Henry Real Bird, Pat Frolander and Rick Kempa to serve as judges for March 4-5 Poetry Out Loud competition in Cheyenne

Henry Real Bird, Montana poet laureate emeritus

The 2013 Wyoming Poetry Out Loud state competition will take place March 4-5 in Cheyenne. Fourteen student competitors, teachers, parents and guests are expected. Guest judges this year are Henry Real Bird, Pat Frolander and Rick Kempa.

Born and raised on the Crow Indian Reservation, Henry Real Bird is a former Montana Poet Laureate (2009-2011). Real Bird has punched cows, rodeoed, and now ranches and raises bucking horses. He holds a master’s degree in general education from MSU Billings and has taught school from kindergarten to college levels. He has worked with the YMCA’s Writer’s Voice, won the Western Heritage Award for the National Cowboy Hall of Fame,  performed at the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Arts Festival, and performs annually at the Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada. Real Bird has had six anthologies, five poetry collections and twelve children’s books published, along with many articles, tapes and CDs.

Patricia Frolander, Wyoming’s Poet Laureate, works the family ranch near Sundance, WY with her husband, Robert. Patricia’s publications include Grassland Genealogy (Finishing Line Press, 2009) and, Married Into It, (High Plains Press, 2011), which won the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum’s Wrangler Award for Best Poetry Book of 2011; the Willa Cather Award by Women Writing the West for the 2012 Best Poetry Book; and Best Woman Writer of 2012 by High Plains Book Awards.

Rick Kempa, teaches writing and directs the Honors Program at Western Wyoming College. He is the author of two books of poems, Keeping the Quiet (Bellowing Ark Press, 2008), and Ten Thousand Voices, (Littoral Press). He is a three-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize, a past recipient of a Wyoming Arts Council Literary Fellowship, and is a current member of the Council’s Artist Roster. He earned his MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Arizona in 1987.

This year’s student contestants are from Sundance, Hulett, Buffalo, Hanna, Ft. Washakie, Riverton, Kaycee, Shoshoni, Cheyenne, Casper, Clearmont, Worland, Laramie, and Lander.

The event begins with a dinner for the contestants, teachers, judges and guests. The competition begins at 7 p.m. at the Historic Atlas Theater in downtown Cheyenne. The winner and runner-up are announced at the awards ceremony the next morning, which begins at 10:30 a.m. on March 5 in the Capitol Rotunda.

The winner from each state and a chaperone receives an all-expense-paid trip to compete in Washington, D.C., April 29-30 at the national finals. Among the activities is the Congressional Breakfast, where students get to meet and have photos taken with the state’s Legislators. Scholarships totaling $50,000 are awarded to the national champion and the other placers.

Poetry Out Loud is memorization and recitation competition for ninth through twelfth grade students. Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, the program is administered by the Wyoming Arts Council.

Justine Haka from the Poetry Foundation in NYC will be a special guest of the Wyoming Arts Council at the Cheyenne Poetry Out Loud  events.  

FMI: Linda Coatney, 307-777-6393 or linda.coatney@wyo.gov

Drama students from throughout Wyoming compete in Riverton Nov. 29-Dec. 1

Our Wyoming Arts Council colleague Camellia El-Antably is heading off to Riverton tomorrow for the Wyoming State Drama Competition. Here's her description of the event:

The Wyoming State Drama Competition is put on by the Wyoming Educators of Secondary Theatre (WEST) each year. It rotates between college campuses across the state. This year it is at Central Wyoming College in Riverton Nov. 29-Dec. 1.

It is one of the most complex theatre competitions nationally, because schools/students may compete in all areas of performance and tech, including:

Proscenium, Arena, Reader's Theatre, Original Scripts (3 kinds), Duets & Monologues (humorous or dramatic), Makeup, Scenic Design, Lighting Design, Publicity, Costume. The tech areas (makeup, scene, lights, publicity, costume) offer four levels with stronger criteria as the student gains experience.

 

All high schools are eligible to participate, another departure from competitions in other states, as there are no district-level competitions.

Approximately 35 high schools participate. CWC's Fine Arts Building will be overrun with students putting on makeup, rehearsing, watching performances or viewing technical entries. Students participate in critiques with professional judges. Judges are drawn from colleges and professional theatre groups in Wyoming and neighboring states.

WEST is a membership group of teachers and coaches and other interested parties from across the state. The competition is run entirely by them, with no paid staff. Anyone supportive of theatre in the schools can be a member of WEST. Find out more about WEST at: http://www.wyoest.net/

Sign up now for Wyoming Poetry Out Loud

Wyoming Poetry Out Loud champion Sara Ellingrod of Arvada-Clearmont presents "Chicago" by Carl Sandburg at the POL national finals in Washington, D.C., in May. Photo © James Kegley

The Wyoming Arts Council invites interested language arts, speech/debate and drama teachers to take part in Poetry Out Loud (POL), the national recitation and memorization contest sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. Designed specifically for students in grades 9-12, the program is a fun way to teach and reinforce language arts standards about poetry.

The sign-up deadline for Wyoming Poetry Out Loud is January 11.

The program materials are available now from the Wyoming Arts Council. The school contests will take place through mid-February, 2013. The state finals will take place in Cheyenne March 4-5. Many of the program materials are also available on the web site at http://www.poetryoutloud.org/.

POL builds on the resurgence of poetry as an oral art form, encouraging the nation’s youth to learn about great poetry through memorization and performance. Students can work on mastering comprehension, public speaking, acting, performance, drama and English skills while building self-confidence and internalizing our rich literary heritage.

Last year, 11 schools from across Wyoming participated in the program. Sara Ellingrod of Arvada-Clearmont, a second-time school winner, won the state finals and represented Wyoming at the national finals in Washington, D.C. She became one of only 53 students in a competition that involved 1,500 high schools and 365,000 students nationwide.

If a school is interested in participating in Wyoming’s Poetry Out Loud competition, or needs further information, please contact Linda Coatney at the WAC, 307-777-6393 or Linda.coatney@wyo.gov. 

Saturday University makes a stop in Gillette

On November 10, From 8:30 a.m to 1:15 p.m. at the Gillette College Main Building Presentation Hall, join the Wyoming Humanities Council, the University of Wyoming, and Gillette College for Saturday University, the free one-day college education. This, the second Saturday University program offered in Gillette, includes talks by Jean Garrison, chair of Global and Area Studies at the University of Wyoming, on the future of U.S. relations with China; Phil Roberts, of the Department of History at the University of Wyoming, on the rise and fall of Wyoming's open-range cattle companies; and Ann Spehar, instructor of mathematics and economics at Gillette College, on the U.S. banking system and global financial stability. The lectures will conclude with a free luncheon and roundtable discussion. Now in its fourth year, Saturday University is a collaborative program connecting exciting University of Wyoming professors with Wyoming residents who have a desire to learn. Saturday University is sponsored by the University of Wyoming, University of Wyoming Foundation, Wyoming Humanities Council, and area businesses. The program is presented locally by Gillette College.

University of Wyoming hosts Pink Prom Nov. 2 in Union Ballroom

From a UW press release:

Friday Night Fever, Spectrum, and ASUW are co-sponsoring a Pink Prom at 8 p.m. on Friday Nov. 2, in the Union Ballroom.

Pink Proms have the purpose of creating a welcoming atmosphere for the GLBTQ community who may have not had a friendly experience at high school proms. The dance will be themed as a fall festival prom and will last until midnight.

Additionally the movie “The Campaign,” staring Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis, will be showing in the Union Family Room at 6:30, 9:00, and 11:30 p.m.

For more information on the Friday Night Fever events please visit www.uwyo.edu/cac. Information about Spectrum can be found at uwacadweb.uwyo.edu. Information regarding ASUW can be found at www.uwyo.edu.

This event is sponsored by Friday Night Fever, Spectrum and ASUW. Individuals needing assistance to attend this event should contact the Campus Activities Center at (307) 766-6340.

"Developing Multicultural Literacy" Oct. 3 at UW

Next Step Performance Company to hold informational meetings Aug. 26 & 27

Jeff Tish is a freelance theatre scenic designer from Cheyenne who is on the Wyoming Arts Council artist roster. He sent this news about a new non-profit organization dedicated to the performing arts:

Next Step Performance Company, a newly formed non-profit organization, will be hosting two informational meetings and Q & A at the Laramie County Library August 26th (Willow Room) @ 2:00 PM and August 27th (Cottonwood Room) 7:30 PM. The public is encouraged to attend. We will discuss the plans for our first season as well as answer questions about public involvement, funding, performance opportunities and our plans for a Performing Arts Scholarship that will be funded by Next Step events.
• No need to RSVP.
• Seating is limited.
• Open to the Public

The NEXT STEP PERFORMANCE COMPANY will be a producing company that will support local and regional programs in Dance, Music and Theatre related performances. At the heart of the NEXT STEP PERFORMANCE COMPANY is our performing arts scholarship program. We will be raising money to give to performance arts students attending college and performing arts schools. We hope you will be as excited in this project as we are.

Please feel free to pass this information to anyone you think may be interested in this. If you have any questions please email me @ jtish52@gmail.com or call me at 307-630-7778.

Burning House Music Festival Aug. 18 is fund-raiser for John Quarterman Performing Arts Scholarship

Casper College grad Emily Brantz adapts Orwell's "1984" for the stage

FMI: http://www.caspercollege.edu/sandbox/12.html

Annual spring concert May 8 at Buffalo High School

The Buffalo High School Music Department is proud to announce their Annual Spring Music Concert on Tuesday, May 8, 7 p.m. in the BHS Auditorium. Admission is free.

The concert will include performances by the Concert Band, Percussion Ensemble, Men’s Choir, Balladiers, Una Voce, and Gold Singers.

These groups represented the Town of Buffalo well at the District Music Festival, so please come and support these fine musicians in concert. This will be the final performance for many outstanding seniors so help us celebrate them as well.

FMI: http://www.jcahc.org/

All-City Children's Chorus salutes 8th & 9th graders at May 6 concert

The Cheyenne All-City Children's Chorus presents "Soundscapes III: Reminiscence" on Sunday, May 6, 4-5:30 p.m. in the South High School Auditorium in Cheyenne. This is the ACCC's final concert of the season. The chorus will be recognizing its 8th grade singers and 9th grade mentors. Alumni are invited to join in on "River in Judea" as the group's traditional final song of the season.

"Reading Rocks" Saturday at City News in downtown Cheyenne

LCCC presents "Stabat Mater" concert April 29 at St. Mary's Cathedral

The Laramie County Community College Music Department presents "Stabat Mater" on Sunday, April 29, 3-4 p.m. Free; St. Mary’s Cathedral, 2107 Capitol Avenue, Cheyenne.

Karl Jenkins has blended musical ideas from our Western culture with musical ideas from the Near East to create a stunning and expressive masterpiece.

Admission is free. Donations will be accepted for the Veterans Administration Medical Center.

Author and Star-Trib columnist Mary Billiter will be keynote speaker at Casper GED graduation

Author and Casper Star-Tribune columnist Mary Billiter will be the keynote speaker at this year’s GED graduation ceremony at Casper College on Saturday, May 5. The ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. in the “Swede” Erickson Thunderbird Gymnasium on the Casper College campus.

Billiter, a weekly columnist for the Casper Star-Tribune and author of “Not My Kid…” earned a bachelor of arts in journalism from California State University at Northridge. She has taught fiction writing courses for both Western Wyoming Community College Outreach and Casper College. “We (ABE/GED employees) knew about Mary from her weekly column in the Casper Star-Tribune and we felt that because of her openness in regard to her struggles that she would be able to relate to our students and their struggles,” said Kelsee Miller.

According to Miller, Adult Basic Education and GED instructor, approximately 150 people are eligible to walk in the GED graduation ceremony this year. “We are encouraging all those who either are, or know someone who is, a GED graduate to contact the GED Center at 268-2230 for cap and gown information if they haven’t already done so,” Miller said.

The GED graduation ceremony is free and open to the public.

"Endangered Alphabets" author Tim Brookes to speak at WWCC in Rock Springs March 22-23

 The Western Wyoming Community College English Department and the Arlene and Louise

Wesswick Foundation present

Tim Brookes

Writer and language scholar from Vermont

Thursday, March 22 at 7:00 p.m.

speaking on his “Vanishing Alphabets” of the world project, now on display at the Hay Library

Friday, March 23 at 7:30 p.m.

reading from his own creative work

Both events take place in Room 1302 on the Rock Springs campus, and are free.

Tim Brookes of Burlington, Vermont is the author of twelve books, including Catching My Breath: An Asthmatic Explores his Illness (1995), Signs of Life: a Memoir of Hospice (1999), A Hell of a Place to Lose a Cow: an American Hitchhiking Odyssey (2000), Guitar: An American Life ( 2005), A Warning Shot: Influenza and the 2004 Flu Vaccine Shortage (2005),Thirty Percent Chance of Enlightenment (2009), and Endangered Alphabets (2010). He is the Director of the Professional Writing Program at Champlain College.

College students interested in the arts face tough choices when choosing a major

Excellent article by Cody Porter in today's Branding Iron about some of the tough choices college students face as they consider majors. Often it's a choice between passion and practicality:

Some of the most unconventional and creative pursuits in education, work and life can become the most successful. For the college-age individual, income and money too often become a higher priority than creativity. This may be partially because of the decline of the economy and the specter of student loan debt many of them face. Financial stress too often leads students to choose a major based on potential income, rather than following passions.

Each person’s own vision of the “American Dream” and what it means to be happy. While everyone needs to make a living, wealth and power should not necessarily be a person’s key focus. Somewhere along the line many make a decision to follow a heartfelt dream to do what they love, rather than following common sense or social norms of our time.

One University of Wyoming student, Dan Higgins, is pursuing a passion that does not exactly follow the ideal of financial security of many other college students. Higgins, whose father had also attended UW, was only 17 when he came here last year from San Francisco on an alumni scholarship. His initial choice for a major was criminal justice. Higgins said he felt that major and career path would provide job security.

Read the entire article at http://www.brandingirononline.info/2012/03/08/student-goes-against-grain-follows-heart/

Video of Wyoming Poet Laureate Pat Frolander at Poetry Out Loud competition in Cheyenne

Art Perspectives - Wyoming Poet Laureate Patricia Frolander from Indie Media: The New Journalism on Vimeo.

Poetry Out Loud tonight in Cheyenne

From Linda Coatney: Local art teacher Mark Vinich silk-screened this design onto a piece of linen-looking fabric, a design that he came up with using elements of the Poetry Out Loud logo. It didn't work to try and cover up the previous printing on the bag with paint. Wonder Under was used to apply the piece of fabric to the front of the bag. I did some quick cross-stitching around the edges of the fabric and sewed a button on each one. These bags will be given to the student contestants with a copy of POL judge Jim Coppoc's book "Manhattan Beatitude, 1997".

The Poetry Out Loud state competition takes place tonight at the Historic Atlas Theatre in downtown Cheyenne. There will be 11 competitors reciting poetry. Jim Coppoc, from Ames, Iowa, joins Wyoming Poet Laureate Pat Frolander of Sundance and Tie Siding poet and educator Diane Panozzo as judges for the Wyoming Arts Council's Poetry Out Loud competition tonight at 7 p.m. in the Historic Atlas Theatre. Come on out and see high school students from around Wyoming battle it out for the title of Wyoming Poetry Out Loud champ. Winner travels to Washington, D.C., in May to compete for the national title and scholarship money.

Poetry Out Loud judge Jim Coppoc gives workshop at Laramie County Public Library

Performance poet and musician Jim Coppoc conducted a poetry writing workshop Sunday at the Laramie County  Public Library in Cheyenne. Coppoc, from Ames, Iowa, is senior lecturer in English and American Indian studies at Iowa State University, and poetry and spoken word in the low residency MFA program at Chatham University.

Jim said, "Poetry is everywhere." He related this story. He asked his mom if she read poetry. "Oh no, I don't understand poetry." But when he looked around her living room, he noticed a "Chicken Soup for the Soul" poetry edition, the many Christmas cards that all had a short verse of some kind which his mother had propped open among the Christmas tree branches, and the Dr. Seuss books on the second shelf of the coffee table.

Jim's workshop focused on the musicality in poetry, from Biblical David playing the lyre while he sang his psalms to Emily Dickinson who wrote poems in musical forms. Many poets focus on the the rhythm/meter, rhyme, stanza breaks, compression, consonance and assonance.

He showed a short clip from the movie "Pinero," about New York City poet Miguel Pinero, a leader of the Nuyorican movement. Benjamin Bratt portrayed Pinero, and people who knew Pinero say Bratt did his homework. The scene was Bratt as Pinero reciting "Seekin the Cause," a riveting scene. This literary poem is backed up by musicians playing Puerto Rican music. Pinero is one of Jim's favorite poets. He has friends who were friends of Pinero.

Jim like speaking poetry, not reading it. When he writes, he speaks out loud the lines he writes, as well as when he revises. An excellent slammer, Jim says he can often be heard speaking his poems very loudly, screaming really. "Writing out loud," he calls it. He advises beginning poets in school to buy as many books as you can and read out loud.

The focus turned to where the poetry we write comes from. He talked about the influences that we grow up with and that we know first hand. Next we watched a clip of performance poet Bryann Bain, Brooklyn's own Nuyorican Grand Slam Poetry Champion. Bain is best known for his journalism. Bain wrote "Driving While Black," about his experience being arrested in New York because of racial profiling. Bryonn grew up a Muslim, became a Buddhist, and his performance encompasses lines that he sings in a chant like rhythm.

We next watched slam poet Shane Koyczan, who grew up in Yellowknife, the northernmost town in the Northwest Territories of Canada. Shane listened to classical music because when he was growing up there was no television reception and no radio stations. Shane performed a piece he wrote about Beethoven, whose music he listened to growing up. The poem describes how he "got" his music.

Next up was a Gwendolyn Brooks poem. Jim introduced the idea of writing for/about/from your tribe -- the place, culture, the people where we come from. The poem of hers he used as an example, " We Real Cool." In just eight lines, Brooks tells us who she is writing about, the bravado, the group's limited loyalty to each other, their predicament of growing up in the ghetto, the bravado and ecstatic state of being young, the bebop rhythm of the lines. She is writing for this tribe, the one-syllable words they would understand. The short lines that tell us quickly and succinctly the story of their short lives.

We real cool. We
Left school. We

Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We

Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We

Jazz June. We
Die soon.

Of course, the sorrow of the poem is carried in the last "We" line.

So, he asked the group some questions: Who is my "We"? Who is my tribe? How does your tribe sing? What is your tribe's story? How does it begin? How does it end?

He asked us to write our tribe's poem and music. Some good work came out. Since I only have the one I wrote, I will offer it as an example.

From the city,
We drove to the mountain lodge
And stayed in one-room cabins,
These days called rustic.
My sister and I rode horses without guides
While my parents lounged lakeside
My mother's anger dissipated
To the carrying pines,
To the lake's lapping
To the small cafe where we ate fresh trout and grilled hamburgers.

One time, I fell off a horse and skidded
On flesh points of contact
Along the dirt road.
Running back to the cabin, crying and sniveling
My mother did not meet me
Greet me
Hug me
Seat me
To nurse my wounds,
But my injuries stoked my father's anger
And we stalked down to the corral
To confront that smart-alecky wrangler.

Cowboys young and old came one night
From parts unknown to me
For the ranch party in the long boat house
Next to the dock.
Old cowboys danced with me,
A young girl not yet weathered
In their weathered arms.

My father watched them,
They keeping their hands
Suitably at mast and we danced
In that aura of celebration,
I not once noticing if my
Sharp-eyed mother
Was there.

--Linda Coatney

Master printer and WAC roster artist Mike Parker conducts residency for Park County students

Wyoming Arts Council roster artist Mike Parker was featured in a story in the Billings Gazette (reprinted today in the Casper Star-Tribune). Reporter Martin Kidston chronicled Mike's two-day residency at the BBHC for Park County students. He instructed them on traditional printing methods. For more about Mike, go to http://wyoarts.state.wy.us/Roster/Artist.aspx?ID=92. Photo by Martin Kidston.