Local Playwright will be Keynote Speaker for Upcoming Lit Jam Event at Escalante High School on March 21

ESCALANTE - Ray- mond King Shurtz has deep roots in southern Utah, with generations of family ties in the beautiful rural town of Boulder and having graduated from Escalante High School. During his teen years, he grew up in Phoenix and spent summers on the family farm with cousins and grandparents. Shurtz will be the keynote speaker for an upcoming Lit Jam event at Escalante High School on March 21, 2023.

Raymond’s website biography states:

"I am a playwright and performer. During my twenties, I was a gymnastics coach, and practiced theatre when I could. From there, I opened a theatre called 'Playwright's Workshop Theatre,' and was the artistic director for twelve years. During my tenure, I managed to produce about eighty new plays. The plays I produced were always new plays, cultivated out of a program I called 'The Edge Project'. I also taught acting, playwriting, and facilitated a directing program. I was also able to produce my own plays, several of them now published. I also acted when I could, and lived a bohemian lifestyle, as living the life of a playwright and artistic director often becomes. At the end of Playwright's Workshop Theatre, I got a job teaching theatre and film in an arts high school for the arts. I taught at Metro Arts for ten years, which brought me full circle back to performing and producing again. I just finished my show, 'Bohemian Cowboy' in Los Angeles, and am heading back home to Boulder, (Utah not Colorado)." In 2009, Shurtz produced and performed his one man show, "Bohemian Cowboy" at The Elephant

Theatre, which was the "pick of the week" in LA Weekly. He subsequently performed it approximately seventy-five times in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, southern Utah, and twenty-three shows in Austin, Texas.

Shurtz was described by a theater critic as a maverick with a quirky sense of drama and a flair for the unexpected, who then added, “few people in Phoenix have bigger hearts or more compassionate natures. He loves people and thrives on bringing out creativity in others. In addition to founding theater companies, writing plays, composing music and songs, he is a mentor to young people.”

We feel truly fortunate to have Raymond King Shurtz to share his vast theatrical and literary experiences and talents with our local students.

—Karen Munson

Celebrate Wildlife:

There are a lot of ways to celebrate our experiences with wildlife. We want people from across the state to show us how the wild inhabitants of our state inspire you or your family. Entries from this contest will become part of an exhibit that will go on tour across the state. It’s all meant to show how we connect with wildlife in Utah.

—Chris Peterson, Utah Wildlife Walls Project

Celebrate Wildlife

Cont'd from A1 the wild inhabitants of our state inspire you or your family,” said Chris Peterson, an artist working to get wildlife murals up in all 29 counties in Utah as part of the Utah Wildlife Walls Project. “Entries from this contest will become part of an exhibit that will go on tour across the state. It’s all meant to show how we connect with wildlife in Utah.”

More than $10,000 in cash prizes will handed out in the form of $250 awards for first-place and dozens more for the best submissions across three age groups: children, teens and adults. Submissions can include wildlife-related art, writing, photography, video, digital art, digital storytelling and music. Entries must be submitted by May 10, 2023 to be considered.

The Celebrate Utah Wildlife contest is made possible, in part, with funding from the Hansen Sisters Foundation, and the Utah STEM Action Center. The digital art and digital storytelling categories are funded through a Community Impact grant from the Center.

Utah Wildlife Walls will be at the International Sportsmen’s Expo March 16-19 talking to people about their wildlife expe-

The first Celebrate Utah Wildlife contest with 63 cash prizes for people ranging from 4 to 104. riences, painting wildlife cutouts, and helping people submit to the contest. Harvey the Storybus will on hand Saturday and Sunday mornings for people to record their wildlife stories and create an entry for the contest. Visit www.CelebrateUtahWildlife.org for more information on the contest and Utah Wildlife Walls project.

“Utah’s wild creatures need to be celebrated for all the wonder, awe and smiles they bring to our faces,” said Brett Prettyman, chair of the Utah Wildlife Federation board. “We hope by seeing how others celebrate our wildlife that more people will be inspired to get out and create their own experiences.”

The goal of the Utah

Wildlife Federation is to bring the many diverse voices of this unique state together to fashion a collaborative spirit in securing the future of wildlife and outdoor recreation, while providing the best practices to steward our natural resources for generations to come.

—Utah Wildlife Federation