AVA Center offers full line-up of art classes

Line-up announced for JH Writers Conference

Tim Sandlin announces the line-up for the 17th annual Jackson Hole Writers Conference June 25-28 in Jackson:

• Featuring Jill Conner Browne (pictured)
• Fiction: Tony Earley; Julia Glass; Craig Johnson
• Nonfiction: William Powers; Ted Kerasote
• Magazine & Travel Writing: Chuck Sambuchino, Writer's Digest; Allison Adato, Editor at People
• Young Adult: Terry Davis, Chris Crutcher, Roz Monette
• Poetry: Ravi Shankar; Katharine Coles; Laurie Kutchins
• Editors: Todd Stocke, Sourcebooks; Philip Rappaport, Bantam; Tina Pohlman, Speigel and Grau
• Agents: Neeti Madan, Sterling Lord Literistic; Susanna Einstein, LJK Literary

Register now to secure the early bird special of $355, including welcome cocktail party, BBQ with esteemed faculty and new friends, and conference goodie bag.

New York Times bestsellers and award-winning authors will lead you on an inspired weekend as they share their expertise and love of the written word.

Manuscript Critiques have always been an important part of the Jackson Hole Writers Conference. For the first time, this year, we will accept manuscripts as Word document attachments. Receive one-on-one feedback about your work from three different faculty members. This will enhance your conference experience and give you the rare opportunity to receive professional evaluation of your work. Don't miss the deadline.

FMI: 307-413-3332

Public Information Office promotes Poetry Out Loud and earns WPA award

Milward Simpson, director of the Wyoming Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources, sends this news:

Please join me in congratulating Gary Schoene and our Public Information Office staff on the recognition they received during the recent Wyoming Press Association convention at the Plains Hotel here in Cheyenne.

The SPCR PIO was presented with a second place news writing award in the "three releases on a single topic" category for a series of press releases on last year's Poetry Out Loud competition.

In presenting the awards, the judges commented that the Poetry Out Loud competition was "an interesting story which was covered by many local newspapers. This is just what the news release is for in helping local newspapers get the word out about unique events."

The Wyoming Arts Council sponsors the state's Poetry Out Loud competition. [sentence deleted by editor.] Wyomingarts thanks Gary Schoene and his staff for helping us publicize this poetry recitation project for high school students.

Renowned comedy troupe visits UW

From a UW press release:

Chicago's legendary comedy theatre, The Second City, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 4, in the University of Wyoming Union ballroom in Laramie. The free performance will feature some of the best sketches, songs and improvisations from The Second City's 45-plus year history.

Founded in Chicago in 1959, The Second City has become the premier training ground for the comedy world's best and brightest. Their alumni list reads like a who's who of American comedy as it includes: Mike Nichols, Elaine May, Alan Arkin, Joan Rivers, Robert Klein, Peter Boyle, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, George Wendt, Martin Short, John Candy, Chris Farley, Mike Myers, Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Horatio Sanz, Ryan Stiles and countless others.

Not only will an evening with The Second City provide audiences with the chance to see comedy stars in the making, but they will also have the opportunity to see absolutely hilarious satire and cutting-edge improvisation. No topic or subject matter is off limits for The Second City.

The ASUW Student Activities Council sponsors the free program. Individuals with disabilities needing accommodations can contact Mike Lange at (307) 766-2752 or mlange@uwyo.edu.

In Memoriam: Jean Healy of Worland

One-time Wyoming Arts Council board member Jean Elizabeth Bailey Healy of Worland died Monday, Jan. 19, at Worland Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center after a long-term battle with the side effects of radiation treatment for a brain tumor in 1991. She was 63.

A Minnesota native, Jean was instrumental in the establishment of the Washakie Museum. Jean, Georgia St Clair, Dorothy Froyd, Carol McCormac, Celia Davis, Dan Healy, the Worland Artists and the Washakie County Historical Society formed the Friends of the Museum group and raised private funds to buy the present museum building for Washakie County. Jean served as the first president of the board of directors of the museum after the commissioners released it to the private sector. Jean stayed active with the museum in its day-to-day operations. She also wrote a column for the Daily News called “At the Museum.”

Jean loved horses, skiing, reading, cooking and entertaining, and to be with her family. She wrote a small book about her experience with brain cancer titled “Hope for a Miracle.”

Jean is survived by her husband Mike Healy of Worland, a former state legislator, and her sons Daniel J. “DJ” Healy serving in the Peace Corps in the Ukraine and Brian Healy who is a law student at the University of Wyoming.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, Jan. 24 at noon at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Worland with the Rev. Joe E. Galligan officiating. A reception will follow the service. Cremation has taken place and the ashes will be scattered near Jackson Hole at a later date.

Memorials may be made to the Washakie Museum, 1115 Obie Sue, Worland, Wyo. 82401.

Roster panel completes deliberations

WAC staff and panelists just wrapped up deliberations to decide new additions to the artists' roster.

The panel's selections now go to the next quarterly meeting of the WAC board Feb. 12-13 in Cheyenne. Once the board gives its approval, the list of new roster artists will be announced on this blog and elsewhere.

WAC moved up the roster schedule by three months to allow more time for artists to promote themselves before the new roster is released. Until 2008, new roster artists weren't approved until the June board meeting, leaving little time to get the word out before the beginning of the new fiscal year on July 1.

For more info on the roster, contact Mike Shay, Annie Hatch or Karen Merklin at the WAC, 307-777-7742.

Judges announced for visual arts fellowships

Judges for the Wyoming Arts Council’s 2009 visual arts fellowships are:

Lawrence Argent, Denver, artist, sculptor and arts professor at University of Denver
Gina Ruggeri, Brooklyn, N.Y., painter and visiting professor in the Vassar College art department
Greg Esser, Phoenix, artist, arts advocate and director of the Roosevelt Row Artists' District in downtown Phoenix

Fellowship applications will be mailed next week to everyone on the WAC visual arts mailing list. By Feb. 2, it will be available as a printable file on the WAC web site at wyoarts.state.wy.us.

Postmark deadline is March 6, 2009. The judging session will be held in conjunction with the Public Art Symposium April 2-4 at the UW Conference Center in Laramie. The fellowship winners will be announced at the symposium, which is co-sponsored by the University of Wyoming Art Museum and the Wyoming Arts Council.

More info available later on this site. Stay tuned…

WAC announces performing arts fellowships

The Wyoming Arts Council is pleased to announce the winners of its 2009 performing arts fellowships in music performance.

The two recipients are Theresa Bogard, a pianist from Laramie, and Anne Sibley, a singer and musician from Jackson. Each of the performers will receive a $3,000 stipend.

An honorable mention was given to Michael Hurwitz, a singer/songwriter from Alta.

Judges for this year’s competition were vocalist and musician Ruth Lara Vichules of Phoenix, Ariz., and Brad Richter, a guitarist and composer from Tucson, Ariz.

Bogard is a professor in the University of Wyoming Music Department and teaches piano and keyboard studies. She has performed all over Wyoming and throughout the U.S. She has given recitals in Mexico, Bolivia, China, Korea and Indonesia.

Sibley is the vocalist for the husband-wife folk and bluegrass duo of Anne and Pete Sibley. They have performed all over Wyoming, and will be featured this summer at the Beartrap Festival on Casper Mountain and the Big Horn Mountain Festival in Buffalo. They also will perform in April at the MerleFest in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, an event co-founded by bluegrass legend Doc Watson in memory of his son, Merle.

For more information on Wyoming Arts Council programs for individual artists, contact Michael Shay at the WAC, 307-777-5234.

Kids and nature: a natural

The Fire and Ice Festival, an event hosted by the Wyoming Division of State Parks, Historic Sites and Trails, will provide local children with an opportunity to experience a variety of winter, outdoor activities at the Barrett Building, 2301 Central Avenue in Cheyenne, January 23-24.
Held as part of the national Children in Nature program and the Wyoming Kids Xtreme campaign, Fire and Ice is committed to reconnecting children and families with nature and the outdoors.

The event will kickoff at 10 a.m., January 23, when a group of students from Pioneer Park School will address the Wyoming State Legislature, personally inviting the governing body to a reception scheduled from 4 to 6 p.m. The students will then trek from the Capitol to the Barrett Building where they will watch professional ice sculptors work their magic on blocks of ice. The students will also try their hand at snow sculpting before heading to Starbucks for hot chocolate.

Fire and Ice continues from 9 a.m. until noon, January 24 with a variety of activities and demonstrations such as igloo building, a snowshoe demonstration, dummy rescue, toboggan run, cross country skiing demonstration, a stamp mill, military cannon, a snowmobile simulator and snow games. These activities are free and open to the public. Weather forecaster Don Day will also be on hand to show how satellite images are read and conduct weather equipment demonstrations.

Fire and Ice is made possible through the generous donations or participation of Dazzling Ice Sculptures, Starbucks Coffee, the Wyoming Arts Council, Office of Homeland Security and Search and Rescue, Don Day – Day Weather, Mechanical Systems, Inc., Rock on Wheels, WP Rentals, Senator Bruce Burns, GSD Facilities Management – Grounds, USA Fireworks, Sierra Trading Post and the Steamboat Springs Ski and Resort Corporation. For more information about the Fire and Ice Festival, please call the Wyoming Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources at 777-6323.

President's Committee on the Arts & the Humanities

The President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH), National Park Service (NPS), National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) jointly announced the awarding of $10.52 million in federal Save America's Treasures (SAT) grants.

With these funds 40 organizations and agencies will act to conserve some of America's most significant cultural treasures, which illustrate, interpret, and embody the great events, ideas, and individuals that contribute to our nation's history and culture. Through the congressionally-appropriated SAT program, awards were made to 23 historic properties and sites and 17 nationally significant collections of artifacts, documents and artistic works.

Among this year's awardees is The Paul Dyck Plains Indian Buffalo Culture Collection in Wyoming. This collection is the most comprehensive privately-held assemblage of Plains
Indian arts and related historical materials documenting the lives and cultures of the Native people of the Great Plains. The Buffalo Bill Historical Center will use SAT funds to conserve and exhibit this collection, and its location in northwestern Wyoming will be a resource for current and future generations of Native Americans from the nearby Northern Plains reservations and non-Native scholars and others.

Arts in the Land of the Sun

Here is your trusty Wyoming Arts Council correspondent shown outside of the Heard Museum in Phoenix. My son and I visited the museum for a few hours on Saturday to view its extensive Native-American collections, which includes both traditional and contemporary galleries. We could have spent days at the museum. During our visit, we sat in on a day-long session of Navajo elders recounting traditional winter stories. We ate a lunch of burritos made of Navajo frybread.

On Friday, I was at the Arizona Arts Commission conducting the WAC's peer panel for performing arts fellowships in music performance. Deliberations were conducted by our two fine Arizona judges: Brad Richter and Ruth Lara Vichules. I have the panel results in sealed envelopes. They can't be released until I phone the two winners and one honorable mention when I return to the office on Wednesday. Watch this space for more on the fellowship results.

UCross hosts reception

Join the Ucross Foundation Art Gallery Friday, January 23, from 5 to 7 p.m. for the opening reception of The Force of Attention, paintings and prints by Jessica Dunne.

Ucross Foundation Art Gallery, 30 Big Red Lane, Ucross, WY
for further information, contact UCross at (307) 737-2291 or by email at info@ucross.org or
www.ucrossfoundation

Blanchan/Doubleday winners announced

The Wyoming Arts Council is pleased to announce the winners of the 2009 Blanchan/Doubleday writing awards.

Recipient of the Neltje Blanchan Memorial Writing Award for nature writing is Lou O. Madison of Cheyenne. He will receive a $1,000 prize for his fiction entry, “Winter Sun.” Honorable mentions in this category go to Mary Budd Flitner of Greybull for “A Detailed Map of the Trail” and Kelly Blikre of Gillette for “Running Naked.”

Recipient of the Frank Nelson Doubleday Memorial Writing Award for women writers is Christine B. Nelson of Story. She will receive a $1,000 prize for an excerpt from her novel, “The Church of Last Resort.” Honorable mentions go to Jane Dominick of Laramie for “A Stone’s Throw” and Beverly Leys of Moran for “The Changers.”

Judge for this year's competition was Laurel Blossom, a prize-winning poet and essayist from South Carolina.

The competition is sponsored by the Wyoming Arts Council and funded by artist and arts patron Neltje.

For more information about the Wyoming Arts Council’s programs for individual artists, contact Michael Shay at 307-777-5234 or mshay@state.wy.us.

WAC artists' roster panel to meet Jan. 22

The Wyoming Arts Council will hold its annual artist roster selection panel on Thursday, Jan. 22, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., in the Arts Council Gallery, 2320 Capitol Ave., Cheyenne.

The meeting is open to the public.

Every year, the WAC invites applications for its roster. A panel of artists and arts professionals then convenes to review the applicants and select those that meet the criteria of “artistic merit of the artist” and “ability of the artist to successfully interact with an audience or in a public setting.”

Last year, the panel selected eight new artists and arts groups, raising the number of talented Wyoming roster artists to 57. Any Wyoming arts organization, school or community can bring in any of these artists through an Arts Across Wyoming grant.

To view the current artists’ roster, or to get more information about grants, go to http://wyoarts.state.wy.us.

For more information about the panel meeting, please call the WAC at 307-777-7742.

"Woven Painting" at the State Museum

An exhibit of 15 tapestries by Wilson artist Mary-Alice Huemoeller will be on display at the Wyoming State Museum, January 26 through March 7.

A reception and program by Huemoeller will be held Feb. 12, from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., in the State Museum’s Multi-Purpose Room.

Huemoeller’s weaving reflects her personal vision of life. Her ideas and messages are conveyed through a vocabulary of symbols, both standard and individually invented, which are integral to her designs.

Huemoeller’s works recall Native-American imagery and cave paintings by ancient peoples, both made with a similar intent. Her woven compositions speak to the sacred and are a sharing of the artist’s spirit and that of mankind.

Her art intends to celebrate life’s experiences and to evoke a response in those who come into contact with it. As a nurse, Huemoeller is interested in the healing process and how she can express this regeneration and nurturing of one’s self and the unity of people.

Huemoeller has studied weaving at Penland School in North Carolina, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine and the Mendocino Art Center in California. She has drawn upon the weaving traditions of the Guatemalan, Thai, Laotian and Native American peoples to give her inspiration for her own work, particularly the notion of weaving symbols into their clothing to inform others of their identity.

The Southeast Asian technique ikat, in which the thread is partially painted before woven to create a distinctive pattern, is incorporated into Huemoeller’s woven art . She utilizes warp painting, embroidery and brocade to create diverse visual and textural experiences for the viewer.

The Wyoming State Museum is located in the Barrett Building, 2301 Central Avenue in Cheyenne. For information about this exhibit or State Museum programs, please call 777-7022.

Thursday events resume at Phoenix Books

Michael Riversong notified us that he'll be performing on Thursday, Jan. 22, 6 p.m., at Phoenix Books on Capitol Avenue, just north of Lincolnway in Cheyenne. He promises "music, stories and interactive fun! Celtic harp, guitar and flutes!"

Sounds great to us.

Michael performed at Phoenix Books on Dec. 4. "We had a lot of fun. It was actually amazing, considering how incredibly cold it was that night. So this time, pretty much the same thing, maybe a few other people, very social, warm and fuzzy as it alway is there. Looking forward to seeing you again!"

The performance space at Phoenix is small, "warm and fuzzy" as Michael says. Sometimes the music spills out into the street, so bring your coat. And peruse the bookshelves while you're there. Great selection of Wyoming and regional books, as well as fiction, (esp. mystery). A clean, well-lighted place, full of books.

The Muses are coming to Casper

The Celtic band The Muses will be in Casper January 16, playing at two venues. From 2-3 p.m., catch them at the Casper Public Library, 307 E. 2nd St. Then, from 7:30-9:00 p.m., they will play a concert at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church, 318 E. 6th St.

Tanya Brody, Matthew Gurnsey, and Lindsay Jensen each play a plethora of exotic instruments ranging from bohdran and concertina to harp and hammered dulcimer; psaltery, pennywhistles, and fiddle to name just a few.

The Muses add new life to old songs as well as adding original material to the Celtic repertoire. Since the moment they chose to blend their voices in song they began captivating the hearts of every audience from Hawaii to Maine, Vancouver to Florida, weddings and pubs to concerts and main-stages at Scottish Games and Celtic Festivals. The Muses perform with a ferocity and a strength of heart that embodies the music they all love so dearly.

Family/Treasure exhibit at the Lander Arts Center

Hannah (l) and Magdalena by Dannine Donaho

Exhibit runs January 2- February 13, 2009. This show is about collections. Some of us prefer precious objects, works of art. For many of us the most important one is the collection of people that surround us. Local portrait painter, Dannine Donaho, along with other artists will represent the family in art.

Also featured, will be the collections of Jim Jereb. Jim is a Professor of Art at Truman State University in Kirksville, MO. He will send an exhibition of historical printmaking artworks ranging from 1493 to 2000, including works by Andy Warhol, Thomas Hart Benton, Grant Wood, Honore’ Daumier, Francisco Goyo, Kathe Kollwitz and George Bellows. Print techniques represented will include etchings, lithographs, woodcuts and screenprints.For more information call 307-332-5772, or email: landerartcenter@bresnan.net

Dawn Turner Trice and "The 'R' Word"

From a University of Wyoming press release:

A march, panel discussions, music and keynote addresses from a prominent newspaper columnist and the former American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) president highlight the annual Martin Luther King Jr./March and Days of Dialogue (MLK/DOD) celebration next week at the University of Wyoming.

"Social Justice Through Your Lens" is the theme of the event that runs Jan. 19-23. MLK/DOD renews UW's commitment to making campus a more welcoming and empowering place for people from different backgrounds, heritages, orientations or abilities. Events celebrate the continuing impact of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s life and ideals.

Most events are free and all are open to the public. For more details, visit the MLK/DOD Web site at www.uwyo.edu/MLK/.

Highlights of the week are keynote addresses from Chicago Tribune columnist Dawn Turner Trice (shown in above photo from Chicago Tribune) and Nadine Strossen, former ACLU president. Turner Trice's presentation, "The ‘R' Word: Using Journalism to Open a Civic Dialogue on Race and Culture," is Thursday, Jan. 22, at 5 p.m. in the Wyoming Union Family Room. Strossen's talk, "Social Justice Through Advocacy and Activism; Conversations about Current Civil Liberties, Challenges and Controversies," is the following day, also at 5 p.m. in the Wyoming Union Ballroom.

Turner Trice is a regular commentator for WTTW's "Chicago Tonight" show and has written commentary that was heard on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition" program.

She has written two novels; "Only Twice I've Wished for Heaven" (Random House, 1997), which will be made into a movie, and "An Eighth of August" (Random House, 2000).

Turner Trice received the 2008 Studs Terkel Media award, two Illinois Arts Council awards, an American Library Association Alex award and a 2006 National Endowment for the Arts fellowship.

Strossen discusses the challenges to American civil liberties today and elaborates on issues that are particularly relevant: the war on terror and government's efforts to enact potentially intrusive legislation, growing demographic diversity, technological advances and a conservative political climate.

She was the first woman and the youngest person to ever serve as ACLU president. A professor of law at New York Law School, Strossen has written, lectured, and practiced extensively in the areas of constitutional law, civil liberties and international human rights. She also has written two books "Defending Pornography" and "Speaking of Race, Speaking of Sex: Hate Speech, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties."

For more information, contact Gracie Lawson-Borders, UW African American Studies director and MLK/DOD co-chairman, at (307) 766-2482 or e-mail glawsonb@uwyo.edu.

My kingdom for a functional, great-looking, easy-to-find-something-in, cool, stylish...

An interesting exhibit at the Wyoming State Museum right now is pocketbook anthropology, a collection of 50 handbags by artists, artisan and designers from around the world. Leila Hadley Luce's words, writer and former cartoon editor for the Saturday Evening Post, open the dialogue about this exhibit: "One's handbag is an extension of self, persona and personality."

A woman's purse is one of the most valuable possessions she has. Remember the man purse on Friends? Rachel convinced Joey that he'd get the part he was trying out for because he would exude charisma and confidence. Whether or not all the females out there who carry purses feel that amount of confidence in this seemingly necessary wardrobe accompaniment, the museum exhibit features a diverse selection of collectible, nostalgic, interpretive and iconic examples of that leading fashion accessory that would lend a distinctive finish to any chic girl's (or guy's) outfit.

Purses from left to right, top to bottom:

1. Artist: Mary Francis, Fairy Dance, 2005; satin, glass beads, stones, sequins, metal and leather; Courtesy of the artist.

2. Artist unknown: possible example of prison art; Cigarette Pack Purse; Folded American cigarette packs. (blog editor's note: remember when you used to fold gum wrappers into this shape and make chains with them? Same principle here.)

3. Plyones Design Lucas, Pink Watering Can, ca. 2000; plastic; private collection.

4. Artist unknown: Decopauged Train Case, ca. 1955; wood, paper, metal and plastic; courtesy Elizabeth Boggs.

5. Artist unknown: Alligator Purse, ca. 1940s; Alligator skin, alligator claws, leather and metal; Courtesy Leslie Pelzer.

6. Artist: Janet Cooper, 1990s; Fabric, vintage bottle caps, and bead chain; private collection.

7. Pansy-design, glass beaded purse; artist unknown, ca. 1920s; from the private collection of Cada McCoy.

8. Floral design, glass beaded purse; artist unknown; ca. 1900s; from the private collection of Dora Appel Handel.