The 10th annual Ucross Community Christmas Celebration will be held at 4 p.m. sharp on Saturday, December 17, at the Raymond Plank Center. The family-friendly festivities are open to all, with free tickets available here.
 
Following a decade of tradition, bestselling author and Ucross neighbor Craig Johnson will give a special reading of a new short Christmas story featuring his beloved character, Walt Longmire. In addition, the Buffalo High School Balladiers will sing Christmas carols, and Ucross will offer crafts for children and festive refreshments. The evening will culminate with cannon fire, fireworks, and the lighting of Christmas trees in The Park at Ucross.

In the spirit of Christmas, Ucross invites guests to bring canned goods and non-perishable food items for families in need. After the event, Ucross staff will distribute the donated items to several local community food pantries.  

“We look forward to enjoying our annual Christmas traditions with our friends and neighbors,” said Ucross President William Belcher. “And for a special addition for our 10th anniversary, we are thrilled to present an original piece by a Ucross alumna, Anne Guzzo.”

The celebration will feature Two Pieces for Clarinet (2007), composed by Anne Guzzo of Laramie, Wyoming, and performed by Stephanie Zelnick of Lawrence, Kansas. Guzzo, a former Ucross artist in residence, is an internationally performed and award-winning composer and a professor at the University of Wyoming. Zelnick, Guzzo’s longtime collaborator, is the principal clarinet of the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra and the professor of clarinet at the University of Kansas.

Guzzo composed Two Pieces for Clarinet for Zelnick during a series of winter storms and subsequent walks along the Laramie River.

“Before writing the piece, I’d had a number of conversations with Stephanie about the clarinet’s rich and often lonely quality,” Guzzo said. “We had also spoken of our shared love of the geography and nature of Wyoming, and the two ideas— a sense of place and solitude—inspired this movement.”

The second movement is a musical interpretation of the conversational style between Guzzo and Zelnick: “one that is fast-paced, going on tangents, returning to topic, serious, silly and thoroughly enjoyable,” Guzzo explained. 

At the conclusion of the evening, a cannon will be fired by Ucross neighbor Joe Reed with Lauren Anderson, the former principal ballet dancer for the Houston Ballet and one of the Houston Ballet’s most beloved performers, to announce the start of a spectacular fireworks display by Bruce Burns and his expert crew. The festivities will be underscored by the lighting of the Christmas trees, which the Powder River Energy Corporation team will again volunteer to string with lights across The Park at Ucross.

The day’s festivities will also include a special event that morning, when Ucross will host the ribbon-cutting for the new Lauren Anderson Dance Studio and Koehler Performing Arts Center. The public is welcome to attend. Details will be available on Ucross’s website.

The Raymond Plank Center is located at the intersection of Highways 14 and 16 East in Ucross (Google Maps directions here). For further information, call 307-737-2291.


​Photos from the 2021 festivities by Ucross Fellow Anna Paige

Ucross, the acclaimed artist residency program in northern Wyoming, announced today that it will reopen the Ucross Art Gallery on November 4 with a new exhibition titled Time, Mark, Memory: Ucross at 40. The public is invited to the opening reception on Friday, November 4, at 6 p.m.

The gallery, which has been closed for 12 months to undergo a major renovation as part of the nonprofit organization’s 40th Anniversary Campaign, extends Ucross’s mission into its community by offering exhibitions, events, and educational arts activities to the public. 

The newly renovated interior of the Ucross Art Gallery features a two-story central room, allowing for large-scale works of art, such as sculptures and installations. In addition, the gallery offers expanded wall space, a digital media room, art receiving and storage space, a collaborative meeting room, and upgraded lighting and technology, as well as vastly improved accessibility. 

“We are excited to show the community what we’ve been working on,” said Ucross President William Belcher. “The renovation and updated gallery design make large group shows like Time, Mark, Memory: Ucross at 40 possible, and Leah Ollman has done a wonderful job developing a show that fits the new space.”

​THE EXHIBITION

Curated by Ucross Fellow and arts writer Leah Ollman, Time, Mark, Memory features the work of 15 contemporary visual artists from Ucross’s impressive roster of visual arts alumni. 

Ollman is an accomplished arts journalist, essayist and critic. She has been writing about art for the Los Angeles Times since 1987, and she has served as corresponding editor for Art in America since 1997. Her articles and reviews have also appeared in such publications as The Brooklyn Rail, Sculpture, Paris Review Daily, Photograph, Art in Print, History of Photography and ARTnews, among others. She started work as a guest curator for Time, Mark, Memory in late 2021.
 
“Time became the throughline of this exhibition not only because the show celebrates an anniversary — the 40th year of the Ucross residency program — but because a residency is, essentially, a gift of time,” said Ollman. “I wanted to consider how ‘residency time’ differs from ordinary time and to reckon more broadly with how time is experienced, physically, intellectually, and emotionally.”

The Ucross alumni-artists selected for Time, Mark, Memory include recipients of many prestigious awards and honors in the field, including Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant awards, United States Artists Fellowships, Creative Capital Awards, the Herb Albert Award in the Arts, Guggenheim Fellowships, and others.  

The exhibiting artists include Michael Berman of Silver City, New Mexico; Arminée Chahbazian of Calistoga, California; Jennifer Garza-Cuen of Corpus Christi, Texas; Munson Hunt of Santa Fe, New Mexico; Shanti Grumbine of New Paltz, New York; Sharon Harper of Cambridge, Massachusetts; Lisa Hochstein of Santa Cruz, California; Elizabeth Hohimer of Marfa, Texas; Bill Morrison of New York, New York; Jenene Nagy of Riverside, California; Sarah McKenzie of Boulder, Colorado; Stephen Vitiello of Richmond, Virginia; Sarah Walker of New York, New York; Anne Wilson of Chicago, Illinois; and Katarina Wong of Santa Fe, New Mexico, New York, New York, and Havana, Cuba.

The new gallery provided Ollman with the opportunity to fill the space with a variety of media and forms, including photographs, sculpture, audio installation, video, and mixed media. The works range from Hohimer’s Laying Halfway in the Shade in dirt-dyed cotton to Morrison’s short film LIGHT IS CALLING to Hunt’s Torso, a 150-pound sculpture in charred walnut.

“Whatever their medium, whether fiber or film, paint, pencil or photography, the 15 artists in the show engage with the complexity of time and make its elusive nature materially compelling,” Ollman said. “My own Ucross residency almost a decade ago was a tremendously formative and nourishing experience. Curating this show was an honor for me and a way to pay tribute to both the generous enterprise that is Ucross and to the residency program's nearly 1,000 visual arts alumni.”

Time, Mark, Memory will run from November 4 through January 20.

The exhibition is sponsored by the Wyoming Arts Council, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Wyoming Legislature, and Arete Design Group.

Ucross announced today the launch of a new volunteer program in support of the Ucross Art Gallery, which will reopen this fall after an extensive renovation. The nonprofit arts organization is seeking volunteers who are interested in local history, contemporary art, and community engagement. No prior experience is necessary.

“This is an exciting opportunity to take part in Ucross’s vision for the future and its connection to the local community,” said Ucross Communications and Special Events Manager Caitlin Addlesperger. “We are looking for individuals who are passionate about the role that the arts play in the region, as well as those interested in Ucross’s mission, artists, and programming.”

Ucross Art Gallery is an extension of Ucross’s mission to foster the creative spirit of artists and groups by providing uninterrupted time, studio space, living accommodations, and the experience of the majestic High Plains while serving as a responsible steward of its 20,000-acre ranch. 

The gallery presents three exhibitions each year. Each exhibition is accompanied by related educational programming including public workshops, artist talks, and guided tours. The exhibition schedule focuses on outstanding Ucross alumni, and it includes an annual show featuring the recipients of the Ucross Fellowship for Native American Visual Artists. 

Ucross Art Gallery volunteers will welcome visitors to the space, answer questions about the program and community, support public events, and assist customers in the gift shop. Training will be provided. Volunteers will enjoy special gallery benefits, including invitations to exclusive events, a gift shop discount, and a recognition luncheon, among other benefits. 

A limited number of volunteer positions are available. The application deadline is October 10, with training slated to begin October 21. To apply, click here, call 307-737-2291, or fill out a print application at 30 Big Red Lane in Ucross.

Upon reopening this fall, the Ucross Art Gallery’s hours of operation will be Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. or by appointment. The Ucross Art Gallery is free and open to the public.

Ucross announced today that Julie Klett is the new manager of its acclaimed artist residency program in northern Wyoming.

A native of rural New Hampshire, Klett joins Ucross with two decades of experience in project management, marketing, and development, paired with a background in the arts. Most recently, she produced events for the Town of Estes Park, Colorado. Other key professional positions include communications director for the New Hampshire Audubon and director of donor relations for the Rocky Mountain Conservancy, for which she helped raise millions of dollars. 

Klett is a painter who has been awarded artist residencies at the former Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts in Saratoga, Wyoming, and Borgo Santo Pietro in Tuscany, Italy. Her work has been shown in New Hampshire and Colorado. Klett also has been a production director and DJ for an alternative music radio station. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Journalism from the University of New Hampshire. 

“Julie will be a wonderful addition to the team at Ucross,” said Ucross President William Belcher. “Her perspective as an artist who has experienced residencies, along with her on-the-ground work in customer service and donor relations, make her uniquely qualified to serve as residency manager.”

In her role, Klett will support the visual artists, writers, composers, and choreographers who enjoy uninterrupted time, studio space, living accommodations, meals by a professional chef, and the experience of the majestic High Plains on Ucross’s 20,000-acre ranch. Residencies are awarded to 100 artists each year; 10 artists are in residence at one time.

“Ucross is a beautiful and biodiverse place,” Klett said. “I look forward to sharing my love for the Great Plains and ensuring that our artists-in-residence have the best possible experience while they are here.”

Since 1983, Ucross has provided more than 2,500 residencies to distinguished fellows such as Annie Proulx, Terry Tempest Williams, Elizabeth Gilbert, Ann Patchett, Ricky Ian Gordon, Bill Morrison, Theaster Gates, Anthony Hernandez, and Tayari Jones. National Book Award winners Susan Choi, Sigrid Nunez, and Sarah M. Broom have been residents, as have Academy Award and Tony winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, Emmy Award winner Billy Porter, recent Pulitzer Prize winners Michael R. Jackson and Colson Whitehead, and three-term United States Poet Laureate Joy Harjo.

Ucross announced today the addition of three new trustees to its board: Tracy Boyle of Sheridan, Wyoming; Greg Hill of Wilson, Wyoming, and Houston, Texas; and Roger B. Plank of Ucross, Wyoming, and Houston, Texas. This marks the second tenure on the Ucross board for Plank, who is the son of Ucross founder and longtime chairman, Raymond Plank.

“As Ucross approaches our 40th year, we are honored to welcome these three new trustees to the board,” said Ucross President William Belcher. “Their expertise, their affinity for Wyoming, and their enthusiasm for Ucross’s history, mission, and programs will contribute to our continued success as both an important artist residency program and a vibrant Wyoming institution.”

In addition to the new trustees, the Ucross board comprises Jim Nelson, Chair (Big Horn, Wyoming); Susan Miller, Vice President (Sheridan, Wyoming); Charlie Hart, Secretary (Big Horn, Wyoming); Kim Cannon (Big Horn, Wyoming); Chad Deaton (Jackson, Wyoming, and Houston, Texas); Steve Farris (Ucross, Wyoming, and Houston, Texas); Lisa Hatchadoorian (Fort Collins, Colorado); Jesse Marion (Houston, Texas); Kate Schutt (New York, New York); and Scott Manning Stevens (Syracuse, New York). 

The three new board members bring a blend of arts, philanthropy, and high-level leadership experience to Ucross.

Boyle, an avid photographer and watercolor artist, studied at the National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts in New York City. She and her husband, Bobby, moved to Sheridan from New Jersey four years ago, after more than 30 years of summer visits to Eatons’ Ranch in Wolf, Wyoming. She now serves on the National Advisory Committee at The Brinton Museum and on the board of SAGE Community Arts. Boyle graduated from Hobart and William Smith Colleges with a bachelor’s degree in religious studies, raised four children in New Jersey, and has seven grandchildren. She is an active member of the United States Women’s Seniors Golf Association and enjoys horseback riding and bridge.

A Wyoming native and graduate of the University of Wyoming, Hill is President and Chief Operating Officer of Hess Corporation, a global independent energy company. Prior to joining Hess in 2009, Hill spent 25 years at Shell in a variety of operations, engineering, technical, and business leadership roles in Asia Pacific, Europe, and the United States. Hill is a member of The WYldlife Fund, chaired the Wyoming ENDOW initiative to develop a 20-year economic diversification plan for the state of Wyoming, and serves as an emeritus member of the University of Wyoming Foundation board.

Plank is Founder and Chairman of Apex International Energy, a privately-held upstream oil and gas company operating in the Western Desert of Egypt. Plank was previously President and Chief Corporate Officer of Apache Corporation, where he worked for 32 years. Apache is a large, international upstream oil and gas company founded in 1954 by Plank’s father, Ucross founder Raymond Plank. Roger Plank formerly served on the Board of Directors of Newfield Exploration and Parker Drilling Company. He is a trustee of Houston’s Alley Theatre and co-chaired a campaign that funded its complete renovation. Plank is a long-time Ucross supporter, having served as a trustee from 1996 to 2010. He earned an economics degree from Colgate University and an MBA from St. Thomas University in his original hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

“Feedback from our artists always mentions that it is our location in Wyoming on a 20,000-acre working cattle ranch that sparks their creativity in ways never imagined,” Ucross Board Chair Jim Nelson said. “I am excited that each of our new trustees brings a passion for Wyoming and history which sets our program apart from other artist residencies.”

This week, artists from across the nation began the seasonal migration to Ucross for the start of the artist residency program’s Fall 2022 session. 

From August through early December, 55 visual artists, writers, composers, choreographers, and interdisciplinary artists will be at Ucross, which is located on a historic 20,000-acre ranch in the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains in northern Wyoming. An independent jury comprised of artists and leaders in the field selected the fellows from nearly 400 applicants, as well as a dozen partners.

Notable Ucross Fellows this session include Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning composer Michael R. Jackson of New York, New York; acclaimed visual artist Kunlin He of San Francisco, California; writer, poet and critic Gabriela Jauregui of Mexico City, Mexico; famed singer-songwriter Ceci Bastida of Pasadena, CA; PEN/Hemingway Award finalist Regina Porter of Brooklyn, New York; multidisciplinary creator and director of site-specific experiences Annie Saunders of Los Angeles, California; and award-winning novelist Dana Spiotta of Syracuse, New York.

“Ucross is thrilled to welcome this inspiring group of artists to the majestic High Plains of Wyoming,” said Ucross President William Belcher. “This session’s artists will travel here from 17 states, as well as Mexico and England. We are honored to provide uninterrupted time and space in an unparalleled setting to these artists to further their artistic vision.”

Ucross residencies range from two to six weeks, with a maximum of 10 artists in residence at one time. Fellows receive a private studio, living accommodations, meals by a professional chef, and cross-cultural and interdisciplinary conversation among the cohort, as well as the experience of working in northern Wyoming. In addition, Ucross continues to provide invited applicants with a $1,000 stipend to defray the cost of travel and other expenses. 

This session’s roster includes general Ucross residents who applied through the open call to artists across disciplines; recipients of the Ucross Fellowships for Native American Visual Artists and Writers; and residents joining the program through partnerships with esteemed national organizations, including the Aura Estrada Prize, Yale School of Music, the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University, the Alley Theatre, Toi Derricotte/Cave Canem, the Ford Family Foundation, the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel, the Herb Alpert Award in the Arts, the Blank Theatre, Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, and UCLA Center for the Art of Performance.
 
The Fall 2022 Ucross Fellows are:

LITERATURE
Liz Duffy Adams, Playwriting, Northampton, MA; Alley Theatre 
S. Erin Batiste, Poetry/Interdisciplinary, Brooklyn, NY; Toi Derricotte/Cave Canem 
Eric Glover, Dramaturg/Drama Critic, New Haven, CT; David Geffen School of Drama at Yale
Katherine Gwynn, Playwriting, Chicago, IL; Blank Theatre
Chad Harbach, Fiction, Charlottesville, VA; PEN/Hemingway Award 
Esther Hayes, Fiction, Fort Collins, CO
Ella Hickson, Playwriting, London, U.K.
Philip Howze, Playwriting, Brooklyn, NY; Alley Theatre
Gabriela Jauregui, Fiction, Mexico City, Mexico
Lee Clay Johnson, Fiction, Granville, NY
Jessica Kahkoska, Playwriting, Poughkeepsie, NY; Alley Theatre
Meghan Kenny, Fiction, Lancaster, PA; PEN/Hemingway Award
Sonali Kohli, Nonfiction, Los Angeles, CA
Ellen Shirazi Liu, Nonfiction, Potomac, MD
Madison McCartha, Poetry, Santa Cruz, CA
Cindy Juyoung Ok, Poetry, Iowa City, IA
Tochukwu Okafor, Fiction, Worcester, MA
Regina Porter, Fiction, Brooklyn, NY; PEN/Hemingway Award
Natanya Pulley, Nonfiction, Colorado Springs, CO; Ucross Fellowship for Native American Writers
Lauren Russell, Poetry, East Lansing, MI
Natalia Sánchez Loayza, Nonfiction, Brooklyn, NY; Aura Estrada Prize
Shaina Shealy, Nonfiction, Washington, D.C.
Mary South, Fiction, New York, NY
Dana Spiotta, Fiction, Syracuse, NY
David Ulin, Nonfiction, Los Angeles, CA
David Heska Wanbli Weiden, Fiction, Highlands Ranch, CO

MUSIC/DANCE
Ceci Bastida, Music Composition, Pasadena, CA
Andrew Raffo Dewar, Music Composition, Tuscaloosa, AL
Guillermo Galindo, Music Composition, Oakland, CA; Herb Alpert Award
Michael R. Jackson, Music Composition, New York, NY
Florrie Marshall, Music Composition/Violinist, Hamden, CT; Yale School of Music
Alexander Noice, Music Composition, Los Angeles, CA
Shamie Royston, Music Composition/Pianist, Piscataway, NJ; Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice
Andrew Samarasekara, Violinist, Surrey, U.K.; Yale School of Music

VISUAL ARTS
Karl Burkheimer, Drawing/Sculpture, Portland, OR; Ford Family Foundation 
Dee Etzwiler, New Genre/Digital Art, Eugene, OR
Marsha Goldberg, Painting/Drawing, Highland Park, NJ
Monica Goldsmith, Painting, Carbondale, CO
Marcie Miller Gross, Multimedia, Kansas City, MO
Kunlin He, Multimedia, San Francisco, CA
Vesna Jovanovic, Drawing/Painting/Mixed Media, Chicago, IL
Joanne Lefrak, Drawing, Santa Fe, NM
Regina Martinez, Film/Video, Chicago, IL
Gail D. Panske, Printmaking/Drawing, Oshkosh, WI
Mikayla Patton, Installation/Mixed Media/Sculpture, Roswell, NM; Ucross Fellowship for Native American Visual Artists
Liza Phillips, Painting/Mixed Media/Drawing, Narrowsburg, NY
Annie Saunders, Multidisciplinary/Performance, Los Angeles, CA; UCLA CAP
Jane Schiffhauer, Sculpture, Portland, OR; Ford Family Foundation
Andrew Schneider, Interdisciplinary, Brooklyn, NY
Matthew Thomas, Draw/Mixed Media/ Performance, Taos, NM
Shane Tolbert, Draw/Mixed Media/Painting, Santa Fe, NM
Seth Tummins, Painting, Waverly, TN
Mel Watkin, Drawing/Painting, Cobden, IL
Fumiyo Yoshikawa, Installation/Painting, Albany, CA

Since Ucross’s first residencies were awarded in 1983, more than 2,500 artists have received the gift of time and space. Distinguished Fellows include Annie Proulx, Terry Tempest Williams, Elizabeth Gilbert, Ann Patchett, Ricky Ian Gordon, Bill Morrison, Theaster Gates, Anthony Hernandez, and Tayari Jones. Recent National Book Award winners Susan Choi, Sigrid Nunez, and Sarah M. Broom have been residents, as have Academy Award and Tony winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, Emmy Award winner Billy Porter, recent Pulitzer Prize winner Colson Whitehead, and three-term U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo.

Ucross is currently accepting applications for the Spring 2023 session. More information about the artist residency program is available here.

Monday evening, Ucross celebrated its longstanding partnership with the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel during a dinner attended by more than 100 participants of the International Hemingway Society Conference at Sheridan College. Kevin Powers of Fernandina Beach, Florida, a PEN/Hemingway Award-winning author and an alumnus of the Ucross artist residency program, gave the keynote address.

The event commenced with an instrumental fiddle performance by local musicians Dave Munsick and Tris Munsick. As they enjoyed the music, attendees viewed Hemingway in Wyoming, a digital exhibition curated by Steve Paul, an honorary Ucross Fellow, a longtime member of the Hemingway Society, and a supporter of the PEN/Hemingway Award.

Presented annually, the PEN/Hemingway Award honors a debut novel of exceptional merit by an emerging American author. The winner receives a $10,000 cash prize, and the winner and finalists have the opportunity to visit Ucross for an artist residency, which includes uninterrupted time, studio space, living accommodations, meals by a professional chef, and the experience of the majestic High Plains on its 20,000-acre ranch in northern Wyoming. 

“When a writer travels to Ucross from elsewhere, especially if they are new to the West, they are bombarded with new observations, new sensory details, new experiences of the material world that fill that great reserve — consciously or unconsciously — and this, in turn, fuels creativity,” said Ucross President William Belcher as he addressed the Hemingway Society. “It’s part of the magic of Ucross. So, we have a type of kinship with Hemingway in this way, as we know that the observed world here can evoke that ‘real thing’ that Hemingway was after.”

​The partnership between Ucross and PEN/Hemingway was proposed in 1995 by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Annie Proulx, then a Ucross trustee, with the goal of increasing support to emerging writers at a crucial period of their literary careers. Proulx had written two books at Ucross, The Shipping News and Postcards, and understood the value of uninterrupted time to concentrate on new work.

In the 26 years since, Ucross has provided artist residencies for nearly 75 PEN/Hemingway Award winners and finalists, including Colson Whitehead, Sigrid Nunez, Ottessa Moshfegh, Joshua Ferris, Yaa Gyasi, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Kawai Strong Washburn. 

“It has never been easy to be an emerging fiction writer, and contemporary pressures have made it even harder,” noted former Ucross President Sharon Dynak, who led the formation of the partnership. “We think Ernest Hemingway would have appreciated the gift of uninterrupted time at Ucross — and he definitely would have appreciated the lunches and dinners our extraordinary chef prepares for Ucross residents. We also think he would have liked our landscape and wildlife and somewhat primal solitude — excellent conditions for the making of original work.”

After Dynak and Belcher’s remarks, Powers took the stage. In his keynote, he emphasized the impact Hemingway had on him throughout his career, as well as the significance of scholars, writers, and administrators gathering to honor the literary arts. Powers then read a powerful excerpt from his latest work, noting that he had revised the chapter at the Ucross dining room table the day before.

Powers is the author of The Yellow Birds, which, in addition to winning the PEN/Hemingway Award, won the Guardian First Book Award and was a National Book Award Finalist. He was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, was a Michener Fellow in Poetry at the University of Texas at Austin, and served in the U.S. Army in Mosul and Tal Afar, Iraq, in 2004 and 2005. Powers’s novel A Shout in the Ruins was published in 2018, and his third novel will be published in 2023.

Featuring famed Wyoming musician Jalan Crossland, the Ucross Arts Festival is set for Sunday, August 28, beginning at 4 p.m. in The Park at Ucross. The event, which is free and open to the community, will conclude Sheridan County’s Celebrate the Arts weekend.
 
In addition to a performance by Crossland — who has experienced two artist residencies at Ucross — the festival will feature a reading by novelist Brandon Hobson of Las Cruces, New Mexico (Cherokee Nation), a recipient of the Ucross Fellowship for Native American Writers. Hobson’s latest novel, The Removed, was published to great critical acclaim in 2021 and won the Western Heritage Award. His book, Where The Dead Sit Talking, was a finalist for the National Book Award, among other distinctions. His short stories have won a Pushcart Prize and have appeared in the best American Short Stories, McSweeney’s, Conjunctions, Noon, and elsewhere. He teaches creative writing at New Mexico State University and at the Institute of American Indian Arts.
 
Ucross Arts Festival attendees will also receive a complimentary print of a commissioned painting by Savannah LeCornu of Bellingham, Washington (Tsimshian [Wolf Clan], Haida, Athabascan, Nez Perce, and First Nations Nisga’a), a recipient of the Ucross Fellowship for Native American Visual Artists.
 
“The Ucross Arts Festival gives us the opportunity to share the work of our respected artist residency program’s alumni with our friends and neighbors in northeastern Wyoming,” said Ucross President William Belcher. “We are thrilled to present Jalan Crossland, a former artist-in-residence who spent many summers performing on the lawn outside of the Ranch House during our past Fourth of July gatherings. And we look forward to introducing Brandon Hobson and Savannah LeCornu to the community in what will be a wonderful celebration of the arts.”
 
Local food trucks will sell food and drink throughout the Ucross Arts Festival, including Bonafide, Stoked Pizza, and Papa Bino’s.
 
Tickets are free and available here; however, only a limited number will be released. The Park at Ucross is located before the intersection of Highways 14 and 16 East in Ucross or at the address 2753 US-14.
 
Celebrate the Arts is a multi-day festival highlighting the vibrant arts community residing at the base of the eastern Bighorn Mountains. Local arts organizations, artist residencies and art studios come together to promote, display, and celebrate the unique visual and performing arts in Sheridan, Wyoming, and the surrounding communities.

Ucross and the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice are pleased to announce a joint music fellowship intended to promote equity in the jazz field. The inaugural Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice Partnership at Ucross award will be presented to Shamie Royston, an acclaimed pianist from Denver, Colorado, in Fall 2022.
​
Made possible through the vision and leadership of Ucross trustee and alumna Kate Schutt, who studied jazz guitar at the Berklee College of Music, the fellowship will be awarded once a year to a female jazz musician/composer. The awardee will receive a two-week residency at Ucross, which consists of uninterrupted time, studio space, living accommodations, meals by a professional chef, and the experience of the majestic High Plains on a 20,000-acre ranch in northern Wyoming. The award also includes a $2,000 stipend. 

“I am incredibly proud to partner with Ucross, an organization that values artistic freedom and creativity, in presenting Shamie Royston with the inaugural fellowship,” said Terri Lyne Carrington, founder and artistic director of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice. “Shamie is incredibly talented as a composer, arranger and pianist, with limitless creative potential. I cannot wait to see the results that will come out of her artist residency. Her dedication to her craft and exemplary work deserves the opportunity to experience the unparalleled creative freedom this fellowship will provide.”

“Ucross is honored to join forces with the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice to champion women in jazz. We look forward to welcoming Shamie Royston to our campus for uninterrupted time and space this fall,” said Ucross President William Belcher. “Also, I want to thank Kate Schutt for her dedication to Ucross, her vision, and her ability to connect these two organizations in a meaningful way for the partners and for female jazz artists.”

Royston, according to JazzTimes, is “a vigorous, versatile pianist.” She grew up in Denver alongside her sister, the award-winning musician and Berklee professor Tia Fuller, in a musical and academically minded household. The daughters of two public school teachers, the sisters were introduced to jazz at a young age and eventually joined their parents in a family band. As a teenager, Royston attended the Telluride Jazz Camp and the University of Denver. She was mentored by trumpeter Ron Miles with whom she formed a band and later recorded with drummer Ginger Baker of Cream.

Today, Royston has established herself as an in-demand performer and educator in the New York/New Jersey area. Kevin Whitehead, in reviewing Royston’s album “Beautiful Liar” on Fresh Air, claims that her music is “straight-ahead, tuneful, hard-swinging brand of jazz that’s always in style” and that her “composing really stamps her music.” DownBeat Magazine states that her music is “mainstream post-bop with thoughtful interaction and a deep sense of poise. It swings hard and breathes easy.” 

Aside from leading her own ensembles, she continues to work with Fuller and has appeared with Christian McBride, Sean Jones, Lonnie Plaxico, Ralph Peterson, Terri Lyne Carrington, Allison Miler, and many others.

Today, during a speech delivered at its inaugural Founder’s Day, Ucross announced the public launch of a $5 million capital campaign timed to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the famed artist residency program, which first welcomed artists in 1983. 

“For nearly 40 years, Ucross has provided artists with the rare and remarkable gift of time and space in an unparalleled landscape,” said William Belcher, President of Ucross. “This campaign will prepare us for the next 40. It will help us preserve the Ucross experience, which is rooted in our location on a working ranch here in northern Wyoming. The funds we raise during this period will strengthen our ability to serve as a vital and relevant resource for artists, and it will deepen our role as a cultural resource for our community.”

According to Belcher, the quiet phase of the 40th Anniversary Campaign began at the start of 2021. To date, Ucross has raised $2.8 million in gifts and pledges, led by a $1.175 million gift by Deborah and Edward Koehler of the Raymond Plank Philanthropy Fund. 

Ucross has attained 100 percent participation from its Board of Trustees. To raise the remaining $2.2 million, the nonprofit organization will ask individuals and grant-makers to contribute to the campaign over the next 18 to 20 months. All gifts to Ucross made between now and the end of 2023 will count toward the goal.  

“We are all invested in Ucross’s future and its continued success,” said Jim Nelson, Chair of the Board of Trustees. “For many years, our financial underpinning was supported by our founder, so this is the first official capital campaign without his presence. I’m heartened by the generosity of the trustees and lead donors, but we have a lot of work to do. I hope others will join us by supporting the campaign and celebrating Ucross’s past, present, and future.”

Ucross has embarked upon two major construction projects that are at the center of the campaign: a renovation of the Ucross Art Gallery and the construction of a dance studio and multi-purpose performance space. Ucross is working with Arete Design Group, a Sheridan-based architecture firm, and O’Dell Construction as contractor for both construction projects.

UCROSS ART GALLERY

The Ucross Art Gallery, which is housed in the Big Red Barn in the center of Ucross’s campus, is dedicated to enhancing, supporting, and amplifying the creative work of Ucross’s visual and collaborative artists.  

Once complete, the renovated interior will feature a two-story central room to allow for large-scale works of art, such as sculpture and installations. The reconfigured space will also include a digital media room; a program office; a kitchen for event support; art receiving and storage space; and a collaborative meeting room for artists, staff, and trustees. 

An important public extension of the organization’s mission, the Ucross Art Gallery will present two to three exhibitions each year, focused on alumni, including the recipients of the Ucross Fellowship for Native American Visual Artists. Each exhibition offers new opportunities for educational programming, artist talks, public workshops, and exhibition brochures. Entry will be free and open to the public. ​