Posts Tagged ‘Wyoming Arts Council’
The Great Plains, for many an undefinable space, is “….a place that you can feel deep in your bones, a place where you cross into this space where the land is mostly just an anchor for the sky–it’s a place where you can’t open your arms wide enough to take it all in.”
Michael Forsberg’s photographic embrace of America’s great, sweeping prairies Great Plains – America’s Lingering Wild, on display at the National Museum of Wildlife Art (NMWA), reveals that region’s ecosystem’s tender underbelly. The great magic of the plains is mystery—its ability to “camouflage” its own natural wonders.
Nature’s camouflage, though, is natural wonder. In this enchanting exhibition Forsberg wakes us up to the fact that what many people might dismiss as dull, in-the-way detrius is critical foundation for this embattled grassland ecosystem. Like many wildlife photographers, Forsberg
stuffs himself into a bivy and otherwise does what he needs to do to capture his images of wild lands and wild species. But Forsberg’s photography is friendly–not freaky. A wide angle view provides hemispherical landscapes; viewers swim through these prairies, spotting primrose, cougars, bird species, butterflies, tiger salamanders—and of course the great Bison—from behind diving goggles.
You can stand out in the tall grass prairie and not move all day, says Forsberg, and see all sorts of creatures that will come your way. But, he clarifies, you can also just look at your feet and see hundreds of species….(the prairie) is just teeming with life.
Childhood innocence, that scampering into twilight when fireflies commence their blinking. That’s what Forsberg accesses. We’re playing hide-and-seek in these waving, flowered, delicately populated fields. This is a treasure hunt. Forsberg handles his subjects with utmost delicacy, lest they break.
Great Plains – America’s Lingering Wild, remains on display at NMWA through January 30, 2011. www.wildlifeart.org
Item #2
Last week Governor Freudenthal’s office and the Wyoming Arts Council released Wyoming’s Creative Vitality Index.
The (pie chart rich) 107-page report “measures the changes in the economic health of an area by integrating economic data streams from both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. Through per capita measurements of
revenue data from both for-profit and nonprofit entities as well as employment data from a selection of highly creative occupations, the system aggregates the data streams into a single index value that reflects the relative economic health of a geography’s creative economy. The CVI provides an easily understandable measure of economic health to help communicate information from a broad arts coalition to policy makers and stakeholders.” *
Where did this report come from?
“The CVI grew out of a conversation about whether to undertake an economic impact study of the arts. The staff leadership of the Washington State Arts Commission and the Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, in collaboration with others, explored ways to expand and enrich the economic argument for support of the arts and especially public funding of the arts. In doing so, the group was influenced by two national conversations concerning economic development: the defining of a creative economy and the outlining of the concept of economic development clusters. Those conversations did something the nonprofit arts community was very late in doing–they included the related for-profit creative sector in a universe normally reserved for nonprofits.
The public value work articulated by Mark Moore also played a role in the development of the CVI. That work helped the public sector component of the nonprofit arts funding community move away from a perspective oriented toward saving the arts to considering ways to be responsive to what citizens wanted in the arts. The approach also worked to shape agency deliverables to reflect their actual value to the public rather than the value arts aficionados considered them to have for the public.
One result of this influence was that the CVI was developed in a context of thinking in which individuals are assumed to have choices and that, to remain viable, public sector arts funders need to offer choices the public will value and thus select. In this concept of selection is the understanding that choice in the arts ranges outside the nonprofit arts and that the public sector arts agency needs to ensure that such choice is available.” *
You can download the entire report by visiting www.wyomingartscouncil.org. * excerpt from Wy. CVI
Jennifer, we hardly knew you.
I did not have a chance to meet outgoing Art Association Executive Director Jennifer Crawford.
Today, those of us signed up for the Community Foundation’s List Serve read the news that Crawford has resigned her position. Former Art Association Executive Director Karen Stewart will fill in as Interim Director while the Art Association looks for a replacement for Crawford.
“I will continue to enjoy the adventures that Jackson offers, on visits back to friends and family in this beautiful valley. I have an opportunity in Denver that I cannot refuse,” says Crawford. “I plan to continue my work with the Arts and Cultural District of Denver, Colorado as well my research in Arts Education. It was important to notify the Art Association’s Board of Directors of this change as quickly as possible in order to make a transition happen in a seamless manner. I have enjoyed my experience at the Art Association and will miss being a key contributor to this organization, which plays an important role to the community of Jackson Hole.”
Other changes at the Art Association include the departure of former Education Director Amy Larkin and Teton Art Lab’s relocation to new digs in Jackson.
“We will miss Jennifer, her energy and her creativity. She has made significant contributions to the Art Association during her tenure. Our up and coming exhibits, finances, and education programs are stronger because of her,” said Art Association Chair Sally Byrne.
Art Association Vice Chairman John Wright is the contact for more information. email: john@portisgroup.com / phone: 307.733.3939. www.artassociation.org
Contact:
John Wright, Vice Chairman, Art Association of Jackson Hole
john@portisgroup.com
307.733.3939
Item #2
Governor Freudenthal says that “the Cowboy State is also an arts state.”
According to the Wyoming Arts Council Blog, Governor Dave, in conjunction with the Council, will release the Wyoming Creative Vitality Index at a press conference on Wednesday, October 6, at 9 a.m. in front of the sculpture at the Wyoming Governor’s Residence, located at 5001 Central Ave. in Cheyenne.
Straight from the Blog: The Wyoming Creative Vitality Index was conducted by the Western States Arts Federation and shows that the Cowboy State is also an Arts State, and that the Arts contribute substantially to Wyoming’s economy. The report will be available at the press conference. Rita Basom, manager of the Wyoming Arts Council, said the CVI, which tracks change over time, provides information that will help to diversify the Wyoming economy and improve community vitality.
“The presence of a strong creative community in Wyoming positively impacts Cultural Tourism in the state, and reinforces the importance of Arts Education in our schools,” Basom said. “We’re excited to share this information with the public,” she added.
The full text of the Wyoming Creative Vitality Index will be up on the Wyoming Arts Council web site on Oct. 6.
Jackson artist Suzanne Morlock recently removed herself from one icy environment to take up artistic residence in another. Six months ago Morlock, an 18-year Teton County Library staff member, felt the time was right to shift focus and spend all her time working on her passion—creating art.
So she went to Iceland.
“I wanted to do an artist residency–a chance for an artist to remove themselves from daily routines, environments and responsibilities,” says Morlock. “Artists do residencies with individual goals in mind: start and finish a project while shaking up their practice. There can be myriad goals for a residency.”
Morlock set her sights on Skagaströnd, Iceland after briefly visiting there in March of 2007. Taken by its beautiful landscapes she vowed to return. In Iceland, Morlock settled on the concept of creating a site specific installation based on what she learned about the community. Skagaströnd, a fishing and trading port, has a population of 500 and is located on the east shore of the bay Húnaflói, in northwestern Iceland. She wanted to go where knitting and fishing were important cultural attributes; fish imagery has been integral to her work and “her own personal narrative.” Knitting, as an art form, has gained favor with Morlock; last April she created a site specific piece in Le Vigan France, forming old newspaper into a “yarn,” and knitting it with 1.5″ PVC pipe knitting needles.
Morlock used giant trawler fishing cable spools — metal cable is used in large fishing nets– in creating her work. Emptied spools aren’t returned to the UK, where the cable comes from, because of the expense; a fact that made the spools even more intriguing. She used “fine net-like material” found in black trash bags too fragile for fishing; it was in fact old covering for hay bales.
How are sites for site-specific art installations chosen?
Morlock says that sites are determined by the artist based on concepts or goals. “The term ‘site specific’ refers to a particular place where the art is installed or arranged,” she explains. “The concept of installation art often provides more sensory input for the viewer and typically includes a three dimensional array, may include sound, movement or other components not typical of more static two dimensional art. Space and time take on different connotations. The term began to be used in the 1970s and continues to describe a common genre of art work. The works may be temporary or permanent and often are documented by the artist via 
photography. One of the attractions I have to installation work is its ephemeral nature and inability to be commodified.”
Although she’s unsure of the status of public art in Iceland, Morlock says that installation artists exist, though their work may not be public. Installation artist Olafur Eliasson (NYC Waterfalls) is 
a favorite. When asked what motivates public art in Iceland (conservation, industry, politics, etc…) she says Reykjavik (where Yoko Ono will celebrate John Lennon’s 70th birthday!) has some great contemporary art facilities. A few galleries such as Kling and Bang offer cutting edge contemporary art.
“In less urban areas I suspect crafts such as knitting and felting maybe be more dominant. Design work seems to be another sensibility, although I really didn’t spend much time in towns other than the one I was working in. The town of Blonduos there was a Textile Museum exhibiting historic and contemporary textile works.”
Morlock will create public art for Jackson’s ArtSpot this winter and plans on using cast-off materials and knitting. The piece will be specific to Jackson’s environmental and social influences.
Morlock carries fond memories of Iceland. ”The morning I left to come home I observed a fisherman walking by the area and staring at the spool. While it would have be interesting to hear what he had to say, it’s almost more fun to imagine what he was thinking.”
View Morelock’s work on her website: www.suzannemorlock.com
Item #2:
The Casper Star Tribune announced early Saturday morning (Sept. 25, 2010) that Jackson painter Fred Kingwill’s watercolor, “Christmas in the Tetons,” has been selected as the official painting of Wyoming’s 2010 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree. The Bridger-Teton National Forest and the Wyoming Arts Council sponsored a statewide artists’ competition and juried art exhibition to select the painting. Nine more selected works will be posted at capitolchristmastree2010.org; the general public may vote for the People’s Choice Award. Voting begins September 27, and runs through October 8, 2010.
Kingwill’s painting will be presented to the Forest Service chief in December; the work will be exhibited in the his office for one year before joining a permanent collection of tree portraits. The painting will hang in the chief’s office for a year and then join “The Tree Gallery,” a permanent collection of tree portraits.
Kingwill is an award-winning artist who teaches and leads workshops throughout the West. He also worked for the Kingwill was a Forest Service for 30 years, and teaches painting in Jackson, Wyoming, and throughout the West.
The University of Wyoming’s Art Museum has a great blog (I’d be happy to trade links with them) with lots of cool information on what’s going on in the arts in Laramie and around Wyoming. Last summer I met a representative—and please forgive my forgetting her name—of the university’s Artmobile Program, who tipped me off about the bus and its mission.
It is, specifically, the Ann Simpson Artmobile Program, a statewide visual arts outreach. Named for former Senator Alan Simpson’s wife Ann, the ArtMobile provides interaction with visual arts to “…audiences across the 97,914 square miles of Wyoming, visiting K-12 schools, state park visitor centers, libraries, senior centers, and other community-accessible locations in towns throughout the state.” Funding for U.W.’s magic bus is provided by an anonymous donor and its contents and programs utilize exhibition artwork from the museum. Presentations and events are followed up by discussion and other activities.
The Artmobile visits remote Wyoming communities with programs geared for children and adults, reaching remote populations that otherwise lack exposu
re to visual arts. For those people, the Artmobile is a breath of fresh air. And fresh paint! The Artmobile is even on Facebook.
Jackson is awash in arts initiatives; I’ve never seen U.W.’s Artmobile come to town but perhaps we should invite them. Do a little exchange, partner up! Might there be a new way to paint the Tetons? Even here, many residents and kids could benefit from additional arts exposure. Funding for such enterprises is in flux, and in addition to its anonymous donor, the Artmobile operates with funding from the Julienne Michel Foundation, the FMC Corporation, Helga and Erivan Haub, and Ann and Alan Simpson, and the Wyoming Arts Council. The latter is funded by the Wyoming legislature via the National Endowment for the Arts.
Contact Artmobile’s curator Beth Wetzbarger to find out more. 307.399.2941 or email artmobile@uwyo.edu. Beth, perhaps it was you I met last summer, in Jackson, at Jill Callaway’s pot luck? A pleasure.
Item #2:
Art speed dating!
It’s already time for the UW Art Museum’s fifth annual 20:20 art slam. Presenters show 20 images of their work for a 20-second duration–total presentation time is 6 minutes, 40 seconds, allowing for 20 participants.
Visual artists from around the state may sign up, but sign up is done on a first-come, first-served basis. So, signing up is fast, too. You must submit your images in a PowerPoint format and submissions are due by Friday, April 9, 2010. The show will take place in Casper at the Hilton Garden Inn on April 23, from 8-10 pm.
The museum notes that 20:20′s format is “borrowed from a program that was first developed in Japan by two architects who were looking for a new way to present design ideas in an upbeat and exciting way. Events like 20:20 now occur internationally as specially organized evening events where the focus is on sharing information and community participation.”
20:20 Statewide is another venue for sharing ideas about the visual arts from around Wyoming. Saturday evening, April 24, a reception hosted by the Wyoming Arts Council will honor 2010′s visual arts fellowship recipients. An artist roundtable discussion follows the awards.
For more information on 20:20, or to sign up, please contact UW Art Museum Assistant Curator Rachel Miller at 307.766.6621 or rmiller@uwyo.edu.
Wildlife photographer Tom Mangelsen’s October presentation at the National Museum of Wildlife Art was so packed, they had to send people away. So, Mangelsen is generously presenting his program again–at NMWA–on Thursday, November 19th, at 7:00 p.m. Mangelsen will talk about his nature photography, specifically the work now on view at the Museum. That exhibition, “The Natural World: Photographs by Thomas D. Mangelsen,” is on display through April 25th, 2009.
I can make this one, yay! By the way, the last post on Mangelsen’s show was Twittered about, out in the enviromental-creative universe….proof we’re all connected. Proof that Wyoming’s artists are among the best in the world when it comes to representing this powerful place.
For information, give NMWA a call at 307.733.5771 or log on to www.wildlifeart.org.
Item #2: Repeat Arts Grant Opportunities
A second deadline has been added to receive grant money from Art Works of Wyoming (AWW), a Wyoming Arts Council program. Funding comes from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Timeline is as follows:
- December 11, 2009 2nd deadline to apply for AWW funds.
- February 11-12, 2010 WAC Board meeting and 2nd Art Works for Wyoming Panel.
- February 19, 2010 Award letters for second funding deadline issued.
For full details and guidelines, log onto the Wyoming Arts website here.
Item #3:
Colorado landscape painter David W. Mayer’s paintings “Autumn at String Lake” and “Spring Runoff” are to be included in the C.M. Russell Art Auction, in Great Falls, Montana next Spring. The auction takes place March 17-20.
Mayer, a colleague of painters Scott Christensen, T. Allen Lawson and other painters; he is an acolyte of such writers and artists as Richard Schmid, Edgar Payne, Joaquin Sorolla and the California Impressionists.
The C.M. Russell Art Auction is juried.
