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.

Functional meets fanciful at "Upcycling 101" in Casper

Wyomingarts had a chance to meet with Casper artist and performer Betsy Bower on Sunday. Betsy's mom, writer Cindy Bower, arranged the meeting as she was wrapping up the annual Wyoming Writers, Inc., conference at Ramada Riverside.

Everyone in Casper was out and about this weekend, no doubt because it was the first good weather of the spring. Betsy had participated Saturday in "Upcycling 101" at the Winter Methodist Church and the adjacent James Reeb Memorial Community Playground in north Casper. When she wasn't demonstrating how to upcycle old wine bottles into drinking glasses using a portable forge, she was peddling her blendercycle. Here's a description of the contraption from an article by Tom Morton in Sunday's Casper Star-Tribune:

Bower had on display a creation that wasn’t particularly useful, definitely not beautiful, but certainly fun. 

She enhanced a child’s bicycle by mounting a blender on a wooden platform on the rear bumper and running a vertical axle from the blender to the top of the rear tire, which would drive the axle to power the blender. Sort of margaritas on the go. 

Forget the margaritas. Betsy spent at least part of the day pedaling smoothies into an eco-friendly froth. Anne MacKinnon's Little Hands organization had several work stations for children and adults at the event. The organization, funded by the Wyoming Arts Council, the Natrona County Recreation Joint Powers Board and AmeriCorps, operates free programs for children 6 and under who, with their parents, learn art. 

She, a few children and a couple of others involved with Little Hands played and created art by smearing thinset mortar — used in laying tile — on a sheet of plastic covering a worn metal patio table. They chose stones, discarded jewelry, lids and other items from a box, then placed them at random in the thinset to create a tabletop.

You can call it upcycling or recycling or reusing. Or just creativity.

Call for artists: "Energy" show at Hotel Hadley Studios (N.C.)

Hotel Hadley Studios is seeking artwork of any media for a show entitled, “Energy.” The show will open July 15. There are many definitions to the word and we encourage artists to consider expanded interpretations. One could look at Energy as fuel for our electricity and cars. Energy as caloric and biochemical fuel for our bodies and minds. Or Energy that fuels our soul through the momentum of human and nature interactions. The show is envisioned as an exhibition of artwork reflecting on energy, in all its glorious forms, and an opportunity to educate about alternative energy resources in Chatham County, the pros/cons of current energy sources, including information on hydro-fracturing and the future of natural gas. We will be partnering with NCWARN and others for this event.

Please limit submissions to 3 samples of your artwork by June 10. Work submitted does not need to be the exact piece for the show but indicative of the work intended for the show. Don't forget to include your name, title of piece, media and size. This is a juried show. There is no submission fee, but there will be a participation fee for those exhibiting. This fee will be a sliding scale starting at $25. Artists will be responsible for the cost of transporting their work to the show and back.

Sarah Kuhn, Hotel Hadley Studios, 130 N. Chatham Ave., Siler City, NC 27344, www.hotelhadleystudios.com

Construction update: National Museum of Wildlife Art

Excavation preparation began this week on the underpass that will link the Jackson-to-Grand Teton North 89 Pathway to the National Museum of Wildlife Art. When completed in late May, the new underpass will connect the pathway for bicyclists, pedestrians and other non-motorized users to the museum and its new sculpture trail, which is also under construction and slated for fall 2011 completion.

“Wingwalls” for the underpass are being installed this week on the sides of the road, according to Pathways Coordinator Brian Schilling, who adds that signs are being placed this week to alert travelers about the construction. The week of May 8, traffic cones will narrow multiple lanes of Highway 89 to two lanes for 3,000 feet in each direction, with excavation taking place around the clock all week for quick completion. The underpass itself will be installed by mid-May with construction completed by the end of the month. The museum will remain open on its regular schedule during all phases of the construction.

In addition to the Teton County/Jackson Hole Community Pathways underpass project, the museum is undergoing capital improvements of its own, including a new roof and upfit to exterior walls, as well as construction of the new multimillion-dollar sculpture trail designed by renowned landscape architect Walter Hood , which will further integrate the museum’s collection with its natural Wyoming setting. Beginning June 1, free hard hat tours of the under-construction sculpture trail will be available twice daily at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

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.

Buffalo Bill Historical Center competes in the EPA’s “Battle of the Buildings”

The Buffalo Bill Historical Center has been selected to participate in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Energy Star National Building Competition: Battle of the Buildings to help improve the energy efficiency of commercial buildings and protect the environment. In the spirit of popular weight-loss competitions, the Historical Center will battle it out against hundreds of other teams from buildings across the country to work off the waste through improvements in energy efficiency with help from EPA’s Energy Star program.

“The Buffalo Bill Historical Center is honored to be a part of this competition,” says Phil Anthony, operating engineer at the Center and a leader of its sustainability program. “We are committed to continuing to improve our energy efficiency and we look forward to seeing how we measure up against other buildings across the nation.”

--snip--

According to EPA, energy use in commercial buildings accounts for nearly 20 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and energy use at a cost of more than $100 billion per year. On average, 30 percent of the energy used in commercial buildings is wasted. Thousands of businesses and organizations work with EPA’s Energy Star program and are saving billions of dollars and preventing millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions from entering our atmosphere each year.

To watch the competition unfold, visit www.energystar.gov/BattleOfTheBuildings. More information on the Buffalo Bill Historical Center can be found by exploring www.bbhc.org.

Fifth-grader from Lander wins Arbor Day poster contest

Wyoming Arbor Day Poster winner (and budding artist) Fiachra Rottinghaus, a home-schooled fifth grader from Lander, poses with Gov. Matt Mead at the Arbor Day ceremony April 25 across from the State Capitol. Fiachra holds her winning poster. Photo by Cathy R. Lujan, PIO, Office of State Lands & Investments

"Starry Night" -- as seen from a Landsat satellite

The USGS Earth Resources Observation & Science Center offers an image gallery of artsy shots from satellites. Here's an example entitled "Van Gogh from Space."

In the style of Van Gogh's painting "Starry Night," massive congregations of greenish phytoplankton swirl in the dark water around Gotland, a Swedish island in the Baltic Sea. Phytoplankton are microscopic marine plants that form the first link in nearly all ocean food chains. Population explosions, or blooms, of phytoplankton, like the one shown here, occur when deep currents bring nutrients up to sunlit surface waters, fueling the growth and reproduction of these tiny plants. Taken July 13, 2005.

Wyoming Outdoor Council wants your photos

DO YOU HAVE GREAT SHOTS OF WYOMING’S spectacular landscapes, wildlife, and people enjoying the great outdoors?

If so, get them published in the Wyoming Outdoor Council’s annual calendar.

Previous calendars have included photographs by some of Wyoming’s best professional photographers, as well as some of its most gifted amateur shooters.

Deadline is Sept. 15, 2011

Contest Rules

·                         Photographs must be taken in Wyoming and can include landscapes, lifestyles, wildlife, and people.

·                         All photos must be submitted in digital form by email or online file sharing tool, mailed on a CD or DVD, or hand delivered on a CD, DVD, or flash drive.

·                         Photos can only be published if available in a high-quality, relatively high-resolution, digital format.

·                         Photograph entries constitute permission to use the images with credit to the photographer without monetary compensation.

·                         Please include your name, address, city, state, zip code, daytime phone number, email address, and description of your photo including where the photo was taken.

TO SUBMIT PHOTOS, PLEASE EMAIL OR MAIL TO CHRIS MERRILL:

chris@wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org

Wyoming Outdoor Council
121 Grand Avenue, Suite 200
Laramie, WY 82070

Attention arts entrepreneurs: WY Entrepreneur SBDC’s Sustainable Profits program may be for you

From Wyoming Entrepreneur:

Would you like to:

• Upgrade your business to one that is more eco-friendly and
• sustainable?
• Discover new markets and customers?
• Save money by reducing waste and energy costs?
• Develop a business plan to guide you through the process?
• Receive grant funding of up $2000 to help you implement your sustainability plans?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, the WyomingEntrepreneur SBDC’s Sustainable Profits program is for you!
Enrollment is free — but limited. Don’t wait. Enroll today!

Understanding and implementing sustainable business practices in your business can save you money, help you reach new markets, provide a healthy and safe workplace for you and your employees, and help your business survive in a world that is increasingly focused on sustainability.

Wyoming Entrepreneur SBDC is offering a valuable training program and grant package to help you understand and implement sustainable business practices in your business. It allows you to become more efficient, profitable and able to serve your customers for years to come.

The Wyoming Entrepreneur Sustainable Profits package is worth up to $2,500 to your business. This free program includes:

• A seven session online course that will guide you through the process of developing a sustainable business plan. This course will include a one-hour webinar each week plus group coaching sessions.
• A year-long license to the powerful online tool, “Solutions at the Speed of Business,” featuring modules on Lighting, Heating and Cooling, and Office Equipment. Visit www.NatCapSolutions.org
• Free consultation offered by the business specialists at Wyoming Entrepreneur.
• Participants who successfully complete the program will be eligible to apply for a grant of up to $2000 that may be used to implement sustainable practices identified in their business plan.

To be eligible for the Sustainable Profits program you must:

• Have been in business at least six months or obtain prior approval to apply from sustainability team.
• Agree to the program terms, specified in the application.
• Be a Wyoming company.

GRANT REQUIREMENTS:

• Complete an application. APPLICATION DEADLINE IS APRIL 30, 2011.
• Attend a 7-week online course and participate in group coaching sessions, write a sustainable business plan, and utilize the three “Solutions at the Speed of Business” tools.
• Participants who meet these requirements will be eligible to apply for grants of up to $2000 to support implementation of their sustainability plans.
• Participants will also be expected to report on their progress and outcomes and showcase their successes.

Download

Sustainable Profits Brochure or Sustainable Profits Application

Sunstainible Business Consulting:

Susan Jerke
Regional Director, Wyoming Entrepreneur

2001 West Lakeway Road, Suite D
Gillette, Wyoming 82718

307.682.5232 or in Wyoming 888.956.6060

Email Susan

"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.

Rare herd of Recycled Plastic Bottle Elk sighted in Jackson

The Jackson Hole Film Festival, as an expansion of their Arts Education Biennial grant from the Wyoming Arts Council, conducted a project where 350-plus students were involved in creating recycled elk. There's a short video of them on YouTube:

Reception for Oxfam America's photo exhibit Jan. 31 at UW Union Gallery 234

A photo exhibition depicting the rights of impoverished people worldwide opens with a free reception from 5-7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 31 in Gallery 234 of the University of Wyoming Union in Laramie.

Oxfam America's "Right to Know, Right to Decide" will be on display Monday, Jan. 31 through Thursday, Feb. 3. The exhibition will serve as a preview for the topics and issues to be discussed at the Good Mule Conference Feb. 12-13.

The Good Mule Project is a student-led initiative to increase awareness of social and environmental justice issues, to encourage civic literacy and action and to advance cross-cultural understanding at UW.

Oxfam America is an international relief and development organization that creates lasting solutions to poverty, hunger and injustice. Part of Oxfam's work supporting poor communities worldwide includes the "Right to Know, Right to Decide" campaign which calls on international oil, gas and mining companies to reduce poverty and respect the rights of poor people.

Oxfam America is one of 14 affiliates in the international confederation, Oxfam.

For more information on either event, e-mail the Good Mule project at thegoodmule@gmail.com .

Photo: This is among the photographs that can be seen in an exhibition from 5-7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 31, in Gallery 234 of the University of Wyoming Union. The collection will be on display Monday, Jan. 31 through Thursday, Feb. 3.

"TreeMiere" set for Jackson Center for the Arts

In conjunction with an exhibit by Brazilian artist Thais Beltrane, filmmaker David Gonzales presents the premiere of “Seeing Red: TreeFight’s First Year,” a documentary about the campaign to save the whitebark pine trees in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. A tree-inspired drawing by Beltrane will be raffled. Entitled "Lake Solitude," its dimensions are 28 by 39 inches. Free admission to this event on Friday, Jan. 14, 7:30 p.m. FMI: TreeFight.org

UW Eminent Writer in Residence will work with students on Laramie Atlas Project

From a University of Wyoming press release:

Rebecca Solnit, an acclaimed author of numerous celebrated works of nonfiction, is the latest Eminent Writer in Residence in the University of Wyoming's MFA program in Creative Writing.

An activist, art critic and cultural historian, Solnit will spend four weeks at UW guiding an interdisciplinary group of students in creating a unique atlas devoted to Laramie and the region. Her most recent work is "A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster," and "Infinite City: A San Francisco Atlas."

"Rebecca Solnit believes maps and atlases can lead us toward a new way of understanding the places we live in," says MFA faculty member Alyson Hagy. "The sense of place is strong in Wyoming. Solnit's Laramie Atlas Project will invite students to make new maps -- some of them traditional, some of them innovative and even eccentric -- of the region to chronicle its nature and ties to the larger world."

Solnit will visit UW classes across campus and consult with MFA students on their writing during her residency. Her visit is co-sponsored by the Albany County Public Library Foundation, the UW Art Museum, The Helga Otto Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources and the Social Justice Research Center.

Solnit also will conduct two public presentations during her residency.

The first presentation, "Infinite City/Gem City: Reimagining Maps and Atlases," is at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 12, at the Albany County Public Library. She will introduce the Laramie Atlas Project, discuss her latest book and sign books after the presentation.

Her Laramie Atlas Project presentation is similar to the "Infinite City" project in San Francisco. Solnit will solicit input from Albany County residents as she launches the creation of an innovative set of local maps.

The second public event, "The Laramie Atlas Project: Work-in-Progress Discussion," is at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 31, at the UW Art Museum. Solnit will discuss her effort with UW students to "remap" the community and its resources. A reception follows.

Solnit's residency follows the Eminent Writer residencies of fiction writer Rattawut Lapcharoensap and poets Jan Zwicky and Robert Bringhurst. Previous Eminent Writers in Residence have included Edward P. Jones, Philip Gourevitch, Claudia Rankine and Joy Williams.

For more information, visit the MFA Web site at www.uwyo.edu/creativewriting or e-mail Gwynn Lemler at cw@uwyo.edu.

Photo: Rebecca Solnit is the latest Eminent Writer in Residence in the University of Wyoming MFA program in Creative Writing. (Photo courtesy of Scott Sommerdorf/San Francisco Chronicle)

Ski by day, watch wildlife films by night during December in Jackson Hole

Pronghorns travel winter range from documentary “Out of Yellowstone.” © Scott Copeland

Four films screening at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in December will explore environmental challenges facing a variety of species as part of the museum’s returning “Art After Hours” series.

Art After Hours is offered Tuesday nights from 5-9 p.m. throughout the winter, combining intriguing programming -- like the December 28 premiere of Out of Yellowstone -- with a chance to explore the museum’s galleries, all for free. Visitors also can enjoy a tapas dinner before or after the film in the Rising Sage Café; reservations for this option are recommended by calling 307.732.5434.

December films, presented at 7:30 p.m., are scheduled as follows:

December 7 – Polar Bears: Living on Thin Ice: Filmmaker Thomas Behrend follows two polar bear families over the course of a year. 45 minutes; provided by Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival.
December 14 – Yellowstone: Battle for Life: One of the most beautiful wildernesses, Yellowstone also is one of the harshest. 87 minutes; provided by Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival.
December 21 – Expedition Grizzly: Join naturalist Casey Anderson – and the grizzly he raised from birth – in a look at Yellowstone bears. 50 minutes; provided by Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival.
December 28 – Out of Yellowstone: Worldwide premiere explores Greater Yellowstone’s iconic wildlife – elk, deer, and pronghorn – as critical winter range is threatened by development. Produced by The Nature Conservancy in collaboration with Phlogiston Media with the support of Deborah and David MacKenzie.

Art After Hours is sponsored by the Dragicevich Foundation and Dr. Christine Laughery/Home Health for Pets. Check the museum web site for information on weekly programming.

A complete schedule of exhibitions and events is available online at http://www.wildlifeart.org/. The museum is also active on Facebook at wildlifeartjh and on Twitter at @wildlifeartjh

Update from Paul Taylor on "Wardaman Dreaming Project" and 2011 tour dates

Laramie's Paul "Walking Stick" Taylor has a busy winter ahead of him. He sent this letter via e-mail:

Dear Friends,

2010 FIELDWORK
The Wardaman Dreaming Project is excited to report another successful year of fieldwork, amassing a further 15 hours of Wardaman culture with Elder Yidumduma Bill Harney. We continued to document rock art and sacred sites and followed the beautiful Flora River, filming the associated story and songline as it weaved through Wardaman land. We documented bush plants and sign language as Yidumduma transmitted teaching to his grand nephew Jonas Doctor.

WEBSITE
We aim to produce a specific WDP website in 2011 featuring the best of our recordings for teaching Wardaman youth and open to the general public.

ARCHIVE
In August, copies of all fieldwork 2003-9, over 90 hours, were placed in safe-keeping with AIATSIS in Canberra, and with the Wardaman people.

FUNDRAISING
We are busy writing grants and fundraising for the coming year.
Our sincere thanks to the fabulous Kalliopeia Foundation and the WRAR, Western Rock Art Research for their continued support.
Our deepest gratitude goes to these donors:
Peggy Baldwin, John Loyd, LOYD ARTISTS, Phil Edgerton, Terry Wyszynski, Pia Hansen, Anne Taylor, Susan Ely, Laramie Kiwani's, David Romtvedt, Alan Bacque and Leslie Larsen.
This work would not be possible without all your support.

US TOUR 2011
Yidumduma and Paul Taylor will be touring Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona and California in January - March 2011. For more information go to Loyd Artists. See the itinerary at the end of this newsletter.

In deepest gratitude,
Paul Taylor
Director
Wardaman Dreaming Project, WDP.
pauldidj@gmail.com
PO Box 1427, Laramie WY 82073
307-721-8853
http://www.paultaylor.ws/

Bill Harney and Paul Taylor Tour

Saturday, January 15, 2011, Laramie, WY Montessori Day

Friday, January 21, 2011 Phoenix, AZ, Musical Instrument Museum (tentative)

Saturday, January 22, 2011, Superior, AZ Boyce Thompson Arboretum

Wednesday, January 26 to Friday, January 28, 2011, Pinedale, WY Pinedale Arts Center

Monday, January 31, 2011, Rock Springs, WY University of Wyoming - IS Scholars Series, Western Wyoming College

Tuesday-Wednesday, February 1-2, 2011, Riverton, University of Wyoming - IS Scholars Series, Central Wyoming College

Thursday-Friday, February 3-4, 2011, Powell, WY University of Wyoming - IS Scholars Series, Northwest College

Sunday, February 6, 2011, Jackson, WY National Museum of Wildlife Art

Tuesday, February 8, 2011, Laramie, WY Cheyenne, WY University of Wyoming - IS Scholars Series, Laramie County Community College

Wednesday, February 09 and Thursday, February 10, 2011, Torrington, WY Eastern Wyoming College

Friday, February 11, 2011, University of Wyoming - IS Scholars Series, Laramie

Tuesday February 15, Casper, WY Casper College-IS Scholars Series

Wednesday February 16 through Thursday, February 17, 2011, Sheridan College, WY University of Wyoming - IS Scholars Series, Sheridan College

Friday, February 18 and Saturday, February 19, 2011, Buffalo, WY World’s of Music Series

Friday, February 25, 2011, Boulder, CO Fiske Planetarium, CU

Wednesday, March 2 to Sunday, March 6, 2011, San Francisco, CA Kalliopeia Foundation (tentative)

Editor's Note: You can bring Paul to your community through a Wyoming Arts Council Arts Across Wyoming grant. Find info and applications at http://www.wyomingartscouncil.org/

"The Refuge and the Muries" on display through Jan. 12 at Teton County Library

The Teton County Public Library in Jackson hosts the ehibition "The Refuge & the Muries: An Arctic Exploration."

Olaus and Mardy Murie played a pivotal role in preserving the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, one of the world’s last unaltered landscapes.

The Murie Center celebrates the Refuge’s 50th anniversary with an interactive exhibit of stunning photos and sound recordings. See artifacts from the 1956 Murie Arctic Expedition, which provided political momentum for preserving the Refuge's millions of acres of pristine wildlife habitat. Read journal entries and view photos from local writer and adventurer Molly Loomis, who in 2010 retraced the expedition, following in the adventurous spirit of the Muries. The Murie Center presents this exhibit, on view through Jan. 12.

Location: Library Exhibit Gallery. Free.

FMI: Adult Humanities Coordinator Oona Doherty, 733-2164 ext. 135 or odoherty@tclib.org.

Sept. 11 Sheridan Harvest Festival features local food, homegrown music and "Pies by Guys"

Let the construction begin on new UW visual arts building!

Artist's rendering of the new visual arts building at UW (UW Photo)

Four Wyoming Arts Council staffers and on board member traveled to the University of Wyoming's ground-breaking ceremony today for its new Visual Arts Building. Speakers included UW President Tom Buchanan (emcee), Gov. Dave Freudenthal, U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, President of the UW Board of Trustees Jim Neiman and Arts & Sciences Dean Oliver Walter.

Pres. Buchanan was associate dean for Arts and Sciences "years ago" when he first heard about the project from former Visual Arts Department Chair Mary Jane Edwards. He called her "one of the early catalysts" for the building. Mary Jane traveled to the event from her job at the Jentel Artists Residency Program. Her boss, Neltje, also attended, and was introduced as "a special guest" by Buchanan. Neltje also funds the Wyoming Arts Council's Blanchan/Doubleday writing awards.

The new building will replace the old arts building, built in 1972. Buchanan noted that the department outgrew its space in a few years. "It was a state-of-the-arts facility in 1972," he said. "But the arts deserve better."

The arts department is scattered throughout several campus buildings. Some offices and classrooms are located in old married student housing and some in Ag B, known to old hands on campus as "Old Meats." It's where ag students once studied and dissected animal carcasses. It was also mentioned in author Jane Smiley's novel, "Moo."

Gov. Freudenthal joked that the arts building had not been the highest-rated project on the university's very-long construction list. "But I knew that Tom Buchanan would not be happy until it was built," he added.

Sometimes known as "the arts governor," Gov Dave went on to mention that he recently toured the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and had lunch with cadets from Wyoming. He was impressed with the Academy's emphasis on the arts. "The Air Force is making well-rounded military and civic leaders," he said, noting that well-rounded citizens also is a goal in UW's emphasis on arts and arts education.

Jim Neiman said that the visual arts building is part of the university's long-range plan. He and the other board of trustees members are proud of the fact that it's a LEED-certified building. "Our target is to make it a net-zero energy building," he said. (For more about the environmental-friendly aspects of the building, go to http://www.uwyo.edu/news/showrelease.asp?id=44583.)

When the speeches were over, President Buchanan and staff handed shovels to Gov Dave, Sen. Barrasso and other dignitaries. The shovels had been turned into works of art by UW Visual Arts students. One, wielded by Jim Nieman, had a 20-foot-long handle. Another was decorated as an upside-down, head-in-the-sand ostrich. One was transformed with tape and paint and hoses into an odd-looking contraption. "I could operate with this," quipped Sen. (and physician) Barrasso.

Each shoveler received a hardhat (it was a construction site) topped with a cowboy hat (this is Wyoming). Ground was broken, dust swirled in the morning breeze, and refreshments were served.

--Michael Shay

"Songs from the Land" CD features musicians from Idaho and Wyoming

From the Valley Citizen in Driggs, Idaho:

Not only is the Teton Regional Land Trust’s new album release, “Songs of the Land,’ a work of musical art, it is an amazing compilation of Teton Valley’s best musical talents and voices.

Born out of the guiding statement, “Evoking emotion to inspire change,” the Land Trust’s Matt Lucia and Emily Nichols worked closely with some of Teton Valley’s favorite singers and songwriters (Ben Winship, Michael Batdorf, Greg Creamer and Mike Hurwitz to name only a few of the 16 artist) to pull together the album debuting at the nonprofit’s annual summer picnic next Saturday, Aug. 7.

Wyoming artists on the album include Anne and Pete Sibley, Jackson; Alta’s Merissa Wilson and Mike Hurwitz; Margo Valiante, who grew up in Jackson; Screen Porch Door and Loose Ties, Jackson.

Margo Valiante, who grew up in Jackson and recently played at Targhee Fest and is set to complete the Music on Main concerts series in August, sings "First Born Son" on the album.

“This song is dedicated to those who redirected their entire life to be in a place of inspiration. I feel blessed that my family picked up everything and moved to Wyoming when I was six years old. For anyone whose life has been shaped by the shadow of a peak or the sound of a river, you are a First Born Son.”

For more information and to purchase a cd, contact Emily Nichols, 208-354-8939 or emily@tetonlandtrust.org