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WYOMING ARTS COUNCIL NEWS • FALL 2015
cover story Tyler Gilmore returns to Wyoming with “A Rambling Stretch” music tour PAGE 4
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Submission deadline october 9, 2015 he Wyoming Arts Council now is accepting nominations for the 2015 Governor’s Arts Awards. Established in 1982, the Governor’s Arts Awards recognize excellence in the arts and outstanding service to the arts in Wyoming. These awards were first made possible by an endowment from the Union Pacific Foundation in honor of Mrs. John U. Loomis, a lifelong patron of the arts. Over the years, individuals and organizations from more than 21 Wyoming communities and statewide organizations have been honored for their dedication to the arts in Wyoming.
Any Wyoming citizen, organization, business or community may be nominated for a Governor’s Art Award. Noted accomplishments should reflect substantial contributions, made in Wyoming, that exemplify a long-term commitment to the arts. Special consideration will be given to nominees whose arts service is statewide. Previous GAA recipients are not eligible for nomination, but nomination of previously unselected nominees is encouraged. Current Wyoming Arts Council board members, staff members, contractors and members of their families are not eligible for nomination.
Nominations must be postmarked no later than October 9, 2015. Nominations have been sent to those on the WAC mailing list. You may download a form by going to http://wyoarts.state.wy.us/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/GAA-application-mailer-2016.pdf Send completed applications to:
2015 Governor’s Arts Awards Wyoming Arts Council 2301 Central Avenue Cheyenne, WY 82002
Join us for the Governor’s Arts Awards celebration and dinner on the evening of February 26, 2016 in Cheyenne! For more information, visit wyomingartscouncil.org or call 307-777-7742
table of contents Manager’s Message .......................................... 2 “A Rambling Stretch” tours Wyoming ............... 4
our Mission
The Wyoming Arts Council (WAC) provides leadership and invests resources to sustain, promote and cultivate excellence in the arts.
Casper Boys & Girls Club on STAGE .................. 7 The Brinton Museum opens new building ........ 8 New life for the art of the diorama .................. 12
WAC Staff
An abundance of folk arts ............................... 16
INDIVIDUALS SUPERVISOR
WYAA Conference promotes indie music ....... 20
Michael Lange : EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Rachel Clifton : PUBLIC ART AND CREATIVE SECTOR Anne Hatch : FOLKS AND TRADITIONAL ARTS/UNDERSERVED PROGRAM SPECIALIST
Danee Hunzie : COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND INDEPENDENT MUSIC SPECIALIST
Karen Merklin : GRANTS MANAGER Brittany Perez : OFFICE MANAGER Michael Shay : COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING/
A. Rose Hill named new poet laureate ........... 18
Manmay La Kay comes to Buffalo .................. 22 “Zelestina Urza in Outer Space”...................... 23 Art is everywhere .............................................. 24
LITERARY ARTS SPECIALIST
New WAC staff ................................................. 26
WAC Board
2016 Governor’s Capitol Art Exhibition .......... 28
Janelle Fletcher (Chair) : LARAMIE Stefanie Boster : CHEYENNE Neil Hansen : POWELL Chloe Illoway : CHEYENNE Nina McConigley : LARAMIE Sharon O’Toole : SAVERY Karen Stewart : JACKSON Erin Taylor : CHEYENNE Tara Taylor : MOUNTAIN VIEW Holly Turner : CASPER
Upcoming events ............................................. 29
ON THE COVER: Musician Tyler Gilmore in concert. Photo by Sophia Pandora. ON THE BACK COVER: Cast and crew of the Gillette Community Theatre gather for a group photo.
magazine
Artscapes is published quarterly and supported with funding from the Wyoming Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts. wyomingartscouncil.org Managing Editor : Michael Shay Photographers : Richard Collier, Michael Shay Printing : Pioneer Printing
wyoming arts council 2301 Central Avenue • Cheyenne, WY 82002 Phone: 307-777-7742 • Fax: 307-777-5499 Hours: Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. wyomingartscouncil.org
Manager's message
New People, New Ideas, and Creating a New Focus
A
ll times at the Wyoming Arts Council are exciting but this summer has been especially so. The WAC welcomed three new employees over the last few months and we are beginning to use our new open office environment in a collaborative way.
With a new space and new staff we are of course getting new, inventive ways to approach how we can best serve the state. The energy of both the staff and the WAC board is bursting through the ceiling, which is wonderful and timely as we are also in the late stages of finishing our next fiveyear strategic plan. We have been traveling around the state for a good portion of the summer meeting with individuals and groups in town hall meetings. I want to give a huge thank you to all the organizations and individuals around the state that have hosted us and shared their thoughts and opinions about how to make the arts stronger in Wyoming. We have been seeking this feedback to gain information from folks around the state so that we
can have input from multiple people. In addition, our statewide survey has also been gathering feedback from constituents. The feedback we gathered Michael Lange was used to help design topics of discussion at the WAC board retreat held in late summer. The board met for two days’ worth of small group discussions, meetings, and working groups to provide feedback into the next strategic plan.
I want to give a huge thank you to all the organizations and individuals around the state that have hosted us and shared their thoughts and opinions about how to make the arts stronger in Wyoming.
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In the fall, the WAC will submit our next strategic plan to the National Endowment
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of the Arts. The next plan with undoubtedly bring changes to the programs and services provided by the WAC. Change can be difficult, but is also good for a forward-thinking organization, which we at the WAC are trying to be. We want to serve the state better, and in order to do this, changes are needed.
information. Additionally, email, print material, social media, and press releases will also be used to spread information. Most importantly, if you have questions, please let us know. Give us a call, send an email, or swing by when you are in Cheyenne or we are out across the state. We want to hear from you!
We will do everything in our power to keep constituents informed as we start in implement new strategies, services, and programs. Our website will serve as our main clearinghouse for Michael Lange Wyoming Arts Council Executive Director
Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow introduces the 67th Army Band at the State’s 125th anniversary bash in Cheyenne.
artscapes • FALL 2015
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music
Tyler Gilmore’s “A Rambling Stretch” tours eight Wyoming communities in September
Tyler Gilmore (left) at jam session. Photo by Eliseo Cardona/Chromatic Blues.
“A Rambling Stretch,” a concert of contemporary jazz music inspired by the beauty of Wyoming and its landscape by composer and Wyoming native Tyler Gilmore, will visit eight Wyoming communities Sept. 18-25. The tour is co-sponsored by Central Wyoming College, UW Fine Arts Outreach and the Wyoming Arts Council.
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In the performances, Gilmore explores Wyoming’s landscapes and people with the accompaniment of a 12-piece jazz chamber ensemble. The origins of Gilmore’s music composition can be traced back to 2013 trip to Wyoming. Gilmore, a 2000 graduate of Riverton High School, returned to his home town along with renowned photographer Gary Isaacs to film, photograph, and sound record the area. He then composed
Wyoming arts council
music inspired by the imagery. The resulting work weaves together the photos, sound and video, with all original music for a twelve piece chamber jazz ensemble comprised of the top jazz musicians from the western United States. The work is an eight-movement suite performed in conjunction with a projected video. Influenced by modern composers such as Mark-Anthony Turnage and Thomas Ades, it strives to communicate the vastness of Wyoming’s landscapes along with the deep emotional connection Gilmore feels with the area. The remaining selections for the concert will be original big band scores composed by Gilmore.
Tyler Gilmore talks to audience members after a 2014 performance at CWC in Riverton.
Here’s the schedule: Friday, September 18: Robert A. Peck Art Center Theater, Central Wyoming College in Riverton, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15/adults $10/students & seniors. Saturday, September 19: WYO Theater, Sheridan, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $10 adults, $8 students and seniors. Sunday, September 20: Nelson Auditorium, Northwest College in Powell at 2 p.m. Free. Monday, September 21: Wheeler Concert Hall, Music Building, Casper College, Casper, 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $13 adults, $12 seniors, $7 students & teachers, $5 for 12 and under. Tuesday, September 22: Torrington High School auditorium, Torrington, at 7 p.m. Tickets are $3 (Eastern Wyoming Arts Council season tickets do not cover this performance). Wednesday, September 23: Hot Springs County High School Auditorium in Thermopolis at 7 p.m. Tickets: Adults, $8; seniors $6, students free. Thursday, September 24: The Broadway Theater in Rock Springs at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10.
Tyler Gilmore won the 2009 ASCAP/Columbia College Commission in Honor of Hank Jones and won the ASCAP Young Jazz Composer’s Award for three consecutive years -- 2008, 2009, and 2010. His music has been reviewed in DownBeat and performed by Jon Faddis’s Chicago Jazz Ensemble, Bobby Watson and The UMKC Concert Jazz Ensemble, The University of Northern Colorado Jazz Band I, The Playground Ensemble, and The Henry Mancini Institute Overture Orchestra, among others. His work is published by UNC Jazz Press and Minor Ninth Music. Partial funding of the tour is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund. For audio samples and videos of Gilmore’s work, go to www.tylergilmoremusic.com FMI: Danee Hunzie, Wyoming Arts Council, 307-777-7473 or danee.hunzie@wyo.gov
Friday, September 25: The BCPA Theater at UW in Laramie at 6 p.m. Free. continued on page 6
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Eight questions for Tyler Gilmore It’s an Artscapes tradition to quiz those expat musicians who make their way back to Wyoming (see fall 2013 Artscapes cover story and the Micah Wyatt profile in the winter 2014 issue). Tyler Gilmore, returning in September for his “A Rambling Stretch” tour, is no exception. Q: What’s your connection to Wyoming? A: I was born in Jackson, moved to Riverton at around six months old and lived there until the age of 18. My parents and grandmother still reside there, and I visit Riverton and Jackson often. I found my love for music and other art forms while growing up in the area, largely thanks to some great educators (Kelly Dehnert, John Aanestad) and my very musical mother. The tone and texture of the area also had a profound impact on me, from the landscapes to the rhythm of life. Q: Where do you live now? A: I live in Brooklyn, N.Y., a borough of New York City. It’s a part of the city where many young artists from all over the world come to live and collaborate. Q: Why did you become a musician? A: I’m not sure I really know the answer to that one. I always had a sense that I’d like to be in the arts. As a child, I drew a lot and wanted to be a comic book artist. In the ninth grade, jazz music sank its teeth into me and I never really had a choice after that. Q: How would you describe your work in five words or less? A: Open, textural, harmonic. [He went on to add]: (I read this question wrong and wrote a whole
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Tyler Gilmore (right) on stage
paragraph, so in case it’s usable here it is...) I like to take small ideas (a short melody, a simple harmony, a brief rhythm) and stretch, bend, and reshape them to find the hidden beauty within. In “A Rambling Stretch” you hear a couple of basic melodies repeat and repeat, moving and reshaping, growing and evolving. When writing the piece I was thinking about how the landscape and pace of Wyoming has affected me as an artist. There’s something about the expansive beauty of the Wind River region. Q: What is your favorite song/composition – your own or someone else’s? A: Violin Concerto by Thomas Ades, Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson, Kendrick Lamar’s new album. Q: If not a musician, what would you be? A: No idea. Q: Do you ever see yourself moving back to Wyoming? A: It’s a very real possibility, likely later in life. The performance opportunities for the kinds of music I make are quite rare in the state, so it would be a time in my life that I am traveling frequently. Q: What’s your booking information? A: I’m reachable at minorninths@gmail.com
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music
Boys & Girls Club kids learn theater arts with help from Casper College From Oil City in Casper: More than a dozen youth made up the cast of an Aug. 21 performance at Casper College’s Gertrude Krampert Theatre as part of a summer program offered by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Wyoming in Casper. STAGE (Summer Theater Arts through Guided Enrichment) provided access to a unique form of creative expression for youth who may have never considered theater. Twice a week this past summer, participating members from the Boys & Girls Club traveled to Casper College for one-hour sessions with college theater students to learn the stages of production, rehearsal and a live performance. This eight-week workshop provided real-theatre experience and exposed youth to the possibilities of college as a future choice.
“With this partnership, we hoped to stir the imagination and help build self-confidence through creative expression,” said Leslie Kee, who served as the 2015 BGCCW STAGE coordinator. “Every child benefits from experiencing themselves as capable and unique. Producing a story creates opportunities for every child to make a contribution — no one has to sit on the bench,”
Under the leadership and skills of the college students, club members performed the classic tale of “Stone Soup” in which weary travelers trick villagers to share their food. The students have learned about set and costume design, hair and makeup and getting into character.
STAGE is supported in part by a grant from the Wyoming Arts Council, through funding from the Wyoming State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.
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visual arts
A meeting of Old West and New at The Brinton Museum in Big Horn By Michael Shay
T
he Brinton Museum in Sheridan County is probably the most off-the-beaten-path of the state’s major art museums. The distinctive dark cone of the University of Wyoming Art Museum in Laramie is visible to truckers on I-80. You can’t get to Yellowstone’s west entrance unless you pass the sprawling campus of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody. The Nicolaysen Art Museum, housed in a hulking old power company facility, is the east side anchor for downtown Casper. But the Brinton? New signage helps you find it, once you get to the small Sheridan County town of Big Horn (pop. 490). You wind your way through
rural roads until you get to some wooded bottom land at the confluence of Little Goose Creek and Trabing Creek. Pass a house or two and there’s the Brinton, that two-story old white wooden frame manse surrounded by towering cottonwoods and well-groomed grounds. You’re not quite there. That’s the original museum, which used to house a portion of the Brinton collection and once was the residence of the museum’s namesake, Bradford Brinton. Keep going until you reach the newly-paved parking lot. It’s crowded on most summer days. Find a spot, get out and look toward the Big Horns. Up on the hill is the sleek new Forrest E. Mars, Jr., Building at The Brinton Museum. The impressive stateof-the-art LEED-certified structure with its own custom-built water system opened its doors on
The Forrest E. Mars, Jr., Building at The Brinton Museum.
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June 15. The Governor attended, as did Sen. Al Simpson and Father Peter J. Powell, president of the Foundation for the Preservation of American Indian Art in Chicago. On this July morning, a crew mows the Brinton’s massive lawn. Another crew is setting up tables and chairs for a Rotary Club luncheon. A young woman is placing decorative rocks the size of bison skulls on a patch of bare ground, pushing to get all the landscaping completed before winter sets in. Under the trees, artist Mike Untiedt acts as mentor to Sheridan artist Sonja Caywood as they both enjoy this en plein air morning. TBM Executive Director Ken Schuster leads me to his office in the 50-year-old administration building past a crew of volunteers sending out The Brinton Museum’s latest mailer. Schuster has been at the Brinton for more than 26 years, moving north from the University of Wyoming Art Museum where he served as curator of education and helped launch the Ann Simpson Artmobile, recipient of a 1986 WAC Governor’s Arts Award. The Brinton received its own Governor’s Arts Award in 2010.
Forrest Mars, Jr. (center right) and The Brinton Museum Director Ken Schuster (center left) talk shop with artists Sonja Caywood and Mike Untiedt.
After doing just that for 30 years, it was obvious that the Brinton needed space for expansion. “We needed more exhibit space,” says Schuster. “We needed a proper vault area.”
The idea was to preserve the ranch and its collections of art and artifacts, and to open it up to the public “as a source of education and enjoyment.”
Schuster spends thirty minutes telling the story of the museum and the long road to the Mars Building. The museum was established as an institution dedicated to Native American arts and culture as well as fine and decorative art. It continues to expand on the work of Helen Brinton who in 1960 established the Bradford Brinton Memorial, named for her brother who passed away in 1936. The idea was to preserve the ranch and its collections of art and artifacts, and to open it up to the public “as a source of education and enjoyment.” artscapes • FALL 2015
A new building seemed out of the question. It would be expensive, but Schuster “didn’t want a building that would compete with the house,” which is a National Historic Site. He also thought that an addition to the house would be superfluous. “I decided to blue sky it,”
he says. He wondered: How much would a new building cost? Answer: A lot. continued on page 10
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The Brinton’s John and Adrienne Mars Gallery presents the exhibit, “To Honor the Plains Nations.”
begrudgingly facing his 84th birthday, drives over to the Brinton in his ranch pick-up. His truck has a mangled left-front panel. Seems that his ranch manager had climbed off of his horse to talk to Mars when the horse, apparently impatient to get back to the barn, kicked at the manager but hit the truck instead. “Just missed him,” says Mars. “He was damn lucky.” Mars, who walks with a cane, sits in Schuster’s office and tells his side of the story.
The Northern Trust, which held the purse strings, was not amenable to raising and managing large sums of money. But the Brinton bequest was running out and there was no easy way to freshen the coffers. At the same time, Father Powell said that he would like to get the Gallatin Collection out of Chicago and back to the West. The collection did not seem to be a priority at the Art Institute of Chicago, where it had been on loan for 40 years, and there was just not enough room to display it properly. Besides, it was a Native American collection, specifically the arts and artifacts of Plains’ Nations. It cried out to be in the West.
Schuster, it seems, got around to informing Mars just how much blue was in “blue sky.” The two agreed on a division of labor. “I built the building,” said Mars, “and he sorted it out.”
“We’re positioning the Brinton as one of the premier Western art museums in America.”
There was a lot to sort out. But $20 million in Mars money paved the way. Build the building. Sort out the finances. And strike a deal with the State of Illinois and the Northern Trust. Build a new governing structure. Retrieve the Gallatin Collection from Chicago.
It was a partnership that worked.
Enter Forrest E. Mars, Jr. Mars had been a patron of the Brinton for years. He owns the Diamond Cross Ranch which includes properties in northern Wyoming and southern Montana. His last name is familiar to anyone who’s devoured a Mars bar or torn open a package of M&Ms.
“If Forrest Mars hadn’t been involved, the Brinton would have gone bust,” says Schuster. “He’s the best partner you could have.”
Mars, who was preparing for his next crossing of the Atlantic on the Queen Mary and somewhat
“It would have been a national disaster,” adds Schuster. “Wyoming and Sheridan would have lost a major attraction.”
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Neither partner wanted to see the end of the Brinton.
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As it is, they gained “the most high-tech museum in Wyoming,” Mars says. “It stands out among museums in the state.” Once again, Schuster: “We’re positioning the Brinton as one of the premier Western art museums in America.” He pauses, adding that the goal is not to be strictly “Western,” a “rehashing of masters such as Remington and Russell” and nothing else. “We plan to feature modern art that looks at the West in a modern way.” Mars heads back to the ranch and Schuster shows me around the new building. The lobby leads to an impressive gift shop. On the second floor, in what Schuster calls “the high-humidity gallery” named for the S.K. Johnston Family, is the show “Boots, Brushes and the Bighorn Mountains: Artwork from the 1860s to the 1930s.” Schuster had this exhibit in mind for a long time but didn’t have the facility to work with until now. The work by Fra Dana, Bill Gollings, Hans Klieber, Frederic Remington and others features Sheridan
County in oil and pastel paintings, drawings and photos. The Brinton Museum’s contemporary sensibility is reflected in the third-floor Jacomien Mars Reception Gallery exhibit, “Gregory Packard: The Light Still Sheds the Dark.” Schuster said that he put Packard into his first museum show in 2002 at the Brinton, when the painter lived in Wyoming. Two years later, Packard landed his first oneperson museum exhibit at the Brinton. As Schuster writes in the catalog: “We at The Brinton Museum feel a sense of pride and, may I say, a smidgen of ownership in his artistic career.” Packard’s career has taken off of late. Of the 46 works at the Brinton, 29 have sold as of mid-July. Museums aren’t only for looking inward. You can view some of the inspirations of the exhibited artists in the third-floor’s Brinton Bistro which offers 180-degree views of the Bighorns and the surrounding foothills. In a few months, when the foliage in the hills turns from green to burnt-orange, you could see the landscape from Klieber’s “Bradford Brinton’s Ranch” oil painting from the exhibit. You can also imagine the two Native Americans on horseback in Remington’s “Top of the Big Horns.” But you don’t have to imagine Native Americans as you peruse the Gallatin Collection show, “To Honor the Plains Nations” on the second floor. The regalia, baskets, beadwork, weaving, hide shirts and robes seem to belong here. Back in the West where it all originated.
Rotary Club members gather for lunch on the grounds of the original Brinton Museum.
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Get more information on The Brinton Museum at http://thebrintonmuseum.org/
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visual arts
Tom Warnke recreates Wyoming’s past through the art of the diorama By Michael Shay
T
om Warnke’s wife Alice grew up in the tiny house that sits on a street corner in Warnke’s diorama of Monarch, Wyoming, that is displayed in the Sheridan County Museum. If you look closely through the plexiglass case, you can see a very tiny model of Alice’s mother hanging up laundry in the backyard. Only a child in pre-war Wyoming, Alice in 15-millimeter-scale DioramaLand would be even smaller than her mother. In reality, she’s life-sized and, on this hot Friday in mid-July, is in her Sheridan kitchen cooking meals for her husband’s month-long timberclearing jaunt to the property he manages in the Bighorn Mountains. “I’m glad I don’t do this for a living,” Alice jokes, holding up her flour-flecked hands. Warnke laughs and moves me along on the tour of his house. He’s showing off his wood carvings. The 80-year-old retired construction contractor has carved kachina clowns from cottonwood roots. He’s won prizes for his elk carvings and a cliff dwelling fashioned from a 200-year-old cottonwood log. Out in the garage, he stores other logs prepped for other carvings. He also has a PAGE
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shelf of sage that he harvested from a hillside near Baggs in wind-swept southern Wyoming. He wanted this certain sage for his latest diorama because it gets half the moisture of the Sheridan County sage. “It grows differently from the sage you find here,” he says. That difference made it perfect for his diorama of the Connor Battle, his most recent creation, now featured at the Ranchester Town Hall just a few miles south of the Montana border. For Warnke, retirement from long days of building houses and commercial buildings has just left him more time for other work, such as clearing timber expeditions to the Big Horn Mountains with a few younger friends, both in their seventies. And for his passion of building dioramas of historic Wyoming events and locations.
Evolution of the diorama Photography pioneer Louis Daguerre reputedly coined the word diorama in 1822. But the process itself has been around for centuries. In the sixth century, the Japanese created “Bonkei,” the art of miniature landscapes. “Bonsai” made its appearance around the same time. Over the centuries, the Japanese continued to innovate. Tatebanko, the art of paper dioramas, arose in the
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Tom Warnke poses with his diorama of the town of Monarch on display at the Sheridan County Museum.
17th century. After the West pried open the doors of previously-isolated Japan, dioramas spread around the world. In 18th century Germany, artisans created dioramas with Zinnfiguren, small pewter or tin versions of animals, figures, soldiers and other subjects. They were flat but sometimes embossed or shaped so they had some depth. In the 20th century, museums began creating lifesized dioramas as a way to show contemporary animals – and extinct ones – in their natural landscapes. It often required the skills of biologists, botanists and paleontologists as well as crews of taxidermists, model builders and muralists. Today, the art of creating dioramas is practiced not only by aging model train enthusiasts but by young people, too, notably gamers and role-players.
A fever for miniature landscapes Warnke caught diorama fever in 1983. Distressed that northern Wyoming’s history was being lost, he built his first diorama of a “Cheyenne Hunting Camp.” It now sits in the display room of the Ranchester Information Center, just across the room from his most recent creation – his 21st. He’s a bit critical as he peruses his “Cheyenne Hunting Camp” display of three decades ago. Some of the materials have deteriorated, and the scale is all wrong. He says now that he wouldn’t adorn the display case with hundreds of handcut wood pieces. He can be excused, as he was a green kid of 48 at the time, more intent on saving a slice of area history than asking for help. Warnke had plenty of help on his Connor Battle diorama. Sheridan mural artist Connie Robinson painted the diorama background. A designer friend of Warnke’s helped him sketch the layout. Alice Warnke kept track of expenses. continued on page 14
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In all, Warnke says that 57 people helped him with the Connor Battlefield diorama, which depicts the 1865 Battle of Tongue River. It took more than 500 hours to complete this 500piece assemblage, which includes 91 cavalrymen, 30 Arapaho scouts, 99 villagers, dozens of teepees and trees, and a very lifelike replica of the Tongue River. Kim Fuka, an amateur historian and a volunteer at the Visitor Center, painted the metal figures. Fuka
He first applied a primer and then used acrylic paint for the detail. He finished by applying a clear seal. To do this, he built a special stand to steady the figures as he worked. He used fine-tipped brushes with 2-3 strands of brush fiber. “It was a dot here and a dot there,” Fuka says. One dot might be a mustache and another an ear. He painted fine yellow stripes down the troopers’ trousers and a tiny brown strip for a horse’s bridle. “I used 12-14 colors on each figure.” He individualized each figure, paying special attention to General Connor and legendary scout
Kim Fuka (left) discusses Connor Battle diorama with Tom Warnke.
is an artist who works mostly in quills and beads. He’s used to working with small objects. It requires a special patience and a steady hand to paint the miniature diorama figurines.
Detail work Over the course of 11 weeks he painted the 89 soldiers and two scouts for the Connor diorama.
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Jim Bridger, who was 61 years old at the time of the battle. Meanwhile, Robinson painted the background mural, as she’s done a number of times. I followed Warnke south on I-90 to the Sheridan County Museum. Several of his dioramas are on
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the floor of the museum. The aforementioned Monarch diorama sits across from a cross-section design of the Monarch mine. A decrepit wooden water tower is the only structure that remains of the old mining town – you can see it off to the right as you blaze down the interstate. Nearby is the old town cemetery. Nature is busy reclaiming the mine shafts that honeycombed the Sheridan County landscape and hummed with activity 24/7 between 1903 and 1953. The last diorama Warnke shows me resides at the Sheridan County Fulmer Public Library, “General George Crook’s Camp at the forks of Goose Creek, June 14, 1876.” The four-by-nine-foot diorama depicts the Crook’s Camp Cloud Peak on the future site of Sheridan as depicted by a cavalry artist during the summer of 1876. It took Warnke hundreds of hours to build. It features another Robinson background painting.
“donations of material or labor” to the project. Another five entities contributed funds.
He’s retiring, folks – this time he really means it In its July 15 edition, the Sheridan Press waived its usual word limit for letters to the editor and printed a long thank you letter from Warnke. In it, he said that “our community is really blessed to have a group of people that include volunteers of skilled craftsmen, artists, businesses, monetary donors, news media and just plain folks who want to help in any way.” He invited residents to come to the official diorama dedication in Ranchester on Aug. 29, the 150th anniversary of the event. He announced that the Connor diorama “will be the last one I attempt.” He’s retiring, folks.
“Connie and I gave this exhibit our best shot,” Warnke says. “We had a blast creating it.”
And this time he really means it.
Historical research was provided by Jeff and Dana Prater. The booklet that accompanies the exhibit lists 23 people and businesses that made
Sources: Interviews of Tom Warnke and Kim Fuka; Diorama Man blog at www.stormthecastle.com; Destination Sheridan, spring/summer 2015 issue; Sheridan Press
Wyoming among top ten states for per capita arts spending For all of our readers who like top ten (and bottom ten) lists: Which states spend the most on the arts per capita? Washington, DC: $23.98 Puerto Rico: $6.74 Minnesota: $6.26 Delaware: $3.57 Florida: $2.37 Maryland: $2.71 Wyoming: $2.09 New York: $2.02 Rhode Island: $2
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Which states spend the least? Georgia: $0.06 Kansas: $0.07 Wisconsin: $0.14 Washington and Arizona: $0.15 Texas: $0.22 California: $0.24 New Hampshire: $0.30 Virginia, Idaho and Indiana: $0.43 Nevada: $0.45
Figures for FY 2015 courtesy of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies in Washington, D.C.
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folk arts
Wyoming boasts of an abundance of folk arts By Elaine Thatcher, Contract Folklorist
F
olk arts in Wyoming — what are they?
Ranching arts like saddlemaking and cowboy poetry, Shoshone and Arapaho arts like beadwork and hoop dancing? Yes, Wyoming has these in abundance. But what about furniture making, rug hooking, Slovenian foodways, and rock climbing songs? We have those, too. Miniature makers, antler workers, bladesmiths, spinners and weavers, quilters, luthiers, songwriters, kayak makers, knitters, bamboo and graphite fishing rod makers, taxidermists, welding artists, sled dog trainers, clothing makers, woodcarvers, storytellers — you get the idea. Such arts, both expected and unexpected, have been the focus of research over the last three years, thanks to several grants from the National Endowment for the Arts to the Wyoming Arts Council’s Folk and Traditional Arts Program. The work has resulted in a database of over 1,200 artists and organizations, only a fraction of whom have actually been interviewed during the research because of time constraints. But they’re out there! Those and many more, each pursuing a personal and community artistic vision, generally rooted in occupation, ethnicity, religion, region, and more.
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In Hot Springs County, bluegrass musicians gather monthly for jam sessions.
Traditions surrounding Wyoming’s ranching and agricultural heritage are numerous. One of these is the Green River Drift, a twice-yearly cattle drive that several ranchers along the Green River take part in as they move their cattle to and from the summer ranges. It is rife with traditions. Julie Early of Pinedale, who is a member of one of the families who participate, has photos and stories of the Drift, which follows a traditional route with landmarks and place names known to the participants. Her family is involved in many traditional activities related to ranching, including raising bearded collies for working cattle. Julie herself honors her ranching and Wyoming heritage by making decorative wreaths out of native plants and then decorated with seasonal items. But rather than using commercial wreath
Wyoming arts council
bases of Styrofoam or grapevine, she likes to use old discarded ranch equipment and wild animal horns to build her wreaths on. Cinch rings are one of the items she commonly uses to begin building her items. By gathering materials that grow in her region, like sagebrush, juniper, pinecones, juniper berries, rose hips, and other natural materials, and mounting them on old ranch equipment, Julie pays homage to her heritage and home. Another artist, Edgar Alcivar, was a pipe fitter and union official in Rock Springs. After retirement, he started using his welding skills to create sculptures—some fanciful, others depicting aspects of his life. He was born in Ecuador, and he has made pieces depicting life there, including scenes under the ocean. There is a piece showing him as a pipefitter and another of his wife, who was a Spanish teacher. He has only shown his work once, in an exhibit at the Rock Springs Community Fine Arts Center, and he does not sell his art—he just makes it for his own enjoyment. Folk music flourishes across the state, from the pow wow songs and drumming of Native Americans to cowboy singers, to songs written about rock climbing. In Riverton, Jasmine and Luke Bell are carrying on traditions from both of their families. Jasmine, Oglala Lakota, is a world champion hoop dancer, and Luke, Northern Arapaho, is a singer and drum maker. In Hot Springs County, there’s a thriving bluegrass and old time music community that gets together monthly to jam in a local gas station. Musicians who participate range from amateur to semiprofessional to professional, and they take turns choosing songs to play together. Several of the musicians play in more than one professional group, and most have other kinds of day jobs. They just get together for the joy of making music. Some gifted songwriters make their homes in Wyoming, writing songs about the Wyoming
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Jasmine Bell, Oglala Lakota, is a hoop dancer while her husband Luke, Northern Arapaho, is a singer and drum maker.
experience. Cal Linford and his sister Teddy Cunningham of Star Valley in western Wyoming sing Cal’s original songs about the happiness they find in their rural home and in family and country. Daron Little of Encampment makes his primary living as a working cowboy for a big ranch in the area, but he is also an up-and-coming cowboy singer-songwriter. I had an appointment to interview him, but ended up with a flat tire, which he cheerfully fixed. That’s the essence of a cowboy—willing to help someone out, and has the tools and the know-how at all times! His songs reflect the realities of a working cowboy’s life. He told me, “I figured out that a lot of so-called ‘cowboy’ musicians had never worked as cowboys. I decided I wanted to write songs about cowboying because I’ve lived the life. I write for the working cowboy, and it’s fine if other people like it.” That is the essence of folk arts. They are for the community first, and then it’s fine if other people like them. Keep an eye out for folk artists -- they’re everywhere! Folklorist Elaine Thatcher of Logan, Utah, is completing a statewide survey of Wyoming cultural traditions as part of a needs assessment for Wyoming’s folk and traditional arts and artists.
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Poet Laureate
A. Rose Hill named seventh Wyoming Poet Laureate
A. Rose Hill (center), Wyoming’s seventh poet laureate, is flanked by Gov. Matt Mead and outgoing poet laureate Echo Klaproth.
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overnor Matt Mead held a news conference in June to sign an executive order appointing A. Rose Hill of Sheridan as the new Wyoming Poet Laureate. Hill is the seventh Poet Laureate in state history. After the news conference, Hill and her family attended a reception sponsored by the Wyoming Arts Council.
“Rose is an exceptional writer,” said Governor Mead. “She writes poems that remind us how beautiful poetry is and that make us want to hear
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more. Devoted to her family and community, she has taken time to share her talent in classrooms, public readings and workshops.” Hill graduated from Sheridan High School and Sheridan College with a degree in accounting. Her writing has appeared in Serendipity magazine, in Emerging Voices published by Western Nebraska Community College, and in many publications featuring Wyoming poets and writers. In 2012, she
Wyoming arts council
Poems of August
Wyoming State Parks and Cultural Resources Director Milward Simpson congratulates new Poet Laureate A. Rose Hill at WAC reception. At right is Rep. Mary Throne; at left, WAC staffer Annie Hatch.
was named Wyoming Senior Poet Laureate by the Amy Kitchener Foundation. “I am so honored and humbled to be in the company of the tall poets laureate who came before me,” said the diminutive Hill. “I want to thank my family for being here with me and supporting me. I’m really looking forward to this!” “Rose is the third poet laureate during my time in office,” continued Mead. “Knowing that Wyoming has many talented poets, I early on decided to give more than one person the opportunity to serve in this important capacity. Rose follows Echo Klaproth and Pat Frolander and I thank all three for giving us the gift of their time and talent.”
She picks chokecherries of August along dusty fence rows, cobweb veils strung over sunburned ears, hair in sweat-stung eyes, purple-stained nose, shirt, sticky hands swiped on pants, ripped in seat and knees, shoes full of sand and rocks. In her kitchen, sweaty, dusty, she sorts leaves, bugs, from her purple harvest, washes, cooks, juices the berries, fills clean jelly jars with sweet ambrosia, nods off over the evening paper. The Senior Poet Laureate has written her poems for today. --A. Rose Hill, Aug. 13, 2012
Actors Robert Taylor (left) and Adam Bartley sign autographs at “Longmire Days” in Buffalo. The Netflix Series, based on Ucross author Craig Johnson’s novels, resumes in September.
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wyoming arts alliance
WyAA holds Performing Arts Booking and Independent Music Conference Oct. 3
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he Wyoming Arts Alliance Performing Arts Booking and Independent Music Conference will take place Saturday, Oct. 3, at the WYO Theater in downtown Sheridan. The conference kickoff event on Friday, Oct. 2, will be a community reception at the Ucross Foundation featuring a special place-based group exhibition, “Ucross: A Portrait in Place.” It will include a short talk by land artist and Ucross board member Bill Gilbert. The show includes six artists and one scientist and is supported in part through the Wyoming Arts Council. The Wyoming Arts Alliance invites the arts community to gather for a day of inspiration, learning, and networking. On October 3, the Wyoming Arts Alliance is convening performing arts performers and venues to its annual block booking and independent music conference. The annual conference is geared to help art nonprofits and artists achieve
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Laramie’s Verismo Trio will showcase at WyAA conference.
success in their work. It includes two tiered tracks of professional development, two showcasing blocks, an afterhours showcase, a block booking meeting, a member meeting, and plenty of networking. Professional development courses offered reflect industry trends and statewide issues.
The Wyoming Arts Alliance invites the arts community to gather for a day of inspiration, learning, and networking.
Wyoming arts council
Sessions this year include: • Programming on a shoestring budget – As budgets decline, programs are often casualties. Planning interesting innovative programs on a limited budget is a daunting task but with some enthusiasm and ingenuity, it’s easier than you think. Join EK Wimmer, Curator at the NIC, and other panelists as we explore this topic. •
•
•
How to develop a meaningful intern program – Find out how to create an ideal internship program at your organization that strikes a balance between activities that provide a meaningful learning experience for the intern and activities that will increase your productivity. Hear from UW interns and industry experts. IM Tour – Independent Music on Tour is committed to artistic excellence, audience development, and sustainable touring practices for musicians and nonprofit presenters in the West. Presented by WESTAF’s Andy Thomas. One-on-one consultations with the Wyoming Arts Council and WESTAF staffers
Main stage showcases include performances by Theaterworks USA’s Petunia and Chicken, Ken Lavigne, Andy Hackbarth, Lauren Sheehan, Jonathan Kingham, Verismo Trio, Johnny B, and Vince and Mindi. After-hours Independent music showcases include performances by Otter Creek, J Shogren, Dave Munsick, and more.
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Johnny B. and his boogie-woogie piano will perform at a main stage showcase.
A hotel block is available now at the Best Western Sheridan located in downtown Sheridan. Convenient walking location to conference venue and after hours showcases. Make reservations by calling 307-674-7421 and ask for the Wyoming Arts Alliance block, which has a rate of $79 a night. The block expires Sept 10. A complete schedule and registration are currently up on the conference website at www.wyomingarts.org. Click on “Annual Conference.” The Wyoming Arts Alliance is the only state-wide nonprofit dedicated to advancing a creative and culturally vibrant state. WyAA convenes presenters, artists, and art organizations from around the state, as well as our neighbors in surrounding states, in order to achieve our goal of bringing the best in arts programming to the region. FMI: 307-221-0318
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worlds of music
Manmay La Kay Folk Band of Saint Lucia visits Wyoming
Manmay La Kay folk band from Saint Lucia, West Indies.
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rom Wednesday, Sept. 30, to Saturday Oct. 3 Worlds of Music will present a series of school visits, workshops, performances, and talks along with a community dance featuring the Manmay La Kay (pronounce maw-my-law-ky) Folk Band of Saint Lucia, West Indies. All events will take place in Buffalo and are free and open to the public. Accompanying
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Manmay La Kay at its Wyoming dance will be Buffalo’s community steel drum group Pan Buffalo. On Thursday, Oct.1, Manmay La Kay will play for a Main Street stroll on Buffalo’s two downtown blocks, appearing between 6:30-8 p.m. Each stop will include an intimate performance of Saint Lucian music.
Wyoming arts council
On Friday, Oct. 2, Manmay La Kay will perform and talk about their music and lives from 12:45-2 p.m. at the Buffalo Senior Center, 671 W. Fetterman. On Saturday, October 3, they will play for a dance at 8 p.m. at the Buffalo American Legion Hall, 18 Veteran’s Ave.
“Charley” Julian says, “What we play is strictly folk. An orchestra is good, that’s their field. Jazz is good, that’s their field. But neither of those is my field. My field is folk music. This is what I’ve learned, this is what I was raised in, and this is what I continue in, folk music, nothing else.”
Also on Saturday, Oct. 3, Manmay La Kay will direct a free workshop at the Bomber Mountain Civic Center (Old Clear Creek Middle School), 63 N. Burritt in Buffalo, from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. While the members of the band play fiddle, banjo, guitar, a conga style hand drum, and shak-shak (a wicked cool shaker), players of all instruments are welcome. Manmay La Kay’s music also includes singing and often accompanies Caribbean style kwadril dancing so singers and dancers are also welcome.
The appearance of Manmay La Kay in Wyoming is made possible by Worlds of Music, a not for profit organization that seeks to understand what music means to people. Worlds of Music performances, lectures, and workshops look at the role music plays in our lives, and how music changes over time and across cultures.
The workshop is open to people of all ages and skill levels and workshop participants will have the opportunity to play at the Saturday night dance. Of his music, Manmay La Kay’s fiddler Augustin
Support for this program comes from the Johnson County Tourism Association, the Johnson County Recreation District, and from a generous private gift that has covered the costs of bringing a group to the United States from another country. For further information on the performances or to sign up for the workshop, call 307-684-2194 or 307-217-2812.
Z� elestina Urza in Outer Space� hits the road B uffalo writer and musician David Romtvedt conducted a tour of the state Aug. 19-27 with a series of readings from his new novel, “Zelestina Urza in Outer Space.” He also talked about Basque history and, with accompanist Caitlin Belem, performed Basque songs and led audiences in Basque dances. After a break in September, the duo will resume their travels on Oct. 15 with a visit to the Basque Museum and Cultural Center in Boise and a series of Wyoming stops. For more info, e-mail david.romtvedt@gmail.com.
Here’s the October schedule: Saturday, Oct. 17, 2 p.m., Washakie Museum & Cultural Center, 2200 Big Horn Ave., Worland. FMI: Cheryl Reichelt, creichelt@washakiemuseum.org, 307-347-4102 Sunday, Oct. 18, 10:30 a.m., Unitarian Universalist Church, 3005 Thomes Ave., Cheyenne. FMI: UU Church, 307-638-4554
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Tuesday, Oct. 20, noon, Rawlins Rotary Club, Peppermill/Cactus Jack’s Restaurant, 1602 Inverness Blvd, Rawlins. FMI: Patricia Terhune, patricia. terhune@summitwyo.com, 307-328-0900 Tuesday, Oct. 20, 6:30-8 p.m., Carbon County Library, 215 W. Buffalo, Rawlins. FMI: Maria Klesta, adultlibrarian@carbonlibraries.org, 307-328-2687 Wednesday, Oct. 21, 7 p.m., White Mountain Library, 2935 Sweetwater Dr., Rock Springs. FMI: Lindsey Travis, ltravis@sweetwaterlibraries.com, 307-3526669 Thursday, Oct. 22, 7 p.m., Sublette County Library, 155 S. Tyler Ave., Pinedale. FMI: Sukey Hohl, shohl@ sublettecountylibrary.org, 307-367-4114 Saturday, Oct. 24, 7 p.m., Night Heron Books, 107 E. Ivinson, Laramie. FMI: Ken, info@nightheronbooks. com, 307-742-9028
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art is everywhere
Pictured clockwise from upper left: University of Wyoming Vertical Dance Troupe performs in Cheyenne; author Craig Johnson (left) and musician Jalan Crossland at the Ten Sleep Rodeo; Wednesday Night Live performance at the Nicolaysen Art Museum in Casper; and Buffalo Bill Boycott works with Lander elementary school students as a PALS-sponsored residency.
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Wyoming arts council
art is everywhere
Pictured clockwise from upper left): Gillette Chamber Singers perform in Casper (photo by Al Kalbfleisch); One Ton Pig on stage at Jackson Hole Live; Jazz band at MAT Camp in Evanston; paddle art display at Jackson’s Contour Music Festival; and Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours painting session at Sagebrush Community Art Center in Sheridan.
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wyoming arts council
WAC adds three new staff members
Danee Hunzie, the WAC’s new community development and independent music specialist, jumps for joy at the Great Wall of China.
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he Wyoming Arts Council added three new employees over the summer. Rachel Clifton is our new public art and creative sector individuals supervisor, Danee Hunzie is the community development and independent music specialist and Brittany Perez is our new office manager. Let’s meet them.
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Brittany Perez, office manager, and Rachel Clifton, public art and creative sector individuals supervisor, dismantle high school art exhibit in the State Museum lobby.
Rachel Clifton Rachel comes to the Arts Council from the University of Wyoming Art Museum, where she was the assistant curator for nearly seven years. Working with artists was a primary focus of her previous position, and is experience that will help her when working with performing and visual artists around Wyoming. She will also be overseeing the Art in Public Buildings program. Rachel grew up in Pennsylvania and
Wyoming arts council
first moved to Wyoming to attend the University of Wyoming where she received a B.A. in humanities and fine arts. She then went on to earn an M.A. in art history with a concentration in museum studies from the University of Denver. Rachel lives in Laramie with her Wyomingite husband, Pat, and border collie, Loie. They like to explore the state and go fishing and camping. Rachel also runs a small bakery business, Red Chair Bakery.
Danee Hunzie Danee is a Kemmerer native. After completing her bachelor of arts in international studies and political science from the University of Wyoming in 2010, Hunzie spent four years as the assistant director of admissions for UW. She traveled the world promoting UW, and recruiting international students. This past year, she served as UW’s community engagement and service learning coordinator, overseeing curriculum development and community engagement programs for students, staff and faculty. In May 2015, Hunzie completed her M.A. in education administration from the University of Wyoming. Growing up, Hunzie and her family
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traveled to music festivals and concerts around the Rocky Mountain region appreciating the power of music. With hopes of a career in the industry, she began volunteering with the night shows at Cheyenne Frontier Days and other large festivals around the country. She also works with the Academy of Country Music. This is the dream job for Hunzie -- the opportunity to promote Wyoming’s talent and bring communities together in the state she is proud to call home.
Brittany Perez Brittany brings vibrant energy and spunk to the Wyoming Arts Council. Before joining the WAC team she worked at the Laramie Chamber Business Alliance as their marketing director, where she managed the rebrand of the organization. Brittany graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in communication and a minor in marketing from the University of Wyoming. Originally from Cheyenne, she is thrilled to be back in her hometown. When not working, you can find her traveling, cooking and practicing yoga.
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visual arts
schedule announced for Governor’s Capitol Art Exhibition
Governor’s Capitol Art Exhibition 2014
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are utilized to purchase works for the permanent art collection of the Wyoming State Museum.
The juried group show is established to create a dedicated collection of original Wyoming regional art for display in state offices. Works receiving purchase awards join this growing collection of prestigious art. Proceeds realized from additional sales
This year’s exhibit will be at the Wyoming State Museum from January 5-March 5, 2016. Purchase awards will be presented at a reception in February 2016. Statewide access to the show will be provided through the websites of the Wyoming State Museum and the Wyoming Arts Council. The application deadline is Sept. 17. 2015. To apply, go to https://www.callforentry.org
stablished in 2000 under an initiative by Governor Jim Geringer and organized under the auspices of the Wyoming State Museum and the Wyoming Arts Council, the Governor’s Capitol Art Exhibition and Sale celebrates the work of the region’s artists.
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Wyoming arts council
the WAC calendar September
17 18-25 25-26
. . . . . . .Application deadline for Governor’s Capitol Art Exhibition . .”A Rambling Stretch” music tour to eight Wyoming locations . .Equality State Book Festival with reading of WAC creative writing fellowship recipients, Casper
October
3
. . . . . . . .Wyoming Arts Alliance Performing Arts Booking and Independent Music Conference, Sheridan
October
9
. . . . . . . . Postmark deadline for Governor’s Arts Awards nominations
November
12-13
. . .WAC board meeting in Thermopolis
February
25-26 26
. .WAC board meeting, Cheyenne
. . . . . .Governor’s Arts Awards gala and dinner, Cheyenne
For more information, contact the WAC at 307-777-7742 or go to the web site www.wyomingartscouncil.org
Jackson Community School artists turn a bus into a work of art.
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Wyoming Arts Council 2301 Central Avenue Cheyenne, WY 82002
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Cheyenne, WY Permit No. 7
The Wyoming Arts Council provides resources & leadership to help Wyoming communities grow, connect and thrive through the arts.