Red Desert Rendezvous and Art Show June 17-19

Photo by Ken Driese

From the Wyoming Association of Churches:

We welcome your participation at the Red Desert Rendezvous and Art Show scheduled in and around Rock Springs for June 17-19.

The Rendezvous will offer people an opportunity to come and experience the Red Desert first hand with tours and an evening educational session on June 18. The goal of our collective effort for Red Desert Week and the Red Desert Rendezvous is to focus attention on this spectacular and mostly unknown piece of Wyoming's landscape and to do what we can to protect this important part of our heritage. Many in our coalition of Red Desert supporters would love to see the best parts of these lands designated a National Conservation Area while others would be content to see responsible federal and state agencies work to protect its unique features.

For a guided tour, you must sign up in advance.  There are four tour options. The tours are limited to 20 each per BLM requirements.  Registration will be on a first come, first serve basis.  Travel costs for gas will be shared.  You will be contacted to confirm your reservation and for specific directions. 

For the dinner, we also need advance registration and payment by June 13th. The Red Desert Rendezvous dinner is on Saturday, June 18, 5:30 pm at the Young at Heart Senior Center, 2400 Reagan Avenue, Rock Springs.  The dinner is $16 per person payable to the Wyoming Association of Churches on line at the link below or by check sent to:
Warren Murphy
50 Diamond View Drive
Cody, WY 82414

All other events are free – Also at the Young at Heart Senior Center, Saturday, June 18
Reception with an art show, 3 – 5:30 pm
Key note speaker and panel, 7 pm

Ecumenical Service for the Earth on Sunday, June 19 at 1 pm, at an outdoor site yet to be selected.  Plan to be there by 12:30 and bring a picnic lunch!

Overnight camping is allowed in the Red Desert.

A small block of rooms for June 17 and 18 are being held until June 15 at the new Comfort Inn & Suites in Rock Springs at 2622 Commercial Way. Call 307-362-9100 and ask for the BOCES block.  The cost is $99/night and includes breakfast.

Click here to Register

Message of "love, kindness and peace" behind Cheyenne downtown mural project

Artist's depiction of proposed downtown Cheyenne mural

Reporter Becky Orr wrote about "Downtown getting giant cherub mural" in this morning's Wyoming Tribune-Eagle:

The building at the southwest corner of 17th Street and Warren Avenue is a tidy brick structure with white shutters near the windows.

Owner Ed Murray wants to expand its purpose. He said he wants to provide an artistically beautiful mural on its south wall for people to enjoy.

The mural will depict a cherub created by 16th-century Renaissance artist Raphael. Murray, a business and property owners in Cheyenne, said he wants the art to help revitalize downtown and become a catalyst for more such works. 

Gillette artist Harvey Jackson will paint the mural on the south wall. It will be about 47 feet tall and 60 feet wide. “It’s nice to convey a message of love and peace and understanding,” Jackson said, especially given the turmoil in the world. 

Currently, a painting of a green martini glass covers part of the south wall’s red surface. The glass is part of the state’s message against underage drinking. 

Murray considered a western theme for the new mural, but nothing “embraced or beckoned” him, he said. 

During their deliberations, Jackson asked Murray what was in his heart that he wanted to project, Murray said. Murray started soul-searching and concluded that he wanted to project a message of love, kindness and peace. An angel is the best way to accomplish that, he said. 

Murray looked at dozens of angel images before he selected the cherub. The image is a departure from a typical western theme. Even so, cherubs have a western connection with their presence in paintings in many Old West saloons, Murray said. 

Jackson expects to start painting in late summer or early fall. It should take 30 to 60 days to complete.

Read the complete article here.

Matteo Pistono, author of "In the Shadow of the Buddha," returns to Wyoming April 5-8

Author Matteo Pistono was one of the speakers at the Casper College Humanities Festival in February. He’s returning to the state in April for presentations in Casper and Laramie. Here are the details:

Tuesday, April 5, 6 p.m., Casper

Casper College, Leik Auditorium, Physical Sciences 103

“Tibetan Pilgrimage: In the Shadow of the Buddha”

Slide show and Book Talk by Matteo Pistono

Thursday, April  7, 3:10 p.m., Laramie

International Studies Program, University of Wyoming

“China, Tibet, and the Human Rights Debate: Why Can¹t the Dalai Lama and China Find Common Ground?”

Lecture by Matteo Pistono followed by response by Jean Garrison, Tom Seitz and Michael Brose

Friday, April 8, 7-8 p.m., Laramie

Second Story Books, 105 East Ivinson

“Tibetan Pilgrimage: In the Shadow of the Buddha”

Slide show and Book Talk

Watch the video trailer for “In the Shadow of the Buddha: Secret Journeys, Sacred Histories, and Spiritual Discovery in Tibet” at http://www.matteopistono.com/disc.htm

Call for entries: TIFERET Writing Contest

Casper College hosts 26th annual Humanities Festival and Demorest Lecture

Broughton Coburn

The 26th Annual Humanities Festival and Demorest Lecture at Casper College focuses on the motivations and traditions of pilgrimage.

This event will delve into humanity’s urge to travel, in both sacred and secular voyages, across civilizations.

Humanities Festival and Demorest Lecture Agenda
February 23 - 25, 2011
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday lectures are free and open to all. *

Wednesday, February 23
Wednesday presentations will be at the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center
6:00 p.m. William Rossiter, Stories, Songs and Sodbusters:
The Little Old Shanty on the Plain
7:00 p.m. Reed Miller, Trails Through Wyoming: The Pilgrimage West

Thursday, February 24
Thursday and Friday presentations will be at the Casper College Krampert Theatre
8:15 a.m. Rainer Schwarzkopf, music performed between each session
8:45 a.m. Walter Nolte, Ph.D., Casper College President, welcome and introduction
9:00 a.m. William Conte, Ph.D., The Performative Nature of Pilgrimage: Egeria

Nina McConigley

10:00 a.m. Frederick Denny, Ph.D., Pilgrimage in World Religions
11:00 a.m. Tom Empey, Chaucer and the Canterbury Tales
2:00 p.m. Elizabeth Moore Hunt, Ph.D., Rocks of Faith: The Appearance of Islamic
Rock Crystals in Medieval European Reliquaries
3:00 p.m. Bruce Richardson, Ph.D., Yellowstone and the American Pilgrimage
into the Wilderness
4:00 p.m. George Vlastos, The Pilgrimage vs. The Pilgrim
7:00 p.m. Broughton Coburn, Author, Keynote Demorest Lecturer,
Aama’s Journey: A Pilgrimage Between Continents and Cultures

Friday, February 25
9:00 a.m. Georgia Wheatley, Women’s Travel as Pilgrimage
10:00 a.m. Victor Scherb, Ph.D., Pilgrimage in English Medieval Drama
11:00 a.m. Nina McConigley, Cowboys and East Indians
2:00 p.m. Matteo Pistono, In the Shadow of the Buddha: Secret Journeys,

George Vlastos

Sacred Histories, and Spiritual Discovery in Tibet
3:00 p.m. Bruce Richardson, Ph.D., Moderator, Panel Session Discussion
7:30 p.m. Casper College Theater Production, Twelfth Night
Krampert Theatre, McMurry Mainstage
* Purchased tickets are needed for the Twelfth Night theatre production.

Margaret Coel presents "Arapahos, the Spirituality of a Plains Indian Tribe"

Colorado author Margaret Coel will be conducting a program entitled "Arapahos, the Spirituality of a Plains Indian Tribe," July 11-17, at Ring Lake Ranch near Dubois. Get registration information at http://www.ringlake.org/. Margaret's best-selling mysteries are set in Wyoming's Wind River Reservation. Her most recent novel, The Silent Spirit, will be published in September.

Schedule announced for Cheyenne UU Church "Spring into the Arts" Festival

Cheyenne artist Terry Kreuzer sent this info:

Spring into the Arts Festival Events Schedule
Unitarian Universalist Church of Cheyenne

April 30, Fri., 4:30-6:30 pm, Art exhibits reception for artists Jon & Ginnie Madsen, Laramie painters in the lobby; Cindy Paul, Cheyenne quilter/fiber artist, Sanctuary. Free & open to the public.

May 1, Sat., 7 pm, Abe Minzer, pianist from Colorado, Spring Chopin Concert for 200th birthday. Donations at the door.

May 1, Sat., 9am – 4pm, through May 2, 10 am–1 pm, Social Hall/Gym, Arts & Craft Show & Sale of handmade arts & crafts. Free & open to the public.

May 7, Fri., Emma’s Revolution. We are privileged to host this amazing musical duo. Tickets: $12. Adults $12, $15 at the door.

May 8, Sat., 6 pm, Potluck & 7 pm Dances of Universal Peace & Potluck, Social Hall/gym. Join internationally renowned dance leader Grace Marie, accompanied by live music, in prayerful movement from faith traditions around the world. This is an interfaith celebration so bring your friends. Donation of $5–$8.

May 23, Sunday, 3 pm, Fireants Master workshop. Co-hosted with Cheyenne Guitar Society. Free & open to the public.

May 23, Sunday, 7 pm Concert with Fireants, Co-hosted with Cheyenne Guitar Society.
Performance by Wyoming Arts Council artists' roster group, playing music from dance traditions of the America including,Cajun, Creole, Louisiana waltz, conjunto polkas,
a bolero, huapango, cumbia from Mexico & Colombia, swing tunes, and calypso. Tickets: $12 adults, $8 for students & seniors.

June 1, Tues., Evening of Gratitude and Celebration of Life Music from around the world. Anton Mizerak-synthesizers, harmonica, tablas, vocals; Kim Lorene- vocals, guitar, percussion. Donations will be taken at the concert.

Peter Anderson talks about "personal maps & topographies" March 5 at WWCC

From a press release:

What makes a place important to you? Stories? Knowledge? Family? Adventure? A sense of home? If you were to map out the most important places in your life, what would you include?

When Colorado writer Peter Anderson asked these questions of himself, he was led to write about mountains. His essays and poems are invitations to consider our own personal maps and topographies and how they affect our lives.

Anderson will read from his work on Friday, March 5 at Western Wyoming Community College in Rock Springs. The event will take place in Room 1302 at 7:00 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

Peter Anderson is author of First Church of the Higher Elevations: Mountains, Prayer, and Presence. An editor, journalist, children’s book writer, and teacher at Adams State College, he lives with his wife and two daughters on the western slope of the Sangre de Cristo Range in Colorado’s San Luis Valley.

The event is made possible by the support of the Arlene and Louise Wesswick Foundation. Following the reading, a reception will be held in honor of Louise Wesswick, a recipient of the 2009 Wyoming Governor’s Arts Award.

Anderson’s reading is the third in Western Wyoming Community College’s spring reading series, which will conclude on March 26 with fiction writer Vicki Lindner, formerly of Laramie and now from Denver.

These writers will also be offering workshops prior to their reading, in which they facilitate writing exercises, share writing experiences and tips, and answers student-generated questions.

Anderson’s workshop is scheduled from 2-5 p.m. on Friday, March 5 in Room 1408. For more information, contact WWCC Associate Professor of English Rick Kempa at rkempa@wwcc.wy.edu or 307-382-1731.

Lyn Dalebout has new web site & new book

Writer Lyn Dalebout of Moose has a new web site at http://www.earthwordskyword.com/.

She also has a new books coming out soon. It's "Earth is the Book" from Blue Bison Press. Here's an excerpt from the book's lead poem:

Here is the spine:
a fractal ridge, sturdy binding

Here is the page:
trumpeter swan, vellum feathers

Here is the print:
tracks each morning, visitors at night

Here is the text:
snowed in poems, released in spring

Crawford presents "Shop Class as Soulcraft"

Join motorcycle mechanic, author and philosopher Matthew Crawford as he talks about and reads from his book "Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work" (The Penguin Press, 2009) on Thursday, Jan. 14, 7-8 p.m., at the Teton County Public Library in Jackson.

Crawford presents a fascinating analysis of what we've lost by ceasing to work with our hands -- and how we can get it back. He muses on how to live a pragmatic, concrete life in today's ever more abstract world and issues a call for reviving trade and development classes in American schools. Cost: Free. Location: Ordway Auditorium.

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