Wyoming Folk & Arts

WAC is offering several professional development opportunities in the arts this summer. The classes offer opportunities to learn and hone arts skills, and get credit towards re-certification or lane changes! Classes are open to anyone interested. Classes are:

Bronze Casting & Printmaking
Issues in Teaching Ceramics
Build a Raku Kiln!
Beginning Glass, Riverton, June 13-15
Advanced Fused & Slumped Glass, Riverton, June 19-24
Theatre Intensive, Casper, July 24-29
Vocal Jazz Camp, Douglas, July 25-27
For more information, see www.wyoarts.org

When the University of Wyoming Artmobile rumbles into Thermopolis, Tuesday, May 3, it will bring original art from Wyoming artists and from the University of Wyoming Art Museum’s permanent collection.

But most of all it brings an enthusiastic curator, Beth Wetzbarger, who brings new ideas to students in the classroom – and the opportunity to make their own art.

The Ann Simpson Artmobile “Art Express” Program has provided statewide outreach in the visual arts for 28 years. Activities and lessons are designed to meet state education standards.

A free public viewing of the artworks included in this year’s Artmobile tour will be held Tues., May 3, 10-11 a.m., in room 2004 of the Hot Springs High School.

The Artmobile will be in Thermopolis Tues-Thurs., May 3-5. The local activities are organized by Hot Springs Greater Learning Foundation working with Hot Springs County Schools and the Anne Simpson Artmobile.

Wetzbarger uses the artworks as a jumping-off point for students to learn how art is created – and to try it for themselves. This year’s workshops include monochromatic color, how different colors affect the art itself, and building special objects, or “reliquaries.” Students look at special places, how they have been depicted historically and what they mean to the culture and themselves. “It involves critical thinking – analysis, history, drawing on their own experiences and creating meaning – and art – from that,” explained Jacky Wright, Broadway Bygones, who coordinates special programming with the schools.

The Artmobile is funded in part by the Julienne Michel Foundation, FMC Corporation, Helga and Erivan Haub, Ann and Alan Simpson, and an anonymous donor. The van is provided by FMC Corporation and the McMurry Foundation. Additional support is provided by the Wyoming Arts Council and the Ann Simpson Artmobile Endowment

When Jacky Wright, Broadway Bygones, describes the activities that Hot Springs Greater Learning Foundation helped sponsor or support in 2010, it’s a little like listening to the 12 days of Christmas – “11 bluegrass jams, 9 school residencies, 4 classical musicians, 3 house concerts,” and more.

Wright serves as the Foundation’s volunteer public education liaison, focusing on school programs. “It’s my job to help find performers and work out schedules with teachers and administrators so programs fit into specific school classes,” she explained.

This last year, the Foundation sponsored seven artists in the schools, covering arts, music, drama and writing. They included Bob Berky, Jackson, nationally acclaimed clown/mime/actor and director; Colin Ross, Nevada, jazz and rag-time piano and guitar; Bryan Ragsdale, Wyoming country-western singer; David Romtvedt, Wyoming state poet laureate and button accordion player; Dr. Karl Milner, Gillette, regional rock art specialist; and The Cantrells, Nashville, folk-bluegrass musicians.

“How many students get an opportunity to sit down with a professional artist who has worked around the world, to talk about what kind of dedication and skills it takes to be a performer?” she asked. “How many times can they actually work with them directly to learn a new skill or improve a technique? Small group contact is a rare experience, and it can have long-term effect. Getting to write a song with someone like Bryan Ragsdale is something they are not going to forget.”

Wright says that studies consistently show that the arts are critical to a community and to learning. “Participation in the arts helps young people develop the critical thinking skills that helps them perform in the workplace today – even if they are in science or mathematics.

“It also makes a community a more exciting place to live – and that tends to attract more people. When people or companies look to move someplace, they want to know what cultural activities are there – classes for their kids, activities for aging parents. They want to know what there is to do.”

Such programs do not come cheap. “We spend a lot of time raising funds – writing grants, soliciting funding,” she said. “It’s especially difficult in a small community where there are so few large corporate citizens. It falls back to our neighbors and friends.”

The Foundation is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization, and it works closely with the Wyoming Arts Council, Wyoming Humanities Council and the Western Arts Federation. “The Wyoming Arts Alliance keeps us posted on what artists might be passing through or performing nearby. That helps cut down on travel expenses. But grants rarely cover the artist fees, and certainly door fees don’t cover costs. So the group has to be very creative in finding enough funds.

“In a community our size, there is rarely an opportunity to break even. But our goal has been to find ways to see that anyone can attend. For that reason most tickets are less than $10, with discounts for students and seniors. You’ll pay two or three times that price to see the same performance in Casper.”

Although the school programs are Wright’s main focus, she also works with the artists on organizing public performances. “Our mission is life-long learning,” she said. “So we try to get the most out of an artist when he or she is here. Colin Ross had done a lot of hospital and hospice work, so we were able to get him to play programs at the Senior Citizens Center and the Pioneer Home.

“We do bring in a few who just give a public performance – such as the Shakespeare in the Park theater troupe and the Piatigorsky Foundation touring classical musicians.”

Last year the Foundation sponsored at least one event every month. A number of them were provided to the public without charge. “Many people assume if it’s free or cheap, it must not be good,” Wright said. “But on the other hand, if we charge city prices, we get fewer who attend – and then we haven’t served the community as well. It’s hard to strike a balance and pay the bills.”

In addition to outside artists, the Foundation also organized a number of other activities last year. In January, the Foundation held the first Big Horn Basin Outdoor Symposium, with Dr. Randall Eaton, Cincinnati, as keynote speaker. Many state agencies sent individuals to participate as panelists. “We are hoping to expand on this first effort,” said Wright.

The Foundation has also supported the downtown community outdoor art project which has promoted “street art,” Community Arts Month in October, and co-sponsored the kite flying activity in Hot Springs State Park, and the recent quilt exhibit at Hot Springs County Museum.

“The bluegrass music jams have been really good for the community,” said Wright. “Ed and Phyllis Capen organized a monthly jam at Southside Shell, with the help of Joan and Zieb Stetler and their Bluegrass Academy Group.”

The Capens also served as lead organizers for the Old-time Fiddle Contest for the last five years. “The Fiddle Contest was the Foundation’s most costly project, both in time and money. It was almost a full-time job by itself. The judges, awards and national fees, plus certain national restrictions, made it very expensive,” Wright said. “And there just did not seem to be enough interest and attendance at the time of year to which we were restricted. So after the 2010 performance, we decided to drop the contest. That was really a difficult decision for us.”

Wright, who is a naturalized citizen originally from the British Isles, believes it is important to give back to the community. “If we don’t, who will? As a citizen we have a responsibility to make our town a better place. And it’s important to set an example for our children.

“And it’s really rewarding,” she said, then added, “we need more volunteers and donors.”

If you are interested in helping, contact Wright at Broadway Bygones, 307-864-4070.

Coming Soon Our Calendar of Events for 2011

October has been officially proclaimed Community Arts Month by Thermopolis Mayor Bill Malloy and the Town Council.

Continue reading →

First, it was chairs. Then birdhouses. What next?

Look to the sky for the Third Annual Community Arts Project – wind art. “If it moves, it qualifies,” said Toddi Darlington, who heads the project.

“Kites – windmills – garden art – whirligigs – anything that turns, twists, pumps or is activated by wind.”

The project is designed to use art to promote the community – a focus of the Wyoming Arts Council’s economic development and the arts programs.

“Colorful art attracts tourists,” Darlington said. “They stop to see it – talk about it – and they stay in the downtown area longer. That’s good for business. We are hoping that people will create more street art this year.”

Anyone can enter. “You don’t have to be a downtown business,” Darlington said. “If you want to build something, bring it in — we’ll find a place to show it off.”

The art can be made of fabric, metal, cardboard, scrap. “This is a great project for kids,” she said. “There’s a special category for them as well as for groups or special classes.”

The project will culminate with a Wind Art/Kite Festival to be held August

13-14 in Hot Springs State Park. Don Murphy, regional director for the National Kiteflyers Association, will conduct a workshop, demonstration and a kite flying contest. The art will be auctioned off at a live auction fundraiser.

The Community Art Project is sponsored by Hot Springs Greater Learning Foundation in conjunction with the Wyoming Arts Council and Thermopolis Chamber of Commerce.

Entry fee is $10. Entry forms are available at the Chamber office or participating businesses. The form is also available online at www.hsglf.org.

Click here for printable pdf form