"Buckaroo culture" icon Waddie Mitchell receives top award from Nevada Arts Council

From the Nevada Arts Council:

Cowboy poet and Great Basin buckaroo Bruce Douglas “Waddie” Mitchell is the 2012 Nevada Heritage Award recipient. With an extensive history of artistic achievement and teaching, Mitchell continues to advance the significance of our Western heritage and cowboy poetry wherever he appears. His work and life will be featured on our website this fall. Created in 2010, the Nevada Heritage Award honors and recognizes Nevada master folk and traditional artists who, at the highest level of excellence and authenticity, carry forward the folk traditions of their families and communities through practice and teaching.

Mitchell was nominated for the award by the Western Folklife Center in Elko, home of the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, which notes that he has become "an icon of Nevada, of buckaroo culture and of cowboy poetry itself."

Call for nominations: Wyoming Library Association

The Wyoming Library Association’s Awards and Grants Committee is accepting nominations for outstanding librarians, libraries, and supporters of our libraries!

WLA awards are a great opportunity to recognize individuals and institutions that have made a difference in the community, successfully completed a project, consistently provided outstanding service, or have done something remarkable in a Wyoming library deserving of an award.

Details:

• Nominations are due July 15, 2011.

• Nominating is easy, just fill out this form and press submit.

• A complete list of awards and requirements can be found online.

• Winners will be publicly announced during the annual meeting in Cheyenne.

• Questions? Please contact Laura Jackson, chair of the awards committee at luglean@uwyo.edu

Wyoming Arts Council announces results of 2011 visual arts fellowship competition

"Lamps," Jenny Dowd, muslin, fabricated steel
armature, porcelain, 64x34x14 inches

Jenny Dowd of Alpine, David Klaren of Pinedale and Adrienne Vetter of Lander have been named the winners of the 2011 Wyoming Arts Council visual arts fellowships.

Each artist will receive a $3,000 prize. Their work will be on display Nov. 4-Dec. 30 at the Art Center in Jackson as part of the WAC’s 2010-2011 biennial exhibition.

Two artists received honorable mentions in the 2011 competition. They are Abbie Miller of Jackson and Suzanne Morlock of Wilson. There is no cash prize, but both artists’ work will be featured in the biennial show.

Judges for this year’s fellowships were Nancy Bowen, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Mark Klett, Tempe, Ariz.; and Joshua Wiener, Boulder, Colo.

Jenny Dowd is a mixed-media artist who works with paper, ink, porcelain, acrylic and muslin fabric, among other materials. She is education director and painting and drawing studio manager at the Arts Center in Jackson. Her work was featured in the 2010 Wyoming Governor’s Capitol Art Exhibition, the 2011 Feats of Clay XXIV exhibit in Lincoln, Calif., and the 2007 Texas National exhibit in Nacogdoches, Texas.

"Black Gulf," David Klaren, ink on vellum,
 18x24 inches

David Klaren draws with ink and graphite on paper and vellum. He’s exhibited his work throughout Wyoming and at galleries and museums in Florida, Colorado, Nebraska, Idaho and Montana. He’s a member of the Pipeline Art Project, a group of contemporary artists who “promote their work in the wider world while maintaining Wyoming residency.”

Adrienne Vetter grew up in Wyoming and studied art at Western Wyoming Community College in Rock Springs, the University of Wyoming and the University of Michigan. She is program manager for Wyoming Kids First of the Wind River Reservation. She works in sculpture and multimedia installation and is interested in “social class, cross-cultural organizing, autobiography and rural culture.”

"White Trash Beautiful" (interior), Adrienne Vetter,
installation, life-size

Abbie Miller is a sculptor who works with a variety of materials, including cloth, vinyl, zippers, wood and metal. Suzanne Morlock is a sculptor who incorporates local materials into her work, using local newspapers in Lodz, Poland, and cast-off nets at a fishing village in Iceland.

The Wyoming Arts Council has offered fellowships to individual artists since 1987. Applications for the 2012 visual arts competitions will be available in March 2012 with a deadline in May.

For more information, contact Michael Shay at mike.shay@wyo.gov or 307-777-5234.

Suite 1901 receives Dubois Award May 11 from Cheyenne Historic Preservation Board

From Don Threewit: The Cheyenne Historic Preservation Board is presenting its annual Dubois Award for Excellence to Suite 1901 at -- you guessed it -- Suite 1901. On Wednesday, May 11, 7-10 p.m. This downtown business is a spectacular example of adaptive reuse of a a hotel and lounge and is the newest of Cheyenne's hot spots. Please join us to celebrate John Harrison and his team's success and imbibe in a tasty infused martini. Any questions, feel free to call me, Don Threewitt, at 307-256-4879

Ray Troll, friend of the Casper College Tate Museum, wins Guggenheim for science writing

Alaska artist and writer Ray Troll, author of Cruisin' the Fossil Freeway, has been awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship for his science writing. Ray was one of the presenters at the 2010 Equality State Book Festival in Casper. He is an old friend of the Casper College Tate Geological Museum and was a co-presenter of two bookfest sessions at the Tate: a book illustrators' panel along with Casper's Zak Pullen, illustrator of the children's book about “Dee” the mammoth; and the Tate's Russell Hawley. Ray also joined Casper author Tom Rea, Ilja Nieuwland and the Tate staff in a session called “Dig-it: A Conversation About Dinosaurs and Fossils.”

Ray lives in Ketchikan, Alaska.

Here's some background info on the 2011 Guggenheim awards:

On April 7, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation awarded 180 Fellowships to a diverse group of scholars, artists, and scientists in its eighty-seventh annual competition for the United States and Canada.  Appointed on the basis of prior achievement and exceptional promise, the successful candidates were chosen from a group of almost 3,000 applicants.

Image: Ray Troll's illustration for "Crusin' the Fossil Highway."

Wyoming Writers, Inc., conference presenters earning their "Spurs"

News from John Nesbitt, Wyoming Writers, Inc., Board President:

The annual Western Writers of America Spur Award winners have been announced, and it is with pleasure that I pass on a couple of worthy names. Max McCoy, our headliner for last year's conference, once again won the Spur in the Best Mass-Market Paperback Original category, while Lucia St. Clair Robson (in photo at right), this year's headliner, won the Spur in the Best Long Novel category. These are very prestigious awards, and we are fortunate to have such distinguished presenters. Congratulations to Max and Lucia, and onward to another good conference.

FMI: http://www.wyowriters.org

P.S. Just received an e-mail from Shelagh Wisdom with WWInc 37th annual conference brochure attached. This line-up of presenters looks like the best yet, especially if you're interested in getting your book published. Early-bird registration until May 9 is $155 for members. Get more info at WWInc link above.

Medal of Arts winner: Dance has made "an important contribution to our world"

Jacob's Pillow Director Ella Baff receives National Medal of Arts from Pres. Barack Obama

Ella Baff, executive and artistic director of Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in Becket, Mass., accepted a National Medal of Arts at the White House on behalf of her organization. Among the ten arts-world awardees, including Van Cliburn, Meryl Streep, Sonny Rollins, Quincy Jones and James Taylor among others, Jacob's Pillow was the sole organization to be honored. It's the only dance presenter to garner the medal since the awards were first handed out in 1984.

Here is what Ms. Baff said (as quoted by Debra Levine March 4 on the artsmeme blog at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/debra-levine/post_1787_b_830561.html:

"Less is known about dance than the other art forms, and there are many reasons why. I hope this visibility will carry meaning beyond the day, and that people will become more aware about dance," she added. "It's a real profession, and it's made an important contribution to our world."

UW Prof Brad Watson finalist for PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction

From a UW press release:

University of Wyoming English Associate Professor Brad Watson is a finalist for the prestigious 2011 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, America's largest peer juried prize for fiction.

Watson's collection, "Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives," 12 stories of family strife, personal loss, physical trauma and emotional reckoning, is among five books published in 2010 selected as finalists. The other nominees are Jennifer Egan for "A Visit From The Goon"; Deborah Eisenberg for "The Collected Stories of Deborah Eisenberg"; Jaimy Gordon for "Lord of Misrule"; and Eric Puchner for "Model Home."

"It's a surprise and a real honor to be among this distinguished group of finalists in fiction. I feel fortunate, lucky and happy just to be one of the five, whoever is named first," Watson says. He adds that he's also grateful to the UW Department of English for giving him some crucial time during the Fall 2008 semester to, "really pull the book together."

"I am lucky, also, to work every day among such a group of very smart, very talented and very pleasant-to-be-around colleagues and students in the MFA Program and the department as a whole," Watson says.

Beth Loffreda, UW MFA Program in Creative Writing director, says the nomination is a major recognition for Watson.

"The PEN/Faulkner Award is easily one of the most prestigious honors in American fiction, right up there with the National Book Award," she says. "To be named a finalist is to be recognized as one of the most important fiction writers working in the country today. It's marvelous to see one of our own, Brad Watson, receive that recognition."

Directors of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation say the winner, who will receive $15,000, will be announced March 15. The remaining four finalists will be awarded $5,000 each. In a ceremony that celebrates the winner as "first among equals," all five authors will be honored during the 31st Annual PEN/Faulkner Award ceremony Saturday, May 7, at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C.

Judges considered approximately 320 novels and short story collections by American authors published in the United States during 2010. Submissions came from more than 125 publishing houses, including small and academic presses. There is no fee for a publisher or writer to submit a book.

"Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives" is steeped in the Southern gothic tradition. Watson steps beyond the borders of the traditional south to inflect even southern California with the lush trauma of its influence and the absurdity of its humor. "His prose is sure enough to carry this mantle and his plots are brutal enough to earn it," the judges wrote.

One of "Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives" stories, the wrenching "Water Dog God," tells about a teenage girl in Alabama who was raped by her brothers and impregnated by her father. She flees their tortured company in the wake of a tornado to seek refuge in the house of her cousin and the company of a pack of stray dogs.

Stories such as this prompted the New York Times to identify Watson's "great gift to be his portrayal of the hardscrabble lives of odd but everyday people, their relationships to the surrounding land freighted with privately held histories and traumas."

Earlier this year, the Boston Globe named "Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives" among the year's best fiction books.

"And yet, Watson's real gift is the humor and restraint that accompany these portrayals. His characters come to their own slow terms with life, providing us a reading experience both searing and hilarious," the judges say.

Watson is the author of a previous short story collection that won the Sue Kauffman Award for First Fiction, as well as a novel, "The Heaven of Mercury," that was a finalist for the National Book Award.

Originally from Mississippi, Watson teaches in the MFA in Creative Writing Program at UW. He previously taught at the University of Alabama, Harvard University, University of California-Irvine and University of Mississippi, and has held fellowships through the National Endowment for the Arts and the Lannan Foundation.

The other PEN/Faulkner Award finalists' and their work:

-- Egan's "A Visit From The Goon Squad" is a novel comprised of 13 interlocking chapters, each a self-contained story, which spans 40 years from 1979 into the scientifically futuristic 2020. She is a journalist from Brooklyn, N.Y.

-- "The Collected Stories of Deborah Eisenberg" brings together four volumes of Eisenberg's work -- "Transactions in a Foreign Currency"; "Under the 82nd Airborne"; "All Around Atlantis"; and "Twilight of the Superheroes." Eisenberg has taught at the University of Virginia since 1994.

-- Gordon's "Lord of Misrule" novel is set in the ramshackle world of a second-rate racetrack, Indian Mound Downs, downriver from Wheeling, W. Va. Saturated in racetrack idiom; the novel's world is ominously decrepit, peopled with con men, loan sharks, mystical grooms, trainers and jockeys. Gordon teaches at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo.

-- Puchner's debut novel "Model Home" tells the tragicomic story of the disintegrating Ziller family in 1980s southern California and their foray into a failed real estate development plan. The novel is also about family in a nutshell, a fusion of nuanced daily observation, pained hilarity, absurd circumstance and heartbreaking dislocation. Puchner lives in Los Angeles and teaches at Claremont McKenna College.

Celebrating the 31st year of the award, the PEN/Faulkner Foundation is committed to building audiences for exceptional literature and bringing writers together with their readers. This mission is accomplished through a reading series at the Folger Shakespeare Library by distinguished writers who have won the respect of readers and writers alike.

The PEN/Faulkner Foundation is an outgrowth of American novelist and short story writer William Faulkner's generosity in donating his 1949 Nobel Prize winnings, "to establish a fund to support and encourage new fiction writers."

Photo: University of Wyoming English Associate Professor Brad Watson is a finalist for the prestigious 2011 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for his collection of short stories, "Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives." The PEN/Faulkner Award is America's largest peer juried prize for fiction. (Photo courtesy of Nell Hanley)

Winners announced for Blanchan/Doubleday awards

The Wyoming Arts Council is pleased to announce the winners of the 2011 Blanchan/Doubleday writing awards.

Recipient of the Neltje Blanchan Memorial Writing Award for nature writing is Patricia Frolander of Sundance. She will receive a $1,000 prize for a series of poems entitled “Married Into It.” Honorable mentions in this category go to Jane Dominick of Laramie for “Cottonwoods” and other poems and Darcy Lipp-Acord of Weston for her creative nonfiction entry, “Homework: Lessons from Allison.”

 
Recipient of the Frank Nelson Doubleday Memorial Writing Award for women writers is Edith Cook of Cheyenne. She will receive a $1,000 prize for her prose manuscript, “A Cold Day in Hell.” Honorable mentions go to Lynn G. Carlson of Cheyenne for her creative nonfiction entry, “With All Due Respect” and Darcy Lipp-Acord of Weston for “Homework: Lessons from Allison.”  

Judge for this year's competition was Ohio poet and fiction writer Jeanne Bryner.

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

For more information about the Wyoming Arts Council’s programs for individual artists, contact Michael Shay at 307-777-5234 or mshay@state.wy.us.

See you in Cheyenne Feb. 11 for 29th annual Governor's Arts Awards

Save the date for the 29th Governor’s Arts Awards

February 11, 2011, 6-10 p.m.

Little American Grand Ballroom, Cheyenne

Watch your mail for the invitation. Please contact our office at ebratt@state.wy.us to be added to our print mail list.

Join us in celebrating these 2010 awardees selected for their substantial contributions to Wyoming’s arts:

The Bradford Brinton Memorial & Museum showcases the work of masters in an historic setting, provides art education and helps regional artists; it is the most popular tourist attraction in Sheridan County.

Michael Masterson of Powell is recognized for his expertise and leadership in vocal and instrumental music education. He is the foremost expert on the music of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Cowboy Band and, as director of the award-winning Northwest Studio Singers, set the standard for middle and high school jazz choirs for over two decades.

Nancy Curtis of Glendo was chosen for her contribution to writing, establishing the High Plains Press and her commitment to the preservation of history and the written word.

pARTners has created an innovative method of funding art programs in Jackson schools and incorporating art into other subjects. It promotes creativity in private and public schools’ curriculum by bringing artists into classrooms to collaborate with teachers.

Stage III Community Theatre has entertained Casper audiences for 30 years and provided an opportunity for actors, directors, designers and stage crews to hone their craft.

FMI: http://www.wyomingartscouncil.org/

UW Eminent Writer in Residence Rattawut Lapcharoensap wins Whiting Award

Rattawut Lapcharoensap, an Eminent Writer in Residence in the University of Wyoming's MFA Program in Creative Writing, recently received a prestigious national award.

Lapcharoensap was awarded $50,000 from the Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation for writers of exceptional talent and promise in early career. He was among 10 writers nationwide to receive the 2010 Whiting Writers' Awards. The awards, totaling more than $6 million since 1985, have gone to 260 poets, fiction and non-fiction writers and playwrights.

The recent 10 award recipients were announced at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York City.

"Lapcharoensap writes with a depth of emotion, of tenderness really, and fluent descriptive detail," said the Whiting selectors. "We like the access he provides to a world we know nothing about ... and the way he manages to maintain an edgy tone without being off-putting or overdoing it. He isn't interested in condescending to the reader, as the material might invite him to. And we admire his fidelity to the short form in these stories -- he does not stretch material that should not be stretched."

Author of of the best-selling collection "Sightseeing," Lapcharoensap, during his UW residency this semester, is teaching a graduate fiction workshop, visiting university classes and meeting with students. In 2007, Granta, the magazine for new writing, named Lapcharoensap to its list of "Best of Young American Novelists."

Born in Chicago and raised in Thailand, Lapcharoensap studied writing at Cornell University and the University of Michigan. "Sightseeing" was selected for the National Book Foundation's "5 Under 35" program, won the Asian American Literary Award and was also short-listed for the Guardian First Book Award. Lapcharoensap spent the last year in Thailand researching his first novel, under contract to Grove Press

Whiting Writers' Awards candidates are proposed by about a 100 anonymous nominators from across the country whose experience and vocations give them knowledge about writers in early career. Winners are chosen by a small anonymous selection committee of recognized writers and editors, appointed annually by the Whiting Foundation.

The Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation was established in 1963 by Flora E. Whiting. The foundation created the Whiting Writers' Awards in 1985.

For more information about the UW Eminent Writer in Residence Program, visit the MFA Web site at www.uwyo.edu/creativewriting or e-mail Beth Loffreda, MFA Program director, at loffreda@uwyo.edu.

Award-winning poetry inspired by stint in Wyoming

Poet William Notter’s “Holding Everything Down” (Southern Illinois University Press) was just awarded the High Plains Book Award in the poetry category. Notter grew up on the plains of northeastern Colorado, and currently lives in Richmond, Virginia. He spent three summers as an interpretive guide in Wyoming’s Bighorn National Forest, which inspired his poem “Morning News in the Big Horn Mountains.” Here’s an excerpt:

Morning News in the Big Horn Mountains

The latest movie star is drunk just out of rehab,
two or three cities had extraordinary killings,
and expensive homes are sliding off the hills
or burning again. There’s an energy crisis on,
and peace in the Middle East is close as ever.
In Wyoming, just below timberline,
meteors and lightning storms
keep us entertained at night. Last week,
a squirrel wrecked the mountain bluebirds’ nest.
I swatted handfuls of moths in the cabin
and set them on a stump each day,
but the birds would not come back to feed.

Buy the book and read the rest.

(Info gleaned from New West Online)

Going to be in New York City In January? Free tickets available for Jazz at Lincoln Center

The National Endowment for the Arts and Jazz at Lincoln Center announced today that free tickets are available for the January 11, 2011 NEA Jazz Masters Awards Ceremony & Concert. Tickets can be reserved online or in person at the Jazz at Lincoln Center Box Office, located at Broadway at 60th Street, ground floor, open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., as well as Sundays, 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Limit two tickets per person.

The 2011 NEA Jazz Masters are Hubert Laws, David Liebman, Johnny Mandel, and the Marsalis Family—Ellis Marsalis, Jr., Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Delfeayo Marsalis, and Jason Marsalis. In addition, the 2011 A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Award for Jazz Advocacy is awarded to Orrin Keepnews. Go to http://jalc.org/concerts/details309a.asp?EventID=2504 for more information.

The 2011 NEA Jazz Masters Awards Ceremony & Concert will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Rose Theater at Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center at Broadway at 60th Street and feature the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis in a program dedicated to the honorees’ works. Joining the orchestra will be several of the honorees performing, including Mr. Liebman, Mr. Laws, and the Marsalis Family. The evening also will feature video tributes to each of the 2011 NEA Jazz Masters.

The awards ceremony and concert will be broadcast live on WBGO Jazz 88.3FM based in Newark, New Jersey, and Sirius/XM Satellite Radio's Real Jazz Channel 70. WBGO also will audio stream the event live on their website at wbgo.org.

Prior to the concert, the 2011 NEA Jazz Masters and their fellow NEA Jazz Masters will gather for a group photo opportunity. Members of the press who want to attend the concert or who would like to participate in the photo opportunity must reserve a place in advance. Please contact Liz Stark (202-682-5744 or starke@arts.gov).

In addition to the awards ceremony and concert, the 2011 NEA Jazz Masters will participate in a panel discussion exploring their careers, moderated by A. B. Spellman. The panel will take place on Monday, January 10, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. in the Varis-Leichtman Studio at Jazz at Lincoln Center at Broadway at 60th Street. The event is free and seating is open to the public on a first come, first served basis.

Moose, WY native John F. Turner honored by National Musuem of Wildlife Art

Photo by David J. Swift

Former Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans, International Environment & Scientific Affairs and
third-generation Wyoming rancher John F. Turner will receive the National Museum of WildlifeArt prestigious Rungius Medal on November 3, 2010, in the museum's Cook Auditorium at 10:30 a.m.

Created in 1988, the award recognizes individuals who "have made a significant addition to the public's awareness of wildlife and the habitat necessary for its survival." Turner, whose numerous accomplishments on behalf of the natural world include establishing 55 new National Wildlife Refuges.

"With his strong record of protecting wildlife, habitat and natural resources on a national level as well as his personal deep connection to the land, John F. Turner is a perfect candidate for our Rungius Medal, and we're honored to be presenting him with it," said Jim McNutt, National Museum of Wildlife Art president and CEO.

Prior to his Assistant Secretary appointment (2001-2005), Turner served as CEO of The Conservation Fund, protecting more than 2.8 million acres of parks, habitat, and open space with the national nonprofit. He also served as the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (1989-1993), where he increased wetland protection and established the most National Wildlife Refuges of any U.S. administration. Other past positions include 19 years in the Wyoming State Legislature, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the
Bank of Jackson Hole, and Chairman of the Institute of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming.

The Rungius Medal http://www.wildlifeart.org/Information/RungiusMedal is the museum's highest honor, reflecting its ongoing role of furthering the national conversation about humanity and nature. Symbolized by a gold medallion named for artist Carl Rungius, America's preeminent portrayer of animals and their surroundings, the medal is awarded to "individuals who have made lifetime and extraordinary contributions to the artistic interpretation and preservation of the world's natural heritage." Past recipients include Mardy Murie (1989), Roger Tory Peterson (1994) and Jane Goodall (2001).

The Rungius Medal award ceremony for John F. Turner is open to the public and will be followed by a reception with refreshments; those planning to attend the reception should respond to Shawn Meisl at 307.732.5449 or by email at smeisl@wildlifeart.org

Author Diana Kouris earns laurels for her High Plains Press book

This comes from Nancy Curtis at High Plains Press in Glendo: Diana Kouris (left), author of Riding the Edge of an Era, has been doing High Plains Press proud. She was a finalist for both the Zonta Best Woman Writer Award at the Billings Book Festival and the Willa Award which was presented in Wickenburg, Arizona. Diana and I went to both events and had a great time. My friend and former co-editor Linda Hasselstrom (right) traveled with us and came home with the top award at both events. Here we are.

Nomination deadline rapidly approaching for 2010 Governor's Arts Awards

The postmark deadline is Friday, Oct. 8, for nominations for the 2010 Governor’s Arts Awards.

The awards are presented based on accomplishments that reflect substantial contributions made to the arts in Wyoming, and exemplify a long-term commitment to the arts.

To request a nomination form, selection criteria and a list of previous Governor’s Arts Awards recipients, contact the Wyoming Arts Council office at 307-777-7742, or via email at ebratt@state.wy.us. Forms may also be accessed on the Arts Council’s web site http://wyoarts.state.wy.us/.

Previous Governor’s Arts Award recipients are not eligible; however, nomination of previously unselected nominees is encouraged.

Established in 1982, the Governor’s Arts Awards recognize excellence in the arts or outstanding service to the arts in Wyoming.

Over the years, 111 individuals and organizations from throughout the state have been honored for their dedication to the arts. This year is the 29th anniversary of these prestigious awards. This year’s recipients will be honored at a dinner and awards ceremony in Cheyenne, February 11, 2011.

Through the Governor’s Arts Awards and its many other program, the Wyoming Arts Council fulfills its mission to enhance the quality of life for the people of Wyoming by providing resources to sustain, promote and cultivate the arts.

Cody High Style prepares for Rendezvous Royale

In the 2009 Cody High Syle fashion category, Tres Outlaws Boots won the Designer's Choice award.

From a BBHC release:

The Buffalo Bill Historical Center joins artisans and designers who celebrate the spirit of the American West through western decorative arts in Cody High Style: Designing the West.

This year’s exhibition, held in conjunction with the city-wide Rendezvous Royale, is on view September 22 – 25 in the breezeway of the Historical Center’s Cody Firearms Museum. Forty craftsmen display everything from desks and couches to lamps and saddlebags—all with a distinctive western flair. The show is free to the public.

Cody High Style kicks off with the popular “Building Rustic Furniture” two-day workshop on Monday and Tuesday, September 20 – 21, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Master craftsman John Gallis of Norseman Designs West presents this hands-on workshop in his studio where participants learn the basics of woodworking and take home their own handmade projects. All levels of experience are welcome, and since space is limited, registrations are now being accepted. The cost is $300 and includes materials and lunch.

Marge Taylor of Leather Legends invites leather aficionados to make their own leather, fringed vests in her workshop on Tuesday, September 21, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. at the Historical Center. The cost is $100 and includes materials and lunch. All levels of experience are welcome, and registrations are now being accepted as space is limited.

This year’s Cody High Style tour—Thursday, September 23, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.—highlights historic log cabins in the area, beginning with the Joseph Henry Sharp cabin, Absarokee Hut, at the Historical Center. Then, participants travel to several historic homestead cabins around Meeteetse, Wyoming, including the famous Pitchfork Ranch. Space is limited, and registrations are now being accepted. The cost for the guided tour is $100 and includes bus travel, lunch, and guide.

Along with its popular style show, Cody High Style also has several seminars and roundtable discussions that are free to the public:

Sept. 22, 2 p.m.: “Why would a magazine want to do a story on me?” Cowgirl Magazine editor-in-chief, Callan Loessberg.

Sept. 23, 10 a.m.: “Roundtable: Influences of Mastered Style” (historic styles from Molesworth to Roycroft).

Sept. 23, 1 p.m.: “Inspirations of the American West.” Montana Dreamwear designer Celeste Sotola.

Sept. 24, 11 a.m.: “Roundtable: Natural collaboration—defined by our materials.”

Sept. 25, 1 p.m.: “Roundtable: Recycled, reclaimed, and reborn”

A full schedule of Cody High Style events is available at http://rendezvousroyale.org/schedule.htm. To register for workshops or historic cabins tour, contact Jill Oseicki-Gleich, jillo@bbhc.org or 307.587.2619.

Stay current with Historical Center news and activities at http://www.bbhc.org/. 

Deadline Oct. 8 for Governor's Arts Awards nominations

The Wyoming Arts Council is accepting nominations for the 2010 Governor’s Arts Awards, an annual honor presented to citizens, organizations, businesses or communities in the Cowboy State that make substantial contributions to the arts.

The awards are presented based on accomplishments that reflect substantial contributions made to the arts in Wyoming, and exemplify a long-term commitment to the arts. Nominations must be postmarked no later than October 8, 2010.

To request a nomination form, selection criteria and a list of previous Governor’s Arts Awards recipients, contact the Wyoming Arts Council office at 307-777-7742, or via email at ebratt@state.wy.us. Forms may also be accessed on the Arts Council’s web site http://wyoarts.state.wy.us/.

Previous Governor’s Arts Award recipients are not eligible; however, nomination of previously unselected nominees is encouraged.

Established in 1982, the Governor’s Arts Awards recognize excellence in the arts or outstanding service to the arts in Wyoming. These awards were first made possible by an endowment from the Union Pacific Foundation in honor of Mrs. John U. Loomis, a life-long patron of the arts.

Over the years, individuals and organizations from throughout Wyoming have been honored for their dedication to the arts in Wyoming. This year is the 29th anniversary of these prestigious awards. This year’s recipients will be honored at a dinner and awards ceremony in Cheyenne, February 11, 2011.

More info available through future blog posts and on the WAC web site.

Fiction writer and poet Jeanne Bryner to serve as juror for Blanchan/Doubleday writing awards

Fiction writer and poet Jeanne Bryner has agreed to serve as the juror for the 2011 Blanchan/Doubleday writing awards.

The Neltje Blanchan Award, $1,000, is given for the best poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or script which is informed by a relationship with the natural world.

The Frank Nelson Doubleday Award, $1,000, is given for the best poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or script written by a woman author.

POSTMARK DEADLINE IS OCTOBER 29, 2010

Printable applications will be available at the Wyoming Arts Council web site by Sept. 6, 2010. Applications also will be mailed to Wyoming writers on the WAC mailing list.  

About our juror:

Jeanne Bryner was born in Appalachia and grew up in Newton Falls, Ohio. Her family was part of the outmigration from Greene County, Pennsylvania and Monongalia County, West Virginia.

A board-certified emergency room nurse, she is a graduate of Trumbull Memorial’s School of Nursing and Kent State University’s Honors College. She has received writing fellowships from Bucknell University (1992), the Ohio Arts Council (1997, 2007), and Vermont Studio Center (2009). Her new play, “Foxglove Canyon,” was performed this April in Akron, Ohio and her books in print are Breathless, Blind Horse: Poems, Eclipse: Stories, Tenderly Lift Me: Nurses Honored, Celebrated and Remembered and No Matter How Many Windows. One of her short stories, “Turn the Radio to a Gospel Station,” is included in the new anthology from Coffee House Press, Working Words: Punching the Clock and Kicking out the Jams.

With the support of Hiram College’s Center for Literature and Medicine and Biomedical Humanities, her nursing poetry has been adapted for the stage and is being performed by Verb Ballets, Cleveland, Ohio. A community affiliate of Youngstown State’s Center for Working Class Studies, she frequently writes about working class issues. She teaches writing workshops in schools, cancer support groups and assisted living facilities. She lives with her husband near a dairy farm in Newton Falls, Ohio.

Here’s what poet Jim Daniels had to say about one of Bryner’s books:

“In Jeanne Bryner’s Eclipse, there’s a master storyteller at work. The rich textured world of these stories, and the strong refreshingly frank narrative voices, bring to life the everyday kindnesses and betrayals that mark the calendars of our lives. While the characters in these stories struggle, it is a struggle blessed with hope. A hope we can all carry with us into the future.”

Call for entries: Ruminate Magazine

From Ruminate Magazine in Fort Collins, Colo.:

We are now accepting entries for the 2011 Short Story Prize. We are proud to announce that our annual short story prize is now being sponsored by the William Van Dyke Charitable Fund and is being renamed The William Van Dyke Short Story Prize. The prize award has also been generously increased to 1,000.00. We are so grateful for this generous gift.

The entry deadline is October 15th, 2010.

FMI: http://www.ruminatemagazine.org/contests/short-story.html