NASAA guidebook shows ways to engage adolescents in the arts

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

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

Cheyenne's Reproacher launches new CD July 15 at Ernie November

Help wanted: Lander Art Center

The Lander Art Center is looking for a part-time art teacher for Fall 2011 through Spring 2012 youth classes, 2 to 4 days/classes per week, times vary. Applicants must be motivated, flexible, and have a background or previous experience in the arts. Mail cover letter, resume, and 3 references to Lander Art Center 224 Main St. Lander, WY 82520 by July 10. Pay varies with experience.

Arts Alliance of Cheyenne announces winners of 2011 Emerging Young Artist Contest

Harley Yerdon won first place in the 11th-12 grade category for this rendering of a squid's anataomy

This comes from the Arts Alliance of Cheyenne:

Congratulations to the Winners of the 2011 Emerging Young Artist Art Contest!

All winning entries will be on display at the Laramie County Library in Cheyenne from May 11-31, 2011.

One hundred and thirty guests attended the joint Arts Alliance and ASK After-School-for Kid’s art contest reception for the winners of the 2011 Young Artists Art contest at the Laramie County Library.   It was standing room only.  Guests were treated to the toe-tapping music of East High’s Strolling Strings and the wonderful gourmet offerings prepared by Dr. Michelle Aldrich and her class of culinary arts students.   This truly was a celebration of the arts!   Thirty-five winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd place and Honorable Mention) received an award check or gift certificate.

This year’s contest was about using Art to illustrate  a science concept.  Entries ranged from a 3-D illustration of the anatomy of an offshore squid to a depiction of a city of the future.  To emulate Leonardo Da Vinci, the Alliance asked students to put their thoughts and explorations about science down on paper for others to see.

Read the lists of winners at http://artsalliancecheyenne.com/uncategorized/art-contest-for-young-artists-in-laramie-county-winning-entries-listed/

Japan-America Society of Wyoming sponsors Children's Day Celebration April 30 in Laramie

The Japan-America Society of Wyoming announces its fourth annual Children’s Day Celebration on Saturday, April 30, 2-3:30 p.m. at the Albany County Public Library, 310 S. Eighth St., Laramie. Free admission.

Featuring Japanese folk tales, Japanese songs, Origami (paper folding of a Kabuto (helmet), Shodo (Japanese calligraphy), and tasting Japanese foods (cookies and nori, etc).

For more information click here or call 307-721-2580.

NEA Report: Declines in childhood arts education will have impact on the future of arts participation

The following conclusions were in National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Research Report #52, "Arts Education in America: What the Declines Mean for Arts Participation," by Nick Rabkin and E.C. Hedberg, NORC at the University of Chicago. For full report, go to http://www.arts.gov/research/2008-SPPA-ArtsLearning.pdf:

Long-term declines in childhood arts education have serious implications for the future of arts participation in America. 

•  The relationship between arts education and adults’ rates of arts participation has been consistently strong throughout the survey’s history.

•  By 2008, only half of all 18-yearolds (49.5 percent, or 2.6 million) had received any arts education in childhood—a decline of 23 percent since 1982.

•  According to long-term patterns of respondent recall, a “turning point” in national access to arts education likely occurred in the mid-1970s and early 1980s.  It seems reasonable to infer that the national declines in arts education rates, reported from 1982 to 2008, resulted partly from cuts in school based arts instruction.

•  From 1982 to 2008, Hispanics and African Americans accounted for a highly disproportionate share of all adults who reported not having received arts education in childhood.

Here’s an April 9, 2010, quote from Arne Duncan, U.S. Department of Education Secretary:

“In America, we do not reserve arts education for privileged students or the elite. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds, students who are English language learners, and students with disabilities often do not get the enrichment experiences of affluent students anywhere except at school. President Obama recalls that when he was a child ‘you always had an art teacher and a music teacher. Even in the poorest school districts everyone had access to music and other arts.’ Today, sadly, that is no longer the case.”

Jackson Hole Rock & Roll Camp

This unique multi-day clinic allows students to develop their individual skills in the context of a real rock band, rehearsing and performing with other student musicians and faculty professionals. Rock & Roll Camp is full of intense instruction, practical playing experience, and loads of fun!

Musicians in this camp include drummers, bassists, guitar players, vocalists, horn players, and others. Potential students must be at least going into the 6th grade in the fall of 2011, and they must have been studying their instrument for a minimum of one year.

HTTP://WWW.JHME.ORG/INDEX.CFM?ID=ROCK_CAMP

Casper College music students perform in a percussion recital April 9

The Casper College Music Department will present two Casper students in a percussion recital on Saturday, April 9 at 7:30 p.m. in Durham Recital Hall located in the Aley Fine Arts Center.

"David Bower and Delane Doyle will perform a wide variety of music from 'Log Cabin Blues,' a ragtime xylophone piece, to 'Wenda Kanawa,' a work derived from the gyil, an African marimba," said Terry Gunderson, Casper College percussion instructor.

The two will also perform a percussion duo; 'Boom' composed by Casper College graduate Brett Reed, who received his doctorate of musical arts degree from the University of California, San Diego.

"Both of these students continue the trend of outstanding and entertaining spring percussion recitals," noted Gunderson.

The concert is free and open to the public.

Call for entries: VSA & VW exhibition program

VSA & VOLKSWAGEN: EXHIBITION PROGRAM
http://vsarts.org/x5796.xml
Deadline: June 10, 2011. VSA, a program of the Kennedy Center, and Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., seek submissions from emerging artists with disabilities ages 16–25 for Momentum, a national juried art exhibition on display at the Smithsonian Institution during fall 2011. Fifteen finalists will be selected and will share $60,000 in cash awards.

Attention aging young writers: Copies available of 1985 Sunlight Basin Writer's Camp anthology

Wyomingarts was doing some spring cleaning and discovered 25 copies of the 1985 Sunlight Basin Writer's Camp anthology. This summer camp for high school writers was the genesis for the Young Writers Camp held at the Ucross Foundation and later at the Thorne-Rider Youth Camp near Story.

Casper's Tom Rea, then the lit guy for the Wyoming Council on the Arts (now Wyoming Arts Council), was director of the 1985 camp. He put together the anthology and wrote the introduction, Faculty members were poet and writer Tom, the late Charles Levendosky, award-winning newspaper columnist and the second Wyoming Poet Laureate; author and essayist Teresa Jordan; Nebula Award-winning sci-fi writer Ed Bryant, Wheatland native and Denver resident; and California writer Steve Thorpe.

Some 43 Wyoming high school students attended the camp held at the Northwest Community College Field Camp in the Beartooth Mountains. Many of them have selections in the anthology.

Are any of you Wyomingarts readers interested in a copy (or copies) of the anthology? We're holding some in our archives but don't need this many. I'll send one or several to you if you like. The WAC will even pay the postage.

Just send us an e-mail at mshay@state.wy.us or lcoatn@state.wy.us or comment on this post.

Photographer and author Peggy Kelsey reports on the "Afghan Women's Project"

Gulalai, from the "Afghan Women's Project" 

From a Casper College press release:

Photographer and author Peggy Kesley will be at Casper College on Monday, March 28 to speak on the women of Afghanistan.

"Afghan Women's Project: Ten Years Later, the Follow Up" will feature a presentation by Kelsey as well as her photography of the Afghan women she interviewed.

"This is a perspective that seldom makes western mainstream news. Many important issues surrounding (Afghanistan) have been conflated to a simplistic view of their problems and therefore to simplistic solutions based on a western perspective. I believe that a more nuanced view of Afghanistan is transferable to other issues in other places. I believe that getting to know real people (by meeting them in person or vicariously) in one 'foreign' country conveys a broader understanding of people everywhere and the issues they face. I believe that awareness of and interest in people 'different from us' leads us to see our common humanity and enriches our lives," said Kelsey.

"If I have any agenda or message it is this: The situation for Afghans and specifically Afghan women may deteriorate during the coming years. But we, like the Afghans already do, must take a long-term view. What can be done now to secure the futures of the next generation for their children? There is one answer that doesn't depend on international politics and that is education, specifically rural education.

Kelsey will give three presentations on March 28: one at 10 a.m., one at 1 p.m. and one at 7 p.m., all in the Strausner Student Center, Room 217. The 7 p.m. presentation will be followed by a reception in Kelsey's honor. All presentations are free and open to the public.

The Afghan Women's Project: Ten Years Later, the Follow Up" photography exhibit and presentation are sponsored by Casper College, the Casper College Gender Studies Department, the Casper College Addictionology Department, the University of Wyoming Outreach School,and the Wyoming Humanities Council.

Southern Poverty Law Center's Heidi Beirich addresses "Fighting Hate in America" April 2

From Lisa Icenogle, Casper College PIO:

The Southern Poverty Law Center's Heidi Beirich will present "Fighting Hate in America" on Saturday, April 2, at 7 p.m. in Durham Recital Hall in the Aley Fine Arts Center at Casper College.

Beirich, an expert on academic racism, nativist extremism, and the white supremacist fringe of the neo-Confederate movement, is the director of research in the center's hate and extremism department.

According to information provided by the SPLC, the center monitors hate groups and other extremists throughout the United States and exposes their activities to law enforcement agencies, the media and the public. The center is credited with crippling some of the nation's most notorious hate groups by suing them for murders and other violent acts committed by their members. Currently, as of this writing, there are 1,002 known hate groups operating across the country.

"After a brief decline in the mid 1990s hate groups have exploded, more than tripling in number since the mid 90s. In particular, the number of hate and extremist websites has grown. The SPLC is a highly regarded resource for government agencies as well as academics that study and seek to counter such groups, said Erich Frankland, Casper College political science instructor. "This presentation hopefully will draw students, members of the community, and others to learn more about this pressing issue," he added.

"I was moved to help bring in someone of Beirich's qualifications to speak to the community about hate crimes following the shootings in Tucson this past January. I believe that we need to work toward ending hate in this country," said Mariko Miller, Democratic Women's Forum representative.

A reception will follow Beirich's presentation, which is sponsored by the Democratic Women's Forum, the Casper College Political Science Department, and the Casper College Campus Security Office.

Both the presentation and reception are free and open to all.

FMI: Erich Frankland: 307-268-2490 and Mariko (Mako) Miller: 234-2317.

See the SPLC's "Hate Map" of the U.S. at http://splcenter.org/get-informed/hate-map

Wyoming Poetry Out Loud awards presentation set for 10:30 a.m. in the Capitol Rotunda

Trek on down to the Wyoming State Capitol Rotunda for the Wyoming Poetry Out Loud awards announcement at 10:30 a.m. today. State Parks and Cultural Resources Director (and musician and theatre guy) Milward Simpson will serve as emcee and Secretary of State Max Maxfield (he'll be seen as The Cat in the Hat this week reading to students at various schools) will hand out the awards. Come down to the Capitol and celebrate the arts in Wyoming.

For those who attended the state finals last night at the Historic Atlas Theatre, you know what a great batch of  competitors Wyoming had this year. The program keeps growing. If you're a teacher or a student, grades 9-12, give the Wyoming Arts Council a call at 307-777-7742 for more info. You may also e-mail Linda Coatney at lcoatn@state.wy.us.

See you at the Capitol...

Spread the word about the Arts Alliance of Cheyenne

From the Arts Alliance of Cheyenne:

Can you help the Arts Alliance publicize your events?

Please post the above Logo and weblink on your websites. Posting it somewhere on your home page would be ideal.

By posting the Arts Alliance logo and website on your website, you help promote the Calendar and increase its use.

The more people find their way to the calendar the more the Arts Alliance can publicize your events with

* Calendar Postings
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Blog

One organization that has over 6,000 followers is re-Tweeting our postings for us!!!

By Creating a Network of Participating Arts Organizations Everyone Benefits.

We create an Arts “brand” that is easy to recognize, and natural to click on! This is Facebook and Twitter logic.

FMI: artsforall1@yahoo.com

Call for student artists: AVA Center Art Attack Youth Show in Gillette

Circus Circus by Will Lopez
2010 Best of Show

A reminder that entries for AVA Center's annual ART ATTACK YOUTH Show are due February 28.

This is a chance for our locally talented youth to show off their work in a gallery setting.
Open to Students from pre-school age to College age.

April 4-29

Reception is April 15, 6-8:30 p.m.


FMI: 307-682-9133 

"Kiss Me Kate!" Feb. 24-26 at Casper Kelly Walsh

The Kelly Walsh High School Fine Arts Department will present the classic Broadway musical "Kiss Me Kate!" on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 24-26. Curtain time is 7:30 p.m. each night. There also will be a 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday. All seats are $6.

Opening reception for Boys & Girls Clubs Regional Art Exhibit is Feb. 25 in Rawlins

Call for entries: Teen videos for ALA's "Why I Need My Library!"

From the American Library Association:

Attention teens! You can help win up to $3,000 for your library. Here’s how:

Make a video for "Why I Need My Library!"

Gather your friends and put together an original 1-3 minute video about why you need your library. Up to six people can work together to submit a video.
Pick your technique: Entries can be live-action, animation, machinima, or a combination of these. Check out this list of tips and resources on making a video.
Read through the judging criteria to see how entries will be judged.
Upload your video to YouTube

Upload the video to YouTube between January 11, 2011 and midnight April 18, 2011.
Be sure to tag your video with alaneedmylibrary15 if your designated videographer is between the ages of 13-15 or alaneedmylibrary18 if your designated videographer is between the ages of 16-18.
Mail in your entry form

One more thing: Don’t forget to mail in an entry form. Videos are submitted online, but an entry form needs to be received in the mail by April 18 in order for a submission to be eligible.
Read the complete guidelines for more information.
Prizes

From each age category (13-15 and 16-18):

Three 3rd place winners will receive $1,000 each for their selected libraries.
Two second place winners will receive $2,000 each for their selected libraries.
One winner or group of winners will receive $3,000 for their selected library, plus $50 gift cards to an online bookseller for each individual member of the winning group (limit of 6 participants per group)
The Why I Need My Library Video Contest is an initiative of 2010-2011 ALA President Roberta Stevens to engage teenagers as library advocates.

For more information, contact whyIneedmylibrary@ala.org.

Explore Dreamtime and Aboriginal art with Paul Taylor and Yidumduma Bill Harney

Yidumduma Bill Harney

At the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson:

First Sundays Celebration: Explore Dreamtime, Aboriginal Designs, with Paul Taylor and Yidumduma Bill Harney
Sunday, February 6
11:00AM – 5:00PM Free for area locals!
1:00 – 2:00PM Art Project: Australian Aboriginal Designs
Chrystie and Esperti classrooms
This month, children are invited to color lizards, birds, and snakes in the style of Australian aboriginal art. The aboriginal people of Australia have expressed themselves through a form of geometric painting for thousands of years. These paintings tell the stories of dreamtime, myths of spirituality, community, and survival. Contact Jane Lavino or call (307) 732-5417 for details.

Paul Taylor and student

Community Performance Series: Paul Taylor and Yidumduma Bill Harney
Sunday, February 6
2:00 – 3:00PM
Cook Auditorium
Free for area locals!
Yidumduma Bill Harney is one of the last living Elders to grow up in the full ceremonial tradition of his people in Northern Australia. Harney teams up with Australian storyteller, musician, and honorary tribal member Paul “Walking Stick" Taylor, a member of the Wyoming Arts Council artist roster, for a performance of storytelling, native percussion, songs, and haunting didgeridoo music. They will share the essence of their homeland as they explore seasonal change and rhythms in honor of our Change of Seasons exhibition. Contact Jane Lavino or call (307) 732-5417 for details.

44th annual Kinser Jazz Festival Feb. 8-9 at Casper College

The 44th Annual Kinser Jazz Festival at Casper College will host more than 60 middle and high school vocal and instrumental groups during the two-day festival Feb. 8 and 9.

Each group will have 30 minutes to set up, perform and tear down. Each 30-minute performance will include a brief clinic with an adjudicator. Following the public performance each group will receive written comments, rating scores (if required), and a digital video recording of its performance and a 30-minute private clinic with an adjudicator.

There are six adjudicators for this year’s festival – three vocal and three instrumental. The vocal adjudicators are Ayo Awosika, Robert Lawrence, and Kelsey Shiba. The instrumental adjudicators are John Davis, Tyler Gilmore, and Andrew Stonerock.

Instrumental groups scheduled to perform on Tuesday, Feb. 8 are:

o Jazz Ensemble, Campbell County High School, 7:30 a.m.
o GMS Jazz Band, Glenrock Middle School, 8 a.m.
o Jazz II, Green River High School, 8:30 a.m.
o Jazz Ensemble, Kelly Walsh High School, 9 a.m.
o Jazz Band II, Cheyenne East High School, 9:30 a.m.
o CY Jazz Band, CY Middle School, 10 a.m.
o Latin Jazz Ensemble, Riverton High School, 10:30 a.m.
o CHS Jazz Band, Cody High School, 11 a.m.
o Casper College Jazz Ensemble, 11:30 a.m.
o GHS Jazz Band, Glenrock High School, noon
o Jazz Band I, Cheyenne East High School, 12:30 p.m.
o Concert Orchestra, Johnson County High School, 1 p.m.
o Riverton Jazz Ensemble, Riverton High School, 1:30 p.m.
o Jazz I, Green River High School, 2 p.m.
o South High Orchestra, Cheyenne South High School, 2:30 p.m.

Vocal groups scheduled to perform on Tuesday, Feb. 8 are:

o Crescendos, Campbell County High School, 8 a.m.
o Happenstance, Douglas High School, 8:30 a.m.
o Harmony, Campbell County High School, 9:30 a.m.
o Hamilton Boulevard, Douglas High School, 10 a.m.
o East High Singers, Cheyenne East High School, 10:30 a.m.
o A Capella, Kelly Walsh High School, 11 a.m.
o Jazz Choir, Riverton High School, 11:30 a.m.
o Vocalocity, Billings, Mont. Catholic High School, 12:30 p.m.
o Casper College Contemporary Singers, 1 p.m.
o Concert Choir, Kelly Walsh High School, 1:30 p.m.
o Plainsman Singers, Laramie High School, 2 p.m.
o New Attitude, Glenrock High School, 2:30 p.m.

Instrumental groups scheduled to perform on Wednesday, Feb. 9 are:

o Jazz Ensemble, Riverton Middle School, 8 a.m.
o Jazz Band, Cheyenne South High School, 8:30 a.m.
o Jazz Ensemble, Natrona County High School, 9 a.m.
o Comet Combo, Dean Morgan Middle School, 9:30 a.m.
o Jazz Band, Wheatland High School, 10 a.m.
o Indian Jazz, Cheyenne Central High School, 10:30 a.m.
o Warrior Jazz, Twin Spruce Junior High School, 11 a.m.
o Casper College Jazz Ensemble, 11:30 a.m.
o University of Wyoming Lab School Jazz Band, noon
o Sage Valley Jazz, Sage Valley High School, 12:30 p.m.
o Pinedale Jazz Band I, Pinedale High School, 1 p.m.
o Jazz Combo, Natrona County High School, 1:30 p.m.
o CCHS Jazz Combo, Cheyenne Central High School, 2 p.m.
o Jazz Band, Big Horn High School, 2:30 p.m.
o Jazz Ensemble, Niobrara County High School, 3 p.m.
o Tiger Jazz Orchestra, Rock Springs High School, 3:30 p.m.
o Jazz Katz, Douglas Middle School, 4 p.m.
o Jazz Ensemble, Buffalo High School, 4:30 p.m.
o Jazz Band, Sheridan High School, 5 p.m.

Vocal groups scheduled to perform on Wednesday, Feb. 9 are:

o Encore, Kelly Walsh High School, 8 a.m.
o Balladiers, Buffalo High School, 8:30 a.m.
o 7th St. Swing, Twin Spruce Junior High School, 9 a.m.
o Mixed Jazz Choir, Rock Springs High School, 9:30 a.m.
o Jazz Choir, Pinedale High School, 10 a.m.
o NC Harmony, Natrona County High School, 11 a.m.
o Cantabile, Kelly Walsh High School, 11:30 a.m.
o Jazzco, Rawlins High School, noon
o Show Choir, Casper Classical Academy, 12:30 p.m.
o Casper College Contemporary Singers, 1 p.m.
o Vocal Jazz, McCormick Junior High School, 1:30 p.m.
o Select Choir, Twin Spruce Junior High School, 2 p.m.
o Entertainers, Wheatland High School, 2:30 p.m.
o Vocal Jazz Ensemble, Natrona County High School, 3 p.m.
o Erocne, Powell High School, 3:30 p.m.
o Centralaires, Cheyenne Central High School, 4 p.m.

The vocal groups will perform in the Roberts Commons Ballroom, located in the Roberts Commons Cafeteria, while the instrumental groups will perform in Durham Recital Hall, located in the Aley Fine Arts Center. All junior, middle and high school performances are free and open to the public