"Reading Wyoming" groups begin Aug. 26

From a press release:

"Reading Wyoming," the popular book discussion program of the Wyoming Humanities Council, will take place in 19 Wyoming communities this fall. The program brings together community members and a humanities discussion leader to read and discuss a series of four books. Sessions are free and open to the public, and the Wyoming Humanities Council loans books to participants. To join a discussion in your community, contact the host organization directly. A schedule appears below.

Nonprofit organizations and government agencies are invited to host "Reading Wyoming." The application deadline for groups meeting in spring 2009 is September 2.

FMI: http://www.uwyo.edu/humanities or call 307-721-9243.

Baggs, public library, starts August 26.
Casper, Ft. Caspar Museum, starts August 25.
Cheyenne, public library, starts August 10.
Cody, Christ Episcopal Church, starts August 4.
Evanston, public library, starts August 19.
Green River, public library, starts August 21.
Lander, public library, starts September 4.
Laramie, Eppson Senior Ctr., starts August 18.
Lusk, public library, starts September 3.
Medicine Bow, Senior Center, starts September 3.
Pine Bluffs, public library, starts August 21.
Pinedale, public library, starts September 1.
Powell, Rocky Mtn. Manor, starts September 3.
Ranchester, public library, starts August 25.
Riverton, public library, starts September 8.
Rock Springs, WWCC Library, starts September 8.
Story, public library, starts September 8.
Upton, public library, starts August 21.
Worland, public library, starts September 15.

Cat Urbigkit's new book about wolves

Pinedale sheep rancher, photographer and children’s writer Cat Urbigkit has written a new book. Yellowstone Wolves--A Chronicle of the Animal, the People, and the Politics will be released published in September by the McDonald & Woodward Publishing Company of Granville, Ohio.

Here’s what the publisher says about the book:

For the first time, the history of Wyoming's native wolf is told in an intensively researched, fully footnoted chronicle by Pinedale, Wyoming's award-winning author Cat Urbigkit. Beginning with the archeological evidence of wolves in western Wyoming, through the wolf control era when most, but not all, wolves were eradicated, the book continues through the release of Canadian wolves into Yellowstone National Park and the lasting effects of this controversial action. Urbigkit is uniquely qualified to compile this intensely personal perspective, as she was one of the litigants who sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to prevent the reintroduction of Canadian wolves into the northern Rockies.

Urbigkit's book provides four frames of context: historic, scientific, legal, and immensely personal. The book details what was known about the native wolf and how it differed from other wolf populations. It explains the political and legal battles over the proposal to reintroduce non-native wolves to the region. While the debate raged, some of its participants largely ignored the fact the wolves still existed in the region and introducing Canadian wolves would be a violation of the Endangered Species Act. Rather than a triumph for conservation, the author viewed the wolf reintroduction program as a tragedy. Rather than a victory for wildlife, it was an action causing the extinction of a truly distinct animal, Wyoming's native wolf. She fought the original wolf reintroduction proposal not out of hatred for wolves, but out of concern for the possible extinction of Wyoming's native wolf.

FMI: www.mwpubco.com/YellowstoneWolves.htm

Surf's up at LCCC Theatre in Cheyenne!

Psycho Beach Party by Charles Burch is the first offering of the 2008-2009 theatre season at Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne.

It will debut on Thursday, Aug. 21, and play through Saturday, Aug. 23, 7:30 p.m., at the LCCC Playhouse, 1400 E. College Dr. Tickets are $10 general admission; $5 students and seniors.

Here's a description of the play from the LCCC web site:

Imagine Gidget crossed with The Three Faces of Eve and Mommie Dearest and you get Psycho Beach Party. Chicklet, a perky teenager in Malibu Beach circa 1962, wants to learn to surf and joins a group of beach bums led by the great Kanaka.

Unfortunately, she suffers from multiple personality disorder. Seeing red causes her to transform into various other selves, including a sinister vamp out to conquer the world. Complications arise when a movie starlet flees the set of her latest rotten movie to hide among the surfers. The climax is a wild luau scene where hypnosis
reveals the shocking root of Chicklet's psychosis.

Seats may be reserved by calling 307.432.1626 or 307.778.1158.

Meet the bookfest authors: John Clayton

Here's another installment of profiles of the writers appearing at the Equality State Book Festival Sept. 18-20 in Casper:

John Clayton's new book, The Cowboy Girl, is a biography of the Montana/Wyoming novelist, journalist, and homesteader Caroline Lockhart.

"Expertly researched and wonderfully written," writes Mark Spragg, author of Where Rivers Change Direction, "this biography of Lockhart expands the genre to a meditation on frontier, feminism, and the vagaries of literary hubris. Clayton has rendered a riveting portrait of a woman both troubled and brave, a character caught up in the fiction of her own life." The book relies on archival materials not available to Lockhart's previous biographers.

Clayton lives in Red Lodge, Montana, with his family. His articles appear regularly in the Montana Quarterly, Horizon Air, and dozens of regional newspapers through the Writers on the Range syndicate. And in the business world, he ghost writes white papers, case studies, newsletter articles, and online help files for several leading information and high-tech companies. John especially enjoys bringing his fascination with narrative structure to the communication needs of business executives.

Previously, John wrote the lifestyle advice book Small Town Bound (Career Press, 1990) and has contributed to several other books. He has taught at Rocky Mountain College and is on the advisory board for the Montana Center for the Book. He moved from Massachusetts to Montana in 1990.

Clayton will speak on a bookfest panel on "Wyoming History" at 2:45 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 18 , at the Fort Caspar Museum and will sign books following the panel.

FMI: http://www.johnclaytonbooks.com/

Cheyenne Quilter's Guild Show

The Cheyenne Civic Center's Quilt Show was able to go forward, despite the flood damage the Center received Tuesday night from a storm that dumped 2.5 inches on Cheyenne in just 30 minutes. Much needed moisture, but the Center's basement had to be pumped out and water rose to the main stage level.

There were 100-plus quilts displayed over this past weekend, all imaginative, with stories to accompany their design and execution. All kinds of techniques -- windowpane, applique, beading and fabric emblishments and manipulating, hand and machine quilting -- left show attendees oohing and aahing. White gloves were handed out for touching, and there were an assortment of vendors with quilt kits, ribbons and lace embellishments, packets of quilt squares and books of all kinds to purchase.

Quilts these days are works of art, documenting a time and place in the quilters' lives. Although many are still functional as blankets, many are now hung on the wall as interpretive art. Included in the show were a few vintage quilts.

The Cheyenne Quilter's Guild also takes its trunk show around to schools and interested organizations to display quilts and talk about the art of quilting.

Alliance of Artists' Communities Annual Conference in Seattle

"Arts and Civic Engagement" November 12-15

Registration is now open for the Alliance of Artists Communities 18th annual conference, exploring what it means as an artist-centered organization to be a full participant in civic life, engaging in the global community, supporting artists working in social justice and public or community art, and integrating support for artists, creativity, and innovation into public policy.
Join national and international leaders who engage artists and community, including artists' residency directors, arts funders, civic leaders, activists, artists, and others.

Keynote speakers:

William Cleveland Thursday, November 13
William Cleveland is author of Art and Upheaval (New Village Press, 2008) and director of the Center for the Study of Art and Community.

Richard Andrews Friday, November 14
Richard served for 20 years as director of the Henry Art Gallery at University of Washington, and for three years as director of the visual arts program at the National Endowment for the Arts. He is president of the Skystone Foundation, which manages James Turrell's Roden Crater in Arizona.

For information on registering, agenda, events, sites, and travel
visit: www.artistcommunities.org/conference

2008-09 UW Symphony Orchestra Season

From Michael Griffith, Musical Director:

Thursday, October 9, 7:30 p.m.
Brazilian & Bohemian
Rúbia Santos, piano soloist

Mozart, The Marriage of Figaro Overture
Guarnieri, Piano Concertino
Dvoÿák, Symphony No. 6

Thursday, November 20, 7:30 p.m.
An English Enigma
Tai Murray, violin soloist

Beethoven, Fidelio Overture
Bruch, Violin Concerto No. 1
Elgar, Enigma Variations

Saturday, December 6, 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, December 7, 3:00 p.m.
Gala Holiday Concerts
Scott Turpen, saxophone soloist
This year’s holiday festivities will be highlighted by Duke Ellington’s version of the Nutcracker Suite, Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on Greensleeves, and two Christmas favorites by Leroy Anderson.

Thursday, March 5, 7:30 p.m.*
The Dorothy Jacoby Student Soloist Competition
Who will be chosen to perform? Who will win the competition? The very best UW musicians play the ir very best solo works in this exciting concert.
*Schedule subject to change pending release of the UW basketball schedule.
Thursday, April 16, 7:30 p.m.

Roman Brass
Thomas Pfotenhauer, trumpet soloist
Ravel, Mother Goose Suite
Liebermann, Trumpet Concerto
Respighi, Roman Festivals

Meet the bookfest authors: Serle Chapman

Author of seven books, accomplished photographer, and wide-ranging tour guide to the Indian country of the High Plains, Serle Chapman brings a unique perspective to the people in the heart of North America, past and present.

His forebears include the frontier scout Amos Chapman, and Chapman's Cheyenne wife Long Neck Woman, granddaughter of Black Kettle and survivor of the fights on Sand Creek and the Washita. Chapman's book Promise: Bozeman's Trail to Destiny combines Indian and white, contemporary and historical accounts of the troubles along Wyoming and Montana's Bozeman trail in the 1860s with his own photos and historical photos from the time. Out of this cultural mix of attitudes toward the past, truth, fact, and memory comes a deep and rich account.

Chapman’s work has been highlighted on national TV and radio, and one of the world’s premiere arts complexes, London’s Barbican Centre, described him in their ‘Written America’ series as “a critically acclaimed writer and one of the world’s leading photographers.” His photography is on permanent display at museums and visitor’s centers in North and Central America, including the Biosphere Center in Mexico.

Chapman’s writing and photography has appeared in numerous national and international publications, including The Times of London, The Navajo Times, Indian Country Today, The Lakota Times, Aboriginal Voices (Canada) and various city and statewide newspapers. His work has been praised by Vine Deloria, Bill Clinton, and Nelson Mandela, and his photographs have been compared with those of Edward Curtis.

Chapman will appear on the "Plain Facts and True Stories" panel at the Equality State Book Festival at 9 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 20, at the Nicolaysen Art Museum in Casper. He will be available to sign books after the panel.

Seeking Executive Director for the Bozeman Symphony Society

The Executive Director:

* works with the Music Director and the Board of Directors in the development of the long term strategic direction of the Society as well as the day to day direction of all business activities necessary to achieve these strategic objectives.
* is an ex-officio member of the Board of Directors and participates in board meetings and discussions.
* is directly involved in all aspects of the financial development of the Society, including fund raising and event planning as well as in directing related activities such grant writing, foundation relationships, etc.
* oversees the involvement of volunteers.
* is the face of the Society in the community along with the Music Director.
* assists the Music Director in the production of performances.
* directs the marketing of the Symphony to all constituencies.
* develops the budget and oversees the financial operations of the Society.
* directs office staff and activities to ensure achievement of goals and compliance with legal and regulatory matters.
* supports the Music Director in the hiring and compensation of musicians, guest artists and others involved in performances.
* reports to the Board of Directors through the President of the board.
The candidate:
* will have a strong background in the executive management of a growing, successful enterprise with budgets in excess of $750,000 per year-non profit experience is a plus.
* will have had meaningful experience in fund raising and related financial activities.
* has had experience in managing personnel-both employees and volunteers.
* will be or will become a resident of the Bozeman community.
* will have strong communications skills and be a convincing advocate for the Society.
Compensation will be commensurate with the candidates experience.
Send resumes and salary requirements to the Bozeman Symphony Society, Executive Director Search Committee, 1822 West Lincoln, Suite 3, Bozeman Montana 59715. Application will be accepted until September 15th, 2008.

Painter of the Purple Sage at AVA

NEA helps artists in flood-ravaged states

The National Endowment for the Arts announces $100,000 in grants and additional resources to support Iowan and Midwestern arts communities affected by this year's historic flooding. An NEA grant of $100,000 to the Iowa Arts Council will help Iowa artists and arts organizations resume their work. In addition, the NEA and the Institute of Museum Library Services (IMLS) are supporting the distribution of a new publication, Guide to Navigating Federal Emergency Management Agency and Small Business Administration Disaster Aid for Cultural Institutions. Concurrent with these efforts, an NEA-supported Governors' Institute on Community Design recently brought together Iowa leaders to develop strategies for rebuilding the state after one of the worst storm seasons to hit the region.

For the full press release, visit http://www.arts.gov/news/news08/iowa.html

From Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate, 2004-2006:

Hearts and flowers, that's how some people dismiss poetry, suggesting that's all there is to it, just a bunch of sappy poets weeping over love and beauty. Well, poetry is lots more than that. At times it's a means of honoring the simple things about us. To illustrate the care with which one poet observes a flower, here's Frank Steele, of Kentucky, paying such close attention to a sunflower that he almost gets inside it.

Sunflower

You're expected to see

only the top, where sky

scrambles bloom, and not

the spindly leg, hairy, fending off

tall, green darkness beneath.

Like every flower, she has a little

theory, and what she thinks

is up. I imagine the long

climb out of the dark

beyond morning glories, day lilies, four o'clocks

up there to the dream she keeps

lifting, where it's noon all day.

Local artist contributes to sculpture exhibition

Artist Stan Dolega (right) and Sterling Smith , UW Art Museum Chief Preparator, construct Veedauwoo Modernized at his West Laramie studio. Photo courtesy of the UW Art Museum.

Laramie artist, Stan Dolega, is scheduled to install a new sculpture at Optimist Park on Thursday, Aug 21. The new artwork, Veedauwoo Modernized, is inspired by the rock formations of Veedauwoo and is a continuation of the artist’s work that references the landscape and nature.
Constructed of steel, flagstone and boulders, the sculpture measures 10 feet wide by 10 feet long by 6 ft high. Veedauwoo Modernized marks a return to creating outdoor art by the artist. Dolega is one of many artists who, during the 1970s and 1980s, created large-scale earthworks or land art. Elements of nature and natural settings formed the basis of this genre of art that was often vast in scale and commonly effected by the natural elements of daily and seasonal cycles.
Dolega has many earthworks in locations across the U. S., including Dayton, Ohio, Wenatchee, Wash., Detroit, Mich., and Montgomery County, Md. The works range in size from 64 feet long to a quarter of an acre, with varying elevations, up to 10 feet high. His largest outdoor work is in Hannah, Wyo., where he created an earthwork to serve as both a sanitary landfill and a recreation site; it is 120 acres with elevations ranging from zero to 100 feet.

Dolega is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Art in Public Places grant, NEA Artist Fellowship, and Wyoming Arts council Fellowship. He is represented in the Smithsonian American Art Museum and is the owner of Wolf Ears Equipment, maker of fine hand-crafted gun leather.

Dolega’s sculpture is one of 18 works that comprise Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational, an exhibition of public art on the University of Wyoming campus and in Laramie that has been organized by the University of Wyoming Art Museum. The exhibition officially opens with a reception on Friday, Sept. 12, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Prexy’s Pasture. It continues through July 2009.

"Imagine learning from the masters" is a guiding principle of the UW Art Museum ’s programs. The museum is located in the Centennial Complex at 2111 Willett Dr in Laramie. The museum and Museum Store are open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.
For more information, call (307) 766-6622 or visit www.uwyo.edu/artmuseum or the museum’s new blog, www.uwartmuseum.blogspot.com.

New Jim Bridger statue dedicated on Aug. 8

At the Fort Bridger State Historic Site on Friday, August 8, the new Jim Bridger bronze statue will be unveiled to the public. Admission to the site is free during the entire day.

The Fort Bridger Museum opens 10 a.m. At 3 p.m., Jim Bridger descendant Bobby Bridger (shown in photo), singer, songwriter, actor and author, performs "Ballad of the West." At 6 p.m., the statue by noted sculptor David Clark will be dedicated. This will include a presentation by keynote speaker Dudley Gardner, Ph.D., professor of History and Political Science at Western Wyoming Community College.

Clark, a 1977 graduate of Green River High School, has his own studio in Lander. The Bridger statue was cast this spring at the Eagle Bronze foundry in Lander.

Other festivities feature a variety of entertainment, kids’ games, refreshments, speakers and historic presentations. Costumed interpreters will be on hand in the historic buildings of the fort. Also, a variety of entertainment on Officer’s Row will be provided including displays of Victorian Women’s Clothing and Springfield rifle demonstrations.

For more information, please call 307-782-3842.

Flash flood swamps Cheyenne Civic Center

A flash flood Tuesday night dumped more than 500,000 gallons of water into the Cheyenne Civic Center, home of the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra. The flood damaged electrical equipment, buckled a wooden floor, and swamped a grand piano.

According to the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle:

Although the theater itself wasn't damaged, two events at the Civic Center have been cancelled -- the BoDeans show that was scheduled for Monday and the Act Two Studios dance recital that was scheduled for Saturday.

The dance recital will take place at Cheyenne's East High on Saturday, with full shows happening at 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., said the owner of the studio, Leslie Connaghan.

Refunds for the BoDeans are available at the point of purchase starting Monday. [Civic Center Director] Dru Rohla is examining possibilities to reschedule that show.

The Cheyenne Heritage Quilters show, which starts today, is not expected to be affected.

FMI: Civic Center at 307-637-6364.

Music & Poetry Series Aug. 11 at Jazz Spot

The ARTCORE Music & Poetry Series presents musician Kenny Garrett and writer Susan Anderson on Monday, Aug. 11, 7:30 p.m., at The Jazz Spot in Casper.

Kenny Garrett is a Casper native who has, for the last thirty plus years, traveled and played music throughout the United States, Europe, and the Middle East, touring with regional and national artists, as well as with his own groups.

Growing up in Casper, Kenny has been involved with various musical experiences, including the Casper Troopers, in addition to owning Casper Music. He has been on hundreds of recording projects, including Rand McNally Video Trips for the Discovery Channel, soundtracks for commercials, and demos. He co-wrote the Wyoming Centennial Song, We Are Wyoming, with Don Jackson and Tom Stanko.

Susan Anderson writes a weekly column, "Living in Wyoming" in the Casper Journal. The column has won two National Newspaper awards, one for humor and one for human interest. It focuses on the human details of life in Wyoming, from profiles of people with great stories to tell to essays on life with kids and dachshunds. She is the author of the nonfiction book Living in Wyoming with photographer Zbigniew Bzdak and an updated second edition, Living in Wyoming—Trails Edition.

In addition to writing, Anderson has been a journalist in broadcast and print, working as editor of the Casper Journal for five years. For many years she was news director and hosted the weekly television interview program Report to Wyoming at KTWO Television. Before moving to Wyoming, she was a television producer and reporter in San Francisco.

Creative writing fellowship winners announced

The Wyoming Arts Council is pleased to announce the winners of the 2009 creative writing fellowships in fiction.

They are Doug Reitinger, Sheridan; Valerie Pexton, Laramie; and Kevin Holdsworth, Green River. Each of the writers will receive a $3,000 prize. They also will receive a $500 stipend to read their work at the Equality State Book Festival Sept. 18-20 in Casper.

Receiving honorable mentions are Robert McKee, Douglas; Bill Hoagland, Cody; and Tina Welling, Jackson.

The wyomingarts blog will feature excerpts from the work of these writers during the next few weeks.

The judge for this year’s competition was Laura Pritchett, a novelist and short story writer from Bellvue, Colorado. She will join the recipients for the annual fellowship reading on Thursday, Sept. 18, 1:30-3:30 p.m. in the Goodstein Foundation Library at Casper College. The event is free and open to the public.

This is the 21st year for the WAC’s creative writing fellowships. The competition is open to Wyoming residents who are at least 18 years old and are not enrolled full-time in a high school, college or university arts program. There is no entry fee. Applications are available each spring and the deadline is in June.

For more information, contact Mike Shay at 307-777-5234.

Inaugural Wyoming Plein Air exhibit Aug. 9

The inaugural Wyoming Plein Air exhibition will be presented by The Link Gallery in partnership with the Deselms Fine Art in Cheyenne.

The artists will paint on location from Aug. 1-8. On Saturday, Aug. 9, a “quick draw” will be held outside of the downtown Cheyenne Depot Museum from 8:30-10:30 a.m. An auction will follow at 11 a.m. at the Historic Plains Hotel. The exhibition opens at noon at Deselms Fine Art, 124 W. Lincolnway, and The Link Gallery at 1609 Capitol Ave. The exhibition runs through Sept. 20. A gala reception and awards ceremony will be held from 4-8 p.m. at both galleries.

Sponsored by Southwest Art, The Link Gallery, Deselms Fine Art, Cheyenne Depot Museum, Cheyenne Downtown Development Authority, The Plains Hotel and Emerson Framing.

FMI: Deselms at 307-432-0606 and the Link Gallery at 307-788-0330.

Meet the bookfest authors: Lawrence Woods

Here's another installment of a series of profiles of authors participating in the Equality State Book Festival in Casper Sept. 18-20:

Lawrence M. Woods, of Worland, Wyoming has written widely on Wyoming's past. His books include Alex Swan and the Swan Companies (Arthur H. Clark, 2006); Edward Shelley's Journal, 1856-61: A Victorian Remittance Man (2005); Asa Shinn Mercer: Western Promoter and Newspaperman, 1839-1917 (Arthur H. Clark, 2003); John Clay Jr: Commission Man, Banker and Rancher (Arthur H. Clark, 2001); Wyoming's Big Horn Basin to 1901: a Late Frontier (Arthur H. Clark, 1997); Wyoming Biographies (High Plains Pub. Co., 1991); British Gentlemen in the Wild West: the Era of the Intensely English Cowboy (Free Press, 1989); Moreton Frewen's Western Adventures, (Roberts Rinehart, 1986); Sometimes the Books Froze: Wyoming's Economy and its Banks (Colorado Associated University Press, 1986); and The Wyoming Country Before Statehood: Four Hundred Years Under Six Flags, (Worland Press, 1971).

Woods was born in Manderson and graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1953, holds a Ph.D. in history from New York University, and is an attorney and CPA. He served in accounting and auditing positions with a national accounting firm, and in the U.S. government. He joined Mobil Oil in 1956 and served in a number of planning positions, retiring from the company in 1985 as executive vice president and member of the board of directors.

Woods will speak on a panel on Wyoming History at 2:45 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 18, at the Fort Caspar Museum. He will be available to sign books after the panel.

For more info on Lawrence Woods, go to http://wyomingauthors.pbwiki.com/Lawrence-M-Woods.

Off Square's Studio Series begins Aug. 7

Jackson’s Off Square Theatre Company's acclaimed Studio Series returns for 2008 on Thursday, Aug. 7, through Saturday, Aug. 9, 8 p.m., with four edgy productions in the new Studio Theater in the Center for the Arts.

The series starts with the funny and moving one-man show about what happens when a man loses his identity as a husband and a father, "A Little More Than You Wanted To Spend," written and performed by Chris Clavelli. Clavelli, the associate artistic director of the Florida Repertory Theatre, appeared in Off Square's spring production of "The Fourth Nail" and directed the local company's sensational "Stones in His Pockets."

The Center's new Studio Theater is located off the Center Theater at the far end of the skywalk over the lobby.

Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for students/seniors, $15 for children.

Click Here To Get Tickets

Meet the bookfest authors: Mallory Burton

Mallory Burton (pictured at right with the one that didn't get away) lives in British Columbia, Canada, where she works as the Provincial Coordinator for the Universal Design for Learning Project. She has written for magazines such as Fly Fishing, Fly Rod & Reel, and Gray's Sporting Journal and published two books, Reading the Water and Green River Virgins and Other Passionate Anglers. Her other interests include fossil-hunting, teaching ballroom dancing, and spoiling her baby granddaughter.

At the Equality State Book Festival Sept. 18-20 in Casper, Burton will appear on the panel: "Catching the Big One: Writers on Trout" sheduled for 10:45 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20, at the Nicolaysen Art Museum. She will be available to sign books after the panel.

Warning from Ron: Don't type on this cake!

Wyomingarts strives to keep track of those artists, writers and performers who have wandered away from Wyoming. Well-traveled writer Ron Franscell grew up in Casper, made an impact as a journalist and editor in Gillette, and won a FY 1996 Wyoming Arts Council creative writing fellowship. He writes to us with news -- both professional and personal -- from his home in San Antonio, Texas:

THE DARKEST NIGHT continues to capture readers' imaginations, and has been the hottest selling true-crime book of the summer! It remains in Amazon's Top 10 true crimes and is getting new attention from as far away as Korea and Australia. Kind of daunting for this Wyoming kid, but gratifying to know that Amy's and Becky's trauma might have a positive effect today, 35 years later.

If you happen to be lounging on your back deck next Saturday afternoon, grab your laptop! I'll be appearing on Burl Barer's true-crime radio show at 4 p.m. CDT Saturday (8/9). You can't hear this show on your old-fashioned radio! Just log-on to http://outlawcrime.com/ and listen from the comfort of your deck chair!

Many of you know that I was married on July 5 to my best friend, Mary, here in San Antonio. The ceremony at a former Catholic convent in the Hill Country couldn't have been more perfect. But even on such an occasion, I couldn't get far from the writer's life. Pictured here [see above] is the groom's cake: a replica of my antique 1920s-era Royal typewriter, rendered in dark chocolate! I would have tried to write a story on it, but it would have turned out way too sweet!

Stage III Theatre announces season

Stage III Theatre, 900 N. Center St. in Casper, has announced the line-up for its 2008-2009 season:

September 2008: THE GUYS, a tribute to the firefighters who lost their lives on 9-11.

October 2008: WAR OF THE WORLDS, a special Readers' Theatre adaptation produced at the Casper Planetarium for the 70th anniversary of the original broadcast. (Because this special show is a joint fund-raiser for Stage III and the Planetarium, it is not included in our season ticket.)

November 2008: MADAM'S BEEN MURDERED, TEA WILL BE LATE, a haunted British mansion house, fortune-hunters, tourists and other delightfully offbeat characters mix it up in a fun-filled farce.

January 2009: MOONLIGHT AND MAGNOLIAS -- How was the script of "Gone With the Wind" written? Would you believe three men, one typewriter, and countless quantities of peanuts and bananas, all locked in an office for a week? Movie history has never been so funny.

March 2009: LEWIS CARROLL: SIX IMPOSSIBLE THINGS BEFORE BREAKFAST -- Revisit the world of Alice in Wonderland in this magical piece that's delightful for children and fascinating for adults. (This will be our Guest Director show for the season.)

April 2009: FIVE WOMEN WEARING THE SAME DRESS -- We let our audiences vote for one show in the season, and they picked this edgy contemporary comedy about five bridesmaids.

June 2009: GOODNIGHT DESDEMONA, GOOD MORNING JULIET. See the comic side of two of the Bard's greatest tragic heroines. Journey with a time-travelling researcher who finds that the real Desdemona was a feisty woman warrior and the real Juliet was not so crazy about her Romeo as you thought.

FMI: 307-234-0946

Meet the bookfest authors: Beth Loffreda

We're publishing profiles of the many fine authors that will be attending the second annual Equality State Book Festival Sept. 18-20 in Casper.

Beth Loffreda teaches workshops in non-fiction as well as courses in recent American and African-American literature at the University of Wyoming. She has written about Wyoming in Losing Matt Shepard: Life and Politics in the Aftermath of Anti-Gay Murder (Columbia University Press, 2000). Currently she's working on essays about a variety of American eccentrics.

She grew up in Audubon, Pennsylvania, and attended the University of Virginia (BA) and Rutgers (PhD in English). Since arriving at UW in 1998, she has won the Ellbogen Meritorious Teaching award, the Jason Thompson Commitment to Diversity award, and Top Ten Teacher, among other honors. She's usually outside.

At the bookfest, Loffreda will be teaching a non-fiction writing workshop offering CEU's, Thursday and Friday, Sept. 18-19, at Casper College, and will also appear on the panel: "Plain Facts and True Stories", scheduled for 9 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 20, at the Nicolaysen Art Museum.

FMI: http://uwyo.edu/english/

From White House to political thriller writer

From a Teton County Public Library press release:

Author Karna Small Bodman will describe how she weaves her White House experience into suspenseful novels when Teton County Library presents a free talk, "From Politics to Political Thrillers" with Karna Small Bodman, on Wednesday, August 13, from 7-8 p.m., in the Teton County Library’s Ordway Auditorium in Jackson.

Bodman is an author, television journalist and former Senior Director of the White House National Security Council under President Reagan. During her talk, she will share startling details of her life in the political arena. As one example, she was scheduled to be in the car with Press Secretary Jim Brady the day of the assassination attempt on President Reagan. At the last minute, she stayed back at the White House. She spent that day in the Situation Room with members of the President’s Cabinet.

“I would have been walking out of the Hilton Hotel with Jim and the President the moment that John Hinckley shot them both,” she said. She’ll describe the events of that fateful day along with many other White House experiences she’s incorporated into her political thrillers. Her novels include “Checkmate” and its sequel, “Gambit,” which was featured on the “Today Show.” A book signing will follow her talk.

Bodman served in the White House for six years. When she left to become Senior Vice President of a public affairs firm, she was the highest ranking woman on the White House staff. Her last post was Senior Director of the National Security Council. She was also on the air for 15 years as a TV news reporter and anchor in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and New York.

For more information on this program, contact the library’s Adult Humanities Coordinator Oona Doherty at 733-2164 ext. 135 or visit the library’s website, www.tclib.org.

Hagy nominated for High Plains Book Award

From a UW press release:

A University of Wyoming professor has been nominated for a prestigious women's writing award from the Zonta Club of Billings.

Alyson Hagy's latest book, "Snow, Ashes," is one of three finalists in the second annual Parmly Billings Library High Plains Book Awards. The winner will be announced Friday, Oct. 17, at the club's banquet in Billings.

The High Plains book awards were established to recognize regional authors and literary works which examine and reflect life in Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

The Zonta Club of Billings is a member of Zonta International, a global organization of executives and professionals working together to advance the status of women through service and advocacy.

In "Snow, Ashes," Hagy reveals the intricacies of a profound friendship between two very different men in an engaging exploration of survival and failure.

Hagy has won numerous accolades for her writing, including a Pushcart Prize and fellowships from the National Education Association and the Christopher Isherwood Foundation. Her work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Five Points and Shenandoah, among other publications.

Hagy's first novel, "Keeneland," was released in 2000. She also has written three collections of short stories.

An associate professor in the UW Department of English, Hagy earned a B.A. in English (1982) from Williams College and an M.F.A. in creative writing (‘85) from the University of Michigan.

Eric Jones reception Aug. 1 at Gillette's AVA

Concert to raise funds for Pinedale FAC

The rise of the "artists' district" in Phoenix

You have to admire the chutzpah shown by the artists of Phoenix.

At the turn of the century, the Phoenix downtown area had about a dozen artist spaces. Five years later, there were more than 100.

"The change has been dramatic," says Greg Esser, founder of the Roosevelt Row Community Development Corporation. "We didn't want an arts district but an artists' district -- a vibrant urban community."

And that what Esser and other pioneering Phoenix artists have created with their "front-porch activism." It's a lively city neighborhood with live-in and exhibit spaces for artists with the coffee shops, restaurants and bars that go along with it. The Roosevelt Row First Friday Art Walk draws up to 20,000 people. It's become so popular that the group started a Third Fridays Gallery Night.

Esser spoke to a July 25 gathering of visual arts coordinators from the West, a meeting sponsored by Denver's Western States Arts Federation. Mike Shay was there to represent the Wyoming Arts Council. Esser's PowerPoint presentation included before-and-after images of the neighborhood -- and plenty of tips on "adaptive reuse" of old buildings.

When the artists first looked out upon Roosevelt Street just north of downtown's high-rises, they saw abandoned bungalows that housed squatters and crack dealers. It was such a dangerous neighborhood that, even after the first arts space opened, artists and arts-lovers were afraid to go there after dark. As more and more buildings were bought (or leased) and renovated, and traffic changed from drive-by drug buyers to drive-in arts patrons, the Roosevelt Row artists faced new problems in the form of city regulations -- and lack thereof.

"We had a lot of public resistance initially," says Esser, "and no public funding, at least in the beginning."

The initial resistance came from the City of Phoenix, the Downtown Phoenix Partnership, the Arizona Tourism and Sports Authority, and developers who thought the neighborhood would be a great place for a new football stadium. The land had been purchased and demolition had already begun in adjacent areas. Voters had passed a bond issue to fund the stadium in one of four locations in the valley, which included downtown.

But the battle was on. Artists were opposed to a new stadium being dropped on their heads. They wrote letters and attended meetings to voice their opposition. They also told their story through art. Esser's first installation at the new studio was on its floor. He designed a replica of the proposed stadium's 40-yard-line right at the very spot it was supposed to be. It brought home the fact that this very gallery was due to be replaced by a stadium that would be used a few weekends a year, and the rest of the time would sit there like a big silver barrel cactus, a native plant (the green kind, not the silver variety) that the architects allegedly used for inspiration.

The Phoenix Cardinals Stadium, host of the 2008 Super Bowl, now sits ten miles away from downtown in Glendale.

But, for Esser and the other Roosevelt Row artists, there were more meetings to attend and more paperwork to be filled out. Not all artists like the nuts-and-bolts of creating an artists' district.

"Engagement is a choice," says Esser. "Someone has to go to the city meeting. First, you have to find out which ones to go to." By going to these meetings, Esser became the de facto "artists' advocate" and schooled himself on the arcane laws of the city bureaucracy. It was rough going at first, especially when faced with zoning regulations.

"One of our big challenges were official policies that encouraged post-World War II single-family residences and the development that followed," according to Esser. "This city was not used to adaptive reuse." Phoenix had no old warehouse district to be renovated. These districts have been key to redevelopment in cities such as Denver and Baltimore. Ironically, the rise of downtown artists' districts in these cities were spurred by construction of retro-style baseball stadiums that either copied or used old brick warehouses in the facilities.

All is not sunny for artists in the Valley of the Sun. Old houses and buildings are still being torn down and, says Esser, "we're still surrounded by blight." While they now have allies in city hall, even an Office of Customer Relations to help citizen-artists find the right meetings to attend, they have to keep on their toes, lest new regulations be enacted that can derail their progress.

Artists in other urban areas can learn a lot from the Roosevelt Row experience. It takes money and time and persistence to create an artists' district. All that takes time away from your art, but can lead to your own live-in gallery in a thriving city neighborhood. It also offers many lessons in the civic engagement which is crucial to democracy.

For more on the Roosevelt Row CDC, go to http://www.rooseveltrow.org/. Of particular interest is the "planning" page at http://www.rooseveltrow.org/downtown.html. It includes a 2004 study of downtown Phoenix by Richard Florida's consulting firm Catalytix.

"King John" at Botanic Gardens Aug. 2

The Wyoming Shakespeare Company from Lander will perform "King John" on Saturday, Aug. 2, 4:30 p.m. at the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens in Lions Park. The event is free and open to the public.

Here's a blurb about the play from the Botanic Gardens' web site:

As Cheyenne's political season draws near, pull up your lawn chair or blanket and see what one of the great political philosophers had to say about power- how it is gained, lost or held onto for dear life.

"Arts in the Park" Aug. 2 in Laramie

Laramie photographer Doc Thissen alerted wyomingarts about the following event:

You are invited to Laramie’s third annual arts and live music festival in Undine Park.

On Saturday, August 2, from 10 a.m.-7 p.m., artists and musicians will gather in Undine Park for a family-oriented outdoor festival.

The festival will be free to the public. Funds raised from artists and food vendors will be given to the City of Laramie for additional amenities for Undine Park.

Please mark you calendar and join Friends of Undine Park on August 2nd during the dog days of summer in Laramie.

FMI: http://www.irvings-woodfurnishings.com/artsinthepark.htm

Minerva Teichart Invitational Art Show and Sale just around the corner

Roping The Bear

August 15-16, 2008 in Cokeville, Wyoming

This art show takes place in Minerva Teichert's hometown of Cokeville, Wyoming, where she raised her family while producing marvelous murals, western and religious paintings. during last year's show, nearly 30 original Teichert paintings were displayed along with an invitational show featuring some of the top western sculptors and painters. This show provides the unique opportunity to view her work as well as interact with Minerva Teichert's contemporaries in the small Wyoming community where she created her artistic legacy.

Invited artists include Dave Wade, Kathy Wipfler, Clark Kelley Price, Grant Redden, Linda Christensen, Ken Packer, David Koch, Steve Johnson, Julie Rogers, Kelly Donovan, Aaron Jones, and Charles Dayton

The Fall, 2007 issue of the Wyoming Arts Council's newsletter, Artscapes, featured the town of Cokeville and talked about Minerva Teichert (1888-1976), the artist. If you haven't checked out her artwork on line or at the BYU Art Museum, you'll be captured by her vision and the images she painted.

No "Authors' Day" at State Fair, but you can sell your books at the fair's store

Kim Porter at the Wyoming Business Council has notified us about the cancellation of “Author’s’ Day” at the State Fair. Here are the details:

Dear Wyoming Authors:

We have been evaluating Wyoming Author's Day at the Wyoming State Fair and have regretfully decided to cancel this event. The conditions are not ideal for this type of event and the competition with other events has been a challenge. We would like to continue to support the authors in the Wyoming Products Pavillion. There has always been the opportunity for authors to sell their books in this store, but it may be a little known fact. In order to highlight Wyoming authors, in 2008 we plan to put a "book store" in the products pavilion. This gives you the opportunity to sell your books for six days. Please call Annie Wood at 777-8244 for more information.

If you’re a Wyoming writer and you’re looking for a venue where you can read from your books and sell them too, you may want to sign up for a spot at the book fair set for Sept. 20 during the Equality State Book Festival in Casper. Anyone with a book in print can reserve 15-minute spot for a reading and signing at the book fair on Saturday, Sept. 20. Works from anthologies will be accepted for readings as well.

To sign up, contact kcoe@caspercollege.edu

Across-the-border poetry event Aug. 5

If you find yourself in Salt Lake City next week with nothing to do, check this out (courtesy of Guy Lebeda, the Utah Arts Council's lit guy):

Chris Ames, an American-French poet from Utah currently residing in Paris, will be reading and performing his work at the Mestizo Cafe, 631 West North Temple, Salt Lake City, on Tuesday, August 5 at 8:30 p.m. This is a one-time poetry performance in a special setting. Come and enjoy.

Tim O'Brien headlines Targhee festival

The 21st annual Targhee Bluegrass Festival, known as "the grandfather of bluegrass festivals in the northern Rockies," will be held August 8-10 at Grand Targhee Resort near Alta in Teton County.

Headliners for 2008 include:

• Tim O'Brien
• Spring Creek
• The Infamous Stringdusters
• Tony Trischka with his Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular band
• Darrell Scott with band
• Sam Bush Band
• Blue Highway
• Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet with Bela Fleck, Casey Driessen & Ben Solle
• Jeff Austin & Friends (from Yonder Mountain String Band)

The Banana Slug String Band will play on Sat., Aug. 9, in a children's show. The band brings science and conservation to audiences using music and humor.

Great food, arts & crafts, games and on-site activities are part of the festival. Tent camping at Grand Targhee is available. Music jams and contests round out the weekend. Take the free shuttle service and leave your vehicle in Victor or Driggs. Or save on gas, be more sustainable, and carpool ($5 parking fee per car; FREE parking for weekend passholders).

For schedule, go to http://www.grandtarghee.com/summer/music-festivals/bluegrass-fest.php

"Women of Mystery" series begins Aug. 10

From a press release:

"Women of Mystery," a new reading and discussion series, kicks off at the Laramie County Public Library in August.

The first session takes place at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 10, in the library’s Windflower Room. The opening session features a film (instead of a book) examining the three authors featured in the series: Sue Grafton, Marcia Muller and Sara Paretsky.

Elaine Hayes leads the sessions, which explore the role of women as crime scene investigators - particularly those that relate to social issues.

Registration is required and can be done by calling 634-3561 or by visiting the "Ask Here" desk on the library’s first floor.

The library is located at 2200 Pioneer Ave. in Cheyenne.

Additional information about this and other programs for adults can be found at www.LCLSonline.org

"Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational" almost complete

"Horsepower," John Kearny's welded steel sculpture, 8 x 10 x 4.5

Two sculptures from the University of Wyoming Art Museum collection are scheduled to be installed at two locations in Laramie. On Wednesday, July 30, Chicago artist John Kearny’s sculpture, Alligator, will be placed at the Laramie City Annex at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Grand Street. Robert Russin’s bronze sculpture First Steps will be located at Undine Park before the annual Art in the Parks in early August.

Kearny is known for his fanciful sculptures of animals created from welded steel car bumpers. Kearny is represented in major collections in the U.S., including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; the Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita; and the Detroit Children’s Museum. Since 1951, he has had numerous one-person shows in the U.S. and Italy. Awards include a Fulbright Award to Italy and an Italian Government Grant (both in 1963-64), and a Wallace Truman Price at the National Academic of Design (1953). Kearney studied at the Cranbrook Academy of Art (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) and the Universita per Stranieri (Perugia, Italy). His studio in Chicago is part of the Contemporary Art Workshop, a non-profit organization which supports and promotes Chicago and vicinity emerging and mid-career artists. Alligator was created in 1973 and was gifted to the Art Museum by Mr. Harris J. Klein in 1974.

Russin’s sculpture First Steps will join other works on permanent view locally including the artist’s most prized depiction of Abraham Lincoln at the summit of I-80 between Laramie and Cheyenne, the Wyoming Family on Prexy’s Pasture, and Ben Franklin near the Arts and Science building on campus. Smaller works may be seen at the Laramie Recreation Center (XXXX) and Ivinson Memorial Hospital. An Emeritus Professor of UW and an A&S Outstanding Former Faculty Member, Russin was born in New York City and earned his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees at the College of the City (New York). He had a graduate fellowship at the Beaux Arts Institute of Design. He taught at Cooper Union College before moving to Laramie in 1947 to become a faculty member of the Art Department where he taught for nearly 40 years. He is fondly remembered by his students whom he motivated and inspired. Russin died in December of 2007, at the age of 93. First Steps was created c. 1972 and was gifted to the UW Art Museum in 1991 by Isadore Familian.

Alligator and First Steps are two of 17 works that comprise Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational, an exhibition of public art on the UW campus and in Laramie organized by the UW Art Museum. The exhibition officially opens with an opening celebration on Friday, September 12, from 4 – 6 p.m. on Prexy’s Pasture and will continue through July 2009.

"Imagine learning from the masters" is a guiding principle of the UW Art Museum’s programs . The Art Museum and Museum Store are located in the Centennial Complex at 22nd and Willett Drive in Laramie. Both are open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. through the summer. Admission is free.

For more information, call (307) 766-6622 or visit www.uwyo.edu/artmuseum or the museum’s blog, http://www.uwartmuseum.blogspot.com/

Douglas Invitational Art Show and Sale

Accomplished artists from three states will be featured during the 17th Annual Douglas Invitational Art Show and Sale at the Wyoming Pioneer Museum, August 8-11 a.m. The show begins Aug. 8 with an opening night reception at 7 p.m. The evening features a silent auction, hors d’oeuvres and cocktails. Tickets for the opening reception are $25 each.

The show continues on Aug. 9 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. A special youth art activity will be held at 10 a.m. called "Let’s Draw a Line." The project is patterned after the Wyoming Health Department’s campaign "Where do you draw the line" that is appearing throughout Wyoming this summer. Art lessons will be held into fair week at the Pioneer Museum at 2 p.m. Aug. 12-14.
Also, Aug. 9, the popular Quick Draw event will begin at 2 p.m., followed by a wine and cheese reception. During the Quick Draw, artists are given an hour to produce a piece of art. These artistic pieces are then auctioned beginning at 4 p.m.

The show continues on Aug. 10 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Artists’ mediums include watercolor, acrylics, oils, bronze, woodcarving and pottery. For more information about the art show, or to make reservations for the opening reception, please call 307-358-9288.

The following artists, from Wyoming, Colorado and Texas, are expected to participate in the show:
Guadalupe Barajas, Gwen Bruner, Ginny Butcher, B.J. Durr, Casey Hunter, Karen Henneck, Diane Harrop, William Hugh Jennings, William Rogers Jennings, Linda Johnson, Beck Johnson, Gary Keimig, Art Kober, Kristine Koss, Alice Marlatt, Michele McDonald, Tom Moncure, Dorothy Reland, Gisele Robinson, Barbara Schaffner, Dustin Stephenson, Pam sharp, Carla Stroh and Sam Thiewes.

How poetry heals

In an email from Cathy Malchiodi, PhD [c], ATR-BC, LPCC, CPAT:

For a look at how veterans are using poetry as therapy and writing as repartion, go to the link below. It’s a form of emotional reparation that goes by many names: poetry therapy, poetic medicine, and creative journaling, to name a few. And veterans of recent and past conflicts are using words to bear witness, find their way through horrific memories, and to ultimately win their wars within.

Listen to Larry Winters recite his poem, Confession.

http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-healing-arts/200807/words-war-words-peace-writing-therapy-part-i

Or see home page teaser at http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/

Gala Dance Concert at UW July 26

From a UW press release:

Some of the nation's top professional dancers will perform in the Gala Concert Saturday, July 26, at 7:30 p.m. in the University of Wyoming College of Arts and Sciences auditorium in Laramie.

Tickets for the concert, the final performance in the UW Department of Theatre and Dance annual Snowy Range Summer Theatre and Dance Festival, cost $10 for the public or $7 for students and senior citizens.

The concert's first half will feature festival participants performing repertoire works by festival faculty Vincent Brosseau, Lawrence Jackson, Susan Israel Massey, Jacob Mora, Kaye Richards, Keith Saunders and Ellie Sciarra. The second half features performances by professional artists in residence. Featured performers are principal artists from Ballet West and David Dorfman Dance.

Dance students from around the region participate in the annual festival, which offers intensive study with professional dance faculty and performers. In addition to daily ballet, modern, jazz, and tap technique classes at various levels, festival activities include classes with guest faculty, student showcase performances, guest faculty lectures, discussion groups and special performances and concerts.

Photo: Principal artists from David Dorfman Dance will be among the performers during the UW Gala Concert on Saturday, July 26. (David Dorfman Dance Photo)

Anne Fadiman at Teton Co. Library Aug. 1

Teton County Library in Jackson invites you to meet Anne Fadiman (shown in photo at right) at a reading and book signing on Friday, August 1 from 7-8 p.m. in the Ordway Auditorium. She will read from her bestselling collection “At Large and At Small: Familiar Essays,” a compilation of 12 essays. The talk will be followed by a Q&A and book signing. The evening program is free and open to the public.

" 'At Large and At Small' is a charming book, and Anne is the type of writer you wish you could bring home for a long dinner – clever, funny and thoughtful,” says Oona Doherty, the library's adult humanities coordinator.

Her book “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” (1997), an account of the cross-cultural conflicts between a Hmong family and the American medical system, won a National Book Critics Circle Award, as well as many other awards. She followed it up with “Ex-Libris” (1998) and a second collection of essays “At Large and At Small: Familiar Essays” (2007) and edited “Rereadings: Seventeen Authors Revisit Books They Love” (2005). Fadiman was also a writer and columnist for “Life” and Editor-at-Large for “Civilization.” For seven years, she edited the venerable literary quarterly, “The American Scholar.” She is the only writer to win National Magazine Awards for both Reporting (1987) and Essays (2003).

Her first job after graduating from Harvard in 1975 was teaching mountaineering skills at the National Outdoor Leadership School in Lander. She now lives in western Massachusetts with her husband, the writer George Howe Colt, and their two children. As Yale’s Francis Writer in Residence she teaches nonfiction writing and serves as a mentor to writing students.

All three of Fadiman’s books are available at the library. You can search for and reserve them online at http://tinyurl.com/6qjtx2 or from the library’s site http://www.tclib.org/.

For more information about Fadiman’s program, contact the Adult Humanities Coordinator at 733-2164 ext. 135.

Washakie Museum announces new season

We just received a brochure of upcoming events for the 2008-2009 season at the Washakie Museum in Worland.

The University of Wyoming Symphony Orchestra will perform for the first time in Worland on Oct. 12, 7 p.m., at the Worland Middle School Auditorium. Later in the season will be "Cause for Applause II," a residency and performance by the Missoula Children's Theatre, and a "Celebration of Maxine Watson" at the museum's spring luncheon.

Worland Community Concerts will be performed on Sept. 28 and Oct. 28, 2008, and March 17 and April 18, 2009.

For more information on all of these events, go to the museum web site at http://www.washakiemuseum.com

Call for entries: Salon Show at Night Heron

Terry Reid at NorthernFront announces that the third annual Salon Show at Night Heron Books and Gallery in Laramie will be held during August and September. Reception will be on Friday, Aug. 1, 6-8 p.m. Artwork for the show is being accepted now through Wednesday, July 30.

FMI: Terry Reid at reidman8@yahoo.com, or go to http://www.northernfront.net.

"Vaudeville!" at Ark Creative Arts Program

The Creative Arts Program at Ark Regional Services in Laramie presents "Vaudeville!" at 1174 N. 4th St. Performances are Friday and Saturday, Aug. 8-9, Thursday, Aug. 14, and Saturday, Aug. 16. All times are 7:30 p.m.

For ticket information, contact 307-742-6641 ext. 333 or tickets@arkregionalservices.org.

Old Timer's Celebration in Hyattville July 26

The 99th annual Old Timer's Celebration will be held in Hyattville in Big Horn County on Saturday, July 26.

It includes a street fair during the afternoon, and the Hyattville group will be joined this year by the Guardians of the Range organization. July 26 has been designated National Day of the American Cowboy. The Old Timer's Association and the Guardians have numerous events scheduled throughout the day to honor local old timers as well as cowboy culture.

WAC roster artist Hub Whitt of Thermopolis (shown in photo) will perform cowboy music on the downtown stage from 2-3 p.m.

For more information on National Day of the American Cowboy, please click here.

For more information on the day's events, click here.

Dougherty speaks at Albany Co. Library

Artist Patrick Dougherty will discuss his work Wednesday, July 23, at 7 p.m. at the Albany County Public Library, 310 S. 8th St., Laramie. Admission is free.

He will explain the evolution of his creative process working with saplings and the site-specific sculpture that is nearing completion on Prexy's Pasture. His sculpture is made from locally-found and harvested saplings that are woven into forms that are a response to, and inspired by, the site on which they are created.

Dougherty's sculpture is one of 17 works that comprise "Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational." Sculptures are being installed on the UW campus and in Laramie. The exhibition's opening celebration will be held on Friday, Sept. 12, at 4 p.m. on Prexy's Pasture.

Gene Gagliano and Zak Pullen at Barnes & Noble

(l) Gene Gagliano and (r) Zak Pullen

Down at Barnes & Noble in Cheyenne today, Gene and Zak were quite busy signing books and talking to the crowd gathered around the book table about their creative process. Zak dashed off a few illustrations to pass the time between customers. Gene and Zak have recently collaborated on two children's books. One is at the publisher as this is being written. Gene and Zak met at the Wyoming State Library convention a couple years back, and a friendship and professional relationship was born.

Gene is a Wyoming Arts Council roster artist, known by his many students as the teacher that danced on his desk. Gene's many books include C is for Cowboy: A Wyoming Alphabet, Four Wheels West: A Wyoming Number Book, Inside the Clown, Falling Stars, and Secret of the Black Widow. Gene has two new books coming out very soon, in addition to the collaborative efforts with Zak.

Zak has had great success as an illustrator, and has begun to write the stories that he illustrates. His books include The Toughest Cowboy (2004), written by John Frank and illustrated by Zak. Zak has authored and illustrated The Greatest Game Ever Played (2006), and Friday My Radio Flyer Flew (2008). Zak also has a couple of new offerings on the way.

Rattlesnake Jake doesn't live up to his name!

Outside at the Wyoming State Museum, Rattlesnake Jake set up his amplifier and microphone in the shade of a cottonwood, and began entertaining the semi-circle of visitors who had made this one of their stops in Cheyenne during Frontier Days. People even took off their shoes and nestled their toes in the semi-cool green grass; "Really feels good," the woman from South Dakota grinned. It was a 90-degree day, after all. Jake regaled his audience with such crowd-pleasers as "You Are My Sunshine," to which he encouraged everyone to sing along while he accompanied, and in between songs, enlightened the crowd with bits of western wisdom and lighthearted jokes. For instance, did you know a mule can see all four of its legs, while a horse cannot? For his rendition of "Stairway to Heaven Polka," he brought up several children to play a variety of instruments. Ethan from Denver did a rock star job on the washtub, single string bass, while Ethan on the other end, from Cheyenne, definitely had a bit of beatnik rhythm on the bongo drum. Jake thought the little girl in the pink hat had a classical bent to playing the mini cymbals.

You can catch more of Rattlesnake Jake down at The Historic Plains Hotel every night from 5 to 7:30 pm during Frontier Days. He's a delight!

Blogging -- in print and on the Internet

Fiction writer Warren Adler, who splits his time between Jackson, Wyo., and New York City, has been blogging since 2007 at http://warrenadler.blogspot.com/. He's been writing his monthly E-sheet newsletters online for at least 83 issues, going back to June 2001. In his latest blog post, "Blog Away, brothers and sisters," he says that he was a blogger way before the Internet ever existed.

I hadn't realized it, but I have been blogging for decades. I used to write a column called "Pepper on the Side" for the Queens Post, a weekly newspaper in New York. I was 22 years old, and because I was the editor, there was no one but myself to screen or edit my columns. My own youthful judgment was final. That circumstance, aside from the technical way my so-called pearls of youthful wisdom were delivered was, by any definition in today's parlance, a blog. Frankly, I prefer the old fashioned definition of such compositions. Essay sounds a lot classier.

Yes, we bloggers tend to run wild, at times, especially those of us who have their own blogs and act as writer, editor, graphic designer and delivery person. Most are much more informal, true to the name web log, later shortened to "blog." There are millions of people across the globe who believe there is an e-audience for their personal journals, complete with ground-breaking posts about high school reunions and baby's first tooth. There are millions of potential readers out there, and all kinds of interest groups, from UFO abductees to Barbie collectors.

Some bloggers are writers who wouldn't think of dashing off a blog or essay without thinking it through, and then revising and editing it. This does take away some of the spontaneity of blogging. It also makes blogs easier -- and more enjoyable -- to read. The big challenge is to be lively and literate at the same time.

Blog on, Warren!

P.S.: I just dashed this off, but came back and revised it 10 minutes later.

Pollock-Krasner Fndn. offers artist grants

The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Inc., was established in 1985 for the sole purpose of providing financial assistance to individual working artists of established ability through the generosity of the late Lee Krasner, one of the leading abstract expressionist painters and the widow of Jackson Pollock. The Pollock-Krasner Foundation's dual criteria for grants are recognizable artistic merit and financial need, whether professional, personal, or both. The foundation's mission is to aid those individuals who have worked as professional artists over a significant period of time. This program has an open deadline.

AVA launches Memory Fence Project

Sara King, board member of the AVA Center in Gillette, sends this news about AVA's Memory Fence Project, which is being spearheaded by Edie Reno (find a link to her MySpace page on right sidebar), a Campbell County artist whose work just won a purchase award at the Governor's Capitol Art Exhibition in Cheyenne:

The Gillette News Record published a wonderful article about this project
(get details at http://www.fencebook.com/node/8) and interviewed the driving force behind this project, award-winning local artist Edie Reno.

As stated in the article, “most fences are designed to separate things, but the Memory Fence is designed to bring people together." Bronze figures, brazed to a wrought iron fence at the AVA building, will uniquely tell the stories of how people came to Campbell County. By telling their stories, they will tell the history of the area. The actual stories will be available in a book inside the AVA building, which will also be available in Braille and audio format. Each of the 36 iron panels, created by local welder Joe Liffert, will feature a map of Campbell County and the many roads that lead to and from it. The idea is to braze the bronze symbols to the roads so that every person who submits their story to AVA will be immortalized on the Memory Fence.

We need your help to prepare the Memory Fence for an official ribbon cutting ceremony scheduled for July 31. Installation of the first six panels will take place at 1 p.m. on Sunday July 27. Landscaping will be conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday, July 29-30 at 5:30 pm.

The following items will be need on these days:

• Two strong people to lift and move fence panels and operate power auger
• Three bags Quickcrete to cement fence posts
• Landscape materials including drought resistant plants/ shrubs, large decorative scoria rocks and other natural landscape items
• Shovels, buckets and work gloves

The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Memory Fence will take place on July 31, 5:30 pm at the AVA parking lot. There will be live music provided by the Gillette Guitar Guild and an Old Fashioned Pie Social. All proceeds from the social will benefit the ongoing Memory Fence Project. If you are interested in helping with the installation and/or landscaping of the fence or would be interested in contributing homemade pies or other goodies for the pie social, please contact me at 307-660-1820.

Deepest thanks to all those who have volunteered their time and services thus far to make the Memory Fence possible. The Memory Fence will serve as a living legacy for past present and future generations. It will commemorate the people and places that make this area such a beautiful place to live.

Meet the bookfest authors: Jack Gantos

Wyomingarts is pleased to participate in the Equality State Book Festival Sept. 18-20 in Casper. On these blog pages, we will profile the poets, writers and editors featured at the bookfest.

Here's info on children's writer Jack Gantos from the bookfest web site:

Jack Gantos is the author of dozens of books for children, including the Rotten Ralph Rotten Readers, the Joey Pizga books and the Jack Henry books, and books for young adults, including Hole in My Life, (Farrar Straus, 2002), a memoir of crime, prison, and his emergence as a writer. For more on his books, see his website.

His publications can take a reader from "cradle to grave" -- from picture books and middle-grade fiction to novels for young adults and adults. Mr. Gantos is known nationally for his educational creative writing and literature presentations to students and teachers. He is a frequent conference speaker, university lecturer, and in-service provider.

Gantos will be presenting to Natrona County School District children both at Casper College and the local schools on Thursday, Sept. 18 and Friday Sept. 19. He will also be presenting a free workshop on writing children's books on Thursday and will give a reading and talk on Friday afternoon. Both of these events will be held at Casper College. A local bookstore will be on hand to sell his books and Gantos will be available to sign them following his Thursday and Friday presentations.

"Jentels Presents" at Sheridan College Main Street campus on Aug. 5

From Lynn Reeves at Jentel:

The Jentel Artist Residency Program is proud to present this month’s residents in an event open to the public. "Jentel Presents" will take place Tuesday, August 5th, from 5:30 to 7:00 pm at Sheridan College Main Street Campus, 171 North Main. This months presenters include a sculptor/papermaker, an oil painter, a water based painter, a poet, a poet/publisher, and an installation/video artist. "Jentel Presents" is a community outreach program that features slide presentations and readings by the visual artists and writers at the residency.

Presenters include: Melissa Craig, Chicago, IL; Melissa is a sculptor in handmade paper, and a book and installation artist, often combining these disciplines. Her current work is based on a recent research trip to Scotland; Jennifer Mazza, Newark, NJ; In Jennifer’s small figurative oil paintings it is as if a layer of skin has been peeled back, revealing not only the blood and bone beneath, but an emotional core; Nina Rizzo, Dekalb, IL; Nina works in water based media. Her work uses this liquid material exploration to examine how we understand space and the experience of viewing paintings; Andrés Rodríguez, Kansas City, MO; A poet, Andrés can’t express the anticipation he feels to walk the Wyoming countryside (another world to him), hoping to get a sense of what life is here; Ravi Shankar, Chester, CT; Ravi has sold knives, traveled on four continents, chanted Sanskrit mantras, scored hat tricks, published award-winning collections of poetry and founded an international online journal of the arts, Drunken Boat. He does not play the sitar; Robin Starbuck, New York, NY; Robin’s current studio orientation is in installation with aspects of time based media, sculpture, and comic image painting.

For anyone looking for a stimulating evening, come join the crowd at Sheridan College Main Street Campus, 171 North Main Street. There is no admission charge for "Jentel Presents" and refreshments are available.

The Jentel Foundation offers dedicated individuals a supportive environment in which to further their creative development. While at Jentel, visual artists and writers have the opportunity to experience unfettered time to allow for thoughtful reflection and meditation on the creative process in a setting that preserves the agricultural and historical integrity of the land.

The Jentel Artist Residency Program accepts applications twice a year from visual artists in all media and writers in all genres for a one-month residency. A residency includes a comfortable accommodation; common living, dining and recreation areas; a private workspace and a stipend to help defray expenses during the program. For more information please visit http://www.jentelarts.org.

Int'l opportunities for Wyoming performers

Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation announces a major expansion of USArtists International (USAI) effective immediately. The Foundation received grants of $500,000 from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and $100,000 from the Trust for Mutual Understanding in support of USAI.

A program of Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, USAI is the only national initiative solely dedicated to promoting the work of American performing artists abroad. Formerly limited to supporting dance and music ensembles invited to perform at international festivals in Europe, USAI will now encompass festivals anywhere in the world outside the United States. The program will also be open to support American theater companies and solo performances in all performing arts disciplines.

New guidelines for USAI are available online at www.midatlanticarts.org. The deadlines for the program are September 8, 2008 for projects taking place between November 1, 2008 and October 31, 2009; January 9, 2009 for projects taking place between March 1, 2009 and February 28, 2010; and May 4, 2009 for projects taking place between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010.USAI is committed to ensuring that the impressive range of expression of the performing arts in the United States is represented abroad. The program works to strengthen the creative and professional development of American dance, music and theatre artists by providing support for their performances at significant international festivals. Through the participation of exemplary American performing artists, USAI helps develop audiences for, and greater appreciation of, the excellence, diversity and vitality of the American arts.

In the United States, the public and private sectors work collaboratively to support the arts. USAI continues that important tradition with support provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Trust for Mutual Understanding. For the 2008 cycle, USAI is supporting thirty-three ensembles at festivals throughout Europe. Festivals include the North Sea Jazz Festival, Netherlands; International Tanzmesse, Germany; 8th World Symposium on Choral Music, Denmark; IDANS - Istanbul International Contemporary Dance Festival, Turkey; Hellenic Festival, Greece; Cheltenham Jazz Festival, UK; 10th Open Look Festival, Russia; and the Lyon Dance Festival, France. Grantees range from the Seattle Chamber Players of Washington to the Rebirth Brass Band in Louisiana and from the Trisha Brown Dance Company in New York to Alonzo King's Lines Ballet in California.

A complete listing of artists and festivals can be found at www.midatlanticarts.org.