Help wanted: Sundance Film Festival

The Sundance Film Festival is looking for people to take tickets and check credentials and several other tasks at the event in nearby Park City, Utah, from Jan. 20-30. Get more info at http://webapp.sundance.org/jobs/index.asp. Film festival updates now on Facebook.  

Award-winning poetry inspired by stint in Wyoming

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

Morning News in the Big Horn Mountains

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

Buy the book and read the rest.

(Info gleaned from New West Online)

Call for entries: International Forest Film Festival

For more information on this press release, contact: Lisa Samford, Executive Director, Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival, (307) 733-7016, lisa@jhfestival.org or Sylvia Chen, United Nations Forum on Forests Secretariat. chen14@un.org

Jackson Hole, WY – An International Forest Film Festival competition to mark the International Year of Forests, 2011 has named Vance Martin, Jan McAlpine, and Cristina Mittermeier as the judges who will select winning films from 18 finalists in six categories.

The International Forest Film Festival competition, launched by the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival and the United Nations Forum on Forests Secretariat, will announce the finalists in December 2010, and the winners will be honoured at the global launch of Forests 2011 at UN Headquarters in New York in February 2011.

“The International Forest Film Festival offers a unique opportunity to bring the issues and objectives of Forests 2011 to a global audience,” said Ms. McAlpine, director of the United Nations Forum on Forests Secretariat. “The power of cinematic art is universal. It connects with people all over the world on a personal level. The International Forest Film Festival will spread the message of Forests 2011 in that same powerful manner.”

Winning films will first be showcased at the global launch of Forests 2011 in New York, and will then be screened at other festivals and events around the world throughout the year. The film festival is part of a global effort to raise awareness on the importance of forests, their relationship with people and the sustainable management, conservation and development of all types of forests.

While the overall theme for the film submissions is “Forests for People,” specific film categories will explore the multitude of ways that people interact and benefit from forests. From the social, cultural, economic or spiritual aspects of the “360 Degrees on All Things Forest” category to highlighting uniquely dedicated individuals in the “forest heroes” category, the competition seeks to take an all-encompassing approach to forest issues. A full description of guidelines and categories is available at www.forestfilmfestival.org. Films made since 2000 are eligible for entry, and submissions will be accepted until November 30th 2010, through www.WithoutABox.com.

Vance Martin has been president of The WILD Foundation since 1983. An innovative leader known for bridging the interests of people and nature, he has lived extensively overseas, worked in over 45 countries, and helped to establish many non-profits. An avid supporter of the role of culture, media and the arts in helping solve environmental issues, he has also written and/or edited 10 books and many articles. Vance has also served on the boards of numerous organizations such as the Cheetah Conservation Fund, Friends of Peace Parks, Conservation & Preservation Charities of America, Fulcrum Publishing, Wilderness Foundation (South Africa), Wilderness Foundation (UK), International Conservation Caucus Foundation, and others.

Jan McAlpine is the Director of the United Nations Forum on Forests Secretariat, having held that position since November 2008. She has a long experience in international forest policy, initiatives and negotiations and has been part of the UNFF and its predecessors for 15 years. Over the years she helped shape important actions, decisions and resolutions, notably as a negotiator on issues relating to international forest and timber trade at the White House, and as the Senior Advisor and lead for Forests in the U.S. Department of State in Washington, DC.

Cristina Mittermeier is the President and Founder of the International League of Conservation Photographers, whose work with leading scientists, policy makers, government leaders and conservation groups produces the highest-quality documentary images of both the beauty and wonder of the natural world and the challenges facing it. As a photographer and writer, Cristina has co-edited nine books. From the popular to the scientific, Cristina’s work has appeared in major magazines around the world. Her evocative images focus on demonstrating the important relationship between human cultures, especially indigenous people and biodiversity.

Troxel & Krieger on stage Nov. 13 at Basin City Arts Center

Wyoming Arts Council roster artist Jeff Troxel and Trevor Krieger, dynamic guitar & fiddler duo, will perform at the Basin City Arts Center in Basin on Saturday, Nov. 13, 7 p.m. Guitarist Jeff Troxel and fiddler Trevor Krieger bring a concert of traditional and contemporary fiddle and folk music along with their original songs to the Basin City Arts Center. Both of these award-winning musicians began playing at an early age and both have racked up significant musical accomplishments.

Find out more about Jeff and his music at http://www.sonicbids.com/epk/epk.aspx?epk_id=151907

"Hold Me" at Clay Paper Scissors for next Arts Design and Dine event Nov. 11 in Cheyenne

Clay Paper Scissors in downtown Cheyenne presents "Hold Me," a show by Meghan Cochrane, for November's Art, Design and Dine. The opening is on November 11 from 5-8 pm. Meghan's work consists of hand-embroidered baby dolls and scrap quilts. To learn more about her work visit the Art, Design and Dine blog at http://www.artdesignanddine.blogspot.com/  or check out the Facebook Fan page.

FMI: Clay Paper Scissors Gallery & Studio, Cheyenne. On Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/claypaperscissors
 
Meghan's Artist's Statement:

I started this series my senior year of college after seeing an installation that incorporated thread. I was compelled to revive the embroidery skills I had learned as a kid. Little did I know that it would jump start my explorations in the fiber arts and change the direction and focus of my work.

I wanted the interaction with my embroidery to be tactile. So often embroidery is framed on a wall or blends into furnishings and is forgotten. I started embroidering into baby dolls because there is the unmistakable urge to hold and touch a baby doll. The images I embroidered are all symbolic of ideas or events that occurred in my life during the embroidery process. Each baby doll becomes a diary entry. They interpret my transition from college to the working world.

The quilts were created to use up the beautiful fabrics that I would find at thrift stores. I wanted to work with unconventional combinations and patterns to explore the idea of being swaddled in rags.

If you would like more information on Meghan and her work visit her blog at http://www.themechanicsdaughter.blogspot.com/

Dave Rowswell at Glen Garrett's Gallery for Art Design & Dine on Nov. 11

Dave Rowswell is the featured artist at Glen Garrett's office on the corner of Capitol and 17th Street in Cheyenne. He will be showing his charcoal drawings, monotypes, and alabaster sculpture. Dave is the 3D instructor at East High School and is passionate about his work as a teacher and as an artist. Stop by on Thursday, November 11, from 5-8 p.m. and say hello to Dave. Just one stop on Thursday's Art Design & Dine tour of downtown Cheyenne.

Sheridan Open Studios Show & Sales Nov. 12-14

Eighth annual Sheridan Open Studios Show and Sale will be held on these dates and times: Friday, November 12, 4-7 pm; Saturday, November 13, 10-5 pm; Sunday, November 14, 11-4 pm. There will be 15 artists at 7 locations. See the map.