Snow globes' workshop for kids at AVA

Blanchan/Doubleday winners announced

The Wyoming Arts Council is pleased to announce the winners of the 2008 Blanchan/Doubleday writing awards.

Recipient of the Neltje Blanchan Memorial Writing Award for nature writing is poet Barbara Smith of Rock Springs. She will receive a $1,000 prize for a group of eight poems, including "Peonies" and "Snakes." The honorable mention in this category goes to creative nonfiction writer David Schreiber of Banner. His entry was entitled "Divinity."

Recipient of the Frank Nelson Doubleday Memorial Writing Award for women writers is Alisan Peters of Jackson. She will receive a $1,000 prize for her creative nonfiction manuscript, "Convergence." Honorable mention goes to fiction writer Jane Dominick of Laramie for "Resolve."

Judge for this year's competition was Shaun Griffin, a poet, poetry translator and essayist from Virginia City, Nevada.

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

We'll post samples of their work on this blog during January.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Thus ends the Wyoming arts year, not to be confused with the Wyoming Arts Council fiscal year (July 1-June 30) or the federal fiscal year as observed by the National Endowment for the Arts (Oct. 1-Sept. 30).

We won't offer any end-of-the-year wrap-ups. However, if you want to revisit 2007 arts highlights in the state, feel free to click away at any of the links in our helpful sidebar on the right side of the page.

See you in ought-eight.

Keeping track... and 2 competitions

Feeling overwhelmed by the number of writing competitions? Having trouble deciding which ones to enter? Are deadlines passing you by? Poets & Writers Magazine offers a unique service to its readers. Every two months it publishes a listing of the competitions for grants and contest awards whose deadlines will come due soon. This editorial feature lists only competitions that will benefit a writer's career and only those (with a few exceptions for prizes of stature) that offer $1,000 or more.
FMI, go to:
http://www.pw.org/mag/grantsawards.htm

Santa Fe Writers Project Literary Awards:
A prize of $2,000 will be given annually for a work of fiction or creative nonfiction. A second-place prize of $1,500 and a third-place prize of $1,000 will also be awarded. All entries will be considered for publication by SFWP Press. Robert Olen Butler will judge. Submit up to 25 pages of prose with a $30 entry fee, or $25 for students, by December 31. Call, e-mail, or visit the Web site for complete guidelines.

Santa Fe Writers Project Literary Awards
369 Montezuma Avenue, #350
Santa Fe, NM 87501
Kyle Semmel, Development Editor lap07@sfwp.com
http://www.sfwpawards.com/

Ellen Meloy Fund Desert Writers Award
A prize of $2,000 is given annually to enable creative nonfiction writers to spend creative time in a desert environment. Using the online submission system, submit up to 10 pages of creative nonfiction, a project description, and a biography by December 31. There is no entry fee. Call or visit the Web site for complete guidelines.

Ellen Meloy Fund, Desert Writers Award
P.O. Box 484, Bluff, UT 84512.
(435) 669-5326. Greer Chesher, Contact.
fund@ellenmeloy.com or
http://www.ellenmeloy.com/

Artists converge on Casper

The Wyoming Artists Association Convention will be in Casper April 25, 26, and 27, 2008. The theme is "Impressionism or Expressionism." This convention is fun and educational as well as offering fantastic opportunities to interact with artists from all over the state. Enter art shows, Quick Draw & Auction, and costumes are encouraged. Much more!

FMI: Barb Oslie, 1221 12th St., Cody, WY, 82414 or call her at (307) 587-3217.

Prize-winning "Wrecked" at WYO Theater

On Tuesday, Jan. 29, 7 p.m., the WYO Theater in Sheridan presents the Roseneath Theatre's Wrecked. The play "tackles the issues of alcohol abuse in the lives of teenagers and their families with intelligent humor, subversive wit and candid reality. Through innovative staging and contrasting performance styles, the play presents two perspectives: teenagers as victims of parental alcohol abuse and teenagers themselves as abusers. Hip to teen culture, playwright Chris Craddock has done a rare thing - he's created an engaging and provocative theatre experience about significant social issues that is funny, entertaining and accessible to teens without compromising the power of its educational agenda."

Wrecked was named the winner of the Dora Awards for Outstanding Production and Performance. It also won the 2006 Canada Council of the Arts' T.Y.A. Prize.

Tickets are on sale now: $22 for adults, $20 senior and military, $15 stduents, and $10 children.

Call the box office at 307-672-9084.

"Dancing at Lughnasa" at Stage III

"Dancing at Lughnasa," Stage III Theatre's first show of 2008, will open on Jan. 11. It's the story of five sisters in 1936 Ireland, and is directed by Douglas Garland. He's the first to direct a show under Stage III's new guest director program.

"Dancing at Lughnasa" will play Jan. 11, 12, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26 at 7:30 p.m. at the theatre located at 900 N. Center St. in Casper. There will be a matinee on Jan. 20 at 2 p.m.

Season ticket holders may call for reservations at 307-234-0946. Tickets will also be available at Metro Coffee Company, Cadillac Cowgirl, and Grant Street Grocery.

IN PHOTO ABOVE: During rehearsals for "Dancing at Lughnasa," sisters Aggie (Teresa Petrosky Wallace) and Kate (Janet Mackenzie) square off for an argument.

NIC closed in January for remodeling

The Nicolaysen Art Museum & Discovery Center in Casper will be closed to the public during January for installation of new hardwood floors and three new exhibits. The museum will reopen Feb. 1.

For more information, call 307-235-5247

Call for entries: UW Art Museum

The University of Wyoming Art Museum in Laramie has issued a "Call for Work" for the 33rd annual Juried Student Exhibition, Feb. 2-March 1, 2008, and the UW Student Art League 13th annual Salon des Refusés in the UP Gallery, Jan. 27-Feb. 9, 2008.

Juror will be Linda Frickman, director of the Colorado State University Art Museum in Fort Collins, Colo.

Cash awards offered: Ann Simpson and Family Award, Lisa Lewis Dubois Student Exhibition Award, the FMC Honors Award, Margaret Arth Award for Excellence, First Interstate Bank, the National Advisory Board, UW A&S Dean's Office, the UW Student Art League, and the University of Wyoming Art Museum Purchase awards: Joe C. Tull Memorial Purchase Award in Printmaking and Photography, UW President's Office, UW Office of Academic Affairs, Office of Student Affairs, UW Division of Administration, UW Libraries, UW College of Health Sciences, the UW Outreach School, and the Murdock/UW College of Law Purchase Award.

Awards will be announced on Friday, Feb. 1, at 6:30 p.m.

Exhibition schedule:

• Thursday-Friday, Jan. 17-18, deliver work to the Art Museum, 9 a.m.-noon, 1-4 p.m.
• Wednesday, Jan. 23, accepted work posted, 10 a.m. at the Art Museum and Art Department Office
• Thursday - Friday, Jan. 24-25, pick up unaccepted work at the Art Museum, 9 a.m.-noon, 1-4 p.m.
• Friday, Feb. 1, opening reception, 6-8 p.m. and awards ceremony at 6:30 p.m.
• Saturday, Feb. 2, 33rd Annual Juried Student Exhibition opens
• Saturday, March 1 33rd Annual Juried Student Exhibition closes
• Monday-Tuesday, March 3-4, pick up exhibited works at the Art Museum galleries, 9 a.m.-noon, 1-4 p.m. Arrangements for returning work can be made on a case-by-case basis.

Eligibility: Any undergraduate and graduate student enrolled at the University of Wyoming during the 2008 academic year.

Media: Original artwork including paintings, drawings, prints, photography, sculpture, graphic design, ceramics, and mixed media may be submitted. Two-dimensional works must be ready to hang (matted and framed under glass or plexiglass). Three-dimensional works must be stable. Bases will be provided by the UW Art Museum.

Procedure: A maximum of three (3) works per student may be submitted. Submitted works should have one (1) Identification Tag affixed to the back of each work in addition to a completed entry form.

FMI: Contact EK Kim, Collections Manager at 766-6634.

Karen Cotton selected as NEA theater fellow

Cheyenne journalist and children’s book author Karen Cotton has been chosen as a 2008 Institute Fellow in Theater and Musical Theater by the National Endowment for the Arts. She will attend the NEA-sponsored institute Feb. 5-15 at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. While there, she will hone her reviewing skills by attending a number of live performances and working with professional theater critics.

Here’s what the NEA had to say about Karen’s application:

"Thank you for applying and giving us the pleasure of reading your materials and meeting you on paper. Your writing demonstrated passion, conceptual depth, integrity and imagination - and, above all, an eagerness to learn more and stretch your approach to theater with brave and conscientious zeal.

"There were nearly 50 applicants from 28 states who work in arts journalism at daily newspapers, alternative weeklies, magazines, online, television and radio stations outside the country's largest media markets. The competition was stiff. You should be very proud."

Karen is a features and entertainment reporter from the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle in Cheyenne. In 2004, she received an Individual Artist Professional Development grant from the Wyoming Arts Council. She grew up in Green River and is a graduate of Western Wyoming Community College in Rock Springs and the University of Wyoming in Laramie.

"Psalm" by Stuart Kestenbaum

Deer Brook Editions published Stuart Kestenbaum's third book of poems, Prayers & Run-on Sentences, in June. Former U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser writes that, "Stuart Kestenbaum writes the kind of poems I love to read, heartfelt responses to the privilege of having been given a life. No hidden agendas, here, no theories to espouse, nothing but life, pure life, set down with craft and love." Garrison Keillor selected this poem for inclusion on the Writer's Almanac on NPR.


Psalm

The only psalm I had memorized was the 23rd
and now I find myself searching for the order
of the phrases knowing it ends with surely
goodness and mercy will follow me
all the days of my life and I will dwell
in the house of the Lord forever only I remember
seeing a new translation from the original Hebrew
and forever wasn't forever but a long time
which is different from forever although
even a long time today would be
good enough for me even a minute entering
the House would be good enough for me,
even a hand on the door or dropping today's
newspaper on the stoop or looking in the windows
that are reflecting this morning's clouds in first light.

Call for proposals: BBHC

The Cody Institute for Western American Studies (CIWAS) at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody invites proposals for its Resident Fellowship program. Fellowships are intended to fund research and thereby promote scholarship on any aspect of the American West. Fellowships carry a stipend of $5,000 and a residency requirement of one to five months. The period of residency must be completed between June 1, 2008 and May 31, 2009. Up to five fellowships will be awarded for this period.

Fellows may pursue field research in the Cody area (i.e., the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem or the Big Horn Basin and Mountains) or work in the collections of the McCracken Research Library, or one of the five museums of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center: the Buffalo Bill Museum, the Whitney Gallery of Western Art, the Plains Indian Museum, the Cody firearms Museum, of the Draper Museum of Natural History.

Research and collection strengths at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center include, but are not limited to, Western American art and artists; William F. Cody and Buffalo Bill's Wild West; western exploration and settlement; the rise of American Western Culture; Plains Indian cultures; history of firearms technology and use; Western American literature and music; and distribution, movements, and ecology of Greater Yellowstone Area wildlife in relation to environmental change and human dimensions of wildlife conservation and management in the American West. In addition to more than 300 manuscript collections, the McCracken Research Library also has an extensive image and photo archive.

Proposals (no more than three single-spaced pages) should outline the parameters of the project, describe what the fellow hopes to accomplish during his or her residence, and explain how the collections at the BBHC or field research in the Cody area will contribute to the ultimate success of the project. A current c.v. should also be included with the proposal.

Resident Fellows are expected to give one public talk while in residence and as a direct result of the fellowship, to prepare either a professional presentation or publication. Manuscripts of interest to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center may be offered financial support for publication.

Please submit a c.v. and a proposal by March 16, 2008 to:

Resident Fellowship Program
Attn: Dr. Robert B. Pickering, Director
Cody Institute for Western American Studies
Buffalo Bill Historical Center
720 Sheridan Avenue
Cody, WY 82414-3428

BBHC hosts "Fourth Friday" event

The Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody features its first "Fourth Friday" of 2008 on Jan. 25. Come out for a free evening of "tunes, enticing cocktails, munchies, and a gallery talk." Held in the Whitney Gallery of Western Art, 5-7 p.m.

The BBHC hosts "Fourth Friday" events in January, February, and the public is invited to enjoy one of its five museums. BBHC stafffers present a gallery talk in the featured museum, offering visitors a new or different perspective on the collections.

FMI: 307-587-4771

Denver Mart open to arts entrepreneurs

This comes from the on-line newsletter Wyoming Entrepreneur.biz from the Wyoming Small Business Development Center:

Wyo companies encouraged to attend Denver Mart

Wyoming companies looking for new markets should apply to the Wyoming Business Council to attend the Denver Merchandise Mart's gift, jewelry and resort show Feb. 23-26. This show is considered the major market for souvenir and resort merchandise and includes one of the largest selections of Native American, rustic, lodge-style and western products in the country. Applications will be accepted through the end of December. Contact Annie Wood, 307-777-2844; annie.wood@wybusiness.org.

For all those non-profits out there

The Chronicle of Philanthropy bills itself as the newspaper of the nonprofit world. Access them on line at www.philanthropy.com for some interesting reading.

2009 Wyoming Game and Fish Conservation Stamp Art Competition

The 2009 competition subject will be the great-gray owl. Entries will be accepted from January 1 through March 1, 2008. The judging will be held March 14, 2008 and the winning artwork will be placed on the 2009 Conservation Stamp. The second through fifth place winners, along with the honorable mentions, will be featured on the Game and Fish website and offered for sale immediately following the competition through October 1, 2008. Please contact Al Langston at Al.Langston@wgf.state.wy.us or (307) 777-4540 with any questions regarding the competition.

FMI go to http://gf.state.wy.us/. Put your cursor on publications and art, then click on Conservation Stamp contest.

USA Today calls Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy "Dazzling...A fantastical tale in an enchanted jungle."

Jungle Fantasy is an all-new live theatrical adventure that takes audiences soaring into a magical forest through the air and on stage. An International cast of graceful aerialists, spine bending contortionists, vine swinging characters, strong men and balancers bring this jungle dream to life in a lush, Broadway setting filled with wildly unpredictable designs, special effects, inventive choreography, puppeteering and dazzling costumes. It's an exhilarating journey the entire family can experience together.

Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy plays The Buell Theatre for just five performances February 14-17, 2008.

Discounted rates are available for groups of 20 or more by phone at (303) 446-4829 or by e-mail at groupsales@dcpa.org Video preview available at www.myspace.com/cirquedreamsjunglefantasy

Write something at the Iowa Summer Writing Festival

From June 8 through July 25, 2008, the University of Iowa's twenty-second annual Summer Writing Festival is a short term, noncredit writing program for adults. The Festival offers 130 workshops across the genres, including novel, short fiction, poetry, essay, memoir, humor, travel, play writing, writing for children, and more. All levels.

There are no requirements beyond the desire to write. Open to writers 21 and over.

Week-long workshops: $500-$525. Weekend workshops: $250. Housing is available in local hotels and B & B's.

For a complete catalog, contact: Iowa Summer Writing Festival, The University of Iowa, C215 Seashore Hall, Iowa City, Iowa, 52242-1402; phone (319) 335-4160; fax (319) 335-4743; email iswfestival@uiowa.edu. Go to http://www.uiowa.edu/, hold the cursor on Arts, then click on The Writing Program, and then on the Summer Writing Festival for much more information. The 2008 program catalog and webpage will be available in mid-February.

Ask about the Iowa Young Writers' Studio for high school students, or visit the webpage at www.uiowa.edu/youngwriters.

Big West Arts Festival

The Big West Arts Festival celebrates its third year as a large cultural event on the front lawn of the Sheridan College campus in Sheridan, Wyoming. Its site is nestled in the valley with the dramatic Big Horn Mountains to the west and the spacious, wide-open plains to the east. Sheridan lies midway between the Black Hills of South Dakota and Yellowstone National Park.

Sheridan College is sponsoring and hosting the festival on its beautiful campus. Northwest Community College District (NWCCD) is one of the seven community colleges in Wyoming that includes Sheridan College and Gillette College. Sheridan College is known for its strong academics, arts, and variety of technical programs. For more information about Sheridan College, visit http://www.sheridan.edu/.

For two days, on August 2 and 3, 2008, the Big West Arts Festival at Sheridan College takes place. The campus becomes a metropolis of culinary, visual, and performing art. The event if free and open to the public.

Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, August 2, with live music until 11 p.m. Sunday, August 3, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with live music until 7 p.m.

There will be 50 visual artists' booths; 20 hours of free live music; a wide variety of food and beverages; a welding sculpture rodeo; the unveiling of the SC Outdoor Sculpture Competition; and it is Sheridan College's 60th anniversary kick off.

Artists, food vendors, musicians and volunteers can visit the web site at http://www.bigwestartsfestival.com/ for more information about becoming a part of the Big West Arts Festival.

FMI contact Rod Dugal or Danna Hildebrand at (307) 674-6446 or (800) 913-9139, ext. 3008.

Joseph Califano at Laramie County Library

The Mental Health and Substance Abuse services of The Wyoming Health Department presents the author of High Society: How Substance Abuse Ravages America and What to Do About It, Joseph A. Califano, Jr. speaking on his book at the Laramie County Library in the Cottonwood Room on Wednesday, January 9, 2008, from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. A book signing will follow.

Califano served as Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare from 1977-1979 during Jimmy Carter's presidency. He also served President Lyndon B. Johnson as a special assistant to the secretary and deputy secretary of defense and later as Johnson't top domestic aide.

Mr. Califano is chair and president of The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA), which he founded in 1992, at Columbia University.