Wyoming Artscapes summer 2015

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WYOMING ARTS COUNCIL NEWS • SUMMER 2015

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South Pass: Wyoming Arts Council Biennial Exhibition PAGE 4

Summer course in Buffalo combines printmaking and creative writing

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ummer is here and there is an exciting opportunity happening in Buffalo. Building Bridges: Printmaking and Creative Writing is a continuing education course offered through the Wyoming Arts Council and Johnson County Arts and Humanities Council. This course is designed as professional development for teachers in the classroom or educators in enrichment programs. We invite interested individuals to also try them out if there is room. More information and registration forms can be found on the Arts Education page of the Wyoming Arts Council web site.

Building Bridges: Printmaking and Creative Writing is an intensive study on the basics of printmaking and its role and potential in the classroom, as well as an exploration of creative writing ventures that can be easily adapted to classroom use. Each participant will construct, print, write, and stitch their own book that he or she can take home and use as a tool for further teaching and learning.

Many elements of “the book” will be explored – both literary and visual – and ample workshop time provided. The instructors hope to make the writing portion of the course applicable to the classroom and personally beneficial for participants. While we will discuss the logistics of meeting CCSS in various modes of classroom instruction, the focus will ultimately be more about the therapeutic and academic value of regular creative personal writing – how this can assist the teachers that attend, to be sure, but really how to show students avenues in which they can make the pen mightier than the sword; how writing is a beneficial practice in and of itself; and how finding intrinsic value in writing improves academic writing by default.

Schedule includes printmaking techniques such as dry point, monoprint, etching, Xerox transfer and relief, along with writing exercises

Steve Heil’s Buffalo High School students pose with printmaking equipment.

that investigate metaphors, personal landscapes and maps of life. This workshop includes Art and Writing in the Field, a day in the Big Horn Mountains. Participants are asked to bring proper outdoor gear, including sunscreen, hat, etc., for the field day, along with source material or personal items such as photos, letter, trinkets, favorite authors and imagery for us in drawings and prints. Additional supplies are provided through registration fees.

The workshop is taught by Steve Heil, art teacher at Buffalo High School, as well as adjunct faculty at Sheridan College, alongside Kira Wages, English instructor at Buffalo High School, also an adjunct faculty member at Sheridan College. Heil received his MFA in printmaking from SUNY Buffalo and Wages earned her MA degree in Teaching English from Columbia University in New York.

Date: June 21-26, 2015 (two-hour orientation on Sunday at 4 p.m., 8 a.m.-6 p.m. otherwise) Place: Buffalo High School, 29891 Old Hwy 87, Buffalo Credit: 3 UW CEU or PTSB credits will be awarded based on your choice.

(UW Outreach credit costs $150 additional fee and is payable at registration or the first day of class) Cost: $175 for the class (lodging extra, see registration form available on web site)

table of contents Manager’s Message........................................... 2 Biennial fellowship exhibition............................. 4

our Mission

The Wyoming Arts Council (WAC) provides leadership and invests resources to sustain, promote and cultivate excellence in the arts.

MAT Camp in Evanston....................................... 8 Girls’ School writing workshops....................... 11 125 Days of Arts and Humanities.................... 12

WAC Staff

Maddy and the Groove Spots........................... 16

UNDERSERVED PROGRAM SPECIALIST

Governor’s Arts Awards photos........................ 20

Michael Lange : ARTS COUNCIL MANAGER Annie Hatch : F OLK AND TRADITIONAL ARTS/

Karen Merklin : GRANTS MANAGER Brittany Perez : OFFICE MANAGER Michael Shay : C OMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING/

Art is everywhere............................................... 19

Rainbow Snake project in Thermopolis........... 22

LITERARY ARTS SPECIALIST

Poetry Out Loud results.................................... 24

WAC Board

WAC board members reappointed................... 26

Janelle Fletcher (Chair) : LARAMIE Stefanie Boster : CHEYENNE Neil Hansen : POWELL Chloe Illoway : CHEYENNE Nina McConigley : LARAMIE Sharon O’Toole : SAVERY Karen Stewart : JACKSON Erin Taylor : CHEYENNE Tara Taylor : MOUNTAIN VIEW Holly Turner : CASPER

magazine

Artscapes is published quarterly and supported with funding from the Wyoming Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts. wyomingartscouncil.org

In memoriam: Manuel Lopez........................... 27 Governor’s Capitol Art Exhibition..................... 28 Upcoming events............................................... 29

ON THE COVER: Red Canyon, 2015, photo by Cat Urbigkit. Inserts by WAC fellowship recipients (top to bottom): Shadows of Conscience III, Do Palma; Untitled, June Glasson; Asterisk, Thomas Macker.

ON THE BACK COVER: University of Wyoming dance students perform at the Coe Library.

Managing Editor : Michael Shay Photographers : Richard Collier, Michael Shay Printing : Pioneer Printing

wyoming arts council 2320 Capitol Avenue • Cheyenne, WY 82002 Phone: 307-777-7742 • Fax: 307-777-5499 Hours: Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. wyomingartscouncil.org

Manager's message

On the road to a new strategic plan

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bout six months into the job as the new manager of the Wyoming Arts Council, I am even more excited about the future of the arts in Wyoming. I have been able to see many of the amazing projects, programs, and services being offered in the state from a different vantage point. I have also had the ability to see where we, as a state agency, have work to do to develop and strengthen our service to the state. To gain more knowledge and understanding, I am happy to report that the WAC in in the process of developing our next strategic plan.

Every five years, the National Endowment of the Arts, as part of their application process for the state partnership grant, asks each state arts agency to submit a strategic plan that will shape the next five to seven years of the council’s service to their state.

The strategic plan will be developed through: 1. Research on national and regional trends in the arts 2. Staff and board input 3. Constituent feedback from individuals, organizations, and interest groups

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Michael Lange

In addition, the WAC will engage new and developing sectors of the arts audience, such as the state’s burgeoning independent music scene. We also are intrigued by the role that the arts can play in health and wellness.

the WAC will engage new and developing sectors of the arts audience, such as the state’s burgeoning independent music scene.

Development of the next strategic plan is well underway.

Staff members have been researching different programs and services and sharing their

Wyoming arts council

thoughts. A list of individuals, organizations, and focus groups have been created through staff and board input. Many feedback sessions with groups have already been set up with more being planned.

WAC staff members will be taking part in an extended strategic planning retreat later this summer and the board will be focusing on strategic planning at its August meeting. To receive additional constituent feedback, the WAC will be hosting 10 public meetings in communities across the state. Please keep an eye out for communications from our office.

All of the above listed information will be compiled, evaluated, and used to form the next plan that will be brought to the WAC board at its November meeting.

If you have any questions, comments, want to give feedback or share your ideas please attend one of our 10 community meetings or contact me.

Michael Lange Wyoming Arts Council Manager

Daniel Junge, a Cheyenne native and Academy Award-winning filmmaker, premiered his new film “Being Evel” at January’s Sundance Film Festival in Utah. The documentary explores the life of legendary stuntman Evel Knievel. Junge filmed more than 60 interviews over the course of two years. It features rare interviews with family members and others who knew him well. He talked with people such as Shelly Saltman, the promoter Knievel attacked with a baseball bat.

Held annually in Park City, Utah, the Sundance Film Festival is one of the top international festivals. Photo by Robert Muratore.

artscapes • summer 2015

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visual arts

Biennial Fellowship Exhibition turns spotlight on six wyoming artists

Diana Baumbach, an arts educator and mixed-media artist from Laramie.

Thomas Macker, an artist and curator from Jackson.

June Glasson, a painter and designer from Laramie.

Suzanne Morlock, an installation artist in Wilson who uses recycled materials in her work.

Do Palma, a fiber artist from Cheyenne.

Aaron Wallis, an eclectic painter and printmaker from Jackson.

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and varied. They each traveled different routes to the fellowships.

They’re artists – they have at least that one thing in common. But their work is different

Visual arts in the oldest fellowship category at the Arts Council. Launched 30 years ago, fellowships have been awarded to more than 100 artists, some well-known, some not so much. The judging process has remains pretty much the same as it was in 1986. Out-of-state artists, curators or other

hese are the six Wyoming artists featured in the Biennial Fellowship Exhibition that opened May 16 and continues through Aug. 1 at the University of Wyoming Art Museum in Laramie. Three artists from the northwest quadrant of the state; three from the southeast.

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arts professionals are recruited as judges. They jury the work at the annual CLICK! Conference (they used to do that at the now-defunct ArtSpeak conference). They view the work anonymously and then make their decisions. Up to three fellows are chosen annually, although that has varied at times.

Judges base their decisions of the one criteria of “artistic excellence,” with the understanding that fellowships “honor the work of Wyoming visual artists whose work reflects serious and exceptional investigation.” As you may surmise, this can be incredibly subjective, which is why it is helpful to employ multiple jurors.

Fellowship applicants tell stories about applying for years without receiving even an honorable mention. For some, well, the first time is a charm.

Macker applied for the first time for the 2015 fellowships. He was chosen by judges Marjorie Vecchio, Perry Allen Price and Robert Crouch.

Coincidentally, Macker’s wife, Natalia Duncan Macker, received a performing arts fellowship the year before.

Diana Baumbach, Meditation on White I, mixed media, 24” x 24”, 2014.

June Glasson, Untitled, 20” x 32”, 2015, Ink, Pencil, and Gouache on Paper.

This was Palma’s second application.

“I applied several years ago and felt so incredibly nervous about it,” she said. “When I didn’t get it, I thought I’d never get one, so didn’t apply again for a very long time.”

Time passed. Palma attended the CLICK! Conference in spring 2013 in Casper.

“I was encouraged to apply by Marji after she saw my 20/20 presentation. I have been richly rewarded by the attention and opportunities that came my way after the fellowship award.“ While none of the six 2014-2015 recipients were previous winners of a WAC fellowship, several have earned honorable mentions. Morlock may be the champ in this regard. She earned honorable mentions multiple times, including artscapes • summer 2015

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2013 and 2014. Back when the biennial included honorable mention recipients, Morlock was part of the 2010-2011 show at Jackson’s Center for the Arts.

“With the field of visual arts being extremely competitive,” Morlock said, “having been selected for a fellowship award distinguishes me and my commitment and tenacity more specifically.”

Baumbach applied four times, received three honorable mentions. Some of her work was included in the 2010-2011 Jackson show. Her husband, Shelby Shadwell, was a fellowship recipient in 2010 and received an honorable mention in 2015. During the past five years, Baumbach’s delicate work in paper has expanded to include a variety of materials on paper and the use of traditional needlework techniques.

Her interest in public art commissions led to her “Diversity in Nature” sculpture for Pinedale which she constructed with a grouping of metallic fish. The sculpture arose out of a workshop she conducted in the Pinedale schools.

June Glasson applied three times. She received an honorable mention in 2013, was not mentioned at all in 2014 and received the fellowship in 2015. Meanwhile, she was busily appearing in exhibits and creating art, including a series of book covers for Farrar Straus Giroux’s reissue of the works of the late Flannery O’Connor.

“When I first applied,” Glasson said, “I wasn’t sure what the judges were looking for and what type of work was being selected. Looking at past Biennials, I could see there seemed to be a broad range of work from very traditional landscape work to more conceptual work. As I began to see this, I realized that that best path for myself was to just submit my best work.”

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Suzanne Morlock, Deconstructed, one 10 foot length of found plastic bailing twine, knitting technique, 47”x 9”x 1”, 2014.

Thomas Macker, Asterisk 1 (road) 2015, powder-coated well drill bits, foam, truck bed liner.

Wyoming arts council

Do Palma, Shadows of Conscience I, Hand-dyed and black cotton fabrics, paint. Silkscreened, stenciled, machine appliquéd and quilted, 25” x 42”, 2015.

Aaron Wallis, Stanley Tookie Williams, silkscreen, woodblock and gold leaf, 22” x 30”, 2014.

​ aron Wallis brings an urban sensibility to his A work. He is a versatile printmaker, creating images combining “hip-hop artists, drug dealers and gang leaders in the context of Christian iconography and the illuminated manuscript.”

Wallis’s work was selected in 2014. That year, fellowship jurors included Vecchio, Julie Muniz and Sean Miller.

“I feel taste in art is so diverse you just never know who’s going to be on the jury,” Wallis said.

“But it’s a good chance to be recognized for nontraditional work. And in a state this small, there’s a good chance of winning if you keep applying.

Artwork for the WAC Biennial is selected by an out-of-state juror who served on both years of visual arts fellowship panels represented in the exhibition. The juror returns to the state prior to the exhibition to visit artist studios and select

artscapes • summer 2015

work. The juror also contributes an essay to the catalog that is produced for each exhibition.

This exhibit is being curated by Marjorie Vecchio of Reno, Nevada. She is an independent curator and, from 2006-2012, was the director of Sheppard Fine Arts Gallery at University of Nevada in Reno. Since 1999, she has curated over 40 exhibitions, worked with over 250 artists, published 20 scholars, philosophers, writers and poets in 25 catalogs, and has written over 20 catalog essays. She has degrees from Mount Holyoke College (BA), The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (BFA), Bard College (MFA), and European Graduate School (PhD).

Opening reception for the biennial is June 11 from 6-8 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

For more information WAC visual arts programs, contact the WAC at 307-777-5305.

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arts education

MAT Camp in Evanston may be “the best-kept secret of the West”

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ity poor Juliana Sibbert.

The sixth-grade student saw a poster in the library advertising the summer Music Art Theatre (MAT) Camp in her hometown of Evanston.

She asked her parents if she could attend. They agreed, but at a price.

“They told me that I had to mow the lawn for all summer, starting in May and ending in September,” Sibbert said with a laugh in a MAT Camp promotional video.

Sibbert and her family have since moved away from Evanston. But MAT Camp continues. This summer for five days, July 13-17, MAT Camp takes over Evanston, offering a dazzling array of 144 classes. Music classes include everything from bassoon technique to songwriting. The theatre track includes clowning and slapstick, audition boot camp and theatre tech and sound. There are dance and folk arts courses. You can participate in the marching junk band, the garden hose band or the Coke bottle choir. If you so desire, you can learn how to make bread.

Make bread?

That may seem like a high price to pay for some excellent music and filmmaking lessons.

Theatre workshop at Evanston’s MAT camp.

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“Blake McGee is coming over from UW to teach clarinet,” said Carolee Bowen, executive director of MAT Camp sponsor Arts, Inc. “We found out that bread-making is his hobby so we’re offering it as an elective.”

Nobody at MAT Camp will go hungry.

Also offered are classes in candy making and cake decorating.

If you’re starving for a five-day immersion in the arts, MAT Camp’s eclectic menu may suit you. This summer’s camp may particularly appeal to those who play in high school marching bands. Doctor Michael

Wyoming arts council

Nickens will travel from Fairfax, Va., to be a faculty member this year. You may know him as “Doc Nix” of Doc Nix and the Green Machine, the George Mason University pep band that lights up YouTube with rousing performances of rock groups such as Rage Against the Machine.

Visual arts workshop at MAT Camp.

This ain’t your grandma’s pep band. Doc Nix will keep things jumpin’.

Also traveling from George Mason will be professor and noted jazz vocalist Dr. Darden Purcell. She’s the director of the Mason Jazz Vocal Ensemble and one-time vocalist with the Air Force Band in Washington, D.C. Some of the 39 faculty members first came to MAT Camp as students. William Crompton came to the first camp in 1998. This will be his third year teaching technical theatre. Natalie Martinez is a former MAT Camp bassoon student who returns this year to teach. Former student Joel Mezek will teach his specialty – percussion. drew 60 students and a handful of instructors.

“I had three children who grew up in this program,” Bowen said. Her daughter Michelle was in the sixth grade in 1998 and got hooked on the bassoon. She earned her doctorate in music. She moved to Cambodia and now plays with several music groups there. She will return to MAT Camp this summer as an instructor.

Bowen’s son, now a musician in Salt Lake City, received most of his training at the camp.

A musician herself, Bowen never attended music camp as a kid. So she wasn’t quite sure how to design one. She had started Young Musicians (now Arts, Inc.) as the local arts council in 1995.

MAT Camp got its start when Bowen and other Evanston parents thought it was just what their town needed. Outside of the schools, there was no arts instruction. That first summer, MAT Camp

artscapes • summer 2015

“We designed this camp for our community,” Bowen said. “We started with a list of the things that we wanted and not what they did in other places.”

They must have done something right. The camp drew 320 students of all ages last summer. Bowen expects at least that many this July.

Let’s return to that MAT Camp promotional video on the web site. It was designed by MAT Camp documentary filmmaking students. In it, the Steenson family talks about driving 15 hours from Iowa to attend the camp. That’s a long way. But not to attend “the best-kept secret of the West,” as it’s described in the camp’s brochure.

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But participants come from farther away, Alaska, for instance. Louisiana and California.

Many, of course, from the tri-state region of Wyoming, Utah and Idaho. Many are city folks. According to Bowen, they really enjoy escaping from the hectic places they live to the friendly, laid-back environs of Uinta County.

“Our community is warm and welcoming,” Bowen said. Many of the staff members stay with host families. “They like that hospitality – they may not have that opportunity in other places.”

That aspect of Evanston life may not appeal to your average resident teenager who may prefer – at least in principle – the excitement of the big city. But it does make the visitors’ bureau happy. The MAT Camp has also proved beneficial when local business and city leaders recruit professionals to the area.

Bowen says that potential recruits are “surprised” when they find an event the caliber of MAT Camp in a town without a university and far removed from major population centers.

She’s pleased that the camp has inspired attendees to go off and start similar programs, as recently happened with some families in Lander.

She’s also pleased that she and her colleagues “brought a high-quality arts event to Evanston.”

Find out more at http://www.youngmusicians. net/new/matcamp/ or on the camp’s Facebook page.

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The Wyoming Arts Council helps fund the integrated arts program at the Horse Warriors program in Jackson. In January, the HW upperlevel group created boot jacks with the portraits of all 16 of the program’s horses on them.

According to Priscilla Marden, program director, the students “work very hard at both their writing and art and we are proud of how much they value their ability to express themselves through multiple media. Our programs are multi-year, and as they grow with their ongoing groups they delve deeper and deeper into discovery and intimacy. It can be profoundly insightful to listen to and observe their processes.” Shown painting her horse (upper photo) is Katelyn Camacho and (lower photo) is Aspen Waldron with a finished piece. For more information on Horse Warriors, go to www.horsewarriors.com

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arts education

UW MFA students conduct writing workshops at Wyoming Girls’ School

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hree students in the University of Wyoming Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program led writing workshops at the Wyoming Girls’ School in Sheridan.

First-year MFA students Maria Anderson of Three Forks, Mont.; Carly Fraysier from Barre, Vt.; and Randall Tyrone of Houston, Texas, presented two workshops in January to girls between the ages of 14-18. The final workshop was Friday, Feb. 6.

Anderson, a fiction writer; Fraysier, a nonfiction writer; and Tyrone, a poet, assembled a packet of short stories, essays and poems for the girls to read.

The reading materials guide discussion of how both reading and writing can be used to help an individual work through suffering.

“Working with these girls has been fantastic,” says Anderson. “The Wyoming Girls’ School is a really nurturing and exciting place, and the girls were motivated to learn and to experiment with us as we

talked about different texts and did some promptbased free writing.”

Anderson says that she spoke about whimsy and repetition; Fraysier talked about wounds that can morph and bloom; and Tyrone contributed poems and raps to the discussion. They hope to do more teaching at the school this summer.

The Wyoming Girls’ School is a therapeutic and educational facility for the treatment of courtordered delinquent girls, ages 12-21 years.

The program teaches youth to take personal accountability for their actions and develop socially responsible values in preparation for a successful transition back to their families and communities.

For more information about the creative writing program, visit www.uwyo.edu/creativewriting, email cw@uwyo.eduor call (307) 766-6453.

Source: University of Wyoming press release

Members of the Casper Children’s Theatre assemble for a tableau at the annual Junior Theatre Festival in Atlanta.

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summer art calendar

A sampler – Wyoming’s 125 days of arts and humanities

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yoming celebrates its 125th anniversary of statehood this summer. We join our colleagues at the Wyoming Humanities Council in celebrating “125 Days of Arts & Humanities.” Feel free to attend one or many of these events. This is just a sampler – to get a more complete list of summer offerings, go to the WAC web site at 125daysofwyoming.com. For more information on Wyoming tourism, check out the “Roam Free” site at https://www.wyomingtourism.org

JUNE 1-30 - Art Attack Youth Show at AVA (reception June 12), Gillette; http://www.avacenter.org 2-Sept. 1 (Tuesdays) — Northern Arapaho Experience: Native Song & Dance, Riverton; http://www.windriverhotelcasino.com 4 - Concerts in the Park: Littlest Birds, Guernsey; community@townofguernseywy.us 4-7 - Wyoming Vietnam Veterans “Welcome Home” Reunion, Casper; http://wvvr.wyo.gov 4-July 11 - Plaza Diane Art Exhibition: Don & Deanna Johnson, Powell; http://www.plazadiane. org/event-1841593 4 & 18, July 9 & 30 - Rocky Road Cafe: Readings in Wyoming History, Rock Springs; 307-872-1323 5-7 - Wyoming Writers, Inc., Conference, Cheyenne; http://www.wyowriters.org 5-Aug. 31 - “Colors of Confinement” exhibit, Heart Mountain Interpretive Center, Park County; http:// heartmountain.org/tempexhibits.html 6 – Hiwater Hoedown at The Yard, Saratoga; https://www.facebook.com/theyardsaratoga 6 - Cheyenne Hispanic Festival, Cheyenne; http:// www.cheyennedepotmuseum.org 6 - “The Art of John Mix Stanley,” Cody; http://

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centerofthewest.org 8-28 - CLTP Youth Summer Stock: Session 1, Cheyenne; http://www.cheyennelittletheatre.org/ youth_summer_stock.asp 10-13 - Riot Act, Inc., Series of Short Plays, Jackson; http://riotactinc.org 10-13 - Preserve Wyoming 2015: Our Place in the West and Beyond, Laramie; https://www. facebook.com/ourplaceinthewest 11 - Douglas Railroad Days, Douglas; http:// www.conversecountytourism.com/event/douglasrailroad-days/ 11-14 - Contour Music Festival, Jackson; http:// contourmusicfestival.com/ 12 - Wyomericana Caravan Tour, Casper; http:// www.wyomericana.com/tour/ 12-13 - 10th annual Celtic Musical Arts Festival, Cheyenne; http://www.cheyennedepot museum.org/celtic 12-July 24 - Cody County Art League 50th annual art show, Cody; http://www.codycountryartleague. com/ 13 - Grand opening of the Museum of Flight and Aerial Firefighting, Greybull; http://greybull.com/ 13 - Glendo Trails Celebration, Glendo State Park; http://wyoparks.state.wy.us/Site/ 14 - Lectures on Biodiversity in the Bighorn Mountains, Spear-O-Wigwam Mountain Campus; http://www.sheridan.edu/site/ spearowigwam/community-events/ 17-21 - Jake Clark Mule Days, Ralston; http:// www.saddlemule.com/index2.html 17-30 - Watercolor Wyoming National Exhibition, Sheridan; 307-751-6411 17-Aug. 12 (Wednesdays) - Eagle Spirit

Wyoming arts council

Summer music crowd at Grand Targhee Resort.

Indian Dancers and North Bear Drum Group performances, Lander; http:// museumoftheamericanwest.com/ 18 - Concerts in the Park: The Tremors, Guernsey; community@townofguernseywy.us 18-19 - Wyoming Art Education Association weekend retreat, Sheridan; http://www. davinciinitiative.org/wyoming-weekend-retreat.html 18-20 - Hyart Film Festival, Lovell; https://www. facebook.com/HyartFilmFestival 19-20 - Beer Brats Bluegrass Festival, Evanston; http://bluegrassevanston.com/ 19-21 - Alpine Solstice: A Mid-summer Celebration of Fine Art, Alpine; http://www.alpinesolstice.com/ 20 - Catch the Night Shift: Lantern Tour and Scotch Tasting, Atlantic City; http://southpasscity.com/ nightshift.html 20 - Chugwater Chili Cookoff, Chugwater; http:// chugwaterchilicookoff.com/ 20 - Plein Air Fest, Jackson; http://www.wildlifeart. org/events/plein-air-fest/ 20 - Chris LeDoux Days, Kaycee, http:// kayceewyoming.org/ 20-21 - Woodchoppers Jamboree and Rodeo, Encampment; http://saratogaplatte. chambermaster.com/events/details/ woodchoppers-jamboree-androdeo-06-13-2015-256 20-21 - Plains Indian Museum Powwow, Cody;

artscapes • summer 2015

http://centerofthewest.org/event/plains-indianmuseum-powwow/ 21 - Midsummer’s Eve Celebration, Casper Mountain; http://www.natronacounty-wy.gov/ 21-25 - Yellowstone STEAM: Blending STEM and Art in Education, Yellowstone N.P.; https://www. yellowstoneassociation.org/sites/all/files/pressreleases/TeacherWorkshop_2015update%2002. pdf 22-26 - Musical Theatre Camp, Jackson; http:// www.offsquare.org/education/youth-summercamps/ 23-27 - Wyo Art Factory Summer Camp, Cheyenne; http://www.wyoartfactory.com/ 25-27 - Flaming Gorge Days, Green River; http:// www.tourwyoming.com/events/ 25-27 - Jackson Hole Writers Conference; Jackson; http://jacksonholewritersconference. com/ 25-28 - Quilt Wyoming 2015, Rock Springs; http://wsqg.org/QW15.htm 26-28 - 6th annual Donkey Creek Festival, Gillette; http://donkeycreekfestival.com/ 26-28 - NIC Fest, Casper; www.thenic.org 27 - Sound Check Summer Music Series, Pinedale; http://pinedalefinearts.com 27 - “Natural Fibers – Simply Fun” workshop at continued on page 14

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SageRidge Ranch, Clearmont; www.sageridge.net 29-July 2 - The Art of the Illuminated Field Journal with Hannah Hinchman, Yellowstone NP; https:// www.yellowstoneassociation.org 29-July 19 - CLTP Youth Summer Stock: Session 2, Cheyenne; http://www.cheyennelittletheatre. org/youth_summer_stock.asp

JULY 1-Aug. 15 - Grand Teton Music Festival, Teton Village; http://gtmf.org/events/ 4 - Concerts in the Park: Timberline, Guernsey; community@townofguernseywy.us 4-12 - Jubilee Days, Laramie; http://www. laramiejubileedays.net/ 5-7 - Spinsters Gathering, Thermopolis; info@ wyofibertrails.org 6-17 - Thin Air Shakespeare Camp, Jackson; http://www.offsquare.org 6-31 - Sagebrush CAC Native American exhibit, Sheridan; http://www.artinsheridan.com/ 7-10 - Bluegrass Camp for Kids, Buffalo; http:// www.bighornmountainfestival.com/workshops.htm 10 - Wyoming Statehood Day celebration, Laramie; http://www.wyomingterritorialprison. com/ 10-11 - Legend of Rawhide, Lusk; http:// legendofrawhide.com/ 10-12 – Big Horn Mountain Festival, Buffalo; http://www.bighornmountainfestival.com 10-12 - Art Fair Jackson Hole, Miller Park, Jackson; http://www.jhartfair.org/index.htm 10-12 - Ethete Celebration and Powwow, Ethete; http://info.landerchamber.org/events/ details/ethete-celebration-and-powwow-2935 11 - Albin Day, Albin; 307-246-3243 11 - Laramie Brew Fest, Laramie; http://www. laramiemainstreet.org 11-12 — Gold Rush Days, South Pass City; http:// southpasscity.com/ 11, 12, 17 & 18 — Thin Air Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Jackson; http://www. offsquare.org 12 — Art Fest on the Ivinson lawn, Laramie; http:// www.laramiemuseum.org/ 13-17 — MAT Camp, Evanston; http://www.

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youngmusicians.net/new/matcamp/ 15-25 — Snowy Range Summer Dance Festival; Laramie; http://www.snowyrangedance. com 16-Aug. 8 — Plaza Diane Art Exhibition: Renee Claire Tafoya, Powell; http://www.plazadiane.org/ event 16-26 - CFD Old West Museum Frontier Art Show and Sale, Cheyenne; http://www.cfdrodeo.com/ art-show-and-sale-schedule/ 17 - Sound Check Summer Music Series, Pinedale; http://pinedalefinearts.com 17 - Cowboy Day at the Meeteetse Museums, Meeteetse; http://www.meeteetsemuseums.org/ calendar.html 17-19 - Longmire Days, Buffalo; http://www. buffalowyo.com/ 17-19 — 11th annual Targhee Fest, Alta; http://www.grandtarghee.com/summer/musicfestivals/targhee-fest.php 17-19 - Grand Encampment Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Encampment; http://saratogaplatte. chambermaster.com 18 - Yellowstone Beer Fest, Cody; http:// yellowstonebeerfest.com/ 18-25 – Frontier Nights concerts at Cheyenne Frontier Days, Cheyenne; http://www.cfdrodeo. com/frontier-nights-schedule/ 19 - 5th annual Wyoming Blues Challenge, Casper; http://www.wyobluesandjazz.org/ 19 - “Bluebirds of the Bighorn Mountains: Their ‘Secret Sex Life’ & Much More,” Spear-O-Wigwam Mountain Campus; http://www.sheridan.edu/site/ spearowigwam/community-events/ 20-24 - Charles Dayton “experience painting” class, Cokeville; 307-733-6450 20-26 - New York City Ballet MOVES at Dancers’ Workshop, Jackson; http://www.dwjh.org 20 & 27 - ARTCORE Music & Poetry, Casper; http://artcorewy.com 23 — Concerts in the Park: Green Valley Homesteaders, Guernsey; community@ townofguernseywy.us 24-25 — WHAT Fest 2015, Riverside; http:// whatfest.com/ 24-25 — Dayton Days, Dayton; 307-655-2217 24-26 — 21st Oyster Ridge Music Festival, Kemmerer; http://www.oysterridgemusicfestival.

Wyoming arts council

com 24-26 — Caspar Collins Days, Casper; http://www. fortcasparwyoming.com 26-28 — 56th annual Eastern Shoshone Indian Days, Fort Washakie; http://easternshoshonetribe. org/calendar/ 27-31 — Jim Wilcox: Plein air on location painting, Jackson Hole Art Academy; 307-733-6450 28-Aug. 1 — “Wyoming’s Big Show” concert series, Rock Springs; http://www. sweetwaterevents.com/ 31 — Riverton Museum trek to Atlantic City, Atlantic City; https://www.facebook.com/ Riverton.Wyoming.Museum 31-Aug. 2 — Deer Creek Days, Glenrock; http:// www.glenrockchamber.org/ 31-Aug. 2 — Hanna Fair Battle of the Bands, Hanna; https://www.facebook.com/hanna. wyoming

AUGUST 1 - RIVERFEST: Art & Music in the Park, Lander; http://landerartcenter.com/ 1-2 - Beartrap Summer Festival, Casper Mountain; http://beartrapsummerfestival.com 3-6 - Targhee Music Camp, Alta; http://www. targheemusiccamp.com/ 3-31 - Sagebrush CAC 5th annual National Juried Art Show, Sheridan; http://www.artinsheridan. com/ 5, 12, 19 & 26 — NIC Wednesday Night Live, Casper; http://www.thenic.org 7-8 — Rock’n the Railroad, Sheridan; http://www. rockntherailroad.com/ 7-9 — 28th annual Targhee Bluegrass Festival, Alta; http://www.grandtarghee.com 7-9 -- NoWoodstock XV, Ten Sleep; http:// nowoodstock.com/ 7-9 — Art Fair Jackson Hole, Jackson; http://www. jhartfair.org 8 — Sweetwater Blues ‘n’ Brews, Rock Springs; http://www.downtownrs.com 8-9 — Wyoming Old Time Fiddle Association State Contest, Douglas (during State Fair); http:// wyomingfiddle.org/ 8-15 — Wyoming State Fair, Douglas; http://www. wystatefair.com/ 10-12 — Charles Dayton: painting horses

artscapes • summer 2015

workshop, Jackson; 307-733-6450 10-16 — Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company in residence, Jackson; http://www.dwjh.org 14-15 — Art on the Green, Green River; www. cityofgreenriver.org 14-15 — 17th Street Arts Festival, Cheyenne; http://17thstreetartsfestival.com/ 21-23 – Wild West River Fest, Cody, http:// codyriverfest.com/ 27 — Concerts in the Park: Queen City Jazz Band, Guernsey; community@townofguernseywy. us 28-29 — Laramie Festival of the Arts, Laramie; www.cityoflaramie.org/arts 29 — Centennial Uptown Breakdown, Centennial; https://www.facebook.com/pages/CentennialUptown-Breakdown/259616737401441

SEPTEMBER 4-5 - Greek Festival, Cheyenne; 307-638-6200 4-6 - Snowy Range Music Festival, Laramie; https://www.facebook.com/ SnowyRangeMusicFestival 6-7 - Don King Days, Big Horn; http://www. sheridanwyoming.org/ 10-12 - Yellowstone Quilt Fest, Cody; http://www. yellowstonequiltfest.info/2015/index.html 10-13 — Western Design Conference, Jackson; http://westerndesignconference.com/ 10-20 — Fall Arts Festival, Jackson Hole; http:// www.jacksonholechamber.com/fall_arts_festival/ 12 — High Plains Powwow, Rawlins; http:// carboncountymuseum.org 12 — Sundance Beer Festival, Sundance; http:// www.sundancebeerfestival.com/ 12-13 — Copper Days Festival, Encampment; http://saratogaplatte. chambermaster.com 13 — Red Grade Writers Symposium, Spear-OWigwam Mountain Campus; http://www.sheridan. edu/site/spearowigwam/community-events/ 18-20 — WyoFiberLive, Laramie; http:// wyomingfibertrails.org/ 18-25 - “The Rambling Stretch: A Contemporary Jazz Tour,” various venues; 307-777-7742 21-26 - Rendezvous Royale art show and sale, Cody; http://centerofthewest.org

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music

Groovin’ with Maddy and the G Spots

S

ince the dawn of the rock era, bands have been known for their high drama. Wild parties. Public spats. Abuse of various substances.

When it comes to her Jackson-based band The Groove Spots, Maddy German hopes for more constructive theatrics.

Maddy German and band members get theatrical during a recent photo shoot.

Photo by Kayla Arend.

German, 30, comes from a musical theatre background. Growing up in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, she was in a children’s choir and played roles in musicals. Her mother directed the church choir and her father played the guitar. Her sisters play classical instruments and one is a singer.

For a recent photo shoot, German rounded up the three members of her band – Leif Routman, Corey Aldeman and Dusty Nichols – and “invaded a local theatre group for props” (for the results, see the accompanying photo).

“I sometimes make the boys dress up in costume on stage,” said German. “I love theatrical shows with a mix of song and story.

“My personality is normally reserved,” she added.

“When I get on stage, I try to step into that character and let the music work.”

Maddy and The Groove Spots, or Maddy and the G Spots as they’re known on Instagram. There’s a personality at work there -- a gathering of individual musicians acting as one groovy group.

That’s the goal, anyway.

“Having the right chemistry – that’s a huge challenge,” German said. “You can find the right

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players but it’s really hard to find people who love the music you’re making.”

Since arriving in Jackson a little more than three years ago, German has worked to build a band centered on her as a character. She works hard on her skills as a musician and a bandleader.

She’s taking jazz piano lessons, which she says is so difficult that it’s like “the Mandarin Chinese of music.” She’s also honing her skills as the leader of the band or maybe conductor is the better term – “that probably comes from my classical music

Wyoming arts council

background,” she said.

It’s a constant struggle between the linear part of her brain and the one which strives to be free to create. In a way, it’s like the music industry degree she holds from James Madison University – part music school and part business school. “Our class formed a partnership and acted as a business,” she said. “I felt blessed to get training in other aspects of the music industry.”

This left brain/right brain duality is also at work with her business plan, which “forced me to put numbers on paper,” she said. In it, she visualized and outlined where she wanted to be in three to five years. It’s easy to get sidetracked, she said, and the plan helps her stay on course.

Planning “helps me tap into the heartbeat of my creative business,” she said.

What is the plan? To make a living as a musician.

She’s not talking about landing a major record deal or becoming a household name on YouTube.

Nice thoughts, sure, but her goals are more realistic. Sustainability rather than pie-inthe-sky.

“It’s not a crapshoot as it used to be,” she said. “We now have a direct artist-to-audience

Maddy German rehearsing with her band.

connection. You can reach out online for monetary support to your fan base. You can be an entrepreneur and break the rules that have held artists captive for so long.”

There are challenges in this world of limitless internet connectivity.

“The trick is to find people who will focus on your work for more time than it takes to click ‘like’ on Facebook,” she said. continued on page 18

Park County residents invited to meet their local folk artists on June 6 On Saturday, June 6, 2:30 p.m., Wyoming Arts Council folk and traditional arts specialist Anne Hatch will present a program, “Meet Your Neighbors: Folk Artists in Park County,” at the Park County Library in Cody. The event is free and open to the public.

Last summer, folklorist Elaine Thatcher traveled throughout Park County for the Art Council’s Folk Arts Program. Elaine identified county folk artists, met with local cultural institutions and reported on ways for the WAC to best serve the region’s creative traditions.

Folk artists, explains Hatch, “are your neighbors whose creative activities have been cherished for generations and are passed down through families and other close-knit groups. Although rarely found in museums or on the concert stage, folk art can include old-time fiddling, decorative rosemaling, saddle making and fly tying.”

Hatch invites county residents to “come find out who Elaine met, add yourself list to the list of artists, and see what your neighbors (and perhaps you) are creating. These traditions make Park County a great place to be.”

artscapes • summer 2015

FMI: Contact Anne Hatch at 307-307-7721 or anne.hatch@wyo.gov.

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continued from page 17

you,” she said.

So you build a web site, get on social media, network in your local community, cut a CD, make a video, check out the state arts agency to see if they have any grants.

That latter item is not so easy. Not all musicians are aware that the WAC has grants to help you cut a CD or make a video. German contacted the WAC all the way in the other corner of the state.

She discovered the Individual Artist Professional Development grants. Not a big pot of money. But every little bit helps when you have a budget of a few thousand dollars.

Maddy and the Groove Spots ham it up for the camera. Photo by Kayla Arend.

German looks back to her roots in church music.

When you sing in the church choir, “you make your audience feel as if they are a member of your community,” she said. “We all want to be connected. We want to find the community we fit into.”

She spoke about a New York Times piece by a writer who argued that if an artist can find 1,000 people willing to spend $100 annually on you and your work, you can make $100,000 a year for your artistic career. Not bad, even in New York.

She also has learned a lot from Amanda Palmer, author of “The Art of Asking” and an evangelist for crowdsourcing.

“You have to ask for help – and make it easy for people to give to PAGE

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German is the recipient of a 2015 Wyoming Arts Council performing arts fellowship, based solely on her artistic merit. She also received an IAPD grant last year in which she had to describe steps to record a CD and how much it was going to cost.

“That personal and professional recognition has completely changed my life,” German said. “The funding gave me the hard tools to make art. It was a real game-changer.”

So what’s next for Maddy and the Groove Spots?

“A music video is the next big thing,” she said. “We have to pick the song for the video. We have to do some fund-raising to pay the artists. Take our music demos into the studio and work on single releases for the next six months. Finish recording the CD. You need recorded music to tour.”

So then comes the tour, which involves its own expenses and own set of logistics.

“We now have a direct artist-to-audience connection. You can reach out online for monetary support to your fan base.”

“If you’re an artist without entrepreneurial or organizational skills, you might get left behind.” She paused for a moment, then added this sobering thought: “You might get left behind anyway.”

Wyoming arts council

art is everywhere

Pictured clockwise from upper left: Robert Martinez teaches airbrush class at CWC in Riverton; pARTners winter plein air drawing class with Alta Elementary School students; Pinedale Elementary School students perform as mermaids for Missoula Children’s Theatre production; Actor’s Mission cast members, Rock Springs; Brush Creek residency artists at Encampment School.

artscapes • summer summer2015 2015

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governor's arts awards

Pictured clockwise from upper left: Governor Matt Mead and First Lady Carol Mead applauding performance by UW’s Singing Statesmen; Wyoming Poet Laureate Echo Roy Klaproth reading one of her poems; Governor’s Arts Award recipient Zak Pullen gets a big hug from his mom; Secretary of State Ed Murray (right) talks about Zak Pullen’s painting of the presidents with the late Mick McMurry of Casper; Tom Lucas accepts his Governor’s Arts Award while interpreter signs his speech. Photos by Brian Harrington, BHP Imaging.

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Wyoming arts council

Pictured clockwise from upper left: Governor Matt Mead (left) congratulates award recipient Jim Wilcox of Jackson; Awardee Tom Lucas with his wife Tammy from Dubois; full house for the gala in the Little America ballroom in Cheyenne; Awardee Zak Pullen of Casper addresses the crowd; the night’s performance by UW’s Singing Statesmen included some dazzling special effects.

artscapes • summer 2015

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arts education

Thermopolis students get hands-on experience with Australia’s rainbow snake hallway. Explanatory panels with the story and explanation were mounted in January.

WAC roster artist Paul Taylor (upper right) guides students as they paint the Rainbow Snake mural.

Rainbow Snake Project comes to Thermopolis

By Ellen Sue Blakey The rainbow snake was a creative project of Thermopolis Middle School students, working with Wyoming Arts Council roster artist Paul Taylor, a native of Australia and expert in Australian aboriginal tribes. Students worked with Taylor and art instructor Jennifer Emery over several months.

During that time, every student in the Middle School participated in the project, researching and writing the explanation or working on the painting.

Jacky Wright, Hot Springs Greater Learning Foundation education director, coordinated Taylor’s visits with the schools.

The original was painted on canvas in the aboriginal dot-painting style. The completed piece is 18 feet long. It now hangs in the Middle School PAGE

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Taylor’s residency was sponsored by Hot Springs Greater Learning Foundation through a grant from the Wyoming Arts Council, with additional support from Hot Springs County Schools District #1. Mounting for the mural, along with digital photography and a portable replica of the rainbow snake, was made possible with additional funding from Glade Edwards Foundation, Thermopolis, and HSGLF. Below is the explanation written by the Middle School students.

Our mural story: Hot Springs Rainbow Our mural is inspired by Australian Aboriginal culture and dot painting tradition. Our design reflects the stories of the Rainbow Snake, a major Spiritual Ancestor who carved out the rivers and shaped the land throughout Australia. The Rainbow Snake teaches the people to care for their water, to share their water, and to care for their country.

Our Rainbow Snake Mural is called Hot Springs Rainbow!

The dots represent drops of water, the rain fills our Wyoming arts council

rivers. The dots also represent all the plants, birds, animals, insects and people that drink and are made from this water, our lifeblood.

“smoking waters”. The hot springs were known as having “healing water” and are still important to our town today.

The headdress of the Rainbow Snake is a bobcat head. The bobcat represents our school mascot. It is a symbol of pride in our schools and a feeling of togetherness as a community.

The red, yellow and green areas around the river represent the agricultural community of Thermopolis.

The body of the Rainbow Snake represents the Bighorn River. The river starts as the Wind River, which travels from the northern end of the Wind River Canyon through the Wedding of the Waters.

This is where the Wind River officially becomes the Bighorn River, passing through Thermopolis and the Hot Springs State Park.

At the Tail of the Rainbow Snake, past the dark area that represents the Wind River Canyon, is the Boysen Reservoir.

In the heart of the Rainbow Snake, we put a paw print to represent the children of Thermopolis.

The lungs of the Rainbow Snake are the hot springs.

The Shoshone Indians called the hot springs the

We included our famous Round Top Hill, Monument Hill, Buffalo pasture, and mountain ranges on the back of our Rainbow Snake to look like scales of a serpent.

Our mural was designed by our art teacher Jennifer Emery in consultation with our artist in resident Paul Taylor, who was sponsored by Jacky Wright and the Hot Springs Greater Learning Foundation.

Every student in the Thermopolis Middle school, grades 5-8, helped to create this mural. From laying down the base colors, adding the dots, then putting on the final touches, our goal was to create community through the art process!

Ellen Sue Blakey is the director of the Hot Springs Greater Learning Foundation in Thermopolis. For more information, go to http://hsglf.org/

Thermopolis Middle School students work on the Rainbow Snake mural.

artscapes • summer 2015

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poetry out loud

Dylan Collins clinches Wyoming Poetry Out Loud title Judges for this year’s event, held in the Cheyenne Civic Center, were poet Adrian Molina of Denver, Wyoming Poet Laureate Echo Klaproth of Shoshoni, poet and essayist Rick Kempa of Rock Springs, and poet Matt Daly of Jackson. Special guest judge was Julia Falkner, National Student Poet Program winner from Louisville, Colo.

At Poetry Out Loud awards ceremony in State Capitol Rotunda (pictured from left to right): Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow, Wyoming State Champion Dylan Collins, Wyoming Poet Laureate Echo Roy Klapruth, and WAC Manager Michael Lange.

D

ylan Collins, a senior at Arvada-Clearmont High School, won the 2015 Wyoming Poetry Out Loud competition Feb. 2-3 in Cheyenne.

This is the sixth consecutive year that an ArvadaClearmont student has won the state title in the 10-year history of this poetry memorization and recitation competition.

This year’s runner-up was Rebecca Dulaney from Sundance Secondary. Third place went to Lucy Martinez of Summit High School in Jackson.

2015 Wyoming Poetry Out Loud contestants came from Sundance, Buffalo, Hulett, Kaycee, Riverton, Casper, Clearmont, and Jackson.

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Wyoming Public Radio’s Cultural Affairs Director Micah Schweizer served as emcee for the competition. WPR recorded the event for a later broadcast.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow presented the participation and award certificates at a Feb. 3 ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda.

Collins receives $200; Dulaney, $100. Both also earned a cash prize for their respective schools to purchase poetry books for the classroom or library.

Collins and his chaperone will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to compete at the national finals in Washington, D.C., April 28-29. Scholarships totaling $50,000 are awarded to the national champion and the other finalists.

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

Interested teachers can call Katie Christensen at 307-777-7109 for further details about partici-

Wyoming arts council

pating in the 2016 competition.

The Wyoming Arts Council provides leadership and invests resources to sustain, promote and cultivate excellence in the arts.

Student from Alaska wins national finals Wyoming Public Radio’s Micah Schweizer served as emcee for state finals.

On April 29, Maeva Ordaz, age 18, a senior at West Anchorage High School in Anchorage, Alaska won the title of 2015 Poetry Out Loud National Champion. Ordaz won the final round with “Zacuanpapalotls,” by Brenda Cárdenas The second-place winner was Paris J. Stroud, 18, a senior at Paulding County High School in Dallas, Georgia. The third-place winner was Casey Ryan Goggin, age 17, a senior at Pinecrest High School in Pinehurst, North Carolina.

Poetry Out Loud competitor Lucy Martinez of Summit High School, Jackson.

Students and schools received $50,000 in awards and school stipends at the National Finals, including $20,000 for the Poetry Out Loud National Champion, and $10,000 and $5,000 for the second- and third-place finalists. The fourth- to ninth-place finalists each received $1,000. The schools of the top nine finalists received $500 for the purchase of poetry books.

Poetry Out Loud competitor Rebecca Flanders of Buffalo High School, Buffalo.

Now celebrating its tenth year of national competition, Poetry Out Loud is a partnership between the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. The program encourages the study of great poetry by offering educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition to high school students across the country. The Poetry Out Loud National Finals are the culmination of a year-long poetry education program involving some 365,000 students, 9,000 teachers, and 2,300 high schools across the country. High school teachers who want to learn how to get involved in next year’s program can contact their state arts agency at poetryoutloud.org/state-contacts.

Source: http://www.poetryoutloud.org

artscapes • summer 2015

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wac board

Four WAC board members reappointed

F

our Wyoming Arts Council board members have been reappointed by Governor Matt Mead and confirmed by the Wyoming Senate.

Janelle Fletcher of Laramie, Neil Hansen of Powell, Erin Taylor of Cheyenne and Holly Turner of Casper will all return to the board and serve three year terms.

The Wyoming Arts Council is advised by a tenmember board. Those selected must be Wyoming residents “known for their competence and experience in all fields of the performing and fine arts.”

Fletcher is director of University of Wyoming Cultural Programs and Fine Arts Outreach. Hansen is a musician and recently retired from the music faculty of Northwest College. Taylor is the owner of Taylor Strategies & Consulting, and serves on the board of the Wyoming Lottery. Turner is director of the Casper Artists’ Guild and former director of the Nicolaysen Art Museum.

At its quarterly meeting Feb. 2627 in Cheyenne, the board elected Fletcher to a second term as board chair and Hansen was tapped as vice-chair. Tara Taylor of Lyman was chosen as the at-large member of the executive committee.

Janelle Fletcher

Persons interested in serving on the WAC board are encouraged to fill out an application on the Governor’s web site at http://governor.wyo.gov/ resources/boards-and-commissions/.

For more information about the Wyoming Arts Council, please visit its web site at www.wyomingartscouncil.org.

NEA collecting arts stories for its 50th anniversary Beginning on September 29, the National Endowment for the Arts will begin celebrating its 50th anniversary year. To better recount the story of the NEA and the arts in America, the agency is calling for stories of how the arts and PAGE

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the NEA have influenced the lives of people across the country. We have launched a "share your stories" section of the NEA website.

More information is at http://arts.gov/50thanniversary/tell-us-your-story Wyoming arts council

in memoriam

In Memoriam: Arts advocate and business leader Manuel Lopez

T

his is how Clarene Law viewed the passing of Manuel Lopez in January: “To me, a little bit of Jackson died today.”

Law was a business partner with Lopez in Jackson’s Snow King Resort for almost 30 years. Law told the Jackson Hole News & Guide that Lopez called her “the big boss,” probably because “it made me feel good. He tried to make everybody feel good.”

Lopez served as a Wyoming Arts Council board member for two terms in the 1990s. A staunch arts supporter, he was a major force behind the Center for the Arts during the three decades it took to take the project from an idea to completion. He was also instrumental in transforming the annual Fall Arts Festival into a world-class event.

Lopez also married an artist, Debra Wilson, in 1984, and they raised two sons, Alexander and Sebastian.

“He took that Cuban family influence and practiced it,” former Jackson Mayor Mark Barron told the News & Guide. “He didn’t get lost in the rush of business or life. He was just genuine.”

Lopez left Cuba in 1961 as a teenager. He first moved to Madrid, then to New York City in 1964

artscapes • summer 2015

and to Jackson in 1972 at the invitation of Roy Peck, the man behind the Ramada Snow King Inn. Lopez bought into the business in the mid-1980s.

He remained the president of the hotel ownership group until last fall.

Lopez believed that Jackson Hole could be a destination instead of just a weekend stop.

“When Manuel Lopez came to this town, I think the average nightly stay was 1.3 nights,” said Mike Gierau, chairman of Jackson Hole Air Improvement Resources. “People like Manuel Lopez and Clarene Law and Grant Larson said, ‘We want to make this a world-class destination resort.’ He doggedly advanced it to the point it came true.”

Lopez served on many boards with the goal of improving Jackson Hole. He asked town and county officials for the first chunk of money to fund START buses in 1979 and pushed a public-private partnership to build the Snow King Sports and Events Center in the early 1990s. He was active in the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce and served as its president from 1984-85.

A torchlight parade down Snow King Mountain, planned as part of the International Pedigree Stage Stop Sled Dog Race, was conducted Jan. 30 in celebration of his life.

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visual arts

Purchase awards announced at Governor’s Capitol Art Exhibition reception

G

ov. Matt Mead made the Purchase Award presentations during the 2015 Governor’s Capitol Art Exhibition reception at the Wyoming State Museum in February.

The works of 48 Wyoming artists were included in this year’s Governor’s Capitol Art Exhibition and Sale. Six artists received purchase awards totaling nearly $9,500.

the Bobby Hathaway Juror’s Choice Award in honor of their mother, former First Lady Bobby Hathaway, who helped establish the Wyoming Arts Council.

Sponsors of the Governor’s Capitol Art Exhibition and reception were Anadarko Petroleum, Maurice W. Brown Oil and Gas, LLC, Cheyenne Light, Fuel & Power and Nagle Warren Mansion.

Works receiving Purchase Awards join this growing collection of prestigious art. The state’s five elected officials and representatives from other state agencies participating in the program select the Purchase Award winners.

Works receiving People’s Choice Award, Governor’s Choice Award and Bobby Hathaway Juror’s Choice Award were announced during the reception. Susan Garrett and Sandra D‘Amico presented

Susan Garrett and Sandra D’Amico presented Bobby Hathaway award.

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Rep. Ken Esquibel (center) was one of state legislators attending event.

Gov. Matt Mead and First Lady Carol Mead present purchase award to Casper’s Karen Henneck.

Wyoming arts council

the WAC calendar June

3

. . . . . . . . Artistic Discovery 2015 opens (and runs through July 31) on the main floor of the Barrett Building, Cheyenne

11

. . . . . . . Opening reception for WAC Biennial Fellowship Exhibition at UW Art Museum, Laramie

August

13-14

. . . WAC board meeting in Evanston

October

1

. . . . . . . . FY 2017 WAC artist roster application available

July

November

1 1 2

12-13

. . . . . . . . New fiscal years begins – grant payments delayed until new budgets are set up . . . . . . . . New WAC artist roster begins

. . . . . . . . Application deadline for 2016 creative writing fellowships in poetry on Submittable.com

. . . WAC board meeting in Thermopolis

December

1

. . . . . . . . FY 2017 WAC artist roster application deadline

For more information, contact the WAC at 307-777-7742 or go to the web site www.wyomingartscouncil.org

University of Wyoming’s Singing Statesmen perform at Governor’s Arts Awards Gala.

artscapes • summer 2015

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Wyoming Arts Council 2320 Capitol Avenue Cheyenne, WY 82002

Presorted Standard U.S. Postage

PAID

Cheyenne, WY Permit No. 7

The Wyoming Arts Council provides resources & leadership to help Wyoming communities grow, connect and thrive through the arts.