Author & artist Teresa Jordan visits CWC

Teresa Jordan, who was raised on a cattle ranch near Chugwater and has written or edited many books about rural life in the West, will be speaking at the Central Wyoming College Library in Riverton on Thursday, April 10.

Here's info on the visit from the CWC web site:

Jordan, the author of the acclaimed memoir "Riding the White Horse Home" and the classic study of women on ranches and in the rodeo, "Cowgirls: Women of the American West," gives a free public presentation in the Little Theatre, located in the Student Center, at 6:30 p.m. Following the address, there will be a reception and the author will sign copies of her book.

When Jordan turned 50 she realized that if she were ever to learn a second language, she needed to start. She enrolled in an immersion program in Argentina and threw herself into the culture, where she often found herself center stage in a comedy of errors born of mangled words and missed connections.

Her upcoming book: "Learning the Language: My Extraterrestrial Taxista and Other Mid-life Adventures in Spanish" is the subject of her presentation.

"Learning the Language" is a cultural memoir in the tradition of Peter Mayle's "A Year in Provence," where Jordan weaves personal stories around meditations on broader topics such as language acquisition, the aging brain, and the intense desire of humankind to communicate across barriers of language and culture.

The author, raised in the Iron Mountain country of southeast Wyoming, is the recipient of the Western Heritage Award from the Cowboy Hall of Fame for scriptwriting. She also won a literary fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts as well as many other literary awards. Her most recent book is "Fieldnotes from Yosemite," the second volume in her series of "Sketchbook Expeditions."

After 20 years as an author, Teresa Jordan turned to visual art as part of a "mid-life expansion." She has had one- and two-woman shows in Salt Lake City at both the Phillips Gallery and Finch Lane Gallery, at the University of Denver, and at the Lewis and Clark Center for the Arts and History in Lewistown, Idaho, and has exhibited in group shows in several Western states.

A frequent public speaker, Teresa has presented keynote addresses to such various organizations and conferences as the Oregon School of Arts and Crafts, the Fife Folklore Conference, the Center of the American West, and the Rocky Mountain Book Publisher's Association. She has served as writer in residence at the University of Nebraska and the University of Utah, and has taught writing at colleges, universities, and workshops throughout the West.

Teresa and her husband, folklorist and public radio producer Hal Cannon, live in Salt Lake City.

FMI: Call the library at 307-855-2141.

Upcoming Arts Council deadlines

Here's a list of key postmark deadline dates for various Wyoming Arts Council programs. You'll note that the deadline for the Grants to Organizations category is this Saturday. Better get busy if you're applying in GTO.

Here are the dates:

March 15: GTO grant deadline

March 31: Application deadline for Artist Roster

April 7: Community Arts Partners deadline

April 30: Visual Arts Fellowships deadline

May 15: Deadline to apply for events happening before June 30 in Arts Access, Folk Arts and Technology in the Arts

June 10: Deadline for Open Door and Arts Across Wyoming grants for projects ending June 30

For more info: Call the WAC at 307-777-7742 or go to the web site at http://wyoarts.state.wy.us.

Sheridan band concert March 16

The Sheridan College Music Department is presenting a mid-semester band concert featuring the Community/College Jazz and Symphonic Bands under the direction of Dr. David Knutson on Sunday, March 16 at 7 p.m. in the Sue Henry Theater at Sheridan High School.

The jazz band will begin the evening with six selections including a Dave Barduhn arrangement (featuring the saxophones) of Jerome Richardson’s “Groove Merchant,” Dave Wolpe’s arrangement of “How High the Moon” by Morgan Lewis which features the trombone section, and Mark Taylor’s trumpet section feature “Brass Machine.” Gary Mcknight will also be a featured soloist on tenor saxophone as he performs a Mark Taylor arrangement of Jerome Kern’s “Yesterdays.”

After a brief intermission, the symphonic band will take the stage and perform four challenging works including W. Francis McBeth’s “Masque,” the three-movement “Incidental Suite” by Claude T. Smith, and a relatively new work by Brian Balmages aptly titled “When Spirits Soar.” The concert is free to the public.

FMI: Dr. Knutson at 307-674-6446, ext. 3009.

PODCAST OF POETRY OUT LOUD FINALS

We recorded the finals of the Wyoming Poetry Out Loud competition March 10 in Cheyenne. To listen to a podcast of the event, go to http://wyoarts.state.wy.us/poetryoutloud.htm

The Ragin' Cajun is coming to Northern Colorado

A pops benefit concert to raise money for the University of Northern Colorado's 25th annual Western States Honors Orchestra Festival, featuring DOUG KERSHAW, the Ragin' Cajun, and the UNC Symphony, will take place Saturday, April 5, 2008 at 8:00 p.m. in the Union Colony Civic Center, 701 10th Ave., Greeley.

The Western States Honors Orchestra Festival (or Weekend for Strings) brings top high school string players from across the Rocky Mountain West to UNC for three days of intense training, workshops and music-making. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the festival's founding. This year's festival will be held in early November. Cajun fiddler Doug Kershaw got wind of all this and offered to help UNC raise money by performing with the orchestra. He's been enormously successful in his career, but most people don't know Kershaw can't read or write music. He's totally self taught! And he plays more than 25 instruments! His interest in learning how to read and write music is what brought him to UNC.

Various professors are teaching him the basics; in return, he's making his ORCHESTRAL DEBUT, so more money can be raised for the fall's WSHOF. His top hits will be performed -- titles that include songs everybody knows (but maybe didn't realize he wrote) like "Jambalaya," "Battle of New Orleans," and "Orange Blossom Special," (the only tune they are doing that he didn't write).

Tickets, available through UNC's box office as well as Union Colony, are $32, $30 & $25. Student tickets are $16, $15 and $12.50. Group rates are available. Visit http://www.ucstars.com/ or www.arts.unco.edu/news/gumbo.html for concert details and for tickets. It promises to be a great concert.

Fry Street Quartet in Evanston April 4

On Friday, April 4, 7 p.m., the Fry Street Quartet will perform at Davis Middle School in Evanston.

This classical string quartet has perfected a "blend of technical precision and scorching spontaneity.” The group won the Millennium Grand Prize at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, and has performed from Carnegie Hall to Sarajevo to Jerusalem.

The Fry Street Quartet will present an after-school workshop for orchestral strings students on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m.

FMI: http://www.youngmusicians.net.

Poetry track added to Jackson Conference

The Jackson Hole Writers Conference has added a poetry track to its June 26-29 event at the Arts Center in Jackson.

Christopher Merrill, one of the most respected poets and teachers in the U.S., "will add a wonderful dimension to an already great conference,” said JHWC co-coordinator Tim Sandlin. Local cowboy poet David Kornblum is sponsoring the new poetry track.

Merrill has published four collections of poetry, including “Brilliant Water” and “Watch Fire,” for which he received the Peter I. B. Lavan Younger Poets Award from the Academy of American Poets; translations of Aleš Debeljak’s “Anxious Moments” and “The City and the Child”; several edited volumes, among them “The Forgotten Language: Contemporary Poets and Nature” and “From the Faraway Nearby: Georgia O’Keeffe as Icon;" and four books of nonfiction. He directs the International Writing Program at The University of Iowa.

Other poets joining the faculty this year are Leah Shlachter. whose poetry has appeared in “The Owen Wister Review,” “Bamboo Ridge” and the Jackson Hole News and Guide; and Cecily Parks, author of “Field Folly Snow,” soon to be published by the University of Georgia Press, and “Cold Work,” winner the 2005 Poetry Society of America New York Chapbook Fellowship. Parks' work also has appeared in “Best New Poets 2007.”

FMI: www.jacksonholewritersconference.com

Centennial Singers perform March 15

From a UW press release:

The University of Wyoming singing group, The Centennial Singers, will perform Saturday, March 15, at 7:30 p.m., in the College of Arts and Sciences auditorium. Tickets cost $8 for adults and $5 for students, senior citizens and children under 17.

The Centennial Singers will present director Patrick Newell's original show, "Good Beginnings, Happy Endings." The two-part production is choreographed by General McArthur Hambrick and costumed by Carol Baalman.

This year's Centennial Singers include Bridger Bailey, J.P. Jaramillo, Anne Mason and Tiffany Young, all of Laramie; Rebecca Diamond of Winter Park, Colo.; Kyli Hale of Afton; Erin Hamel of Green River; Christian Munck and Kayla O'Keefe, both of Helena, Mont.; Veronica Olson of Pittsburgh, Pa.; Nathan Owen of Cheyenne; Matt Sanderson of Scottsbluff, Neb.; Zach Taylor of Aurora, Colo.; Sarah Thomas of Southlake, Texas; Bart Ulbrich of Bayard, Neb.; and Nicholas Wineman of Cut Bank, Mont.

Great Gray Owl featured in stamp art contest

The opening reception for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department's 25th annual Wyoming Conservation Stamp Art Competition, Sale and Art Show will be on Friday, March 14, in the Wyoming State Museum, 2301 Central Ave., Cheyenne. The reception begins at 5 p.m. in the museum lobby, followed at 6 with the awards ceremony and artwork sales. The event is free and open to the public.

The theme for this year is the Great Gray Owl (strix nebulosa)

Entries will remain on display and for sale through April 19.

FMI: http://wyomuseum.state.wy.us/

Final weekend for Stage III Theatre comedy

This is the final weekend for the Stage III Community Theatre’s production of "The Voice of the Prairie," a comedy by John Olive. The play follows David Quinn, a quiet farmer in the Nebraska Sandhills who is coaxed into telling a story on the air by a traveling radio salesman. Soon he becomes a national sensation. David’s stories are about his childhood as a hobo, traveling first with his Poppy (“the worst confidence man in the USA”), then with a fearless runaway blind girl named Frankie.

Stage III’s production is directed by Pat Greiner, assisted by Phil Brown. The cast includes Will Wallace as Davey Quinn, Dob Wallace as the grown-up David Quinn, Jeffrey Dodson as Leon Schwab, Pat Turner Pulitzer as Frances Reed, Kayla Albertson as Frankie, Dennis Rollins as Frankie’s Father and James, Jeff Steele as Poppy, Kelly Delap as Susie, Walter Hawn as the Watermelon Man and the News Vendor, PJ Rose as the Jailor, and Abigail Schneider and Nathan Brown as townspeople.

"The Voice of the Prairie" is sponsored by Hilltop National Bank and produced with support from the Wyoming Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. Performances are March 13, 14 and 15 at 7:30 p.m. at Stage III, 900 North Center Street. Tickets are $12 for adults, $8 for seniors and full-time students; available in advance at Grant Street Grocery, Metro Coffee Company, and the Cadillac Cowgirl. Group rates are available upon request; call the theatre at 234-0946.

Laramie Artists Project meets March 13

The Laramie Artists Project's next meeting will be on Thursday, March 13, 7 p.m. at Dan Hayward’s studio in the Civic Center (Room 278) in Laramie. Come in the door on the northwest side of the building on 7th St. off Garfield and go upstairs and then go straight to the office.

FMI: http://www.laramieartistsproject.com

Buffalo student is Poetry Out Loud winner

Photo by Gary Schoene, Wyoming State Parks and Cultural Resources

Caila Booth (shown above at left with her mother), a senior at Buffalo High School, was named winner of the 2008 Wyoming Poetry Out Loud competition today in Cheyenne. At the awards ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda, she was presented a certificate and $200 by Wyoming State Auditor Rita Meyer and State Parks and Cultural Resources Director Milward Simpson. Caila's school will receive a $500 stipend to purchase poetry books for its library. She will travel to Washington, D.C., April 27-29 to represent Wyoming in the national Poetry Out Loud finals.

The contest's runner-up was Carey Junior High ninth-grader Xon Adams. He received a certificate and $100; his school library will receive a stipend to buy $200 in poetry books.

The competition was held Monday evening at the Historic Plains Hotel. Other performers were Thomas Wells from Star Valley High School in Afton, Danielle Then from Guernsey-Sunrise High School, Tom Powers from Cheyenne East, and Sienna White from Cody High School.

Judges were performer and playwright Bob Berky of Jackson, cowboy poet and state legislator Sue Wallis from Recluse, and Damien Kortum of Cheyenne, who teaches composition and creative writing at Laramie County Community College. Accuracy judge was Marcia Dunsmore of Four Corners, who also directs Poetry Out Loud for the Arts Council.

This is the second year in a row that a student from Buffalo has won the Wyoming contest.

Poetry Out Loud is co-sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. The Wyoming Arts Council is the state sponsor. If your school is interested in competing in the program's next round, contact the WAC's Mike Shay at 307-777-5234.

Cheyenne artist's egg wins state competition

The Wyoming Arts Council sponsored a contest to select the Wyoming egg for the National Egg Board's White House event. An artistic egg by a Cheyenne resident won the competition. The 33 artistic eggs submitted for the 2009 competition are now on display at the WAC in downtown Cheyenne. Legislators voted on their selections during the recent session. We'll have those results in April.

Today's Wyoming Tribune-Eagle had a feature on the 2008 winner. Here are some excerpts:

Jules Webb, a Cheyenne egg artist, won the state's competition and traveled to Washington, D.C. this past weekend for a little schmoozing with the first lady and other egg artists from around the country.

Last year, the egg that was chosen to represent Wyoming was actually decorated by someone from Illinois. "It was really sad," Webb said of the injustice, adding that last year's egg art was painfully lacking in, well, artistry.

So this year, Wyoming egg artists wouldn't let themselves be overshadowed again. The Wyoming Arts Council put out a call for entries and required that the artists be Wyoming residents.

The first lady of Wyoming, Nancy Freudenthal, chose the winning egg, which was decorated with a Wyoming theme: earth tones, mountains, fish, deer and the sun, Webb said.

"I was surprised," Webb said of the moment she learned she had won. She has been decorating eggs for 35 years, she said, and never knew there was a contest.

Wyo. folk artists on Public TV April 3

The unique talents of four Cowboy State folk artists are chronicled in “Wyoming Folks,” a 30-minute documentary produced by the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources.

The documentary, to appear on Wyoming Public Television on April 3, 7 p.m., explores the lives and art work of Shoshone drum keeper, Sonny Shoyo; tatter, Mary Maynard; bladesmith, Ed Fowler; and weaver, Jerry Curcio. During the film, each artist shares examples of their work and artistic processes.

The documentary explores not just the world of traditional arts around Wyoming, but also unique and quirky insights the artists offer on everything from how to build a weaving loom from scratch, to how blades of grass affect the design of a knife.

"I always try to bring out the more interesting and unusual aspect of artists and their work, so that even people who aren’t interested in the art will still relate to the film,” Dean Petersen, who wrote, directed and edited the documentary, said.

“Wyoming Folks,” is the first feature length documentary produced by Petersen and Anne Hatch, folk and traditional arts specialist for the Wyoming Arts Council, to appear on television.

Originally created to showcase different award-winning folk artists in the state, the film is an entertaining jaunt through the interesting and often unusual world of folk arts in Wyoming.


“The Arts Council is delighted to recognize traditional artists generally not known beyond their local community and nice market and bring their talents to a larger audience," Hatch said.

Children's writers: Power Up Your Craft!

From a SCBWI press release:

The Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators is hosting a one-day "Power Up Your Craft" workshop on Saturday, April 5. We will be meeting in Lakewood at an exciting new venue, the Qwest Learning and Conference Center. With state-of-the-art technical capabilities available at this facility, illustrators will be thrilled by the interactive learning sessions led by Danlyn Iantorno and Sandy Ferguson Fuller.

We will be treated to an inspiring message to help defeat the demons that keep us from our creative work presented by our keynote speaker. Claudia Mills is the author of many memorable children's books including the stories of "Gus and Grandpa". From Junior Library Guild selection honors to the Colorado Author's League award, Claudia has been widely recognized for her thoughtful and touching contributions to children's literature. Kirkus Review says of her work, "Mills writes with such a light, humorous touch that many scenes beg to be read aloud."

To round out this all-star list of speakers, we have three Colorado Book Award winners Mary Peace Finley, Denise Vega and Kathleen Pelley. They will be sharing their strategies for developing your craft in areas including manuscript preparation, plot synopses, picture book proposals, school visit presentations, character development, and more.

The Qwest Learning and Conference Center is located at 3898 South Teller in Lakewood. The Early registration cost for the full-day event including meals is $99 for SCBWI members and $125 for non-members. Don't miss this special rate that expires March 16. Please visit our website at http://www.rmcscbwi.org/ for a complete conference schedule and to register.

Young artists featured in Art Blast 2008

More than three dozen artworks by Casper artists between the ages of 15-21 are now on display as part of Art Blast 2008, a month-long art exhibit/contest at the Nicolaysen Art Museum in Casper.

The 39 accepted pieces, which range from drawings to sculptures, will be on display in the Rosenthal Gallery for the entire month of March and the winners will be announced March 28 at Rock the Nic, an evening of art and music. The works will be juried by members of the NIC staff and a panel of young artists. The top three artists will have a future opportunity to participate in a group exhibition in the Rosenthal Gallery as well as win a free museum membership.

For more on Art Blast 2008, read the article in today's Casper Star-Tribune.

PHOTO: Nicolaysen Art Museum Registrar Ingrid Burnett installs the work featured in Art Blast.

Poet Laureate closes legislative session

Wyoming Poet Laureate David Romtvedt usually addresses the Wyoming House and Senate near the beginning of their deliberations.

This year, he helped them close out the 20-day budget session on its final day of business. In the Senate, there were bills to take care of before David came to the podium and read, "Oh, if you could know," a poem from the point of view of his wife Margo when she was young and in love with horses and horned toads.

He wrapped up with a Basque song on the button accordion. David married into a Johnson County Basque family, so he played a song whose original name I can't pronounce. It's used for both greetings and departures, and is played at everything from weddings to (David says) legislative sessions.

A great way to wrap up a fairly congenial and productive 2008 Legislature.

Worlds of Music March 14-15

Worlds of Music presents The Buffalo Bison Tatanka Steel Drum Ensemble in two performances and a workshop with Pan Ramajay Director Tom Miller.

Friday, March 14, 2008, 12:45 p.m. is the performance at the Buffalo Senior Center at 671 West Fetterman, Buffalo, Wyoming.

Saturday, March 15, 2008 from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. is the workshop at Buffalo High music room. Also on Saturday, at 7:00 p.m., the performance at the DeerField, 7 North Main, in Buffalo.

All events are free and open to the public. To sign up for the workshop, call 684-2194 or 217-0028.

Worlds of Music is a not for profit organization devoted to the place of music in community. In addition to the free public programs, Mr. Miller's visit will include events for k-12 students in the Buffalo Schools. The Tatanka Steel Drum Ensemble's instruments were purchases with funds from Worlds of Music and Wyoming Arts Council. Worlds of Music programs are supported by the HF Bar Guest Ranch and the Johnson County School District.

Wyoming Cultural Trust Funds available

Grant applications for the next round of the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund (WCTF) are now available on the agency's website, www.artsparkshistory.com

The WCTFB can provide grant funding for all forms of arts and culture, including but not limited to, visual arts, performing arts, crafts, design arts, media arts, literature, folklife and traditional arts, humanities, historic and architectural preservation, community cultural celebrations and cultural corridors.

For additional information or a paper copy of the application, contact Renee Bovee, WCTF Administrator, at 307-777-6312. The application postmark deadline is May 1 for projects beginning after July 1.

Grant deadline extended

The end date for American Masterpieces "New Deal" grant projects has been extended to December 1, by the Wyoming Arts Council.

Grants of up to $5,000 are available for arts projects related to American Master Artists from the New Deal era, 1933-1943.

Projects should focus on artwork created by American New Deal era master artists, or by contemporary Wyoming master artists inspired by or documenting New Deal artwork and should take place between now and December 1.

Possible ideas for arts projects include concerts or performances, literary readings and publications, r adio shows / plays, exhibits of artwork created in the New Deal era, contemporary exhibits inspired by the New Deal/Great Depression, cowboy songs and poetry gatherings, New Deal era film festivals, and lectures or symposia about New Deal arts.

Grant requests may be for up to 50 percent of the proposed project cash expenses - a 1:1 cash match requirement. Maximum request is $5,000. Grants will be fully funded or not at all. Submit applications at least six weeks (42 days) before the project start date.
Apply at http://wyoarts.state.wy.us

WOW artists stage first group exhibit

Nine local artists will exhibit their work Friday March 7, from 5-8:30 p.m., at Laramie's March gallery walk in the Civic Center for the Works of Wyoming (WOW).

This is WOW's first group exhibit. The artists will display a variety of art in their Civic Center studios and galleries. They are Dan Hayward and Mack Brislawn in Room 278, Susan Davis and Rebecca Sissman in Room 267, Jerry Glass in Room 265, and Jon Madsen in Room 201.

The WOW offices and gallery, located in Room 271, will be open during the gallery walk.

All of the studios and galleries are on the north end of the Civic Center's second floor, off of Garfield Street. Additionally, other WOW-related artists will exhibit their artwork in studios outside the Civic Center. Mike and Jeny Stoesz and Brett Deacon will show in the Stoesz's store at 213 Grand Ave., Raymond Jordan will show on the fifth floor of the Connor Building, and Terry Reid will show in his studio at 408 E. Custer.

Art mediums to be exhibited by the WOW artists include fine art photography, jewelry, fiber arts, pottery, drawings and photo-real painting.

WOW is a collaborative project between the University of Wyoming Small Business Development Center and the Wyoming Women's Business Center. The project began in 2003 and, in late 2007, it evolved into a statewide business incubator for artists from all artistic genres.

FMI: WOW offices at (307) 766-3083 or Dan Hayward at (307) 742-6307.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Dan Hayward is a roster artist for the Wyoming Arts Council. You can bring him to your community for a presentation through an Arts Across Wyoming grant. Go to http://wyoarts.state.wy.us and click on the Grants & Applications link.

PHOTO CREDIT: "Spearhead Mesa in Fog, First Snow 2003" by Dan Hayward

Coming to Cheyenne: Poetry Out Loud

The winner of the Wyoming Poetry Out Loud state finals will be announced at an awards ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda at 8 a.m., Tuesday, March 11. This year’s competition will be held at 7 p.m., Monday, March 10 at the Plains Hotel in Cheyenne.

Wyoming Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources Director Milward Simpson will serve as master of ceremonies and make the awards presentation March 11.

This year’s winner will receive a $200 scholarship and an expense-paid trip to Washington D.C. to represent Wyoming in the National Poetry Out Loud competition, April 27-29. The winner’s school will receive a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books. Wyoming’s runner-up will receive a $100 scholarship, with their school receiving a $200 stipend.

Students from Buffalo, Cody, Cheyenne East, Guernsey-Sunrise, Star Valley and Wheatland high schools participated in this year’s competition, as well as representatives of Cheyenne’s Carey Junior High School.

Judges for the Wyoming finals competition are Jackson resident Bob Berky, an actor, director, playwright and theatrical clown who's performed throughout the world; Laramie County Community College instructor Damien Kortum, who teaches composition, literature and creative writing; and Sue Wallis of Recluse, a member of the Wyoming House of Representatives and writer.

Held in partnership with the Wyoming Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, the contest is a national program that encourages high school students to learn about poetry through memorization, performance and competition. The program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage.

This is the third consecutive year that Wyoming has held the "Poetry Out Loud" competition. Josh Schaberg, a senior at Buffalo High School won last year’s competition.

FMI: Wyoming Arts Council at 307-777-7742, or visit http://www.poetryoutloud.org.

Visual arts fellowship forms in the mail

The paper applications for the 2008 WAC visual arts fellowships are now being mailed to everyone on the Artist Image Registry (AIR) list. If you're interested in a print application and don't receive one by The Ides of March (they're sent bulk mail, which is cheaper but takes longer to deliver), please call the WAC at 307-777-7742 and we'll mail one out to you.

Printable visual arts fellowship applications have been available on the agency web site since mid-February. Go to our home page at http://wyoarts.state.wy.us and click on the visual arts program link.

Postmark deadline for entries is April 30, 2008. It's open to Wyoming artists only.

What happened back then?

Liquor, taxes, and the government during the Great Depression is the focus of this month’s Wyoming State Museum lecture, March 13 at 7 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room.
Titled, "Legalizing Liquor, Talking Taxes, and Shrinking Government: How the 1933 Special Session of the Wyoming Legislature Dealt with the Great Depression," Dr. Phil Roberts, associate professor of History at the University of Wyoming, examines how the lawmakers of that time dealt with a variety of complex issues.

Wyoming’s "Great Depression" began in the early 1920s, and by the time that the rest of the country was in depression, Wyomingites had already experienced economic distress.
Prohibition vexed law enforcement throughout the ‘20s as more and more Wyoming citizens turned against the "noble experiment." When the Wyoming Legislature met in 1933, it faced these issues and more. The result of that session’s deliberations – repeal of prohibition, debates over income and sales taxes and rancorous efforts to reduce the size of state government – left a lasting legacy. Dr. Roberts’ presentation will discuss some of the roots of these issues and how the legislature responded to the challenges.

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

Music and kids--a most excellent collaboration

Now is the time to join the Grand Teton Music Festival in supporting local school music programs! In a proclamation endorsing a month-long celebration of music education this March, Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal encourages teachers, parents, students, and all citizens of the state of Wyoming to do the same. Throughout March, national Music In Our Schools Month®, the Grand Teton Music Festival challenges the Jackson Hole community to share in the experience of music and music education by actively participating in the Festival's educational events and concerts. Through programs like Music In The Schools (Festival musicians visit local classrooms) and Tune-UP! (in-school instrumental instruction), the Festival reaches thousands of area young people each year. Ticket sales from the Grand Teton Music Festival's winter concert series help to support these, and the Festival's other, music
education initiatives.

These winter concerts play a vital role in the Festival's in-school education programs, bringing visiting artists into local classrooms for week-long residencies, including master classes, private instrumental instruction, and full-school assemblies. It's likely your child will be visited this month!

Learn about how music prepares kids for life! The cultural and social benefits of school-based music programs are long known - music provides an outlet for creativity, self-expression, encourages teamwork, reinforces communication skills, and sustains our cultural heritage . But there is now scientific evidence, both behavioral and neurophysiological, that music does so much more. It generates neural connections, uniquely enhancing higher brain functions that enable a child to reason abstractly in subjects such as math, physics, and engineering. Kids involved in school music programs even score higher on standardized tests. Most important of all, music is simply worth knowing! Great information is already out there: starting Thursday, March 6, you can read all about the benefits of music education, and link to current research, on the Festival's new website at http://www.gtmf.org/. Or go to http://www.supportmusic.com/

For more information about the Festival's education and outreach programming, contact Liz Kintz at 307-733-3050 x109.

Tickets are available for purchase through the Grand Teton Music Festival ticket office at
307-733-1128 or online at http://www.gtmf.org/. All sales are final. No refunds or exchanges.

GRAND TETON MUSIC FESTIVAL
4015 W Lake Creek Drive #1
Wilson, WY 83014
t 307.733.3050 x107
f 307.739.9043
amanda@gtmf.org
http://www.gtmf.org/

Internship opportunity in New York City

The National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts is seeking an intern to support our efforts to increase membership and member participation.
The National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts is America's service association for community arts education organizations that provide access to high quality sequential instruction so that all people may participate in the arts according to their interests and abilities. In concert with this dynamic network, the Guild researches and promotes best practices, provides opportunities for professional development and dialogue, advocates for broad access, and makes grants to the field.
The Guild's 370+ member organizations range from community schools of the arts to arts centers to community divisions of universities, museums, government agencies, performing arts companies, and others. Our core constituents are tax-exempt organizations and government agencies dedicated to making arts education accessible to all people of ages, aptitudes and backgrounds within their communities.www.nationalguild.org

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
Assisting with market research to identify potential member institution; Assisting with the production and distribution of marketing materials; Preparing reports on the impact of marketing efforts; Providing general support to the Marketing departments; Adding qualified potential member institutions to the Guild's database; Other duties as assigned

Internships run throughout the year. A three-month commitment of a minimum of 12 hours per week is required. Hours flexible between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Requirements:
Excellent communication and customer service skills; Excellent analytical and organizational skills; Detail oriented; Facility with MS Office Applications; Facility with web and internet communications; College junior or senior or graduate student; Willingness to help with a variety of programs and tasks; Compensation and Benefits; Stipend available; College credit may be arranged; On the job training; Opportunity to participate in meetings with senior level staff; Opportunity to learn about the community arts education field from a national perspective; This internship also may qualify for participation in Federal Community Work Service.

Application: Please submit cover letter, résumé, and two work references to Kenneth T. Cole at
kencole@nationalguild.org or mailto:kencole@nationalguild.org. Please include "Marketing Intern" in the subject line.

National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts
520 Eighth Avenue
New York, New York 10018
(212) 268-3337

Visit the Red Desert online

Video coverage of the symposium, The Red Desert: Among Dead Volcanoes and Living Dunes, A Public Conversation on the Value of Place, is now available online. For those who missed the September 28-29 events at the University of Wyoming Art Museum, or for those who would like to view the symposium again, visit www.uwyo.edu/artmuseum and click on Red Desert Symposium.

For the past five years, photographer Martin Stupich, writer Annie Proulx, archeologist Dudley Gardner and geologist Charles Ferguson have been exploring, photographing, and researching the Red Desert. Their collected stories, images, observations, and learned scholarship will result in a publication on the Red Desert (University of Texas Press, 2008). The publication is as much a study about the region’s natural landscape, archeology, and human history as it is a study on public lands and last use over the last century.

Curated by Susan Moldenhauer, director and chief curator of the University Art Museum, the exhibition, Portrait of a Place: Wyoming’s Red Desert, photographs by Martin Stupich, featured Stupich’s images and became the platform for a larger discussion. The symposium included presenters as diverse as the desert itself. In addition to Stupich, Proulx, Gardner, and Ferguson, more than 20 presenters representing the arts, humanities, sciences, industry, public policy, and conservation provided insight on a particular region of the desert—Boar’s Tusk and the Kilpecker Dunes—and collectively offered a portrait of the Red Desert.

The symposium was made possible by the Richard and Judith Agee, Guthrie Family Foundation, the National Advisory Board of the UW Art Museum, the Argosy Family Foundation and the Haub School and Ruckelshaus Institute of Environment and Natural Resources, UW Program on Ecology, the Wyoming Council for the Humanities, 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.

Bringing the world of art to Wyoming, the Art Museum is located in the Centennial Complex at 22nd & Willett Drive in Laramie. The Museum and Museum Store are open Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with extended hours until 9 p.m. on Mondays February through April. Admission is free.

WyoPoets upcoming workshop

To our members: Watch your mail in the coming week. The new brochures for our April workshop "The Word Box and Ghost Shadows" are hot off the press & ready to be mailed
to you!

Registration is $30 before March 31st and includes a critique of one poem by Dawn Trask. After 3/31, the fee will be $35 and does NOT include a critique. All registration fees include refreshment breaks and lunch.

The Hampton Inn is saving a block of rooms for those coming from out of town, at $84/night
and this includes breakfast.

On poetry, from Ted Kooser

Here, poet Yusef Komunyakaa, who teaches at New York University, shows us a fine portrait of the hard life of a worker--in this case, a horse--and, through metaphor, the terrible, clumsy beauty of his final moments.

Yellowjackets

When the plowblade struck
An old stump hiding under
The soil like a beggar's
Rotten tooth, they swarmed up
& Mister Jackson left the plow
Wedged like a whaler's harpoon.
The horse was midnight
Against dusk, tethered to somebody's
Pocketwatch. He shivered, but not
The way women shook their heads
Before mirrors at the five
& dime--a deeper connection
To the low field's evening star.
He stood there, in tracechains,
Lathered in froth, just
Stopped by a great, goofy
Calmness. He whinnied
Once, & then the whole
Beautiful, blue-black sky
Fell on his back.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright (c) 2001 by Yusef Komunyakaa, reprinted from "Pleasure Dome: New & Collected Poems, 1975-1999," Wesleyan Univ. Press, 2001, by permission. Introduction copyright (c) 2008 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. They do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

American Life in Poetry provides newspapers and online publications with a free weekly column featuring contemporary American poems. The sole mission of this project is to promote poetry: American Life in Poetry seeks to create a vigorous presence for poetry in our culture. There are no costs for reprinting the columns; we do require that you register your publication here and that the text of the column be reproduced without alteration.

One of many tourist sites in Sheridan

The Trail End State Historic Site in Sheridan will open Saturday, March first, 2008, for its twenty-sixth visitation season. Hours are 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. daily, seven days a week. Summer hours of 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. begin June 1st and continue through the end of August.
The historic house museum, located at 400 Clarendon Avenue, examines life in Sheridan during the years 1913 to 1933, mostly through the eyes of its original owners, the John B. Kendrick family.

New at Trail End this year is a whole-house exhibit entitled "Youngsters to be Proud Of: The Changing Nature of Childhood As Seen Through Three Generations of Kendrick Family Children." According to Trail End Site Superintendent Cynde Georgen, the exhibit looks at an aspect of life we all experience, from infancy to the teenage years. " Our exhibits examine not only the fun things of childhood – toys, books, food and clothing – but some of the more serious aspects as well, including illness, adoption and single-parents families."

In researching the exhibit, Trail End staff discovered some interesting facts about childhood in the early part of the 20th Century. "One of the most fascinating things about this project was discovering that families weren’t always as child-focused as they are today. Between 1900 and 1930, it was nothing for parents to hire a nanny and take off for a two or three month vacation, leaving the children at home. The Kendricks did this several times, as did their Sheridan neighbors. We also found some interesting statistics. Prior to 1940, for example, census records indicated that, nationally, ten percent of American children didn’t live with either parent. They either lived with some other family members, acquaintances or even complete strangers. And before the mid-1920s, nearly one-third of the country’s youth lived in single-parent homes. If his wife died in childbirth, many a man found himself raising his children alone. As for women, they were sometimes abandoned when their husbands went out in search of work – and never returned! It wasn’t until the 1920s that the traditional middle-class nuclear family – father as breadwinner, mother as homemaker and children going to school – came into being."

"Youngsters to be Proud Of" features a number of early 20th Century dolls, toys, books and articles of clothing, plus illustrations and quotes from period magazines and local newspapers. Site Curator Sharie Mooney notes that nearly all the items on exhibit come from the Trail End collection. One notable exception is a large dollhouse, which is on loan from the Wyoming State Museum in Cheyenne. "It was donated to the State Museum by a collector who bought it at an auction a few years ago. It’s a Victorian-style dollhouse, fully furnished with everything from tables and chairs to rugs and plumbing." The dollhouse is on exhibit in the third floor, alongside a new hands-on discovery box. Mooney says the discovery box is filled with "touchable items that kids and their parents can explore. We usually preach ‘Don’t Touch’ in a historic house museum, so this is a chance to pet the woodwork, feel the marble, and touch the normally untouchable."
"Youngsters to be Proud Of: The Changing Nature of Childhood" will be on display at Trail End throughout the 2008 season, which continues through Sunday, December 14th.

The Trail End State Historic Site is just minutes from the historic Main Street District, Kendrick Park, the Sheridan County Rodeo grounds, and the Historic Sheridan Inn. Admission fees are family friendly: $2.00 for adults ($1.00 for Wyoming residents), with children seventeen and under admitted free (must be accompanied by an adult). The site is nearly one hundred percent handicapped accessible. Trail End is a component of the Division of State Parks & Historic Sites, Wyoming Department of Parks and Cultural Resources. For more information, phone Trail End at 307-674-4589.

Kids! Throw some pots at AVA Center!

Learn the Hora, the Sher and the Patch Tanz or just learn about them

Cheyenne’s Mount Sinai Synagogue will receive a $1,000 Folk Arts grant from the Wyoming Arts Council for Beatrice Montross to teach Jewish and Israeli folk dances through a program of weekly classes.

The grant, designed to help preserve the traditional dance forms, will help pay for dance instruction and fund costumes and music.

About 15 members of Cheyenne’s Jewish community will learn the dances, then perform in full costume at the synagogue’s annual Yiddish Food Festival on May 18, and possibly other events throughout the year.

Montross plans to teach such traditional steps as the Hora, the Sher, the Baroiges Tanz, and the Patch Tanz she learned while growing up. Although not Israeli, she will also teach Israeli dances which are very much a part of the Jewish-American culture. The early dances of Israel incorporated music, melodies and distinct cultural characteristics that were valued by the Jewish immigrant diaspora.

"We really appreciate the Art Council’s support in this project. Learning these dances will be a cultural and emotional experience as well as an opportunity to have fun," Phyllis Bloomberg, of the Synagogue said.

Classes will be held on Sunday afternoon from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. March 9 through June 30 at the synagogue. The instruction will include proficiency in steps, styling, and background information on the individual dances. Adults and teens are welcome. Shorter, one-hour classes will be held for children.

Montross is a dance ethnologist. She is a graduate of New York University and holds a master’s degree in education and dance/anthropology. She has taught ballroom and international folk dance at both the university and public school level. She has also taught workshops and master classes in Canada, Bermuda, Mexico and Japan as well as throughout the U.S.
In Wyoming, Montross has conducted residencies in Rawlins, Riverton, Jeffrey City and Cheyenne along with workshops for adults and students in Laramie and Cheyenne. She feels that learning and sharing the traditional dances are an important means of preserving the culture.

The goal of the Folk and Traditional Arts Program is to identify, document, preserve, present and honor Wyoming’s folk arts and traditions. Its primary purpose is to support artistic traditions and customs practiced within community groups.

The Wyoming Arts Council encourages the participation and teaching of traditional art forms within the state by providing teaching fellowships to folk art masters who want to pass on their skills, awarding professional development grants to individual artists and through the funding of project and festival grants to community groups celebrating their cultural heritage or sharing their traditional arts.

For further information about the Folk Arts grant program, contact Annie Hatch at the Wyoming Arts Council at ahatch@state.wy.us

"The Velveteen Rabbit" in Rock Springs

The Enchantment Theatre presents “The Velveteen Rabbit” on Friday, March 14, at 7 p.m. in the Rock Springs High School theatre. There will be a children's performance scheduled during the day (to be announced later) and the evening performance is for the whole family.

For ticket information, call the Community Fine Arts Center in Rock Springs at 307.362.6212.

Jalan Crossland on the road in March

Jalan Crossland, Ten Sleep's favorite son, has planned a busy touring schedule for March. Here are the highlights:

March 5, Jackson, Center for the Arts w/JC Band, 7:30 pm, tix $18 call 733-4900

March 6, Lander, Folklore Coffeehouse w/JC Band, 8 pm, tix $10

March 12, Powell, private fundraiser, solo

March 13, Powell, Red Cross benefit, w/J.C. Band, Northwest College Auditorium tix $10

March 14, Cody, The Terrace, Park County Pedalers Fundraiser, w/J.C. Band 7:45 pm

March 15, Thermopolis, Hot Springs County H.S. Auditorium, Red Cross Benefit w/J.C. Band, 7 pm, tix $10

March 22, Rapid City, S.D., The Journey Museum, solo, 7: 30 pm, tix $12-$15 info 605-341-5940

March 29, Laporte, Colo., The Swing Station, J.C. Band/$10

March 30, Lafayette, Colo., Nissi's, w/J.C. Band 7:30 pm, tix $8 advance/$10 day of show

Jalan tours solo and with his band. He's shared showbills with (among others) Taj Mahal, Blues Traveler, the David Grisman Quintet, John McEuen, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Leftover Salmon, The Ozark Mountain Daredevils, The Young Dubliners, Sam Bush, and the Grand Teton Symphony. He also performs for (and helps organize) his hometown's NoWoodstick Music Festival, set for Aug. 8-10, 2008.

For more on Jalan and his music, go to his web site at http://www.jalancrossland.com/.

African Highlife Heritage Band to perform

Kwasi Ampene and the African Highlife Heritage Band will perform a free concert Saturday, March 8, at 4 p.m. in the University of Wyoming Education auditorium in Laramie as part of the African Gala Night.

The performance will conclude African Awareness Week activities.

Ampene and his group of musicians and dancers present African highlife music and perform tightly-knit traditional, neo-traditional, and highlife dance music from Ghana.

Featuring drummers, instrumentalists, dancers and singers from Ghana and the US, the group is recognized as one of the world's finest highlife bands.

The event is sponsored by ASUW, the Wyoming African Student Association and the Department of Music.

FMI, e-mail Kigen Alap Limo at klimo@uwyo.edu

Rock Creek Wild! Concert and Art for the Earth

Inviting your creative participation is the Rock Creed Wild! Concert and Art for the Earth taking place in Sheridan at the Elks Lodge on April 19, 2008 from 7-11 p.m.

• Celebrating wilderness in honor of Earth Day
• Educating about the Rock Creek recommended wilderness area of the Bighorns
• Donate a minature work of art to support the Wyoming Wilderness Association
• Deliver art works to CVC, 171 N. Main, April 10 & 11, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for preshow (4-14 -4-18
• For more information, call WWA at 672-2751 or Jenny Craft at 674-6446 x 4203
• e-mail at liz@wildwyo.org. Website at http://www.wildwyo.org/

Earth Day is coming up in April. As a part of the celebration, participate in the "Rock Creek Wild! Concert & Art", specifically the Miniature Earth Art Show and Silent Auction. Finished and framed miniature art pieces will be displayed at CVC Conference Room for a Preshow the week of April 14-18 and for the grand finale -- at the gala "Rock Creek Wild! Concert & Art" Saturday, April 19th. Celebrate the beautiful world around us and the need to build a wilderness constituency in our community.

The Concert will feature the Jalan Crossland Band, singer/songwriter Doug Andrews, Julie Szewc, Kyle Williams and Carl Maddox, all who have a passion for the mountains and wild nature. Their philosophy is "Working and playing together, we can make the Earth (and Sheridan) a better place to share with our children, families and friends through art, music and appreciation."

As a participant in the Miniature Art Show, create artwork in miniature of your own materials and donate the piece to the Silent Art Auction. The artwork may be 2D or 3D, but keep it within the dimensions of 5" x 7" x 7", and should be ready to hang or display.

As an Earth Day event, artwork could focus on Wilderness or Nature. Some fun suggestions are using recycled materials or materials directly from the Earth. Paintings of Rock Creek or other beautiful mountain areas will be favored, to be sure. Otherwise, artistic freedom is yours. Fun Earth friendly prizes will be awarded in the categories listed below to be decided by a panel of judges.

The finished artwork must be delivered between Thursday April 10 and Friday April 11, ready for display. Please deliver to the Center for a Vital Community (CVC) at Main Street campus--171 N. Street, Sheridan, WY 82801--between 9a.m. and 4 pm.

The art will be on display the following week, April 14-18 where the silent auction will begin. On April 19th the art will be moved to the Elks Lodge for the Concert and Art for the Earth which opens at 7pm. The Auction bidding will stop at 9pm. Prizes will be awarded for the Best of Show, Most Innovative Art, Best Recycled Art, Best Use of Natural Materials and Wildest Landscape. We were all so impressed by the talent, creativity, excitement and generosity of the contributing artists from the 2007 Art Show that we are encouraged that this could be the best event ever!

Visit the web site at http://www.wildwyo.org/ to learn more about WWA’s programs and the Rock Creek area. We are delighted to include Wyoming’s wonderful artistic community in our Rock Creek Wild! Concert & Art for the Earth.

Classical Indian dancer at UW March 7-8

Boston-based classical Indian dancer and choreographer Sudarshan Belsare (shown at right) will perform March 7-8, at the University of Wyoming.

The visit begins with a brown bag lunch Friday, March 7, at noon in Room 002 of the Wyoming Union. Belsare will offer an open class and dance demonstration, “Gender Transformation in a Post-9/11 World,” that day at 4 p.m. in the Crane Studio. Participants can try gestures and positions of the classical Indian dance form of Bharatanatyam and can volunteer to participate in a dance narrative.

“I will demonstrate how one composition that was written about 200 years ago resonates with contemporary audience sensibilities,” Belsare says.

He will cover various topics, including the political aspect of his work, how gender and related expectations shape responses and perceptions, and how performance can help reinforce and redesign gender patterns.

The performance, “Gender and Transformation: An Evening in Classical Indian Dance,” is Saturday, March 8, at 7:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Studio Theatre. Belsare transforms his male body by performing in the clothing and gestures of a female subject. He brings together the old and new, showing how an ancient form can remain innovative and relevant in the 21st century.

FMI: Bonnie Zare at 307-766-2168.

UW Theatre & Dance students earn honors

From a UW press release:

University of Wyoming Department of Theatre and Dance students and faculty members received top honors at last week's Region VII Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) and Northwest Drama Conference (NWDC), held at UW.

A UW actor won the KCACTF Region VII Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship competition for the fifth straight year, picking up UW's 12th regional award since 1990. Senior Nick Linn, Rapid City, S.D., won both the Region VII Irene Ryan competition and the Classical Acting Award. Senior Stephen Post, Spearfish, S.D., won the Irene Ryan Best Partner Award.

Linn and his partner, senior Chelsey Byrd, Fraser, Colo., will advance to the national festival April 14-20, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
Senior Amy Hollon, Los Angeles, Calif., won the prestigious William Inge Festival Student Directing Award. Her scene, featuring three UW students, will be performed in Independence, Kan., at the William Inge Festival later this spring. Inge, one of America's most famous playwrights, produced such works as "Bus Stop," "Picnic" and "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs."

Senior Anna Brownsted, Dallas, Texas, was the Region VII One-Act Play winner for her piece, "Niagara Fell." Of the eight KC/ACTF regions nationwide, four regional one-act play and four 10-minute play winners will be selected to compete in April's national competition.

Brownsted was also one of six students chosen to direct for the 10-minute play competition at the regional festival and is first alternate for the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers 10-Minute Play Directing Fellowship.

UW doctoral student in psychology, Nicholas Gene Terpstra-Schwab of Colfax, Iowa, won the National Playwriting Program 10-Minute Play competition with his piece, "Sharing This Room With You."

Senior Nicole Watts, Laramie, won a KCACTF Meritorious Achievement Award in Makeup Design for her work on "Uncle Vanya." Junior Laura Shockley, Green River, won a Meritorious Achievement Award in Costume Design for her work on "The 'M' Word."

UW Professor Larry Hazlett won the Region VII Faculty Excellence Recognition in Lighting Design Fellowship, while department head and Professor of Theatre and Dance Leigh Selting won the Region VII Classical Acting Coach award.

Juan Laden's "Descansos" exhibit at NWC

"Passing Memories, Descansos," a photography exhibit by Juan Laden, will be on display March 4-28 at the SinClair Gallery at Northwest College in Powell. There will be a free artist's reception on Tuesday, March 4, 7:30-9 p.m. in the gallery.

Lander artist Juan Laden has been photographing roadside memorials for almost a decade. An exhibit of the images he's found on American and Mexican highways and byways goes on display. He just returned from an extended residency in Denmark where his photos were exhibited at the Skive Bibliotek in Skive on Denmark's Jutland Peninsula.

SinClair Gallery hours are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Get your artsy ad in the Cultural Guide

The Wyoming Cultural Guide is now accepting ads for its 2008 issue.

The full-color guide, produced by the Film, Arts and Entertainment Program of Wyoming Travel and Tourism, has a variety of spots to choose from. Artists or arts organizations can buy a 75-word business listing for $55. Larger organizations might be interested in the full-page ads -- or one on the back cover for $2,420.

More than 100,000 copies of the publication come out every spring and are distributed widely, both statewide and around the world to Wyoming-bound tourists.

The Wyoming Arts Council and State Museum have worked with the Cultural Guide since its inception, providing artwork and poetry/prose by Wyomingites for each issue. The cover of the 2007 guide featured a painting by Miga Rossetti of Wilson and excerpts from Julianne Couch's book about Wyoming's small-town watering holes. The issue also featured work by the WAC's 2007 visual arts fellowship winners.

FMI: Wendi Robirds, Vision West, Inc., in Powell, 307-431-0836 or wendi@visionwest.com

Spencer Bohren's music & art at the Nic

Hannah Wiest wrote a feature about musician Spencer Bohren in today’s Casper Star-Tribune. Spencer is back to his old stomping grounds of Casper for a concert at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 29, at the Nicolaysen Art Museum, 400 E. Collins Drive. Tickets are $10 at the door, and children get in free. While there, you can view Spencer’s shadowbox art exhibit, "Petite Mysteries."

Spencer has a new album, “Long Black Line,” based on his experiences in New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina.

Here’s an excerpt from the Trib article:

For Bohren, one of the most poignant remnants of the hurricane was the flood line that still streaks across shop walls and playground equipment. Sometimes the cruddy black line is ankle deep, sometimes over his head.

The title of his latest album, "Long Black Line," was inspired by this line, this constant reminder of the crisis that has somehow drawn the people of New Orleans together. The title and the song of the same name also refer to the long, frustrating lines of people waiting for food, shelter and help from the government, long lines that were often turned away.

"I had the song delivered to me from wherever they're delivered from," he said. The song and the album have both received significant radio play in New Orleans, becoming a sort of anthem for the people. "The song jump-started a conversation that was difficult to start," Bohren said.

Listen to the song at http://www.spencerbohren.com/music/long-black-line-song.php

FMI: Call the Nic at 307-235-5247

Publishers Weekly features Wyo. bookstore

In the Feb. 25 issue of Publishers Weekly, Claire Kirch reports on Torrie Rice’s Wheatland Mercantile Book Nook. Here’s an excerpt from “Wild West Bookseller:”

This being Wyoming, where a Wild West mentality still thrives, Rice sells the 4,000 titles in her inventory alongside products made and sold by her husband, Jef Rice: custom-built handguns and rifles.

“Sometimes, men come in for the guns and their wives come in for books; other times, women come in for the guns and their husbands for books,” Rice says of her diverse clientele, most of them residents of Platte County.

“At first, the books were on a small shelf. Now,” she tells PW, “it's half the business,” resulting in an 80% increase in book sales over the past four years, and a 20% increase this past year over the previous year.

The store focuses on children’s books and fiction, including sci-fi, fantasy, westerns and mysteries. Craig Johnson’s Wyoming mysteries sell well, says Torrie, adding that Johnson visits the store when he’s passing through. “He's a cool writer and he's even mentioned our store in his books.” She also stocks books by other Wyoming writers even if their subjects are further afield. “After all, Wyoming writers don't just write about Wyoming,” she says.

Torrie’s a Wheatland native and a graduate of Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne and the University of Wyoming. She describes herself as a “bookaholic.” The store is at 875 Gilchrist St. in downtown Wheatland. Phone is 307-322-1725. You can find the bookstore listed in the Cheyenne phone directory.

Read entire PW story at http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6534628.html

Thanks to Myra Peak of Green River for referring us to the PW story.

Wolin documents Jewish culture in the U.S.

Penny Wolin, who attended high school in Cheyenne, has announced a new project that “continues her exploration of Jewish culture in America.” Penny’s first book, “The Jews of Wyoming: Fringe of the Diaspora,” came out in 2000. It documented five generations of Jewish life in the state.

This time she photographs prominent photographers and musicians who have Jewish backgrounds. Her work includes original portraits of her subjects, as well as heirloom photographs and family documents. The accompanying narrative comes from interviews and writings of the participants. She’s preparing this project as a traveling exhibition and a fine art publication.

Penny’s work has been exhibited solo at the Smithsonian Institution. She’s received grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, and private foundations and individuals.

Weston Naef, curator of photographs at the J. Paul Getty Museum, says that Wolin “approaches her subjects with the thoroughness of a scholar and with the enthusiasm of an artist. Hers is an interesting line of inquiry that will contribute greatly to the history of photography.”

Now living in San Francisco, Wolin is looking for funding for this latest effort.

For further information, contact Penny at 323-807-3161 or studiomanager@pennywolin.com

Roberts talks about Great Depression in Wyo.

UW History Professor Dr. Phil Roberts will talk about "Legalizing Liquor, Talking Taxes, and Shrinking Government: How the 1933 Special Session of the Wyoming Legislature Dealt with the Great Depression" on Thursday, March 13, 7 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room of the Barrett Building in Cheyenne. Part of the Wyoming State Museum's lecture series. It's free and open to the public.

Here's a description from the museum web site:

Wyoming's “Great Depression” began in the early 1920s, and by the time that the rest of the country was in depression, Wyomingites had long experience with economic distress. Prohibition vexed law enforcement throughout the ‘20s as more and more Wyoming people turned against the “noble experiment.” When the Wyoming legislature met in 1933, it faced these issues and more. The result of that session's deliberations—repeal of Prohibition, debates over income and sales taxes, and rancorous efforts to reduce the size of state government—left a lasting legacy. Dr. Roberts' presentation will discuss some of the roots of these issues and how the legislature responded to the challenges.

"The City that Cried Wolf" at the Atlas

Harry Woods, director of the Cheyenne Little Theatre Players, sent this news item:

This Friday, Feb. 29 at 7:30 pm at the Atlas Theatre is the third Readers' Theatre of this year's series. It is "The City That Cried Wolf" by Brooks Reeves and directed by Pat Lauber. It is a very funny new play. I recommend you see it. Brooks will be doing the talk back after the show.

The readers will be: Rory Mack, Dameione Cameron, Doreen Oakley, Brooks Reeves, Glenn Shaffer, Darcy Guille, Jennifer Mills, Paula Egan-Wright and Justin Batson. What a great lineup. I hope to see you there.

FMI: http://www.cheyennelittletheatre.org

Wyoming Poetry Out Loud finals March 10-11

High School students from six Wyoming high schools and a junior high will participate in the state finals of the "Poetry Out Loud," recitation contest at 7 p.m., March 10 at the Plains Hotel in Cheyenne.

During the finals competition, each student will recite three poems selected from a poetry anthology designated by the Poetry Out Loud organization. The Wyoming Arts Council’s Mike Shay will serve as master of ceremonies.

Winners of this year’s competition will be announced at an awards ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda at 8 a.m., March 11. Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources Director Milward Simpson will serve as master of ceremonies. The public is invited to both the competition and awards ceremony.

This year’s winner will receive a $200 scholarship and an expense paid trip to Washington D.C. to represent Wyoming in the National Poetry Out Loud competition, April 27-29. The winner’s school will receive a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books. Wyoming’s runner-up will receive a $100 scholarship, with their school receiving a $200 stipend.

Students from Buffalo, Cody, Cheyenne East, Guernsey-Sunrise, Star Valley and Wheatland high schools will participate, as well as representatives of Cheyenne’s Carey Junior High School.

Judges for the Wyoming finals competition are Jackson resident Bob Berky, an actor, director, playwright and theatrical clown that has performed throughout the world; Laramie County Community College instructor Damien Kortum, who teaches composition, literature and creative writing; and Sue Wallis, of Recluse, a member of the Wyoming House of Representatives and writer.

Held in partnership with the Wyoming Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, the contest is a national program that encourages high school students to learn about poetry through memorization, performance and competition. This is the third consecutive year that Wyoming has held the "Poetry Out Loud" competition.

FMI: Wyoming Arts Council at 307-777-7742, or visit http://www.poetryoutloud.org/.

14th Annual Bookmark Contest Winners

Wyoming Agriculture in the Classroom is pleased to announce the eighteen (18) winners and nine (9) honorable mentions, from over 1700 entries, of our 14th annual Bookmark Contest. For the past fourteen years, Wyoming Agriculture in the Classroom and the Wyoming Weed and Pest Council has hosted the agriculture and natural resource Bookmark Contest for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students. The contest is designed to increase awareness of agriculture, noxious weeds, and natural resources. This year a new addition to the program included a new category topic, predators. This category is sponsored by the Wyoming Animal Damage Management Board to raise awareness of predator prey relationships and the interactions they have with agriculture and wildlife in the west.

To honor the winners, Wyoming Agriculture in the Classroom along with the Weed and Pest Council, Wyoming Beef Council, EnCana Oil and Gas USA, (Inc.), and the Wyoming Animal Damage Management Board will be holding an Awards Ceremony on May 9, 2008 at the Emerson Auditorium for all bookmark winners and honorable mentions. Governor Freudenthal, Director of Agriculture John Etchepare, and elected officials will be present to honor the students in this special ceremony. The students, their families, and their teachers are invited to this prestigious event.

Please go to http://www.wyomingagclassroom.org/ for a complete list of all of the winners and the subject of their bookmark artwork.

Above are some of the winners from last year's contest.

LAST CHANCE TO VIEW EXHIBITIONS

The University of Wyoming Art Museum will close its galleries at 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 1, for renovations to the Centennial Complex. Don’t miss your chance to see these exhibitions:

Recently Acquired: New Art in the Collection, featuring new acquisitions to the museum; UW Art Department Faculty Exhibition, artwork by new and adjunct faculty; Hell on Wheels: Union Pacific Railroad Towns in Wyoming, a collection of photographs and excerpts from letters and diaries examining the Union Pacific Railroad across southern Wyoming, presented by the American Heritage Center; and the 33rd Annual Juried University of Wyoming Student Exhibition, featuring UW student artwork selected by Linny Frickman, director of the Hatton Gallery at Colorado State University, Fort Collins. A selection from this exhibition will be on display through April 19 in the Centennial Complex Gallery, near the entrance to the building.
Recently Acquired: New Art in the Collection and a portion of the 33rd Annual Juried University of Wyoming Student Exhibition will be on view through April 19th in the James T. Forrest Rotunda and the Centennial Complex Gallery.

Monday night extended hours and classes have been suspended during the closure. The Museum Store will remain open Monday–Saturday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Education programs continue with free art classes offered in celebration of Youth Arts Month in March. Students ages 4-12 and their parents are invited to explore and create art from 1-3 p.m. on Saturdays, March 1, 8, 15 and 29. Spring Break Art Camp is scheduled for March 17-21, 1-4:45 p.m. each day. Enter the Artist’s Zone is an art camp for students ages 6-14.

For more information, contact Wendy Bredehoft at 766-3496 or wbredeho@uwyo.edu

AVA in Gillette celebrates Youth Arts Month

2008 Penumbra Poetry and Haiku contest

Guidelines for the 2008 Penumbra Poetry Contest can be found at www.tallahasseewriters.net.

ALL ENTRIES MUST BE POSTMARKED BY JUNE 30, 2008

Sponsor web site www.tallahasseewriters.net
Contest email: poetry@tallahasseewriters.net

There is no limit on entries in either or both categories and all skill levels are welcome.
Categories:

Poetry -- up to 50 lines, any style or subject; line length may be edited to fit chapbook publication format

3-line haiku -- (need not conform to strict syllable count)

Contest does not accept simultaneous submissions or work previously published or having received awards in other competitions.

Prizes: Poetry $200, $60, $40; haiku, $100, 40, $20.

Top winners and finalists in each category are published in the annual contest chapbook and mailed a complimentary copy.

Notification: Winner and finalist notifications mailed no later than August 31 2008.
Winners list returned to entrants if SASE included. List posted to sponsor web site no later than September 30 2007.
Fees: $5 per poem; $3 per haiku in $US check, cash or money order

Mail entries, fees, SASE for winners’ list and book orders to :
TWA Penumbra
P. O. Box 3428
Tallahassee, FL 32315-3428

Judging: Judges are published, recognized poets and haiku experts.

You can't beat Wyoming's artistic eggs

Associated Press writer Ben Neary dropped by the Arts Council offices yesterday to see the artistic eggs which have been submitted for the Eggstraordinary Eggxibit project. He also interviewed WAC Deputy Director Camellia El-Antably, who was profiled in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle last Sunday by reporter Karen Cotton.

Legislators have been scrambling over to the WAC all week to vote for their favorite egg. The winner will be the official state entry for the 2009 White House Easter egg display.

Neary's article appeared in today's Cheyenne, Casper and Rapid City papers, possibly other ones in the region. Read the Trib version at http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2008/02/27/news/wyoming/f9bc84b5535614cd872573fc000892f6.txt

UW concert explores Mozart's final year

From a UW press release:

The University of Wyoming Department of Music will present "Mozart, 1791," a concert featuring works written by the famous composer during the last year of his life, Thursday, Feb. 28, at 7:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Center concert hall in Laramie.

Tickets cost $10 for the public, $7 for seniors and $6 for students. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the Fine Arts Web site at www.uwyo.edu/finearts, call (307) 766-6666 or e-mail fatickets@uwyo.edu.

The performing ensembles are the UW Symphony Orchestra, Collegiate Chorale, and Civic Chorus, directed by Nathan Leaf, interim director of choral activities.

The concert will include Mozart's final work, "Requiem," and performances of "Magic Flute Overture" and "Ave Verum Corpus." Soloists for "Requiem" are soprano Maureen Sorensson, mezzo-soprano Katrina Zook, tenor Gary Ruschman, and bass Jan Kliewer.

Sorensson, one of the favorite regional sopranos in oratorio and operatic works, is a member of the UW Vocal Arts faculty. She has performed with orchestras and choruses in Colorado, Kansas and Illinois. She has been awarded the Noris Performance Award and has placings in Metropolitan Opera Guild regional competitions and the Denver Lyric Opera Guild.

Zook, an associate professor of music at UW, has studied voice and languages in Austria, Germany and the Netherlands. She has recently performed with the Cheyenne Chamber Singers, the Summit Chamber Players, and at solo recitals in Virginia, Ohio, Colorado and Brazil.

Ruschman, a Kentucky native, has appeared nationally and abroad in concert, opera, jazz, theatre, studio and chamber music settings. His solo work includes appearances with The Boston Pops, the Portland Opera, and the San Francisco Opera Center.

Kliewer, a professor at Northwest College, recently performed with the Casper Chorale and Orchestra, the Cheyenne Chamber Singers and Orchestra, the Billings Symphony. He has also held roles in "Sweeney Todd," "Don Giovanni" and "Carmen".

Read "Artscapes," escape winter blahs

The winter 2008 issue of the Wyoming Arts Council's quarterly print newsletter, Artscapes, is off the presses.

This edition focuses on the state's abundance of individual artists -- and some of the WAC programs that assist their creative efforts. Assistant editor Linda Coatney wrote and shot the photos for the feature on Torrington in Goshen County, the "Wyoming Arts Community" for this issue. Folklorist Georgia Weir explores the history of Dutch Hop Polka and grebble-making in Goshen County. In our artist spotlight pages, we profile visual artist Michelle Farrier and singer-songwriter Michael Hurwitz, both from tiny Alta on the far side of the Tetons. On a somber note, we remember two fine Wyoming artists who passed away in 2007 -- Verlane Desgrange and Robert Russin.

If you'd like to receive our newsletter, call us at 307-777-7742 and we'll put you on the mailing list. If you have ideas for articles, e-mail editors Michael Shay or Linda Coatney.

Rogers offers poem "in a world gone deadly"

“In Hospice,” a poem by Jeanne Rogers of Sundance, has been published in volume five of the on-line journal, Survivor’s Review. Jeanne is an active member of Bear Lodge Writers and Wyoming Writers, Inc.

Read “In Hospice” at http://www.survivorsreview.org/features.php?vol=5&art=65

Auditions: "Disney's High School Musical"

The Cheyenne Little Theatre Players will hold open auditions on Monday and Tuesday, March 3-4, 6:30-9 p.m., at the Historic Atlas Theatre in downtown Cheyenne.

Audition details: Director Wende Wolfe-Perez will be casting 15-20 females, ages 14-19; 15-20 males, ages 14-19; one adult male; and one adult female. Come prepared to sing 60 seconds of a song that shows off your voice. Bring sheet music (piano accompaniment provided) or a CD. Be prepared to learn a short dance number and to do a cold reading from the script. Bring a photo if possible.

Performances will be May 2-4, 8-11, and 15-18.

FMI: CLTP at 307-638-6543

Symphony looking for recording engineer

Sherry Parmater, executive director of the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra in Casper, is looking for a recording engineer who could record and edit a professional recording of the symphony.

If you know someone who fits the bill, call Sherry at 307-266-1478.

Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition

$2,000 Awaits Winners of Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition

Entries are now being accepted for the 28th annual Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition, created to recognize and encourage the efforts of writers who have not yet achieved major-market success. Writers will compete for a $1,000 first prize, $500 second prize, and $500 third prize in this internationally acclaimed competition. Several honorable mentions are also awarded each year.Stories in all genres of fiction are welcome. Maximum length is 3,000 words, and writers retain all rights to their work. The final deadline is May 15, 2008; winners will be announced at the end of July. For complete guidelines, please visit www.shortstorycompetition.com, e-mail to shortstorykw@aol.com, or send an SASE to the Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition, P.O. Box 993, Key West, FL 33041.