and communities in which he lived. It's fitting that we announce this new program in Longfellow's own home in the heart of literary Massachusetts, a state with an extraordinary literary heritage," said NEA Chairman Dana Gioia. "Longfellow's poetry has helped to preserve and popularize much of that early heritage, and I look forward to working with the Poetry Foundation on further projects to reacquaint Americans with the depth of our nation's literary heritage."
Poetry Foundation President John Barr said, "Two hundred years of American history and culture found voice, face, and culmination in the poetry of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The Poetry Foundation is delighted to join with the NEA in celebrating the work of this major American poet."
The Wayside Inn will kick off its Longfellow celebration on February 27, 2008, the poet's 201st birthday, with a keynote presentation. The program will continue through the April 19 Patriot's Day holiday, which commemorates the historic ride by Paul Revere immortalized in Longfellow's poem "The Landlord's Tale" from his collection Tales of a Wayside Inn (1863). The Wayside Inn will host an array of activities throughout those six weeks, including community reading groups, and develop an on-line Longfellow Library with the poet's work and curriculum materials for teachers.
"The Trustees of Longfellow's Wayside Inn are ecstatic about this opportunity that has come from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. It is a great opportunity to educate our own community about the importance of the Wayside Inn in Longfellow's life and works and to remind people of his prominence as a poet," said Frederick M. Pryor, President of Longfellow's Wayside Inn's Board of Trustees. "We are working with Project Director Cindy Hall Kouré to provide fun and engaging programming that will reintroduce Longfellow's poetry to as many people and groups throughout Sudbury as possible."
Planned events also include a three-part lecture series with noted Longfellow historians and biographers, a lifelong learning course sponsored by the Sudbury Senior Center, and a musical presentation of Longfellow's poetry. Sudbury public elementary, middle, and high schools will participate by incorporating the poet's work into their curricula, hosting cultural assemblies, and presenting student-created multimedia projects.
The NEA will provide the Inn with supplementary materials -- underwritten by the Poetry Foundation -- similar to those created for the agency's national Big Read program. These materials include reader's and teacher's guides to Longfellow's works and a promotional poster. These materials also will be available to the public at two additional Longfellow historic sites: the Longfellow House (Cambridge, Massachusetts) and the Wadsworth-Longfellow House (Portland, Maine).
The NEA and the Poetry Foundation expect to announce additional grants for site-based poetry programs this fall. In addition, it's expected that a competitive phase of the program will launch at the conclusion of the pilot phase.
Until November 15, local libraries in 13 counties will have book discussions, living history performances, children's activities, dances, displays and their own book giveaways. Sen. Mike Enzi and his wife Diana, longtime supporters of reading and literacy, are serving as honorary co-chairs of Wyoming's Big Read project.
Here's more info on Big Read:
The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation announced that Longfellow's Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts, is the first grant recipient in a pilot initiative, a component of the NEA's Big Read, to celebrate great American poets and the nation's historic poetry locales. Longfellow's Wayside Inn will receive an inaugural NEA Chairman's Extraordinary Action grant of $15,000 to support a community-wide program to encourage multi-generational reading of the poetry of New England writer Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882).NEA Chairman Dana Gioia and Poetry Foundation President John Barr announced the grant on September 26, 2007, during an evening keynote presentation on Longfellow at Cambridge Forum at the First Parish Church, co-sponsored by the Longfellow National Historic site, the Poetry Foundation, and the Paul Revere House. This marks the second partnership for the NEA and the Poetry Foundation, which jointly present Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest. Now in its third year, this national arts education program encourages the study of great poetry by offering educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition to high school students across the country.
"I am delighted to announce this new expansion of the Big Read to celebrate the deep connection between this great American poet and communities in which he lived. It's fitting that we announce this new program in Longfellow's own home in the heart of literary Massachusetts, a state with an extraordinary literary heritage," said NEA Chairman Dana Gioia. "Longfellow's poetry has helped to preserve and popularize much of that early heritage, and I look forward to working with the Poetry Foundation on further projects to reacquaint Americans with the depth of our nation's literary heritage."
Poetry Foundation President John Barr said, "Two hundred years of American history and culture found voice, face, and culmination in the poetry of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The Poetry Foundation is delighted to join with the NEA in celebrating the work of this major American poet."
The Wayside Inn will kick off its Longfellow celebration on February 27, 2008, the poet's 201st birthday, with a keynote presentation. The program will continue through the April 19 Patriot's Day holiday, which commemorates the historic ride by Paul Revere immortalized in Longfellow's poem "The Landlord's Tale" from his collection Tales of a Wayside Inn (1863). The Wayside Inn will host an array of activities throughout those six weeks, including community reading groups, and develop an on-line Longfellow Library with the poet's work and curriculum materials for teachers.
"The Trustees of Longfellow's Wayside Inn are ecstatic about this opportunity that has come from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. It is a great opportunity to educate our own community about the importance of the Wayside Inn in Longfellow's life and works and to remind people of his prominence as a poet," said Frederick M. Pryor, President of Longfellow's Wayside Inn's Board of Trustees. "We are working with Project Director Cindy Hall Kouré to provide fun and engaging programming that will reintroduce Longfellow's poetry to as many people and groups throughout Sudbury as possible."
Planned events also include a three-part lecture series with noted Longfellow historians and biographers, a lifelong learning course sponsored by the Sudbury Senior Center, and a musical presentation of Longfellow's poetry. Sudbury public elementary, middle, and high schools will participate by incorporating the poet's work into their curricula, hosting cultural assemblies, and presenting student-created multimedia projects.
The NEA will provide the Inn with supplementary materials -- underwritten by the Poetry Foundation -- similar to those created for the agency's national Big Read program. These materials include reader's and teacher's guides to Longfellow's works and a promotional poster. These materials also will be available to the public at two additional Longfellow historic sites: the Longfellow House (Cambridge, Massachusetts) and the Wadsworth-Longfellow House (Portland, Maine).
The NEA and the Poetry Foundation expect to announce additional grants for site-based poetry programs this fall. In addition, it's expected that a competitive phase of the program will launch at the conclusion of the pilot phase.
Juan Laden exhibit opens in Denmark
"Passing Memories, Descansos: Roadside Memorials of the West," an exhibition of photographs by Juan Laden of Lander, will be on display at the Skive Bibliotek in Skive, which is on Denmark's Jutland Peninsula. Exhibit dates are Nov. 3-Dec. 29. Juan will depart next week for Denmark to oversee the exhibit and talk about his work.For those readers fluent in Danish, here's the announcement on the Skive Bibliotek web site:
Juan Laden udstillede på Skive Bibliotek for nogle år siden, og viste da en fremragende og varieret udstilling.
Denne gang koncentrer han sig om ét enkelt emne, nemlig afbildning af mindesmærker for mennesker der har mistet livet langs vejstrækninger i USA.
Fremkomsten af disse mindesmærker er en relativ ny tradition i USA, og med sine sort/hvide fotos opnår Juan mesterligt på én gange at indfange det vemod og den sorg der er forbundet med døden. Samtidig er der noget åbenlyst storslået ved disse øde vejstrækningers natur, og det moment af frihed der ligger i at kunne bevæge sig hvorhen man vil i sin bil.
GTMF holds "StringFest" for students
From a press release:
The Grand Teton Music Festival announced plans today for its annual StringFest for area middle school music students. The unique three-day string clinic brings the orchestra students
of Jackson Hole and Star Valley Middle Schools together with Festival veteran violinist Barbara Scowcroft for an intense collaborative rehearsal and concert experience. StringFest 2007 runs November 13-15 and culminates in a public performance by the young musicians in the Festival's newly renovated Walk Festival Hall, Thursday, November 15 at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free, no tickets required. All ages are welcome.
StringFest launches the GTMF in-school programs each year -- the students of Jackson Hole Middle School and Star Valley Junior High School begin working on their music for this performance as soon as the school year begins. The clinician, GTMF veteran musician and Utah Symphony violinist Barbara Scowcroft, will visit the seventh and eighth grade orchestra classes of Vincent Gutwein (Jackson) and Brian Ashton (Star Valley) November 13 and 14 to work with each group separately before they join forces for an all-day rehearsal followed by their combined performance in Walk Festival Hall on Thursday, November 15. A transformative
experience, StringFest helps students learn and indeed participate in the practices and policies of a professional orchestra. On the final day, students work with peers they¹d never met before and play their way though intense rehearsals and finally a public concert. They themselves can hear a marked change in their musicianship over the course of one very intensive and rewarding day.
"It is really wonderful to see the students supporting each other, working together," said StringFest clinician Barbara Scowcroft. "There is such joy in seeing them make new friends through their interest in classical music -- there's this incredible synergy, and that's the ultimate magic of music."
The Grand Teton Music Festival announced plans today for its annual StringFest for area middle school music students. The unique three-day string clinic brings the orchestra students
of Jackson Hole and Star Valley Middle Schools together with Festival veteran violinist Barbara Scowcroft for an intense collaborative rehearsal and concert experience. StringFest 2007 runs November 13-15 and culminates in a public performance by the young musicians in the Festival's newly renovated Walk Festival Hall, Thursday, November 15 at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free, no tickets required. All ages are welcome.
StringFest launches the GTMF in-school programs each year -- the students of Jackson Hole Middle School and Star Valley Junior High School begin working on their music for this performance as soon as the school year begins. The clinician, GTMF veteran musician and Utah Symphony violinist Barbara Scowcroft, will visit the seventh and eighth grade orchestra classes of Vincent Gutwein (Jackson) and Brian Ashton (Star Valley) November 13 and 14 to work with each group separately before they join forces for an all-day rehearsal followed by their combined performance in Walk Festival Hall on Thursday, November 15. A transformative
experience, StringFest helps students learn and indeed participate in the practices and policies of a professional orchestra. On the final day, students work with peers they¹d never met before and play their way though intense rehearsals and finally a public concert. They themselves can hear a marked change in their musicianship over the course of one very intensive and rewarding day.
"It is really wonderful to see the students supporting each other, working together," said StringFest clinician Barbara Scowcroft. "There is such joy in seeing them make new friends through their interest in classical music -- there's this incredible synergy, and that's the ultimate magic of music."
Literary conference features worldly line-up
The 21st annual ARTCORE/Casper College Literary Conference, with the theme of "Spiritual Warriors," features an international line-up of poets and writers Oct. 17-19 in Casper.Presenters include Nick Flynn, New York City poet and essayist and author of the memoir "Another Bullshit Night in Suck City;" Ekiwah Adler-Belendez (shown at right), a 19-year-old poet prodigy raised in the small village of Amatlan, Mexico, who has captivated his country’s literary scene with three poetry collections; Valzhyna Mort from Minsk, Belarus, whose first poetry collection, "I’m as Thin as Your Eyelashes, addresses the upheaval of anti-communist revolutions in Eastern Europe, when poets became prophets for their nations and when poetry, the only voice of freedom, had to be carefully hidden – because poetry was considered both a sin and a weapon; Dr. Jean Shinoda Bolen, author of "Goddesses in Older Women: Archetypes in Women Over Fifty" and "Urgent Message From Mother: Gather the Women, Save the World;" Chad Hanson, Casper essayist and fiction writer whose story collection, "Swimming with Trout," was published by the University of New Mexico Press; and Colorado musician and songwriter Jeff Finlin.
Each of them will conduct a writing workshop and read from their work during the course of the conference. There is a fee for the workshops, but the readings are free and open to the public. A free public reception will be held on Thursday, Oct. 18, 5-7 p.m., at Casper’s Izaak Walton Clubhouse, followed by a "Spiritual Warriors" panel session and reading by Ekiwah Adler-Beléndez, Valzhyna Mort, Nick Flynn, and Chad Hanson. Special guest Dana Gioia, poet and chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts, will say a few words and introduce the panel. Gioia will be in town to speak at the Wyoming Arts Summit Oct. 19 at the Casper Events Center.
For a full schedule of events, and to register for the workshops, go to <http://www.caspercollege.edu/events/literary/>.
FMI: Michael Shay, Wyoming Arts Council, 307-777-5234.
Box gets Booklist stars for "Blue Heaven"
Keir Graff has written a positive review of C.J. Box’s upcoming thriller, “Blue Heaven,” for Booklist Online. C.J., or “Chuck,” as the writer (a WAC fellowship winner) is known throughout his native Wyoming, is the author of seven Joe Pickett mysteries, five of which have received starred reviews on Booklist, considered the Bible of "books to buy" for U.S. librarians. Here’s a clip from the Booklist article:It takes guts to tinker with a successful formula, but the Wyoming native (recently photographed sans cowboy hat) has done just that. In January, St. Martin’s Minotaur will publish Blue Heaven, his first stand-alone thriller. It’s different from the Joe Pickett books in a number of ways, most notably in the larger cast and the breakneck pacing. Set in north Idaho, dubbed “Blue Heaven” by the California cops who are retiring there, it starts with two kids watching a man get executed–and then things really get hairy. Does Box pull it off? Make that six starred reviews in total.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Jeffe Kennedy at Cheyenne YMCA
Jeffe Kennedy, Laramie author of the essay collection "Wyoming Trucks, True Love, and the Weather Channel," will talk about all these topics (and more) at a presentation at the Cheyenne Family YMCA on Thursday, Oct. 18, 7-8:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. You don't have to be a YMCA member to attend.
FMI: Chris Shay, 307-634-9622, ext. 16.
FMI: Chris Shay, 307-634-9622, ext. 16.
Hurwitz & Reece team up for CD release
On October 27, 6-8:30 p.m., the Parks Reece Gallery in Livingston, Mont., will hold a reception to unveil Parks Reece's original painting he did for Michael Hurwitz’s new “Cowboy Fandango” CD. Then, at a 9 p.m. in a show at Livingston's Owl Lounge, Hurwitz debuts music from this new CD. He will appear with satirical singer/songwriter and poet Greg Keeler. Keeler and his sonnets appear in Reece’s critically acclaimed book of art “Call of the Wild.” Keeler has received the Montana Governor’s Award in the Humanities.Hurwitz (pictured above) lives in Alta, just over the Tetons from Jackson. He’s featured on the Wyoming Arts Council Artist’s Roster, and is available for gigs through the Arts Across Wyoming grants program. He is a singer-songwriter with a style somewhere between Western swing and Southern country blues. He has toured extensively for over three decades.
Here’s some info from a press release about how Michael Hurwitz and artist Parks Reese collaborated on this project (courtesy of Robin Hoggan Ebinger):
Wyoming singer/songwriter Michael Hurwitz saw the art and satirical humor of artist Parks Reece and it clicked -- Hurwitz had found the cover art for his upcoming CD "Cowboy Fandango." After Hurwitz and Reece had a long conversation about their similarly strange culinary habits -- from eating porcupines to marmots, pine squirrels to rattlesnakes, and of course the much-loved antelope -- Reece took a road trip across the US with Hurwitz’s previous CDs as his traveling companions. The music made sense and, with that, Reece agreed to do an original painting for "Cowboy Fandango." A relationship was cemented.
It was evident when Hurwitz spoke of his song about dancing badgers that Reece, who considers himself a student of dancing badgers and other bizarre natural phenomena, was the perfect match. Many of the creatures from Hurwitz’s songs and Reece’s imagination appear on the CD, including a centaur cowboy with a striking resemblance to Hurwitz himself.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Arts Summit Profile: Stuart Rosenfeld
Stuart Rosenfeld, president of RTS, Inc., in Carrboro, N.C., will conduct a workshop on "Strengthening Rural Economies" on Friday, Oct. 19, 2:45 p.m., for the Wyoming Arts Summit at the Casper Events Center.Cost for the two-day Summit is $125. Go here to register.
Here's some bio information on Rosenfeld:
Dr. Rosenfeld has over 30 years of work experience in public policy research and analysis, with an emphasis on education and workforce training, rural development, and technology policy. He is principal and founder of RTS, Inc., and started the Trans-Atlantic Technology and Training Alliance. Stu is known for his work with networks and clusters. He wrote the Guides to Cluster-Based Economic Development for both the National Governors’ Association and the European Union and, in 2004 was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by The Competitiveness Institute in Barcelona. He has published and spoken extensively on rural development, community colleges, clusters, networks, education policy, and creative economies.
Previously Stu served as Deputy Director of the Southern Growth Policies Board, where he founded and directed the Southern Technology Council and Consortium for Manufacturing Competitiveness. Before that he was a Senior Associate at the National Institute of Education in Washington, DC, where he designed and worked on a Congressionally mandated national assessment of vocational education and co-authored the final report. Rosenfeld has carried out comparative research across Europe and has presented papers to eight international meetings of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and has advised or testified before various panels and committees of the U.S. Congress and National Academy of Sciences on technology and education policies. Other past experiences include directing a private elementary school in Vermont and eight years in manufacturing/operations research at the General Electric Company.
Stu holds an Ed.D. in Educational Planning and Social Policy from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Science cum laude in chemical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He currently is a Senior Policy Fellow with the Southern Growth Policies Board and Senior Research Associate with the Community College Research Center at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Cheney pens "valentine" to old Casper
Reporter Jennifer Frey snagged a rare interview with Wyoming native Lynne Cheney and wrote about her new book in the Oct. 9 Washington Post, reprinted in today's Casper Star-Tribune. Lynne Cheney's book, entitled "Blue Skies, No Fences: A Memoir of Childhood and Family," was published by Threshold Editions, the Simon & Schuster imprint directed by Cheney family friend and conservative commentator Mary Matalin.
Here's an excerpt from the Post article:
Here's an excerpt from the Post article:
What Lynne Cheney has written.... is an homage to her childhood, her husband's [V.P. Dick Cheney] childhood and the American West -- specifically Casper -- where they were raised. A place and a time she describes as "heaven for little girls" and "paradise for little boys."
"Is it nostalgia?" she said, balking a bit. "Nostalgia implies to me, a little bit, you've got your rose-colored glasses on at all times. And I certainly do mean this book to be a valentine to the place and time I grew up. But there are also just sort of facts you can look at, and I think the facts form a different pattern then than they do now."
Rumor has it that Lynne Cheney will be conducting a book signing at Casper College on Saturday, Oct. 20, at 2 p.m. Haven't heard any confirmation on that. Any of you wyomingarts readers have any details? If so, e-mail me. We'd like to get it on the calendar.
"Swingtime Canteen" opens with WYO gala
The World War II-era musical, Swingtime Canteen, opens with a gala on Saturday, Oct. 20, 6:30 p.m., at the WYO Theater in Sheridan. For $75, you get a ticket to the show, drinks, and heavy hors d'oeuvres.
Encores will be staged Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 25-27, 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 28, 7 p.m. Tickets for these performances are $18 adult, $16 senior & military, $10 Student, $8 12-and-under. Call the WYO Box Office at 307-672-9084.
Here's a description from the WYO Theater web site:
Swingtime Canteen is by Linda Thorsen Bond, William Repicci, and Charles Busch.
It's London, 1944. Join MGM star Marian Ames and her all-girl band from the Hollywood Canteen for the rip-roaringest canteen show of them all. Swingtime Canteen, the "Star Spangled Musical Hit", enjoyed over 300 performances Off Broadway before beginning a London production. It has since become a staple of musical theatres across the country. The show takes its inspiration from the films and personalities that helped to define the national consciousness know as "the war effort".
In the new millennium, Swingtime Canteen fondly looks back to a time universally heralded as America's finest hour. Featuring the real hits of 1940s swing, Swingtime Canteen brings a USO show right to the stage of the WYO Theater. The local cast and band of Sheridan's most talented performers are led by Directors Marva Craft and Tami Davis. Special appearances by Kelly Miller Smart, Mary Jo Johnson, and Julio and Suzanne Quintana.
Encores will be staged Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 25-27, 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 28, 7 p.m. Tickets for these performances are $18 adult, $16 senior & military, $10 Student, $8 12-and-under. Call the WYO Box Office at 307-672-9084.
Here's a description from the WYO Theater web site:
Swingtime Canteen is by Linda Thorsen Bond, William Repicci, and Charles Busch.
It's London, 1944. Join MGM star Marian Ames and her all-girl band from the Hollywood Canteen for the rip-roaringest canteen show of them all. Swingtime Canteen, the "Star Spangled Musical Hit", enjoyed over 300 performances Off Broadway before beginning a London production. It has since become a staple of musical theatres across the country. The show takes its inspiration from the films and personalities that helped to define the national consciousness know as "the war effort".
In the new millennium, Swingtime Canteen fondly looks back to a time universally heralded as America's finest hour. Featuring the real hits of 1940s swing, Swingtime Canteen brings a USO show right to the stage of the WYO Theater. The local cast and band of Sheridan's most talented performers are led by Directors Marva Craft and Tami Davis. Special appearances by Kelly Miller Smart, Mary Jo Johnson, and Julio and Suzanne Quintana.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Student's work at ASUW Gallery
Art paintings by University of Wyoming senior Travis Ivey will be on display Oct. 11-16 at the ASUW Gallery in the Wyoming Union
The gallery is open weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. An opening reception is scheduled Friday, Oct. 12, from 5-7 p.m.
Ivey's project, titled "Booms and Busts," portrays several sites across Wyoming that have been significantly altered by industry and commerce and examines the impact on the landscape.
The gallery is open weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. An opening reception is scheduled Friday, Oct. 12, from 5-7 p.m.
Ivey's project, titled "Booms and Busts," portrays several sites across Wyoming that have been significantly altered by industry and commerce and examines the impact on the landscape.
Flynn offers more bewilderment, less B.S.
On Thursday, October 18, 2-5 p.m., writer Nick Flynn will conduct a workshop on “Bewilderment” at the Casper College Literary Conference. Nick is the author of “Another Bullshit Night in Suck City” (Norton, 2004) which won the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for the Art of the Memoir and has been translated into 10 languages. Nick grew up on Boston’s South Shore and spent six years working at a Boston homeless shelter. In “Another Bullshit Night in Suck City,” he recounts a tumultuous childhood and family life – with the uncanny trajectory that ultimately led his homeless father to seek shelter at the Pine Street Inn while Nick worked there. Poet Mark Doty states, “Nick Flynn has given us one of the most terrifying families in American letters, though he approaches each character in this ferocious, inventive memoir with an almost radical sense of compassion, as if all that any of us could do were to stumble ahead with the burdens we are given. The result is a book so singular, harrowing and loving as to be indelible.”
Nick, making his first foray to Wyoming, describes his Oct. 18 workshop this way:
Participants will be asked to consider bewilderment and how it gets acted out in our writing – either through syntax, access to the duende, leaps into the unconscious, or simply circling around what is unsaid, unknown, unrealized. Or, as Aristotle puts it, "The mind in the act of making a mistake. . . ." Participants will be asked to read classmates’ work with an eye toward bewilderment, marking and naming those places they see it enacted or embodied. During the workshop, the group will try to find ways to push a little further into this shadow world. In “Robert Frost, a Life,” Jay Parini writes, “as in so many of his dramatic poems, Frost dwells on points of miscommunication, the fathomless depths of isolation inherent in all acts of utterance, the gaps that cannot be bridged by words. As Frost said at his readings: 'Poems are about what you don’t mean as well as what you do mean.' "
If Nick's session doesn't strike your fancy, try a songwriting workshop with Jeff Finlin (of Casper favorite, the Jeff Finlin Band); or maybe a "Women's Story" workshop by Dr. Jean Shinoda Bolen. All these -- and more -- will be offered as part of the "Spiritual Warriors" literary conference Oct. 17-19 at Casper College.
Click here to register for workshops.
FMI: Kathy Coe, 307-268-2533 or 1-800-442-2963
Nick, making his first foray to Wyoming, describes his Oct. 18 workshop this way:
Participants will be asked to consider bewilderment and how it gets acted out in our writing – either through syntax, access to the duende, leaps into the unconscious, or simply circling around what is unsaid, unknown, unrealized. Or, as Aristotle puts it, "The mind in the act of making a mistake. . . ." Participants will be asked to read classmates’ work with an eye toward bewilderment, marking and naming those places they see it enacted or embodied. During the workshop, the group will try to find ways to push a little further into this shadow world. In “Robert Frost, a Life,” Jay Parini writes, “as in so many of his dramatic poems, Frost dwells on points of miscommunication, the fathomless depths of isolation inherent in all acts of utterance, the gaps that cannot be bridged by words. As Frost said at his readings: 'Poems are about what you don’t mean as well as what you do mean.' "
If Nick's session doesn't strike your fancy, try a songwriting workshop with Jeff Finlin (of Casper favorite, the Jeff Finlin Band); or maybe a "Women's Story" workshop by Dr. Jean Shinoda Bolen. All these -- and more -- will be offered as part of the "Spiritual Warriors" literary conference Oct. 17-19 at Casper College.
Click here to register for workshops.
FMI: Kathy Coe, 307-268-2533 or 1-800-442-2963
Richard Renaldi exhibit at the Nicolaysen
Western Lives by Richard Renaldi runs through December 30, 2007. Curator of the Nic, Lisa Hatchadoorian, writes, "The beautiful, insightful, and poignant photographic portraits by Richard Renaldi convey a universe in a single moment. They are deeply empathetic to our shared human condition, as well as documenting lives lived in certain places: the expansive and mythological West, the Great Plains region, Bus Travelers, and the Navajo Nation in Arizona. Renaldi's photographs stop us in our tracks as they force us to see beyond the outwardly mundane scrim of yet another anonymous persona to something more poignant, strong, fierce, unique and human underneath."FMI, go to http://www.thenic.org/
Cheyenne Artists Guild hosts Tim Collins
October 20th at 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. is the watercolor workshop by Tim Collins in the Artists Guild Loft. Fee is $40.
Tim Collins paints in Laramie, Wyoming. He is well noted for his landscape and wildlife images, often combining the realism of local Wyoming wildlife with abstract foregrounds, or animals emerging from pictograph inspired backgroungs. Tim has an M.A. from UW. He has painted for over 45 years and has recently retired as the Laramie High School art teacher. Tim can't escape the joys of teaching, often instructing classes for the Laramie County Community College and local Art Guild lessons. Tim shows his work in Laramie and Nebraska.
Call Norm at 632-2263 or Nesl at 638-7080 for more information.
Tim Collins paints in Laramie, Wyoming. He is well noted for his landscape and wildlife images, often combining the realism of local Wyoming wildlife with abstract foregrounds, or animals emerging from pictograph inspired backgroungs. Tim has an M.A. from UW. He has painted for over 45 years and has recently retired as the Laramie High School art teacher. Tim can't escape the joys of teaching, often instructing classes for the Laramie County Community College and local Art Guild lessons. Tim shows his work in Laramie and Nebraska.
Call Norm at 632-2263 or Nesl at 638-7080 for more information.
Mother-Daughter book discussion at library
October 13, at the Laramie County Library -- Mother-Daughter Book Club (for daughters in grades 8-12). Meeting time is at 4 p.m. The book discussion will be on Gabrielle Zevein's Elsewhere.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Jon Lodge featured in NWC exhibit
From Renee Claire Tafoya, Division of Visual and Performing Arts, Northwest College in Powell:You're invited to an exhibition featuring the work of Jon Lodge from Oct. 23-Nov. 16, Northwest Gallery, Cabre Building on the NWC campus. A public reception for the artist will be held in the gallery from 7:30-9 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 23.
A multi-talented artist and musician, Lodge typically composes from a central concept by systematically following a careful plan of execution. An admirer of Miles Davis, Donald Judd, Andy Warhol, Richard Serra, John Cage, John Coltrane, Antoni Tapes, Cy Twombly and Robert Ryman, he appropriates freely from the past in pursuit of new materials and ideas. The idea of deliberately distancing the artist from the creative equation tends to bypass any form of literal representation, while also producing a higher probability for expressions of pure randomness.
Hubbard Street 2 at UW
Hubbard Street 2, a contemporary dance group based in Chicago, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 9, in the College of Arts & Sciences auditorium in Laramie as part of the University of Wyoming Cultural Program's fall concert series.
Tickets cost $20 for the general public and $16 for students and seniors. Tickets are available by calling the Fine Arts Center box office at (307) 766-6666 or at the Web site www.uwyoedu/finearts.
Tickets cost $20 for the general public and $16 for students and seniors. Tickets are available by calling the Fine Arts Center box office at (307) 766-6666 or at the Web site www.uwyoedu/finearts.
Humanities Council: "Between Fences"
Between Fences weaves the history of fences into the development of the United States and the West as we know it today. From colonial stockades to the range wars to today’s gated communities, the exhibition explores the many ways that fence building has transformed our nation. Visitors will walk through and around actual fences as they explore the nature of space and boundaries.
The Wyoming Humanities Council offers statewide programming on the fences theme, including "Border Lines: A Film Discussion Series;" "Reading Wyoming: Living Between Fences;" and special "Humanities Forum" speakers. The council sponsored an anthology, Wyoming Fence Lines, featuring the prose and poetry of 57 writers from Wyoming and beyond. It also is sponsoring the year-long tour of a new Smithsonian Museum on Main Street exhibition, "Between Fences." Visit "Between Fences" in one of these five Wyoming communities:
Pinedale, Sublette Co. Library, Sept. 22-Nov.10, 2007, schedule of events
Evanston, Uinta Co. Museum, Nov. 17, 2007-Jan. 12, 2008, schedule of events
Sheridan, Sheridan Co. Library, Jan. 19-March 15, 2008
Meeteetse, Meeteetse Museum District, March 22-May 10, 2008
Sundance, Crook Co. Museum and Library, May 17-July 7, 2008
Visit Museum on Main Street for more information on Between Fences.
Visit Between Fences on MySpace at www.myspace.com/BetweenFences.
The Wyoming Humanities Council offers statewide programming on the fences theme, including "Border Lines: A Film Discussion Series;" "Reading Wyoming: Living Between Fences;" and special "Humanities Forum" speakers. The council sponsored an anthology, Wyoming Fence Lines, featuring the prose and poetry of 57 writers from Wyoming and beyond. It also is sponsoring the year-long tour of a new Smithsonian Museum on Main Street exhibition, "Between Fences." Visit "Between Fences" in one of these five Wyoming communities:
Pinedale, Sublette Co. Library, Sept. 22-Nov.10, 2007, schedule of events
Evanston, Uinta Co. Museum, Nov. 17, 2007-Jan. 12, 2008, schedule of events
Sheridan, Sheridan Co. Library, Jan. 19-March 15, 2008
Meeteetse, Meeteetse Museum District, March 22-May 10, 2008
Sundance, Crook Co. Museum and Library, May 17-July 7, 2008
Visit Museum on Main Street for more information on Between Fences.
Visit Between Fences on MySpace at www.myspace.com/BetweenFences.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Frolander featured at Mont. event
Pat Frolander, long-time member of Bear Lodge Writers in Crook County, will be the featured poet for the 19th annual Alzada Cowboy Poetry, Music, and Art Show at the Alzada, Mont., Community Club on Sunday, October 7, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
Here's some bio info about Pat from an Oct. 4 article in the Black Hills Pioneer:
Here's some bio info about Pat from an Oct. 4 article in the Black Hills Pioneer:
Pat Frolander from Sundance, Wyoming tries to balance family, ranching and writing and has a passion for each of them. She and her husband Robert own the family ranch in the Black Hills of Wyoming. Her ties to land and livestock have provided a variety of subjects for her to write about. She is blessed with a family of three children, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild which also provide enrichment for her pen. She writes that "managing family or ranching is like trying to rope the wind. Wyoming wind is either bringing a storm or ushering in sunshine." She admits to loving change but as she grows older moderate
weather is appreciated.
Frolander began writing poetry in 1969 and became published "by accident" through a friend's submission of her work to an anthology. Frolander also writes" I am proud of the people, who remain on the land, work and cherish it, as their ancestors have. It isn't an easy life but those who claim it understand how fragile the balance in nature is." That is why she writes about the people of the ranching community and was very popular with the Alzada audience last year.
Frolander's poetry and essays have been published in several anthologies including the Woven on the Wind and Crazy Woman Creek by Houghton Mifflin, Cowgirl Poetry by Gibbs-Smith, Hard Ground IV by Pronghorn Press, Farm Journal Magazine and several other publications.
Deadline Nov. 2 for folk arts apprenticeships
In support of the state’s diverse folk and traditional arts, the Wyoming Arts Council is awarding a number of apprenticeship grants to artists who strive to preserve their cultural and traditional talents.
These Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship grants are awarded by the Arts Council to financially support the continued participation in traditional practices preserving the cultural heritage of Wyoming.
Previous recipients have shared the arts of overshot weaving, old-time fiddle tunes, Wyoming cowboy music, basketmaking and bead and buckskin work from the Wind River Reservation.
From the artists of Shoshone beadwork to Basque dancing to Scottish bagpipe music, the Folk and Traditional Arts program encourages all those who understand the importance of artistic traditions, as well as the continuation and sharing of these traditions to submit an application.
This year, six grants of $2,000 each will be provided for master artists to teach their skills to qualified apprentices. The apprenticing artist must study with a master that shares a common heritage, whether it is a family, ethnic, occupational, tribal, religious or geographic community.
The deadline to apply for a Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship grant is Nov. 2, 2007.
FMI: Anne F. Hatch, 307-777-7721.
These Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship grants are awarded by the Arts Council to financially support the continued participation in traditional practices preserving the cultural heritage of Wyoming.
Previous recipients have shared the arts of overshot weaving, old-time fiddle tunes, Wyoming cowboy music, basketmaking and bead and buckskin work from the Wind River Reservation.
From the artists of Shoshone beadwork to Basque dancing to Scottish bagpipe music, the Folk and Traditional Arts program encourages all those who understand the importance of artistic traditions, as well as the continuation and sharing of these traditions to submit an application.
This year, six grants of $2,000 each will be provided for master artists to teach their skills to qualified apprentices. The apprenticing artist must study with a master that shares a common heritage, whether it is a family, ethnic, occupational, tribal, religious or geographic community.
The deadline to apply for a Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship grant is Nov. 2, 2007.
FMI: Anne F. Hatch, 307-777-7721.
Readers Theatre Series in Cheyenne
From Harry Woods, director of the Cheyenne Little Theatre Players:
I want to invite you all to see "Doubt, A Parable" by John Patrick Shanley on Friday, Oct. 5, 7:30 p.m., at the Atlas Theatre in downtown Cheyenne. The play was the winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award. If you did not purchase that part of the season, all tickets are $10. If you did, your ticket will be at Will Call. Remember for the Readers Theatre Series, all seats are general admission, so you can sit wherever you want.
Here's are reviews, provided by Dramatists Play Service:
"All the elements come invigoratingly together like clockwork in John Patrick Shanley’s provocative new play, DOUBT, a gripping story of suspicion cast on a priest’s behavior that is less about scandal than about fascinatingly nuanced questions of moral certainty. A laudable new American play." — Variety
"#1 show of the year. How splendid it feels to be trusted with such passionate, exquisite ambiguity unlike anything we have seen from this prolific playwright so far. Blunt yet subtle, manipulative but full of empathy for all sides, the play is set in 1964 but could not be more timely. In just ninety fast-moving minutes, Shanley creates four blazingly individual people. DOUBT is a lean, potent drama…passionate, exquisite, important and engrossing." — New York Newsday
"A beautifully balanced drama. Shanley is a writer working at the top of his craft, making the most of a muted but evocative palette in the pursuit of truth’s shadows. Here, for the first time in a long time, is a play that is about something." — Chicago Tribune
"An eloquent and provocative investigation of truth and consequences. A gripping mystery, tightly written." — Time Out
I want to invite you all to see "Doubt, A Parable" by John Patrick Shanley on Friday, Oct. 5, 7:30 p.m., at the Atlas Theatre in downtown Cheyenne. The play was the winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award. If you did not purchase that part of the season, all tickets are $10. If you did, your ticket will be at Will Call. Remember for the Readers Theatre Series, all seats are general admission, so you can sit wherever you want.
Here's are reviews, provided by Dramatists Play Service:
"All the elements come invigoratingly together like clockwork in John Patrick Shanley’s provocative new play, DOUBT, a gripping story of suspicion cast on a priest’s behavior that is less about scandal than about fascinatingly nuanced questions of moral certainty. A laudable new American play." — Variety
"#1 show of the year. How splendid it feels to be trusted with such passionate, exquisite ambiguity unlike anything we have seen from this prolific playwright so far. Blunt yet subtle, manipulative but full of empathy for all sides, the play is set in 1964 but could not be more timely. In just ninety fast-moving minutes, Shanley creates four blazingly individual people. DOUBT is a lean, potent drama…passionate, exquisite, important and engrossing." — New York Newsday
"A beautifully balanced drama. Shanley is a writer working at the top of his craft, making the most of a muted but evocative palette in the pursuit of truth’s shadows. Here, for the first time in a long time, is a play that is about something." — Chicago Tribune
"An eloquent and provocative investigation of truth and consequences. A gripping mystery, tightly written." — Time Out
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
"Bell, Book, and Candle" in Sheridan
The Civic Theater Guild, 419 Delphi Avenue in Sheridan, presents "Bell, Book, and Candle," written by John Van Druten and directed by Ann Quick.
In this romantic comedy, the author assumes that a few modern people can cast spells and perform feats of supernaturalism. Gillian Holroyd casts a spell over an unattached publisher – partly to keep him away from a rival and partly because she is attracted to him. He falls head over heels in love with her at once and wants to marry her. But witches, unfortunately, cannot fall in love and this minute imperfection leads to a number of entertaining difficulties. Witches, warlocks and cats - what better way to kick of the fall season!
Cast includes Colleen Eccles, Regis Michelena, Rick Overholt, Sharon Bedard, Eileen Lyons, and Speck McKinley.
Show Dates: October 5, 6, 12,13, 14, 18, 19, 20, and 21.
FMI: 307-672-9886
In this romantic comedy, the author assumes that a few modern people can cast spells and perform feats of supernaturalism. Gillian Holroyd casts a spell over an unattached publisher – partly to keep him away from a rival and partly because she is attracted to him. He falls head over heels in love with her at once and wants to marry her. But witches, unfortunately, cannot fall in love and this minute imperfection leads to a number of entertaining difficulties. Witches, warlocks and cats - what better way to kick of the fall season!
Cast includes Colleen Eccles, Regis Michelena, Rick Overholt, Sharon Bedard, Eileen Lyons, and Speck McKinley.
Show Dates: October 5, 6, 12,13, 14, 18, 19, 20, and 21.
FMI: 307-672-9886
The 2008 Governor's Arts Awards
Save the date - February 22, 2008 to attend the 26th Annual Governor’s Arts Awards dinner and celebration!
Watch this site for more information about the event and the recipients of the 2007 Governor’s Arts Awards.
For the past twenty-five years, the Governor’s Arts Awards have recognized those who dedicate their time, passion and financial support to Wyoming’s cultural life, and have emphasized the importance of the arts in daily life. Individuals, organizations or communities selected to receive awards for 2007 will be honored on Friday evening, February 22, 2008 in Cheyenne.
Watch this site for more information about the event and the recipients of the 2007 Governor’s Arts Awards.
For the past twenty-five years, the Governor’s Arts Awards have recognized those who dedicate their time, passion and financial support to Wyoming’s cultural life, and have emphasized the importance of the arts in daily life. Individuals, organizations or communities selected to receive awards for 2007 will be honored on Friday evening, February 22, 2008 in Cheyenne.
Christopher Cokinos coming to UW
The University of Wyoming Art Museum and the MFA Program are pleased to announce a talk by award-winning nature and science writer Christopher Cokinos. Cokinos will speak on The Fallen Sky: A Private History of Shooting Stars, an account of his experiences as a meteorite hunter in the polar regions. The talk will take place at 7 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 22 in the Art Museum. Afterward, he will answer audience questions, and sign books at a short reception. The event is free and open to the public. The talk is held in concert with the Art Museum’s "Antarctica" exhibit, which celebrates the anniversary of the NSF’s Antarctic Artists and Writers Program. For 50 years, the NSF has funded artists and writers to work side by side with scientists in Antarctica, helping them to translate the experience of that remote landscape into word and image. Antarctica also celebrates 2007-08 as the International Polar Year, the 100th anniversary of the discovery and exploration of the polar regions. The exhibit runs through Dec. 22.Cokinos is Assistant Professor of English and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Environment and Society at Utah State University, where he also edits Isotope: A Journal of Literary Nature & Science Writing. His poems, essays and reviews have appeared or are forthcoming in Science, Birder's World, Poetry, Iowa Review, Shenandoah, Orion, Turnrow and Ecotone. The recipient of both a Whiting Award and the Glasgow Prize for an Emerging Writer, Cokinos is the author of Hope Is the Thing with Feathers: A Personal Chronicle of Vanished Birds (Warner, 2001). The result of 10 years of detective work, the book gives us, "poetically and movingly," (Scientific American), the histories of six extinct North American birds, along with stories of the people who killed them off and those who tried to save them. "Even readers with no special interest in birds will be caught up in this marvelous book, a deeply moving cautionary tale about how we have systematically diminished the planet," writes Publishers Weekly.
"Cokinos… transforms each extinction into a deeply disturbing tragedy—both for the species itself, and for human civilization."
Hope Is the Thing with Feathers received the Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award, and will be reprinted in 2008. Cokinos has also published a book of poems, Killing Seasons (Woodley Press, 1993). In 2003, Cokinos was awarded a National Science Foundation fellowship to join the Antarctic Search for Meteorites Expedition. While collecting meteorites with scientists, he spent five weeks on the Antarctic polar plateau, living with a stranger, in an unheated tent, in 24-hour daylight—an experience he found "beautiful and grueling." He found himself battling insomnia and depression, passing the time with his tent-mate by doing impersonations of Mr. Burns and Smithers from The Simpsons. In the end, the expedition found more than 1,000 meteorites, including one from Mars. Still, the payoff for the journey was as much personal as scientific. "Sometimes," Cokinos says, "we go out hunting something in the world—meteorites, histories, orchids, you name it—and end up finding ourselves too." The full tale of his time in the Antarctic will appear in a non-fiction book, The Fallen Sky, which will be published by Tarcher/Penguin in 2008.
Cokinos’ talk is co-sponsored by the Art Museum and by the Haub School and Ruckelshaus Institute of Environment and Natural Resources. His visit is 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, which believes a great nation deserves great art.
The MFA Program is Wyoming’s graduate creative writing program, mentoring a new generation of writers and bringing to the state a wealth of literary talent from the region, the nation and the world. Each semester, the MFA Visiting Writers Series brings a number of
distinguished authors to Wyoming. Past guests include Terry Tempest Williams, David Quammen, Francine Prose, Pico Iyer, Alexandra Fuller and U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser.
The Art Museum is located in the Centennial Complex at 2111 Willett Drive. Hours for the museum and the Museum Store are 10am - 5pm Tues. - Sat. and 10am - 9pm Mon. For more information, please call 307-766-6620 or visit www.uwyo.edu/artmuseum
Further info: www.uwyo.edu/creativewriting
Joy Harjo and Larry Mitchell to visit Northwest College
Joy Harjo and Larry Mitchell will be performing at Northwest College's Annual Native American Heritage Month Celebration and Feast. The activities begin at 10 a.m. on Nov. 8, and includes a library display presentation by Harjo. Harjo and Mitchell will have lunch with the Writing and Literary Guild (a student club), and then visit selected classes on the NWC campus. At 5 p.m. the Buffalo Feast dinner takes place in the DeWitt Student Center Lounge. Harjo, the guest speaker will discuss the significance of Native American Heritage Month and the Buffalo Feast. 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. is the writer's series presentation in the NPA Auditorium, where Harjo will read poetry, followed by Harjo and Mitchell giving a musical performance. Following this performance, Harjo and Mitchell will be signing books and their cd and will have one-on-one discussions.Joy Harjo was born in 1951 in Tulsa, Oklahoma as a member of the Muscogee Tribe. She studied at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, at the University of New Mexico, earning her B. A. She then attended the Iowa Writers Workshop, earning her M. F. A. Her books include How We Became Human: New and Selected Poems (2002); A Map to the Next World (2000); The Woman Who Fell from the Sky (1994); In Mad Love and War (1990); Secrets from the Center of the World (1989); She Had Some Horses (1983); and What Moon Drove Me to This (1979). Along with Patricia Blanco, Beth Cuthand, and Valerie Martinez, Harjo edited Reinventing the Enemy's Language: Contemporary Native Women's Writings of North America (1997).
In addition to working with Native American issues, Harjo shares concerns with indigenous and Third World people globally. Her love of jazz led her to the alto sax and the forming of her band Poetic Justice. She has recorded three CDs of her work: Letter from the End of the Twentieth Century (1997); Native Joy for Real (2004); and She Had Some Horses (2006).
Harjo has won the American Indian Distinguished Achievement in the Arts Award, the Josephine Miles Poetry Award, the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Award, the William Carlos Williams Award, and fellowships from the Arizona Arts Commission, the Witter Bynner Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. As a teacher, Harjo has been a frequent leader of workshops and has taught at the Institute of American Indian Arts, the University of Colorado, and the University of Arizona. She divides her time between Honolulu and Albuquerque.
Larry Mitchell has performed with a wide range of artists; his latest collaboration before working with Joy Harjo was with Native American artist Shelley Morningsong. In 1986 and 1987 Mitchell won the New York City Limelight guitar solo contest. In 1988, he toured with Spanish/Italian artist Miguel Bose. He's toured and worked with Folk pop singer/songwriter Tracy Chapman, T. M. Stevens, and Sandra Bernard. Other notable performances include the Jon Stewart show with Coolio, Montel Jordan, Pete Rock, and C. L. Smooth. He's also won a vast range of awards, including his most recentm with the New Mexico Music Awards.
Music highlights Wyo. Arts Summit Gala
Registration continues for the state’s first Wyoming Arts Summit and Wyoming Arts Council 40th Anniversary Dinner Gala to be held at the Casper Events Center Oct. 19-20.The Arts Summit brings together artists and governmental leaders from throughout the state to discuss how the arts and other cultural events can enhance economic prosperity in Wyoming communities. This is an initiative of First Lady Nancy Freudenthal.
In conjunction with the Arts Summit, the Arts Council will celebrate its 40th anniversary with a Dinner Gala hosted by Nancy Freudenthal and attended by honored guest and evening speaker Senator Mike Enzi. The Dinner Gala will begin at 6:30 p.m., October 19, at the Casper Events Center.
The evening will feature one hour of choral, symphonic and jazz music presented by performers from throughout Wyoming.
Dr. Michael Griffith and the 93-member University of Wyoming Symphony Orchestra will perform "Wind River" from Joseph Curiale’s "The Music of Life." Curiale composed this piece specifically for the UW Orchestra’s millennium concert. Joining the symphony are 18 additional Wyoming musicians. Photographs of the landscapes, which inspired Curiale’s music, will be featured in a video/photographic presentation during the concert.
Saxophonist Dr. Scott Turpen will conduct and perform with the University of Wyoming Jazz Ensemble I. The group will be joined by trumpeter, Dr. Thomas Pfotenhauer, guest professor of saxophone at UW. They will open the program with a modern version of the jazz classic, Joe Garland’s, "In the Mood," as well as other jazz selections.
Under the direction of Pat Patton of Casper College, four choruses will sing various selections, concluding a combined program with a 150-voice and symphonic rendition of "America the Beautiful." The choruses scheduled to perform are the Casper College Chorale; the Cheyenne Chamber Choir, Jane Iverson, director; Lyman High School Choir, T.J. Dick, director; and the Casper Children’s Chorus, Marcia Patton, director.
The Wyoming Arts Council has collaborated with Casey Kearns, assistant professor of Theater, UW, for the effects and technical aspects of the multi-faceted evening.
Register for the Summit by contacting the Wyoming Arts Council at 307-777-7742 or ebratt@state.wy.us. The cost is $125.
To attend the Friday evening banquet only, reserve your $25 dinner tickets by contacting the Arts Council.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Vote for your favorite Yellowstone song
The Western Folklife Center in Elko, Nevada, sent out this announcement:
Vote For Your Favorite Song in the Yellowstone Teton Song Contest
Sixteen songs have been selected as finalists from 139 songs submitted for the Yellowstone Teton Song Contest. Please vote for your favorite song here. You may only vote once. The poll will detect whether you have voted more than once and will prevent you from voting again. The winner of the Audience Award will receive a Gibson Songwriter Deluxe Guitar valued at $2833. Grand Prize ($1,000) and Gold Prize ($500) winners will also be selected from these finalists by our judges. Voting will end at midnight, Oct. 7. Winners of all three awards will be announced Oct. 15. If you would like to be notified when the Songs from Yellowstone and the Tetons CD is released and when the Yellowstone-area concerts are scheduled, please sign up for our E-News here.
Notice that several of the songwriters are from Wyoming. One, Michael Hurwitz, is on the Wyoming Arts Council's artists' roster. You don't have to vote for Michael's song, but check out the roster if you want to bring him to your community via an Arts Across Wyoming grant.
Vote For Your Favorite Song in the Yellowstone Teton Song Contest
Sixteen songs have been selected as finalists from 139 songs submitted for the Yellowstone Teton Song Contest. Please vote for your favorite song here. You may only vote once. The poll will detect whether you have voted more than once and will prevent you from voting again. The winner of the Audience Award will receive a Gibson Songwriter Deluxe Guitar valued at $2833. Grand Prize ($1,000) and Gold Prize ($500) winners will also be selected from these finalists by our judges. Voting will end at midnight, Oct. 7. Winners of all three awards will be announced Oct. 15. If you would like to be notified when the Songs from Yellowstone and the Tetons CD is released and when the Yellowstone-area concerts are scheduled, please sign up for our E-News here.
Notice that several of the songwriters are from Wyoming. One, Michael Hurwitz, is on the Wyoming Arts Council's artists' roster. You don't have to vote for Michael's song, but check out the roster if you want to bring him to your community via an Arts Across Wyoming grant.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Quilt art topic of Palma talk
From a Wyoming State Parks and Cultural Resources press release:
Do Palma of Cheyenne will discuss the growing genre of quilt art during a presentation at the Wyoming State Museum, October 6, from 9-10:30 a.m. This event is free and open to the public.
Palma’s presentation is held in conjunction with the State Museum’s current temporary exhibit, “Elements from the Front Range: Contemporary Quilters.”
Palma, who is featured in the exhibit, will discuss the various artists with pieces in the show, their techniques and provide a brief history of art quilting. She will also provide advice to the public on how to get involved in the world of fiber arts and show some of her own quilt art collection.
FMI: Call 307-777-7022 or go to http://wyospcr.state.wy.us/Press/index.asp.
Do Palma of Cheyenne will discuss the growing genre of quilt art during a presentation at the Wyoming State Museum, October 6, from 9-10:30 a.m. This event is free and open to the public.
Palma’s presentation is held in conjunction with the State Museum’s current temporary exhibit, “Elements from the Front Range: Contemporary Quilters.”
Palma, who is featured in the exhibit, will discuss the various artists with pieces in the show, their techniques and provide a brief history of art quilting. She will also provide advice to the public on how to get involved in the world of fiber arts and show some of her own quilt art collection.
FMI: Call 307-777-7022 or go to http://wyospcr.state.wy.us/Press/index.asp.
Amazon.com announces novel contest
Amazon.com is accepting unpublished English language works of fiction for entry in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award through November 5, 2007.
Once the submission period ends, Amazon editors and top Amazon customer reviewers will read submissions and select authors for the semi-final round, beginning January 15, 2008. Each semi-finalist will receive a full review of their manuscript by Publishers Weekly and a book page on Amazon.com featuring a short excerpt from their novel that customers can download, read, and review. Penguin will select manuscripts to read from the semi-final round based on customer feedback and Publishers Weekly reviews and announce the Top Ten finalists on March 3, 2008. Amazon.com customers will then select the winner of the Amazon Breakthrough Award, to be announced on April 7, 2008.
Register now at https://abna.createspace.com/Register.do;jsessionid=68F95F73A44075728F171CC89D9BA03F.abnaworker00
Only the first 5,000 submissions will be accepted.
Once the submission period ends, Amazon editors and top Amazon customer reviewers will read submissions and select authors for the semi-final round, beginning January 15, 2008. Each semi-finalist will receive a full review of their manuscript by Publishers Weekly and a book page on Amazon.com featuring a short excerpt from their novel that customers can download, read, and review. Penguin will select manuscripts to read from the semi-final round based on customer feedback and Publishers Weekly reviews and announce the Top Ten finalists on March 3, 2008. Amazon.com customers will then select the winner of the Amazon Breakthrough Award, to be announced on April 7, 2008.
Register now at https://abna.createspace.com/Register.do;jsessionid=68F95F73A44075728F171CC89D9BA03F.abnaworker00
Only the first 5,000 submissions will be accepted.
The Bard -- Abridged version
A performance of "William Shakespeare (Abridged)" will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 9, 7 p.m., at the Cam-plex Heritage Center in Gillette. Tickets are $25-$30.
FMI: http://www.cam-plex.com.
FMI: http://www.cam-plex.com.
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