In memoriam: Cheyenne writer Mary Hartman

Writer Mary Hartman passed away June 24 in Cheyenne. She was the author of "Texas Granite: Story of a World War II Hero," part-memoir and part-history about World War II Medal of Honor recipient Jack Lummus, and co-author (with historian Elmo Ingenthron) of “Bald Knobbers: Vigilantes on the Ozarks Frontier.”

Mary grew up in Nebraska, spent the World War II years in L.A., and later worked as a newspaper reporter. After moving to Cheyenne in the early 1990s, she co-founded Southeast Wyoming Writers and was a member of the Cheyenne Area Writers Group. She was the program chair for SEWW and brought a number of well-known poets and writers to Cheyenne for presentations and workshops. She was on a “memoir writing” panel at the Wyoming Book Festival in October 2001 in Cheyenne.

Mary was producer for a World War II oral history video sponsored by the Cheyenne Family YMCA’s Writer’s Voice Project. This video is now part of the U.S. Library of Congress’s World War II oral history collection. 

Opening reception for Jamie Burmeister's "Shooting Gallery" May 20 at the NIC

Jamie Burmeister, "Funky Junk"

The Nicolaysen Art Museum in Casper invites you to the opening reception to "Shooting Gallery," an exhibition by Jamie Burmeister, on Friday, May 20. The museum members' preview begins at 5 p.m. and includes a lecture by the artist. The free public opening begins at 6 p.m.

Through experiments with sculpture, installation, mechanics, electronics, everyday materials, the Internet, interactivity, and sound and video, Jamie Burmeister has put together a diverse body of work that revolves around his conscious experience of the world. Many of his artworks have elements of humor, absurdity and the mundane. Many of the pieces are also interactive, creating situations where the viewer becomes a part of the piece. The experience of the work is unique depending upon how the viewers choose to interact with it.

The exhibit will be on display May 20-Aug. 7.

Russell Schnitzer illuminates sandhill crane migration

Brighten up your Monday with a look at the photography of Wyoming's Russell Schnitzer in a blog post entitled "Of Cranes, Migrations and Spring." The photos document the annual sandhill crane migration in Nebraska. Go to http://schnitzerphoto.blogspot.com/2011/03/of-cranes-migrations-and-spring.html?spref=tw

Call for entries: 11th annual Veterans Creative Arts Festival

From a press release:

The Cheyenne Veterans Administration Medical center Recreation Therapy Department is currently accepting visual and performing art entries for the 11th Annual Veterans Creative Arts Festival.

This event is open to all Veterans who have received care or services from the Cheyenne VAMC or any of the other VA clinics in southeastern Wyoming, northern Colorado and western Nebraska. Entry Forms are due by Feb 18, 2011 and may be picked up at the Laramie County Library, VA Medical Center 2360 E. Pershing Blvd or by contacting Kristi Ruben, local coordinator at 307-778-7550x7240.

There is no cost to enter the festival. Winners from each category will advance to a regional competition with the chance to advance to the 2011 VA National Creative Arts Festival. The VA Art Competition and Show provides our Veterans with an opportunity to showcase their artistic talents and skill and recognizes the value of the arts in the healing process.

This year's local art will be showcased February 24-27 at the Laramie County Public Library with an artists' reception at 3 p.m. on Saturday, February 26.

All art must have been created after April 1, 2010, except for the Military Combat Experience entries. For a complete list of the nearly 60 categories of acceptable art and an information packet, contact the Cheyenne VA Creative Arts Festival Coordinator: Kristi Ruben at 307-778-7550 x7240 or kristi.ruben@va.gov.

Call for entries: U of Nebraska public art project

From a UNL press release:

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Nebraska Arts Council are pleased to announce the UNL Physics II Direct Purchase Project. Artists working in black and white photography who reside in Nebraska and its border states of Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, South Dakota and Wyoming are eligible for this project.

This call is exclusively for the purchase of 2D artworks in the photographic medium (black and white silver prints only). The photographs selected from the application process will be placed on display at selected sites throughout the interior of the new UNL Physics building on city campus.

ONLINE APPLICATION PROCESS: The Nebraska 1% for Art projects program uses the online service, SlideRoom, to process applications. Detailed information on the SlideRoom application process is available on the RFQ prospectus and on the SlideRoom site.

There is a nominal $5 service fee to complete the online process. However, no physical materials will be required from applicants, which will eliminate the burdens of CD and document creation and mailing costs.

Contact J.D. Hutton , Nebraska 1% for Art Manager, for more information about this project, or view our Current 1% Projects page on our website.

View and download the project prospectus:
NNL Physics II Direct Purchase Prospectus
Direct link to the NAC SlideRoom application portal

Application deadline: July 21, 2010

Budget: $5,000 (for purchase of a selection of works)

Ji Eun Kim transforms snow fences, grain elevators and cabins into 2-D artworks

Cheyenne artist (and 2009 Wyoming Arts Council intern) Ji Eun Kim is at the Jentel Artist Residency Program through June 13. She is at work on mural-size depictions of snow fences. She installed one of these during her spring residency in Nebraska City, Neb (shown in photo above). She is looking for a place to install a similar one in a Cheyenne storefront. The piece is 11 feet high and 24 feet long. If you know of a spot, contact Ji Eun through her blog at http://jieunkim25.blogspot.com/

Ji Eun will be one of the artists featured at "Jentel Presents" this evening (June 1), 5:30-7 p.m. at the Sheridan County Fulmer Public Library. Other presenters include Tom Sleigh (poet), Blas Falconer (poet), Ken Kelly (visual artist), Anne McCauley (visual artist) and Christine Gray (visual artist). The event is free and open to the public.


During her Nebraska residency at the Kimball Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, she was featured in the local paper. Here's the article:

By Grace Johnson
Nebraska City News Press

Some of Nebraska City’s most familiar structures provided inspiration for artist Ji Eun Kim as she completed her residency at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts. Kim created giant renderings of both the Mayhew Cabin and the grain storage at DeBruce during her four-week stay which ended March 26.

“I love old structures,” Kim said. The Mayhew Cabin piece was created at the art center, while the mural depicting the grain storage appears on a storefront window across from the Courthouse to the north. Contact paper was applied to create the illustrations.

Kim, a painter and visual artist who was born in Seoul, South Korea, said she didn’t know anything about the Mayhew Cabin before she came to Nebraska City, but once she learned about its significance, she found parallels between the slaves escaping on the Underground Railroad in the 1850s and the North Korean refugees of today.

“When I see something, I automatically think of my own country and its history,” she said.
While at KHN, Kim created a large map of the route the slaves took, as well as a 3-dimensional map representing the travels of the North Korean refugees.

Kim met with Mayhew Cabin Director Bill Hayes as part of her research for the project.

“It is incredible to see how an artist can transform raw material into a piece of art, and that one of those things was inspired by a visit to the Mayhew Cabin,” Hayes said. “It is great to see an artist inspired by a simple log cabin. The very simple structure tells a very important story of how people escaped from slavery. People are still trying to escape injustice and oppression, like the refugees.”

As for the grain storage, Kim said she was initially fascinated by the structural aspect. “I just fell in love with the structure,” she said. “I was amazed by it.”

She said it’s also a “landmark” in Nebraska City that represents the local economy.

Kim has completed other residencies in small communities and enjoys making art from the structures that symbolize daily life in the area where she stays While in Vermont, for example, Kim created a piece based on a covered bridge.

“I want to take advantage of living in a rural place,” she said. “I’m inspired by the local area.”

Kim hopes the residents of Nebraska City will think more about the meaning behind the structures that have been fixtures in the town for many years.

“I want to get people here to see with fresh vision,” she said.

Copyright 2010 Nebraska City News-Press. Some rights reserved.

Artist Ji Eun Kim wins first prize in competition sponsored by AHL Foundation

2009 Wyoming Arts Council intern Ji Eun Kim reports that she has won first prize in a competition sponsored by the AHL Foundation. The foundation supports Korean artists in the U.S. She wins a cash prize and will be part of a group show at the Gana Gallery in New York City's Chelsea District in January 2011.

Ji Eun is from Seoul, South Korea, and now lives in Cheyenne. She's currently in residence at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center in Nebraska City, Neb. She just received a residency at the Santa Fe Art Institute in Santa Fe, N.M. for November and December of this year.

Congrats to Ji Eun. To see samples of her work, go to her blog at http://jieunkim25.blogspot.com/

Now you can be a "Ted Head" too

Little did we know when Ted Kooser was a presenter at June's Wyoming Writers, Inc. conference in Casper...

Kooser is a celeb in Nebraska. This native son and one-time U.S. Poet Laureate is now featured on a T-shirt from his publisher, University of Nebraska Press.

The colorful "Ted Head" T-shirt is "back by popular demand," reads a blurb on the press's web site. "Hanes Beefy, 100% pre-shrunk cotton, white, short-sleeved t-shirt with "Ted Head" graphic on front. Quantities are limited."

Get one before they're all gone!