NASAA guidebook shows ways to engage adolescents in the arts

From NASAA (National Assembly of State Arts Agencies) Notes:

Meaningful engagement in arts education can have a life-changing impact on teens. An initiative and guidebook from the National Guild for Community Arts Education, Engaging Adolescents: Building Youth Participation in the Arts outlines a holistic approach that integrates arts learning with principles of youth development. It is designed to help staff and faculty develop new programs and services for teens or to rethink and strengthen programs they already offer.

UW's "A... My Name is Alice" is "a boodle of laughs"

The University of Wyoming's 2011 Snowy Range Summer Theatre season closes with "A ... My Name Is Alice," a bright and lively musical revue that presents a funny, bawdy and insightful kaleidoscope of contemporary women.

Directed by Leigh Selting, "A ... My Name Is Alice" runs at 7:30 nightly July 12-16 inside the Fine Arts Center studio theatre. Tickets cost $10 for adults, $8 for senior citizens (60 and older) and $5 for students. For tickets, call (307) 766-6666 or go online at www.uwyo.edu/finearts .

Called "a boodle of laughs" (The New York Post) and "delightful" and "so sophisticated" (The New York Times), "A ... My Name Is Alice" is filled with life's ups, downs and in-betweens from a modern woman's perspective.

The five-woman cast takes on multiple roles to explore the many facets of contemporary women's lives through scenes, monologues and songs. They explore the horrors of parent/teacher conferences, the delights of a male strip club and the tragedy of losing a parent. The music ranges from 1960s doo-wop and wistful pop ballads to soul-filled rhythm and blues.

Originally produced by the Women's Project at the American Place Theatre in New York, "A...My Name Is Alice" played a long duration at the Village Gate Off Broadway and won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical Revue.

The revue was created by veteran directors Joan Micklin Silver and Julianne Boyd and involved a variety of comedy writers, lyricists and composers who contributed to the songs and sketches.

Photo: Amber McNew, Rebecca Diamond, Caryn Flanagan, Francesca Mintowt-Czyz and Jackie Darnell rehearse a scene from the University of Wyoming Department of Theatre and Dance production  "A ... My Name Is Alice," showing nightly at 7:30 July 12-16 inside the Fine Arts Center studio theatre. (UW Photo)   

Cory McDaniel and Vicki Windle open "Music & Poetry Series" July 18 in Casper

ARTCORE opens its summer "Music & Poetry Series" on Monday, July 18, at downtown Casper's Metro Coffee with singer/songwriter Cory McDaniel and writer Vicki Windle. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Get your tickets at http://www.artcorewy.com/tickets.php

Good reviews for "The Magdalene" as it opens Off Broadway

Lindsie Van Winkle (left) plays The Magdalene and Shad Olsen is Yeshua in "The Magdalene"

The Casper Star-Tribune today wrapped up its five-part series by Margaret Matray called "Making It," which follows Casper College theatre professor Jim Olm in his quest to produce his show "The Magdalene" Off Broadway. Wyomingarts hates to ruin the suspense, but the show did open and has received favorable reviews. Its continued run into September depends on ticket sales, so if you're heading to Broadway to see blockbusters such as "Spider Man" and "Book of Mormon," take the four-block walk to the Theatre of St. Clements at West 46th Street and see "The Magdalene." 

The CST series dug deep into the amount of dedication and work it takes to put on a play. Very instructional for any aspiring playwright or actor or director. 

Renowned landscape architect Walter Hood discusses "Art in Public Places" July 26 in Jackson

Renowned landscape architect Walter Hood, designer of the National Museum of Wildlife Art ’s under-construction sculpture trail, will discuss “Art in Public Places” at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 26 at the museum in Jackson. The event is free and open to the public. Known for his innovative and people-friendly designs of such high-profile public spaces as the grounds for the De Young Museum in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, Hood will share insight into his philosophy about creating multitasking public spaces that are both respectful of the land and rooted in their communities.

Rob Drabkin performs free concert at UW July 13

Denver musician Rob Drabkin will perform a free concert from 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, July 13, at the University of Wyoming Simpson Plaza.

Drabkin was voted Colorado's Best Singer/Songwriter by Westword Magazine for 2008-2010. He gathered enough votes to earn his turn on stage at the Mile High Music Festival with artists like The Fray, Widespread Panic, Tool and Ben Harper.

"On These Heavy Feet," Drabkin's first full-length release, hit No. 10 on the CMJ chart on KOTO radio in Telluride, CO.

"I'm having a great time making music and I just want to inspire others to go after what will truly make them happy. That's why I grew my hair a bit crazy. I just wanted to let loose, get expressive, create some nice grooves and get people to move," says Drabkin.

For more information and music, go to www.robdrabkin.com on the Internet.

The concert series is sponsored by the Campus Activities Center Summer Programs. Individuals needing assistance to attend this event can contact the CAC at 766-6340.

Photo: Denver musician Rob Drabkin will perform a free concert from 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, July 13, at the University of Wyoming Simpson Plaza.

BBHC Resident Fellowship Program explores photography and geology links in the West

With a multitude of data, the Hayden Survey introduced the world to Yellowstone National Park. The expedition’s remarkable photographs are part of an illustrated presentation by Dr. Andrew E. Hershberger of Bowling Green State University, Ohio, (BGSU) on Thursday, July 14, 2 p.m. at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center’s Coe Auditorium. The program focuses on the past and present relationships between photography and geology in the American West, as well as the U.S. Geological Survey or USGS-era immediately following the Civil War—including those famous Hayden surveys of Yellowstone.

The program begins at 2 p.m. and is free to the public. This presentation is part of an ongoing series sponsored by the Center’s Resident Fellowship Program.

“When studying the history of photography, the photographs created in the territories of the American West following the Civil War stand out as a group for their interdisciplinary complexity and sheer beauty,” Hershberger says. “The fact that these images were most frequently (but not always) created for the use of USGS geologists and scientists makes their aesthetic appeal all the more interesting to discuss.”

According to Hershberger, for well over a century since they were created, these images have been the subject of some debate. “Numerous art, photographic, and scientific historians have disagreed with each other about how best to characterize the landscape photographs created by USGS-era photographers such as William Henry Jackson, Timothy H. O’Sullivan, William H. Bell, and John K. Hillers, among others,” Hershberger adds.

As Associate Professor of Contemporary Art History and Chair of Art History at BGSU, Hershberger has published multiple peer-reviewed articles on a broad spectrum of topics related to the history of photography. Included in those works were stories on photographers as diverse as Felice Beato, Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, Jay Dusard, and Minor White, and on photographic theorists such as Rosalind Krauss and André Malraux.

Hershberger received his PhD from Princeton University in 2001, and he holds other degrees from Princeton, the University of Chicago, and the University of Arizona as well. He is nearing completion on a large anthology project entitled Photographic Theory, to be published in 2012. Hershberger’s lecture at the Historical Center is connected to his new anthology project, currently titled “Photography and Geology.”

For his fellowship, Hershberger has spent three weeks researching in the rich collections of the McCracken Research Library and the Whitney Gallery of Western Art at the Center. His goal has been to make comparisons between USGS-era texts with corresponding original photographs by the USGS-era photographers. Hershberger compares that material with newer published re-photographs and texts by contemporary photographers like Mark Klett, and alongside USGS-era paintings and prints by Thomas Moran who joined the Hayden survey of Yellowstone in 1871.

By selecting and juxtaposing numerous texts and images, Hershberger’s proposed anthology does two things. First, it highlights the changes in western landscapes and photographic interpretations of them since the 1870s. Secondly, it studies the variations in land use practices within “Old West” versus “New West” cultures.

As Hershberger put it, “Given the prominence of W.H. Jackson’s 1871 photographs of Yellowstone within the USGS-era, and given their famous impact on the creation of Yellowstone National Park in 1872, the Center’s location in Cody, Wyoming, and its rich USGS-era holdings, makes the Historical Center the logical—even ideal—base of operations for this new anthology project.”

Attendees should alert the Center’s admissions staff that they’re on hand to attend the lecture. For more information, e-mail Linda Clark atlindac@bbhc.org or call 307.578.4043.

Committed to connecting people with the Spirit of the American West, the Buffalo Bill Historical Center weaves the varied threads of the western experience—history and myth, art and Native culture, firearms technology and the nature of Yellowstone—into the rich panorama that is the American West. The Center, an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is now operating its summer schedule, open daily, 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. For general information, visit www.bbhc.org, or call 307.587.4771.

Photo: Crater of Castle Geyser. Photo by William Henry Jackson, 1872. NPS photo. k#64,211

Trio Fine Art in Jackson offers full slate of summer exhibits

Kathryn Turner

Wyomingarts made the acquaintance today (via phone) with Kathryn Mapes Turner, one of the artist-owners of Trio Fine Art gallery in Jackson.

Wyomingarts has yet to visit this gallery, but will make up for the oversight in two weeks while shepherding the WAC's fellowship exhibit curator around the state.

Kathryn says that there are four landscape painters involved with the gallery (it began with three, thus the name): Kathryn, September Vhay, Lee Carlman Riddell and Jennifer L. Hoffman.

If you're in The Hole this week, you're in luck -- the gallery is holding a reception featuring September Vhay's work on Thursday, July 7, 5-8 p.m. Here's the gallery's full event schedule:

September Vhay

July 7 -- September Vhay
July 28 -- Lee and Ed Riddell 
August 18 -- Jennifer Hoffman 
September 8 -- Kathryn Mapes Turner 
September 9 -- Palettes to Palates 

Kathryn's Wyoming roots go deep. According to her web site bio, she's the fourth generation of her family raised on the Triangle X Ranch in Grand Teton National Park. She's been awarded with such honors as Wyoming Best Watercolor Artist and was included in SouthwestArt Magazine’s “Annual Profile of Young Artists with Promising Careers.”

See samples of her work at www.turnerfineart.com

Trio Fine Art, 545 N. Cache Street, is located four blocks north of the Jackson town square across from the north end of the visitors’ center. It’s open Wednesday-Saturday, noon-6 p.m. Kathryn says there’s always an artist minding the store. What better reason do you need to drop by, say hi and view some fine art?

AIR brochures winging their way to you

New Artist Image Registry brochures are in the mail!

The AIR is an online database of Wyoming visual artists, a program of the Wyoming Arts Council.

There is no registration. All WY artists are eligible. Just fill out and sign the AIR form and return it to the WAC with a CD of up to five images of your work.

AIR is in the testing stage but will go public later this summer. Check out the test site at http://wyomingartscouncil.org/artists/airsearch.aspx

Call for applications: Bard Fiction Prize

The Bard Fiction Prize, established in 2001 by Bard College, is given annually to an emerging writer who is an American citizen and under the age of 40 at the time of application. The prize includes a $30,000 cash award and appointment as writer-in-residence at the College for one semester, during which the winner is asked to give at least one public lecture and meet informally with students but is not expected to teach traditional courses. Eligible writers should apply with a cover letter explaining the project they plan to work on while at Bard, a CV, and three copies of the published book (manuscripts are not accepted) that they feel best represents their work. For more information, click here. 

Daily hard-hat tours of renovation work at National Museum of Wildlife Art

Another good reason to visit Jackson this summer:

Beauty is being restored to the rugged National Museum of Wildlife Art façade one carefully placed piece of Oakley Quartzite (shown in photo) at a time as the museum’s construction projects continue on schedule. More than 37,000 square feet of the multicolored stone, mined in Idaho, will eventually sheathe the building’s façade as part of summer improvements that include a new roof and initial work on the new sculpture trail in addition to the upfit to the exterior walls, with capital improvements to the building scheduled for completion by October 31, 2011.

The museum remains open on its regular schedule during construction, and visitors can check the work-in-progress on the new sculpture trail via free “hard hat tours” daily at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. The three-quarter-mile-long outdoor art venue designed by renowned landscape architect Walter Hood will showcase nearly 30 permanent and temporary artworks and is slated to open September 2012. A special installment of the tours will be led July 1 at 10 a.m. by museum Director of Security and Facility Service Joe Bishop, who will share museum history, fun facts and hard-to-believe stories from his more than 20 years on staff.

In addition to the capital improvements and new sculpture trail, work has been underway on a new underpass to allow easy biker and hiker access to the museum from the Jackson-to-Grand Teton National Park North Highway 89 pathway. A panel including the museum’s Curator of Art Adam Harris recently selected artwork featuring playful ravens by Wisconsin sculptor Don Rambadt for the new underpass’s retaining walls.

Read this intriguing article about trailblazing landscape architect Walter Hood in Fast Company magazine.

Hear stories of Wyoming ethnic traditions July 14 at Laramie County Public Library

One World, Wyoming Stories

When: Thursday, July 14, 7– 8:30 p.m.

Where: Laramie County Library Cheyenne (map)

Description: Annie Hatch, Wyoming Arts Council Folk & Traditional Arts Specialist, and Andrea Graham, Folklorist with the University of Wyoming American Studies Program, will share stories about a variety of ethnic traditions in Wyoming. They’ll also encourage participants to share their own stories. This is held in conjunction with the “One World, Wyoming Stories,” exhibit in the library through August 16. (Adults, Sunflower Room, 3rd floor)

Artists prepare for emergencies using Studio Protector

The CERF Studio Protector Online Guide is the source for emergency preparedness and recovery information for artists. Small measures taken in advance of an emergency, and the right sequence of emergency response actions, can make a huge difference in reducing loss and in the time it takes to rebound from a setback.

New bronze at Historic Cheyenne Depot celebrates Wyoming's history as "The Equality State"

A new bronze statue by Veryl Goodnight, "A New Beginning," will be dedicated Wednesday (today) at 3 p.m., at the Historic Cheyenne Depot. The event is free and open to the public. The artist will be at the ceremony. Her work often celebrates the West and has been displayed all over the world. She has created 20 different "Women of the West" bronzes since 1984. Goodnight lives in Mancos, Colo., and shows her work at the Goodnight Trail Gallery of Western Art.

Read the entire article and see a photo of the sculpture at New bronze statue at depot honors early pioneer women - Wyoming Tribune Eagle Online

Duct Tape Fashion Show, outhouse races and street dance July 8-9 at Rawlins SummerFest

An artist's materials (Evan-Amos, Wikimedia Commons)

Rawlins' SummerFest, Rawlins Jam and Outlaw Show ‘N' Shine take place on the second weekend of July, which is July 8-9:

• Student Duct Tape Fashion Design Exhibition at Rawlins Main Street Gallery, Friday, July 8, 5-8 p.m.
• Student Duct Tape Fashion Show on Saturday, July 9, 3 p.m.
• Outdoor Movie Showing on Friday Night
• Two Poker Runs
• Activities Downtown each day including eating contests, games, vendors and more
• Motorcycle, Car and Truck Shows with Prizes
• Street Dance on Saturday Night
• Free Transport from Car Show at Fairgrounds to Downtown SummerFest Activities
• Outhouse Races

FMI: Rawlins Carbon County Chamber of Commerce at 307-324-4111 or Rawlins DDA/Main Street at 307-328-2099.

This event produced in cooperation with the Carbon County Visitors' Council. For more information on the diversity and beauty in our county, please visit www.wyomingcarboncounty.com.

Two new innovative sculptural works coming to UW campus

Chris Drury, Carbon Sink: What Goes Around, Comes Around, 2011

Courtesy of the artist

A year ago, the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund awarded a second grant of $25,000 to the University of Wyoming Art Museum, in support of the ongoing exhibition “Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational”. Art has been on display throughout the U.W. Campus and City of Laramie, and this grant supports the expansion and reinvigoration with new works.

In July, land artist Cris Drury will create a new work near Old Main called “Carbon Sink: What Goes Around, Comes Around” (artist's rendering shown above, courtesy UW Art Museum blog). Made from Wyoming coal and beetle kill pine, the 36 foot diameter work appears as a vortex, rotating inward. Drury, a British artist who has been at the forefront of the land art movement since the 1970s, will be on location for three weeks to start the work.

In August, Idaho artist Gerri Sayler will install a site specific work in the new computer lab at Coe Library. Created from hot glue, the suspended work will fill the two-story space with a cloud like form that will change with the light. The work is titled “Nebulous”, and furthers Sayler’s work inspired by water in its various forms. It also introduces the idea of art for interior public spaces on campus.

Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund awards $690,870 in grants

Interpretive program at the Vore Buffalo Jump in Crook County. The Vore Buffalo Jump Foundation received a $24,282 grant from the WCTF for interpretive and educational materials. 

As many as 36 Wyoming cultural and heritage projects and sponsoring organizations will benefit from $690,870 in grant awards from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund (WCTF).

The grant awards, approved by the five-member Cultural Trust Fund board at a recent meeting in Sundance, came from 50 total applications from 19 communities in 18 counties. The requests totaled more than $1.435 million, with requests capped at a maximum of $50,000. Applicants in this year’s grant pool anticipate generating over $10 in matching local support for every $1 received from the Cultural Trust Fund.

These requests were for a variety of projects including the preservation and rehabilitiaton of historic buildings and sites, museum equipment and exhibition development, arts education programs, endowment campaigns, and organizational infrastructure needs including staff and planning processes.

In 1988, the Wyoming Legislature, recognizing that Wyoming and its people possess a unique cultural heritage, created the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund Act. The mission of the WCTF board is to serve the citizens of Wyoming by supporting the state’s cultural heritage through grant funding of innovative projects for the enjoyment, appreciation, promotion, preservation and protection of the arts and cultural historic resources.

For more information about the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, please contact Renee Bovee, administrator, at 307-777-6312.

Albany County
Laramie Plains Civic Center, $25,000, Theater Fly System Restoration
U.W. American Indian Studies Program, $10,000, Comprehensive Plan for U.W. American Indian Center
U.W. Art Museum, $40,000, Master Teacher Endowment Challenge

Campbell County
American Legion Post 42 of Gillette, $5,000, Bricks for Vets: United We Stand Monument

Converse County
Independent Order of Odd Fellows c/o City of Douglas, $3,158, Camp Douglas Officers Club Restoration

Crook County
Vore Buffalo Jump Foundation, $24,282, Interpretive and Educational Materials

Fremont County
Lander Art Center, $10,500, Native American Emerging Artists Training and Exhibition

Johnson County
Hoofprints of the Past Museum, $20,000, Museum Building Addition

Laramie County
Cheyenne Depot Museum, $3,250, Collection Display
Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum, $20,000, Museum Acquisition of the C.B. Irwin Collection
Cheyenne Little Theater Players, Inc., $42,500, Mary Godfrey Playhouse Equipment Upgrades
City of Cheyenne Historic Preservation Board, $8,907, Lakeview Cemetery Historic Holding Vault Restoration
LightsOn!, $25,000, International Mentor Artist-in-Residence/Exhibit Planning and Development

Natrona County
Casper Children’s Theater, $7,900, Destination Drama Program Expansion
Elks Lodge 1353, $42,000, Elks Lodge Library Windows Restoration
Fort Caspar Museum Association, $6,867, Collection Storage Upgrades
Nicolaysen Art Museum, $25,000, Educational Program Revitalization
Wyoming Symphony Orchestra, $22,500, Capacity Building through Staff Development
Wyoming Veterans’ Memorial Museum, $25,000, Collection Curation

Platte County
Chugwater Historical Unity Group, $6,298, Digital Storage of Museum Photos and Documents

Sheridan County
WYO Theater, Inc., $8.000, Technical Support

Sublette County
Pinedale Fine Arts Council, $3,500, Mapping Opportunities/Visual Arts Symposium
Sublette County Historical Society, $40,000, New Fort River Crossing Historical Park

Teton County
Art Association of Jackson Hole, $10,000, Artspace Gallery
Center for the Arts, $25,000, Endowment Campaign Infrastructure and Preparation
Cultural Council of Jackson Hole, $10,600, Jackson Hole Public Art Initiative
Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum, $10,000, “The Coach: An American Crossroads” Documentary
pARTners, $10,000, Create and Learn through the Arts Interdisciplinary Curriculum

Uinta County
Roundhouse Restoration, Inc., $24,916, Superintendent’s Office Restoration

Washakie County
Washakie Museum and Cultural Center, $20,000, Exhibition Equipment

Statewide
State Historic Preservation Office, $50,000, Interpreting Culture and History on the Wind River Reservation Planning
Wyoming Arts Alliance, $14,200, Capacity Building
Wyoming Center for the Book, Inc., $5,000, Wyoming Book Festival Roadshow
Wyoming Music Educators Association, $12,000, Executive Director Compensation
Wyoming State Historical Society, $25,270, WyoHistory.org
Wyoming Women’s Business Center, $49,762, Works of Wyoming Arts and Business Online Education, Outreach and Seminars

Jentel Presents July 5 at SAGE Space in Sheridan

Jentel Artist Residency Program is pleased to present this month’s residents in an event open to the public.  “Jentel Presents” will take place Tuesday, July 5, 2011 from 5:30 to 7:00 pm at SAGE Space, in the Historic Train Depot on 5^th and Broadway, across from The Sheridan Inn.   This month’s presenters include a sculptor, an installation artist, a painter/performance artist, a fiction writer, a creative non-fiction writer and a printmaker. “Jentel Presents” is a community outreach program that features visual presentations and readings by the visual artists and writers at the residency.

Presenters include: Elissa Cox, West Union, IA; A sculptor, Elissa has seen the world and lived in many cities but has decided to live in a small community in Iowa. Where she can create and imagine her sculptures. Rebecca Cummins, Seattle, An optical sculptor/photographer, Rebecca is the oldest of 7, she is from Lehigh, Iowa (pop. 497). She now lives in beautiful, drooly Seattle after 16 years in Australia. She can yodel a little. John Gonzalez, Boston; A painter/performance artist, John believes creativity is the last subjective refuge within a systematic and standardized world. As an artist, it is his job to reframe and repurpose these systems. John Lee, Menlo Park, CA; A fiction writer, John likes outdoor sports, second running cinemas, afternoon ball games, coffee shops with character, Japanese noodles, short stories, long drives, spicy food, chamber music, the novels of William Maxwell and Kazuo Ishiguro, any wearable cotton, English breakfast tea, fresh baked cookies, pale lagers, fall afternoons and girls in hats. Gail Schilling,  Concord, NH; A creative non-fiction writer, Gail, a single mother,  supported her four kids by skinning antelope, singing at funerals, teaching – and writing. As an empty nester, she wandered France alone – still writing. Sarah Smelser, Bloomington, IL; A printmaker, Sarah enjoys picking the yarn more than wearing the sweater, chopping the ingredients more than eating the meal, taking the walk more than reaching the destination.

For anyone looking for a stimulating evening, come join the crowd at the SAGE Space, at the Historic Train Depot, 5^th and Broadway.  There is no admission charge for “Jentel Presents” and refreshments are available.

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

The Jentel Artist Residency Program accepts applications twice a year from visual artists in all media and writers in all genres for a one-month residency. A residency includes a comfortable accommodation; common living, dining and recreation areas; a private workspace and a stipend to help defray expenses during the program.  For more information please visit www.jentelarts.org or call Jentel at (307)737-2311.

In Minot, the show will go on once flood waters recede

Photo by Eloise Ogden, Minot Daily News

Have to hand it to Cheyenne's unofficial sister city, Minot, N.D. (Minot has missiles too).

The rain and decidedly un-summerlike weather has put a serious crimp in the Arts in the Parks summer concert series, but organizers hope to resume the Oak Park performances as soon as is practical. 

Read about it at Arts in the Parks on hold from MinotDailyNews.com

The show must go on, and it will, as soon as the Souris River recedes and patrons don't need boats to attend concerts.

There are many ways to support Minot's hardy people and its lively arts scene. There is the very active Minot Area Council of the Arts. Many of the city's arts venues will need restoration. That takes money, which always is in short supply in the non-profit arts world. Also see the complete list of community and government resources at http://www.minotdailynews.com/. Donations to the American Red Cross can be designated for a particular need. Go here. 

Big West Arts Festival celebrates sixth year

http://www.bigwestartsfestival.com

The Big West Arts Festival celebrates its sixth 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.  Northern Wyoming 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 www.sheridan.edu.

For demographics, cultural activities and services, call the Sheridan Chamber of Commerce at (800) 453-3650, or visit www.sheridanwyomingchamber.com.