Call for artists: Medicine Hat public art project

CLOSING DATE: MARCH 31, 2011 2PM MST

Open to all regional, national or international artists.
Total Budget: 40,000

The City of Medicine Hat in Alberta invites artists to participate in a public art competition. The winning submission will receive a commission to create and install a public art work or related series of works to be situated on 2nd Street SE, between South Railway St. SE and 5th Avenue SE, in downtown Medicine Hat.

The winning submission will receive a commission to create and install a public art work or related series of works to be situated on 2nd Street SE, between South Railway Street SE and 5th Avenue SE, in downtown Medicine Hat.  Documents are available for download at the Alberta Purchasing Connection.

Website: www.purchasingconnection.ca

Reference #AB-2011-00324

This opportunity will only be available on this website.  If you have not already signed up, please do so – registration is free.

All inquiries regarding this RFP must be directed in writing to:

Rhonda Olson, Buyer
403.529.8237 | 403. 526.1239
rhools [at] medicinehat [dot] ca

"Yellowstone to Yukon: The Journey of Wildlife Art" opens May 14 at National Museum of Wildlife Art

 Dall Sheep, Gates of the Nahanni River, North West Territory, 2010, Dwayne Harty.

This info about an outstanding new summer exhibition coming to the National Museum of Wildlife Art comes from WordenGroup PR:

The Jackson Hole, Wyoming-based National Museum of Wildlife Art joins forces with the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies in Banff and the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y) for a new exhibition that draws on the rich artistic history of the U.S.-to-Canada migratory corridor while conveying its importance for sustaining wildlife populations. Yellowstone to Yukon: The Journey of Wildlife Art will be on display in three galleries at the National Museum of Wildlife Art from May 14-August 14, 2011.  The exhibition then travels to the Whyte Museum.

Covering some 1.3 million square miles, the Y2Y region spans five American states, two Canadian provinces and two Canadian territories, and includes the Rocky, Columbia and Mackenzie mountain ranges.  Works chosen by the two museums for the exhibition link centuries as well as the migratory corridor’s wide-reaching territory, depicting wildlife in the region by such masters as Albert Bierstadt, John Clymer, Carl Rungius and Bob Kuhn. 

Dwayne Harty painting in Nahanni National Park, July 2010.

In addition to the historical pieces, contemporary painter Dwayne Harty was commissioned by Y2Y to travel the corridor, capturing landscapes along the route that had rarely if ever before been sketched firsthand.  Following in the geographic footsteps of renowned wildlife artist Carl Rungius, Harty painted the 17 “areas at risk” as designated by Y2Y along the Wyoming-to-Canada corridor, with his finished works serving as a “living thread” connecting main themes throughout the Yellowstone to Yukon exhibition.

The National Museum of Wildlife Art also will display its complete set of Rungius drypoints in a second exhibition to complement the Yellowstone to Yukon show.  Above Timberline: Engravings by Carl Rungius will be on display May 7-October 2, 2011. 

A member of the Museums West consortium and accredited by the American Association of Museums, the National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States provides an exciting calendar of exhibitions from its permanent collection and changing exhibitions from around the globe.  A complete schedule of museum exhibitions and events is available online at www.wildlifeart.org.  The museum is also active on Facebook at wildlifeartjh and on Twitter at @wildlifeartjh.

Media Contacts: Darla Worden, WordenGroup Strategic Public Relations, 307.734.5335, darla@wordenpr.com; Ponteir Sackrey, National Museum of Wildlife Art, 307.732.5444, psackrey@wildlifeart.org.

State Museum hosts two Canadian authors today at brown bag event

Two Canadian authors, Jan Zwicky and Robert Bringhurst will be featured speakers during a Wyoming State Museum Brown Bag Lecture and book signing, Wednesday (TODAY!), from noon to 1 p.m., in Cheyenne. The event is free and open to the public.

Zwicky and Bringhurst are visiting the state through the University of Wyoming’s Creative Writing Program’s Visiting Writers series.

Zwicky, an Alberta native, is an author of poetry and philosophy. Her books include “Wittgenstein Elegies,” “The New Room,” “Songs for Relinquishing the Earth,” “Robinson’s Crossing” and “Thirty-Seven Small Songs & Thirteen Silences.”

Her poetry has been translated into French, Spanish, Czech, and Serbo-Croatian, and she publishes widely as an essayist on issues in music, poetry, philosophy, and the environment. Since 1986, she has edited poetry for Brick Books.

Bringhurst was raised largely in Montana and Alberta, and spent many childhood summers with his grandmother in Lovell, Wyo. He has published nearly 20 books of poetry including “The Shipwright’s Log” as well as a groundbreaking trilogy of Native American oral literature which included, “A Story as Sharp as a Knife: The Classical Haida Mythtellers and Their World” and was chosen as Literary Editor’s Book of the Year in 2004.

Bringhurst and Zwicky will hold a joint residency at the University of Wyoming for several weeks this fall. A selection of their books will be available for purchase and signing at the State Museum Store.

The State Museum is located in the Barrett Building, 2301 Central Avenue in Cheyenne. For information about this and other State Museum programs, please call 307-777-7022.

Banff Mtn. Film Festival at UW Feb. 24-25

The Banff Mountain Film Festival world tour brings the spirit of outdoor adventure to the University of Wyoming Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 24-25, at 7 p.m. in the Arts and Sciences auditorium.

The free showing, sponsored by the UW Outdoor Program, features award-winning films and audience favorites from approximately 300 films entered in the annual festival in Banff, Canada.

This year's tour features a collection of the most inspiring action, environmental and adventure mountain films. It provides an exhilarating and provocative exploration of the mountain world.

The schedule of films to be shown at UW can be viewed on at http://www.uwyo.edu/Oap/pdfs/Banff_Film_line-up_UW.pdf

The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour, produced by Mountain Culture at The Banff Center, will visit in about 285 communities and 30 countries across the globe.

The UW presentation is made possible through the Student Activities Council, Cross Country Connection and the Wyoming Outdoor Council.

For more information, call the UW Outdoor Program at (307) 766-2402 or go to www.uwyo.edu/oap/events.asp.

Doris Knowles Pulis's new book

How It Looks Going Back

Growing up in the Montana Woods

By Doris Knowles Pulis

Published 2009 by Riverbend Publishing

Helena, MT

$12 softcover

When eigh-year-old Doris Knowles and her family embarked from their home in Californa on a summer vacation to Canada in 1949, little did they expect to wind up moving to a log cabin, perched on a fish-filled lake, in the sparsely populated Yaak Valley.

In her vivid and well-crafted memoir, Pulis tells about the six years her family spent their, minus electricity or running water. She, and eventually her little sister Bob (Barbara), attended a one-room schoolhous, and the author learned how to split wood, haul water, ride horses and survive through winters that sometimes swallowed most of the year.

The valley is brimming with eccentrics, like Gus, whose nose" was like the Yaak Road: bumpy and crooked," or the Seventh Day Adventist minister, the Rev. McCoy, who loves nothing more than his ongoing fueds (flint and steel and sparks flying") with Dee's dad, Darwin (named for the fathor of the theory of evolution).

Remarkably, Knowles descrives these experiences as though they happened yesterday instead of six decades ago, with sharp detail and a sense of humor and affection that's palpable.

Clem Work, a journalism professor at the University of Montana, notes that the author's "sweet and sassy memoir... shows that the spirit, guts, and grit are priceless qualites in any era."

The author, who now resides in Bend, OR, also spent 25 years in the Bitterrott Valley, where she and her husband raised Christmas trees.

-Kristi Niemeyer

"The Hobbit" journeys to Pinedale

On Friday, January 15, 7 p.m., Canadian puppet theater group Theatre San Fil return to Pinedale, this time bringing their award-winning production of the "The Hobbit," the classic tale of Bilbo Baggins! At the Pinedale Auditorium. For ticket info, go to http://www.pinedalefinearts.com. For more about Theatre San Fil, go to its web site or youtube

Celebrating the West of Wallace Stegner

This press release comes from Kevin Holdsworth in Rock Springs:

In an event marking the centennial of his birth, Wallace Stegner’s literary work and legacy will be celebrated at the Wallace Stegner Centennial Summit, September 24-25 in Rock Springs.

Speakers will include writers Page Stegner, Will Bagley and Lynn Stegner. Events will be held at the Rock Springs Museum and Western Wyoming Community College.

“Stegner’s preeminence among American writers who deal with the West cannot be seriously questioned,” said Kevin Holdsworth, co-organizer of the summit. “For many readers and writers, Stegner is an essential guide to understanding our region.”

Wallace Stegner (1909-1993) won the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award. He wrote numerous books including Angle of Repose, Crossing to Safety, The Spectator Bird, Beyond the Hundredth Meridian, The Sound of Mountain Water, The Gathering of Zion, The Big Rock Candy Mountain and Mormon Country.

“We are fortunate to be close to South Pass and the Green River, places he wrote about in important books,” added Holdsworth.

“We are trying to highlight several areas where his influence remains strong,” said Jennifer Sorensen, summit co-organizer. “These include writing—both fiction and nonfiction, history, conservation and teaching. We have invited speakers uniquely qualified to discuss each of these areas.”

The event will begin on September 24 at 6 p.m. at the Rock Springs Museum with an informal reception followed by a showing of the 2009 KUED documentary, "Wallace Stegner." On September 25, sessions will be held from 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. in room 1302 of Western Wyoming Community College. All events are free and open to the public.

Speakers include writer/teacher and WAC fellowship recipient Holdsworth, who will open the sessions with remarks about Stegner as a mentor and note different types of political change in the West. Historian Will Bagley is set to address the historic and cultural importance of South Pass and propose ways to maintain it as “a good place to sit on a rock and feel history.” Linda Baker of the Upper Green River Valley Coalition will discuss issues related to resource development in Sublette and Sweetwater Counties. Mary Lynn Worl, chair of Citizens United for Responsible Energy Development, will talk about returning to her hometown of Pinedale and organizing citizen involvement to achieve healthier air quality.

In the afternoon sessions, writer and teacher Jennifer Sorensen will discuss her own relationship to the places Stegner writes about and reflect on her experiences in teaching his work. Writer and teacher Lynn Stegner will provide an appreciation of Wallace Stegner’s fiction. Writer Page Stegner will relate anecdotes and challenges involved in the process of collecting and editing his father’s correspondence for The Selected Letters of Wallace Stegner.

The Wallace Stegner Centennial Summit is made possible by grants from Chevron and the Sweetwater Board of Cooperative Educational Services. Other sponsors include the Rock Springs Museum, the Sweetwater County Historical Museum, and WWCC’s Western American Studies program.

FMI: Kevin Holdsworth at (307) 382-1724 or Sorensen at (307) 382-1716 or email kholdswo@wwcc.wy.edu

Atwood takes new approach to book tour

Dystopian novelist Margaret Atwood is putting on a show as part of her book tour for "The Year of the Flood," which is set in a post-pandemic future.

Here's a story about Atwood by Bruce DeMara in the Toronto Star:

Margaret Atwood is radically redesigning the concept of a standard book tour. The acclaimed Canadian author is using a live performance with original music, local actors and the author herself as narrator to promote her latest novel, The Year of the Flood, her publisher announced yesterday.

Her tour for the book will feature six Canadian stops, including St. James' Cathedral at 65 Church St. in Toronto on Sept. 24.

"It's a chance to break free from the traditional structure of a book tour," Atwood said in a statement. "I felt this particular novel deserved a more complex presentation. It's also a great chance to work with other creative minds and see their interpretation of the story come to light." Ellen Seligman, publisher of fiction at McClelland & Stewart and editor of Atwood's 13th novel, which will be released Sept. 22, called the project "unprecedented" in the annals of publishing.

The Year of the Flood, a follow-up to Atwood's novel Oryx & Crake, is set in a future where the world has undergone dramatic change as a result of decades of evironmental degradation. The final blow comes in the form of a pandemic that decimates virtually all of humanity, leaving a scattering of survivors.

But Seligman said, despite the book's dark nature and theme, "there is definitely a sense of hope (by the end) because it's people gathering in groups together." That's where the idea of live performance and bringing together people from local community meshes with the book, she said. "The idea of this performance and gathering the public – these are public performances and very inexpensive tickets – is a way of kind of joining everybody together in this global concern, which is our world and life as we know it."

The hour-long performance will feature 14 hymns – one for each chapter – which Atwood wrote, to the music of L.A.-based composer Orville Stoeber.

A three-person cast will perform along with a choir, all of whom will be local talent. Atwood has helped to design an interactive website for the book tour, including a blog and a Twitter feed. In her first entry, Atwood said she and husband Graeme Gibson are travelling to the U.K. by ship and said two Coronation Street cast members will perform with her in Manchester. Events will also be held in Ottawa, Kingston, Sudbury, Calgary and Vancouver, with proceeds going to Nature Canada.

Details of the Toronto cast have yet to be finalized. Ticket information is available at http://www.readings.org/.