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.

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.

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. 

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

Murie Center hosts nature photography workshop June 15-18 with Henry H. Holdsworth

Teton Spring Awakening Nature Photography Workshop with Henry H. Holdsworth

Dates: June 15-18, 2011
Location: The Murie Ranch – A National Historic Landmark in Grand Teton National Park
Description: Join the Murie Center and nationally renowned local photographer Henry H. Holdsworth for a long weekend learning how to capture the essence of beauty in the valley.
Price: $1,345 includes lodging for 3 nights in a Murie Ranch cabin, all meals and tuition; $995 includes all meals and tuition only.

The Murie Center is pleased to welcome back Henry H. Holdsworth for a spring workshop that will focus on wildflowers and wildlife, with baby animals being one of the primary focal points. Enjoy a long weekend stay at the Murie Ranch while learning to photograph the wildness and wildlife of the surrounding valley under the direction of such an accomplished photographer. Register Online »

"Artists in the Environment" Plein Air Summer Series announced by Grand Teton Assn.

The Grand Teton Association presents the 2011 “Artists in the Environment” Plein Air Summer Series schedule:

Greg McHuron

Date: June 11, 2011

Location: Chapel of Transfiguration

Time: 4:00 - 7:00 pm

Plein air painter Greg McHuron (shown in photo) co-founded “Artists in the Environment” with landscape artist Conrad Schwiering, and has been painting in the Western United States for over 35 years.  Represented in galleries and museums throughout the West, he is a signature member of the Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painter Association and Artists for Conservation.

Greta Gretzinger

Date:  July 9, 2011

Location:  Mormon Row

Time:  2:00-5:00 pm

Greta Gretzinger is known for her large scale murals depicting wilderness landscapes and wildlife.  Based in Idaho and the Jackson Hole area, Gretzinger’s lively and illustrative portraits of Western life appear in public spaces and local parks throughout the region.  

Scott Christensen

Date: August 13, 2011

Location: Cathedral Group

Time: 2:00-5:00 pm

One of the country’s most distinguished plein air artists, Scott Christensen's work is part of Grand Teton National Park’s Craig Thomas Visitors’ Center prestigious permanent collection. Christensen’s paintings are included in significant national venues, such as the National Academy of Western Art, Prix de West Invitational at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum  in Oklahoma City, OK,  the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, OK, National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, WY, Denver Art Museum, Kimbal Museum, Salmagundi Club in New York, Autry Museum, and the Salon d' Arts at the  Colorado History Museum.

Erin C. O’Connor

Date:  September 10, 2011

Location:  String Lake

Time:  2:00-5:00 pm

Artist Erin C. O'Connor finds her greatest inspiration by painting directly within the environment. Noted for her participation in many prestigious Plein Air events, she is represented in collections and exhibits throughout the country. O’Connor was awarded the 2009 Joshua Tree National Park “Artist-in-Residency” post. 

Information: Tammy Christel. Email:  tammy@jacksonholearttours.com   Phone:  307.690.1983

April 25 celebration in Cheyenne includes recognition of Arbor Day poster contest winner

JOIN US IN CELEBRATING

Wyoming’s 123^rd State Arbor Day

Monday April 25, 2011   1:30 PM

State Supreme Court Building North Lawn

(24^th and Capitol)

30 Minute Ceremony to Include:

History of Wyoming Arbor Day

Official State Arbor Day Proclamation

Governor Matt Mead

Tree City USA Recognition

2011 State Arbor Day Award

·         Mike McNutt, Campbell County Parks and Recreation

Recognition of State Arbor Day Poster Contest Winner

·         5^th Grade Student Fiachra Rottinhaus, Lander, WY

Planting of special State Arbor Day Tree

·         White Fir

Distribution of seedling fir and maple trees

Cheyenne artist donates to Handmade for Japan for earthquake and tsunami relief

Cheyenne artist and teacher Connie Norman sends this:

I’ve been asked to donate to Handmade for Japan at http://connienorman.com/blog/  I have more  info on my blog with images. It is a international fund raiser. The sale of donated items will go on sale March 18 – 20, on eBay. 

I will send you the link when the site is live, but in the meantime items up for auction can be seen at

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/handmadeforjapanauction?sk=wall .

This is their Facebook site announcing updates and donated artworks. 

I copied and pasted Handmade For Japan’s mission statement below. 

Handmade For Japan

eBay auction March 18-20 to help the victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami

Description Mission:
Handmade For Japan's mission is to raise money through an online auction on March 18-20 for relief efforts to assist the victims of Japan's catastrophic earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear emissions.

Handmade for Japan is an online auction of unique, handmade art donated by concerned, invited artists. One hundred percent of all net proceeds collected via the auction will be donated to the relief efforts in Japan.

Because of the urgency of the situation, the auction will begin on eBay on Friday, March 18th and end on Sunday, March 20th. The auction items will be listed under the "Handmade for Japan" seller ID.

Previews of the auction items will be available in English and Japanese through Facebook pages and Twitter updates. All inquiries in either language should be sent to handmadeforjapan@gmail.com.

Who We Are:
Handmade For Japan was borne out of concern for Japan's residents by Japanese-American ceramic artist Ayumi Horie http://www.ayumihorie.com. She, Ai Kanazawa Cheung, and Kathryn Pombriant Manzella have mobilized to solicit, promote, and auction handmade pieces of art generously donated by talented artists throughout North America and Japan.

FMI: http://www.connienorman.com

Chainsaw sculptor Roy Pilcher featured on Channel 5

Roy Pilcher, chainsaw sculptor and proprietor of Bears & Company of Devils Tower, was featured today on the CBS-Channel 5 morning news show. Roy is a Wyoming Arts Council roster artist. Bring him to your community with a WAC Arts Across Wyoming grant. Go here for more info.

Some info about Roy from his web site:

We are a family-owned business located at Devils Tower in the northeast corner of Wyoming, near the Black Hills. Bears and Company was formed in 2004 and has continued to grow since then. The company was started after the owners of Equine Productions: a horse logging company also owned by the Pilcher family, received requests for chainsaw artwork on properties that had been thinned. Bears and Company has been a natural fit and has evolved each week. We do commercial and/or decorative art for the yards and decks of our customers. We travel to locations and have carvings in well over half of the United States. We ship UPS and take all major credit cards. 90 percent of the carvings we sell are commissioned pieces, but we do keep inventory at our shop. Thank you for your interest and please feel free to contact us about your carving. Ask about carving tutorial. 

See the Channel 5 clip here.

"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

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

"Art Along the Parkway" artists find inspiration in the North Platte River

Great article in yesterday's Casper Star-Tribune about the "Art Along the Parkway" event on Saturday, Oct. 16, in Casper.

Here are the details:

"Art Along the Parkway" is a cooperative effort among the Platte River Parkway Trust, the Casper Artist's Guild and community artists ranging from students to renowned career professionals.

All artists -- student and adult, amateur and professional -- were invited to use the river and or parkway for inspiration this summer in anticipation of the event. Artist's Guild members were available as mentors at specific locations on the parkway several times a month through the summer.

The culmination of a summer's worth of creating and planning is Saturday, inside the Tate Pumphouse at the riverfront Gegi's Bistro.

"The only criteria for the art was that the artist use the river or corridor as inspiration," said parkway trust Executive Director Angela Emery.

--snip--

Proceeds from the sale of the art will be divided 50 percent to the artist, 25 percent to the Casper Artist's Guild and 25 percent to the parkway trust.

"We hope the evening will be a focus on public art and the beauty of our trail system and the river," Emery said.

Tickets are $35 and the evening includes an array of hors d'oeuvres by Gegi, live classical guitar music, the opportunity to purchase the art at silent auction and a raffle of four items -- a 32-inch blue-ray disk combo TV, two tickets to Las Vegas on Allegiant Air, dinner for two at Gegi's and a $100 gift certificate to Sol's Shoes. Raffle tickets are $5 each or five for $20, and the drawing is at the event.

To purchase tickets, call 307-577-1206; e-mail platteriver@wyoming.org or visit the parkway office at the west end of the Tate Pumphouse, 175 W. First St., Casper.

Rick Bass, Robert Caisley, Sasha Pimentel Chacon, explore literary genres at LCCC Literary Connection

Laramie County Community College's (LCCC) Literary Connection happened this past weekend. Wyoarts was able to get over on Friday for the opening talks from slow-burning Rick Bass, delightfully frenetic playwright/actor Robert Caisley, and dedicated-to-line poet Sasha Pimentel Chacon.

Rick is a thinker, more than that, he's got the gene for "being" a landscape, just like the salmon that remember their river. His setting is the Yaak valley, northwestern Montana, close to the border of Canada. He's been there quite awhile, and his stories merge out of him like parishoners coming out of a church after service, into the bright light of something larger, brighter. His setting is the "cathedral of old forests," the last left on earth where species other than man still dominate. His landscape has become the character, like a shadow watching him and what he writes on the page. That the spirit between the land and us is like an electrical current. Being from the South, the terrain there is time, a vertical space; but in the west, it is space and horizontal. This is how the culture of story sculpts us, and how it speaks to the pliability of the of human nature. He sees in the post-agricultural landscape the confusion of anticipation with imagination, and the atrophy of that imagination from lack of stimulation. He sees the compression and slow-diminishness of landscape. The reference point for that electrical current between us and the land are still those wild places against these confused places.

Robert began with a childhood memory. He was raised in the theater, literally; he played backstage as his father performed in plays. When starring in a Lillian Hellman play, his father staggered up the stairs after being stabbed, and Robert, thinking it was real, cried out, "You killed my father!" He talked about writing a good play and the steps one needs to be aware of and to avoid. He says he constantly refers to Aristotle's Poetics as the best example of the arrangements and orchestrations of events. He also uses melodramas as a teaching tool because they are so transparent. His 7 play killers:
Obesity - too many words--remember, what you are writing must come out of an actor's mouth;
Motion Sickness - the play has no sense of direction -- so arrangement of the play is critical, but just as important as the content is the context.
Psychological Problems - characters know what they want, but audience doesn't; the characters need to act how they are feeling. Characters are characterization.
Musculosketetal Disease - if the spine is injured, messages aren't getting through.
Sedentary Lifestyle - things have to happen, has to be tension, has to set up in first act what will happen in second, etc.
Schizophrenia - doesn't know what the play wants to be or wants to be everything all at once.
Organ Transplant Rejection - take something from another work and put it into another work. Usually doesn't work there, either.
Along the way of describing these problems, Robert sprinkled in the dramatics of Shakespeare's Hamlet, as well as acting out snapshots of scenes.

Sasha's insightful lessons on poetry had me, at first, wondering why she stopped at the ends of poetry lines where there was no punctuation. She had a reason, and rightly so. I'd never thought of this in poetry, I had become proud of myself for reading the sentences of poetry, but the hidden meaning in lines, at least up until now, had eluded me. Take for instance the first four lines of  Shakespeare's Sonnet 116:

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.

Reading the first sentence, one meaning might be the recognition that marriage between like-minded people works best, that there are less obstacles to overcome. But reading just the second line as a somewhat stand-alone points to the vagaries of love, and how sometimes love seems like NOT love, that there will always be obstacles no matter what, that to be wise is to "admit impediments. Love is not love." I hadn't thought of lines in this way, and I'm not too sure I did a great job in explaining it here, but I told myself that I'd try to think about my reading-poetry repetoire a bit differently now.

Laura Pritchett emceed between presenters. Another great literary event here in Wyoming.

Hiking the nonfiction trail with Lee Gutkind, Part 2

This view of the Tetons is in the late afternoon,
after we'd hiked around the lake.

If you're interested, read part 1 here: http://wyomingarts.blogspot.com/2010/10/if-memory-serves-me-part-1.html

Back in Dubois, we checked into our motel and cleaned up, for dinner at the Rustic Pine Tavern.

We settled into a bottle of Kendall Jackson before our steak dinners arrived. Throughout the night, we told our non-fiction stories about compulsive strangers who just as compulsively disappeared, never to be found again, harmonic healing on a backyard deck and levitating at slumber parties, and deep subjects that broached believing in a spiritual power as opposed to we’re a product of evolution.

Having turned out the all the lights, and us not taking the hint, the bartender came to our table and said, “I hate to be rude, but I’d really like to close up so I can go home and go to bed.” We were the only three people left in the bar (we’d moved into the bar after dinner) except for her and her two friends; it was not quite the midnight hour. We quickly obliged, and made it down the street to another open, but mostly deserted, establishment. Just after we’d arrived, the previous bartender and her two friends showed up. Terry had decided we needed to play pool, and had racked the balls. Somehow, we formed teams. Team Lee and Linda only won because Team Terry scratched twice on the eight ball. I think the teams were organized because Terry was a pool shark, and this would be the only way we had any chance at being contenders.

The next morning was a late start, truth be told. Lee was incredibly chipper after his three cups of large coffee from Kathy’s, the best coffee he’d had so far in Wyoming, he said. Terry was working the crossword, and I was sipping my orange juice and taking tiny bites of my toast and dippy egg, what my daughter and now my grandchildren, call a sunny side up egg.

We loaded up and drove to Grand Teton National Park. Construction on Towgatee Pass looked as if it would take several years to complete, but has moved forward since I passed over it at the end of August. There has been a tremendous amount vegetation shear-off in the the making of steep slopes along parts of the road. We were all convinced that a few added passing lanes could have sufficed to mitigate the traffic problems there.

We drove to the trailhead of Two Ocean Lake, so named because the drainage that flows out of the northeast end of the lake ends up in the Gulf, and the drainage that flows out of the southwest end ends up in the Pacific. The rated easy trail, at one time in the not too distant past, used to circumvent the lake, but for some reason, has been closed off from meeting the west side trail at the south end. You can hike the 4.2 miles over to Jackson Lake Lodge from this point. The Two Ocean Lake trail is about 7.5 miles long.


Not the best view of Two Ocean Lake, but we were almost
at the south end of the lake. You can see the old growth
forest on the west side.

 Terry had hiked the trail numerous times, it’s her favorite, and we were able to make the loop, but for new hikers, this would be confusing and frustrating, as they would have to turn around and go back the same way they came, if they didn’t feel confident enough to look for either side of the trail, the west side being more difficult to find in the forest. She also knew that we should hike the eastern side first. That trail is less shaded and the sun beats down on you. On the western side, old growth forest mostly meets the shoreline and is a cool hike during a hot afternoon. The ground on that side was still damp. Terry and Lee had a discussion about why it was so hard for scientists to admit to the mystery of life. Said Lee, "But what is story without mystery?" Also, that he would now sometimes, when talking about story and mystery, be using the word mystery in place of the word story.

We returned to the Cowboy Café in Dubois and at 4:30 PM, were eating dinner. At 5:30, and were on the road back to Casper and had resumed the telling of our fictional story.

Claudia, now Claudia/Irene and Joe decided to go on a writing workshop in Yellowstone to spend some quality time together, but Joe was afraid to get his feet wet, and wouldn’t cross the river. Claudia/Irene came down with pneumonia, and found herself somewhat attracted to the very ruggedly handsome doctor who was treating her at the hospital. Joe had met Yvette Francois and they stayed out all night on a date. Meanwhile, the Sheriff decided to find Claudia/Irene and sent a telegram to his son, the doctor, asking if he’d seen them. The doc was called away to the emergency room, and threw the note down on the floor because he was not all that happy to hear from his father, because of the love he professed he had for Claudia in the note, seemingly not even thinking about or mentioning his former wife, the good doctor’s mother. Claudia/Irene however picked up the note and read it. She was entirely won over by the love that the Sheriff professed for her in the note and decided then and there to get back to him somehow. She began hitchhiking and low and behold, a carcass-removal Forest Service employee picked her up. She couldn’t stand the smell coming from the back of his carriage, as he had only picked up skunks that day. The horse spooked and the carriage fell over the side of a cliff, taking the employee, too. Claudia/Irene decided she would ride the horse back to where The Sheriff was.

From here the details become…sketchy. There is a need to hunt and kill the albino wolverine for food; Joe needs to make a blow gun for this purpose, which he learned to do from an elder in the rain forest, although he had to use poisonous mushroom paste instead of poison from an Amazon frog; an avalanche; a ride down the river on a log, onto which Joe jumps while holding the still live wolverine, no longer afraid of getting his feet wet after a long stint in counseling; suddenly the water disappears into a black hole and only the Sheriff is left balanced on the cliff of the falls; he will dedicate the rest of his life to studying this “mystery;” Claudia/Irene, Joe and Yvette Francois go to a restaurant and are served french fries…whoops not yet. A man at the restaurant usurps the french-fry-on-sandwiches idea, goes to Casper and opens his own restaurant, but when the owner of the original idea finds out, does away with him. Claudia/Irene sees a stranger in the back of the room, and they are instantly attracted to each other, but before he and Claudia/Irene can get together, he has to go swim forty laps, play two rounds of golf and run twenty miles; they open up their own restaurant back in Meeteetse, where Claudia/Irene, whose stage name is Mindy, sings. You may have guessed that there were “personal details” feeding this half of the story line. Credit Lee for that impetus.

Lee said, "There is no hope for bringing this story around, so I am just going to tell you the name of the restaurant." So, back in the 1950s, truckers delivered their wares to the warehouse district, called The Strip, in Pittsburgh. Produce deliveries never really started until around midnight and when the truck drivers finished unloading their trucks, these guys were hungry. Only one restaurant was willing to open—at 3 AM—for this special clientele. Primanti’s is their name, and putting french fries on every sandwich and, eventually, into chef’s salads, was, and is to this day, their game. After nearly seventy years, Primanti’s has several locations. Lee says you now see guys in tuxes and women in formals eating there. “And that is why you,” Lee concluded, “in Casper, Wyoming, have been served a chef salad with french fries in it.”

It was close to nine when we dropped Lee off at his hotel. He had a very early morning flight out. We hugged and told Lee to come back to Wyoming soon. There is always the promise of more stories to tell.

Linda Coatney

Have a good weekend!

Photo of the Week: Victoria Bennett Beyer

This photo is by Victoria Bennett Beyer of Wheatland is just one selection in her 2010 update to the Wyoming Arts Council Artist Image Registry. The AIR is open to visual artists living in Wyoming. For more info, contact Michael Shay at the WAC at 307-777-5234.

WYO Photo of the Week: Larry Friedman

Many of you remember Larry Friedman's Wyoming photos, notably the ones shot around the Flaming Gorge in Sweetwater County. He has an amazing ability to catch lightning in mid-strike during summer storms. Larry moved from Green River to the Chicago area last year but he hasn't lost his Wyoming touch. This recent one shows cattle grazing near Flaming Gorge. The man knows his bovines -- he's also a veterinarian. This photo is 20x30 inches.

Call for entries: Matter Journal's "Animal" issue

Matter Journal is looking for writing, photography, and artwork that speaks to the animal in all of us. We like well-written stuff best, especially if it comes with something interesting to say and strives for deeper meaning. Prose that howls us into seeing the world a new way. Poems that knock our zebra-striped socks off. Photographs, illustrations, and paintings to drool over.

See our submission guidelines on our web site and then send your best work to Matter, P.O. Box 814, Fort Collins, CO 80522, attn: Matter 14 Animal. It can take 3-6 months for us to respond, so please be patient.

Matter 14: Animal Fiction Prize

If you would like your short story to be considered for the Animal Fiction Prize, include something to that effect in your cover letter and on the envelope, a $5 reading fee, and an SASE or e-mail address for notification purposes. Award is $250, publication, and 2 complimentary copies of the issue in which your work appears. All contest submissions will be considered for publication as well.

Deadline for both submissions and contest: Wednesday, October 15, 2010, postmark date.

"Greater Yellowstone Sights & Sounds" on YouTube

From the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody:

An American avocet, a long-billed shore bird, prances in shallow water; a grizzly bear lumbers through a stand of fire-blackened trees; a golden eagle chick devours its meal of rabbit leg; mudpots bubble and boil in Yellowstone's Norris Geyser Basin. It's all part of the nature of life in the Yellowstone area-and captured on film by the Greater Yellowstone Sights and Sounds project (GYSS) of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center's Draper Museum of Natural History.

And now it's easily accessible to all through the video sharing phenomenon of YouTube. "We're pleased to announce our newly produced YouTube channel," says GYSS Manager Richard Chapman. "It features more than 20 new and exciting short video clips, with more to come-all in stunning high definition-that highlight a variety of sights and sounds from the Greater Yellowstone area."

The videos on YouTube, for public interest and educational use, are designed to get people-kids in particular-interested in natural history and science. This public component is one part of the larger GYSS Archive project, which collects sights (video and still photographs) and sounds (audio) of Yellowstone nature, including animal life, geology, vegetation, geography, and human commentary or interaction. The resulting archive, when completed, will be a searchable, scientific database that creates a unique and enduring record of life and human perceptions in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

The GYSS videos are on the Draper Museum of Natural History's own channel on YouTube, found at www.youtube.com/user/DraperNHMuseum or by searching for Draper Museum from any YouTube page. The videos are also linked to the Draper's content on the Buffalo Bill Historical Center's Web site, www.bbhc.org http://www.bbhc.org/

FMI: Visit the new www.bbhc.org or call 307.587.4771.

Photo Credit: The natural wonders and wildlife-like grizzly bears-of the Greater Yellowstone area star in Greater Yellowstone Sights and Sounds videos now available on YouTube. Photo by C.R. Preston.

Corridor Gallery features Michael Flicek's black-and-white nature photos Sept. 17-19

Reed Merschat at Casper's Corridor Gallery sends this news:

I'm happy to announce "Nature Studies - A Journey in Black & White" by Casper artist, Michael Flicek as an upcoming show at the Corridor Gallery in Casper. Michael is a internationally shown and award-winning photographer whose work has been featured in many galleries and shows across the world. "Nature Studies - A Journey in Black & White" is the debut show for Michael in Casper, exclusively at the Corridor Gallery. Michael's work will only be showing from Friday-Sunday, September 17-19! Please join us for the opening reception on Friday, September 17 at 7 p.m. Music will be provided by Equinox, a Casper Symphony trio and members of the Wyoming Arts Council artist roster. Michael Flicek will conduct an artist's talk on Saturday, September 18, 2 p.m.

For more information, download press release at http://www.thecorridorgallery.com/michaelflicek.pdf.

Mike and the staff at the Corridor Gallery are available for questions or more needed information. Please don't hesitate to contact any of us with questions. For more on Michael Flicek: http://www.michaelflicekgallery.com/