 During the first weekend of December, Ucross, the prestigious artist residency program in Sheridan County, will present award-winning composer and performer Steven Lutvak in a free community master class in partnership with Sheridan College and a ticketed Broadway cabaret concert at the WYO Performing Arts & Education Center. The weekend’s events will also include an exclusive preview of The Ucross Cookbook: Cooking for Artists on a Wyoming Ranch.
Lutvak, a Ucross Fellow who is based in New York City, composed the music for A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, which won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2014 and was written in part during Lutvak’s residency at Ucross. He is currently working on two new musicals headed for Broadway and the movie adaptation of A Gentleman’s Guide. “We are thrilled to showcase Steven Lutvak’s amazing talent for composition, performance and education to the greater Sheridan community,” said Steve Jimenez, Ucross Executive Producer of Public Programs and Outreach. “And we can’t wait to give our neighbors a special early look at The Ucross Cookbook, especially at the start of the holiday season.” Ucross is partnering with Sheridan College to present the Master Class, which will be free and open to the public on Friday, December 3, at 1 p.m. Lutvak will play music; tell stories; share secrets of the trade; and offer tips to the next generation of rising stars, including several Sheridan College students, who will perform a few Broadway tunes. The Master Class will be in Sheridan College’s Room W129. There is no need to register in advance. On Saturday, December 4, Lutvak will head to the WYO Performing Arts & Education Center. The event will begin in the WYO lobby at 6:30 p.m. with a reception celebrating The Ucross Cookbook: Cooking for Artists on a Wyoming Ranch, which will be published in mid-January. Guests will be able to preview the book, meet legendary Ucross Chef Cindy Brooks, and enjoy complimentary hors d’oeuvres. The reception will be free and open to the public. Then, at 7:30 p.m., Lutvak will take the stage in the WYO Mars Black Box Theater for an entertaining performance of Broadway and holiday cabaret. General admission and VIP tickets to the concert are available here.  Fireworks, caroling, treats — the ninth annual Ucross Community Christmas Celebration will take place on Saturday, December 11, at the Raymond Plank Center. Free and open to all, the family-friendly festivities will begin at 4 p.m. sharp and continue through 6 p.m., culminating in the lighting of thousands of Christmas tree lights and a fireworks display.
Among the most enjoyed traditions of the Ucross Community Christmas Celebration is a special reading of a new short Christmas story by bestselling author and Ucross neighbor Craig Johnson, known for his series Longmire. This year, the event will also include a piano performance by Ebenezer Eferobor, an internationally experienced composer who grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, and developed deep-rooted connections in the area while attending Sheridan College. In addition, the Buffalo Balladiers will sing Christmas carols. The event will be complete with crafts for children and festive refreshments for all. 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. “The Ucross Community Christmas Celebration has become a beloved annual tradition,” said Ucross President Sharon Dynak. “We look forward to welcoming our friends and neighbors back to Ucross to celebrate the holidays together.” At the conclusion of the evening, a cannon will be fired by Ucross neighbor Joe Reed to announce the start of a spectacular fireworks display by Bruce Burns and his expert crew, followed by the lighting of Christmas trees in the Park at Ucross. The Powder River Energy Corporation team will again volunteer to hang the Christmas tree lights. Named for the artist residency nonprofit’s founder, the Raymond Plank Center is located at the intersection of Highways 14 and 16 East in Ucross. For further information, contact (307) 737-2291 or info@ucross.org.  Ucross, a prestigious artist residency program and creative laboratory for the arts in Wyoming, and The Blank Theatre, a Los Angeles institution celebrating 31 years of imaginative theatre, today announced the second annual Ucross + The Blank Theatre – Future of Playwriting Prize, a one-of-a-kind award for emerging playwrights nationwide. Ucross and The Blank have partnered to showcase the importance of emerging artists across the country and to celebrate the innovative work that is asking questions and evolving theatre as we know it. Submissions for the national prize open November 8 and run through December 20.
The award is given annually to an emerging playwright (ages 21 to 30) who best personifies the “Future of Theatre:” someone whose voice will shape theatre for decades to come, and who will bring new thoughts and views to the American theatrical conversation. Eligibility and submission guidelines can be found at TheBlank.com. The chosen playwright will receive a $5,000 cash award, a professionally produced staged reading in The Blank Theatre’s Living Room Series (a new play development program), and a two-week residency at Ucross’s 20,000-acre ranch at the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains (including transportation). Two additional finalists will be selected to each receive a $500 cash prize. There is no entry fee. Though originally designed to honor an individual winner, last year saw two winners named. They were Kori Alston, a writer and poet whose work takes a particular interest in the way in which young people of color process trauma, and Dave Osmundsen, an autistic playwright and dramaturg whose work explores the intersections of queerness and neurodiversity. “The Blank has always supported and believed in young playwrights as seen through our Young Playwrights Festival and the incredible work we’ve produced over the years,” said Daniel Henning, the founding artistic director of The Blank Theatre. “This award, developed alongside the Ucross team, profoundly impacts young, emerging voices by offering them monetary support, uninterrupted time and space during a residency, and a platform to showcase their work.” “Ucross is thrilled to sponsor this annual award with The Blank, as it expands our long-standing support of new and emerging artists across disciplines,” said Sharon Dynak, president of Ucross. “For years we have watched the amazing work and development happening at The Blank and are excited to welcome a winning playwright to our campus each year.” At Ucross, artists in residence experience an inspiring combination of solitude and community, with expansive time for private work, as well as lively exchanges at group dinners with fellow artists. Facilities include four visual arts studios, four writers’ studios, and two composers’ studios, and a large loft space suitable for dance and theatre collaborations.  Ucross, a prestigious artist residency program in northern Wyoming, is now accepting applications for general studio residencies and dedicated Native American fellowships in Fall 2022. Selected Fellows will enjoy uninterrupted time and space on the nonprofit’s historic 20,000-acre ranch. All applications are due March 1, 2022.
Ucross’s general studio residencies are open to visual artists, writers, composers, choreographers, interdisciplinary artists, and performance artists, as well as collaborative teams. Emerging artists, mid-career artists, and established artists are all encouraged to apply. Applications are reviewed by a rotating panel of professionals in the arts and humanities. The quality of the applicant’s work is given primary consideration. Ucross provides each artist with a private studio, living accommodations, meals prepared by a professional chef, a $1,000 stipend, and more. The Ucross Fellowships for Native American Visual Artists and Writers represent an expansion of the organization’s commitment to supporting contemporary Native American art and voices. Native American Fellows receive the same residency benefits as general Ucross Fellows, as well as a $2,000 stipend, a waived application fee, and opportunities to present their work publicly. “We look forward to receiving applications from dedicated artists spanning all creative disciplines,” said Ucross President Sharon Dynak. “We recognize that the gift of uninterrupted time and space for concentrated work is becoming increasingly important to contemporary artists.” Ucross residencies, which range from two to six weeks, are awarded to 100 artists each year. Ten artists are in residence at one time, typically a mix of four visual artists, four writers and two composers. Since Ucross’s first residencies were awarded in 1983, more than 2,500 artists have participated in the program. Distinguished Ucross 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 winners Michael R. Jackson and Colson Whitehead, and current United States Poet Laureate Joy Harjo. Artists may learn more and apply here.  Today, Ucross, the renowned artist residency program in northeastern Wyoming, announced its Fall 2021 Fellows.
Sixty-five artists from a variety of disciplines were selected by an independent panel of jurors for the fall session, which is operating at full capacity for the first time since March 2020. Residents include PEN/Hemingway finalist Madeline ffitch; Pew Residency Fellow Jennifer Nikki Kidwell; Toi Derricotte/Cave Canem Residency Fellow at Ucross Darrel Alejandro Holnes; and a special multidisciplinary group with Eiko Otake, Liz Sargent, and Stephanie Sleeper, who came to Ucross through a partnership with UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance. “We are gratified to once again welcome 10 artists at a time to Ucross,” said Ucross President and Executive Director Sharon Dynak. “The artists are able to have the complete Ucross experience, from concentrated work time in studios to hikes in the spacious hills and communal dinners at the School House. We look forward to seeing how our unique combination of solitude and community engages the artists’ creative spirits.” Each Ucross Fellow receives uninterrupted time and space to create on the nonprofit’s historic 20,000-acre ranch, located in the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains in northeastern Wyoming. Ucross provides each artist with meals, a studio, living accommodations, and the unparalleled experience of the majestic High Plains. To increase accessibility to the program, each Fellow receives a minimum of a $1,000 stipend to defray the cost of travel and other expenses associated with a residency. The fall session opened two weeks early this year, in order to expand opportunities for artists after time lost due to the pandemic. "After a year and a half of pandemic-related isolation and distraction, Ucross allowed me to return to that space of writing with focus and purpose and time,” nonfiction writer P. Carl said at the conclusion of his residency. “I left with a solid start to my next book and new friends I was able to meet in person — not on Zoom. I reveled in the joy of being in the live company of other artists." The Fall 2021 Ucross Fellows hail from 21 states across the country. The roster includes the most recent recipients of the Ucross Fellowships for Native American Visual Artists and Writers, as well as residents joining the program through new partnerships with Yale School of Music and Cave Canem. Additional fellowship partnerships active in Fall 2021 include the Alley Theatre, the PEN/Hemingway Award, Herb Alpert Award in the Arts, Pew Fellowship in the Arts, Ford Family Foundation, Blank Theater, Marion International Fellowship for the Visual & Performing Arts, and UCLA Center for the Art of Performance. Ucross’s Fall 2021 Fellows include: LITERATURE
VISUAL ARTS
MUSIC/DANCE
Since its first residencies were awarded in 1983, more than 2,500 artists have received the gift of time and space at Ucross. Residencies, which range from two to six weeks, are awarded to 100 artists each year. Ten artists are in residence at one time, typically a mix of four visual artists, four writers and two composers. Ucross has provided residencies to such distinguished fellows as 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 winners Michael R. Jackson and Colson Whitehead, and current United States Poet Laureate Joy Harjo. The next call for applications to Ucross’s artist residency program opens on October 25, with a deadline of March 1, 2022.  Ucross Fellow Lucas Bessire’s book Running Out: In Search of Water on the High Plains is on the shortlist for a prestigious National Book Award in the nonfiction category, announced the National Book Foundation on Tuesday. Bessire, an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, spent a month in residence at Ucross in May.
Bessire is an anthropologist, filmmaker and writer. His nominated book, published this spring by Princeton University Press, recounts his search for water across the drying High Plains of western Kansas, where five generations of his family lived as irrigation farmers and ranchers. Writer Rivka Galchen has called it “a beautiful and unusual book, and wholly original,” and Francisco Goldman said, “Running Out is destined to be a contemporary classic.” “We are proud to count Lucas among our esteemed alumni,” said Ucross President and Executive Director Sharon Dynak. “We are thrilled that his work is being recognized with this honor and will be rooting for him in November.” During his Ucross residency, Bessire lived and worked in the historic Depot, which was once the Burlington Northern train depot in nearby Clearmont. The building was relocated to Ucross in the 1990s to house writer studios and bedrooms. The National Book Award winners will be announced Nov. 17 in an online ceremony. For more information, visit www.nationalbook.org.  Sixteen hours shy of the Kickstarter deadline, Ucross, an artist residency nonprofit in northern Wyoming, exceeded its goal in its first crowdfunding campaign and raised $44,179 for The Ucross Cookbook: Cooking for Artists on a Wyoming Ranch by Tuesday morning. “Kickstarter has an all-or-nothing protocol, so if we had not received the full amount by 7:45 a.m. on the dot today, we would not have been able to keep any of the funds we had raised,” said Sharon Dynak, Ucross president and executive director. “We are grateful to the 261 backers across the country who believed in our cookbook project.” The Ucross Cookbook will feature the most popular recipes by Cindy Brooks, the artist residency program’s longtime chef. Brooks worked with acclaimed novelist and cookbook author Cree LeFavour, a New York City-based Ucross alumna, to transcribe her recipes and stories from more than a decade of cooking for artists. The book will be seasoned with creative essays by 10 additional Ucross alumni, mirroring the residents’ experience of sitting around a dinner table after a long day in the studio. The contributing artists include author Sigrid Nunez; writer, poet, and former chef Brendan Basham; visual artist Munson Hunt; composer and playwright Michael R. Jackson; choreographer Ann Carlson; playwright and screenwriter Doug Wright; investigative journalist and novelist Suki Kim; writer, multi-disciplinary composer, and performer Karma Mayet; operatic baritone Nathan Gunn; and novelist and nonfiction writer Judith Freeman. The book will also feature photographs of the Ucross grounds, located on a 20,000-acre working Wyoming ranch, captured across seasons by photographer and Ucross alumna Martirene Alcántara. “The Ucross Cookbook will really give the reader a taste of life at our artist residency program,” Dynak said. “We feel fortunate to have been able to work with so many acclaimed former artists-in-residence to complete this project. And, thanks to the success of our Kickstarter campaign, we will be able to design and print a beautiful, hard-cover book and distribute it to readers across the country.” The Ucross Cookbook is slated for publication by Ucross Foundation in December 2021. Sign up for our email newsletters to receive the latest pre-order information.   "Tongue-tied," by Toni Mosley of Auckland, New Zealand, courtesy Laramie County Library System in Cheyenne, Wyoming Ucross, a prestigious artist residency program and creative laboratory for the arts, announced today the opening of a new temporary exhibition in the Raymond Plank Center, Narratives of the Possible: Artists’ Books, on view by appointment only.
The first book art show to be presented at Ucross, Narratives of the Possible: Artists’ Books, travels from the Laramie County Library System in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Mark E. Ritchie, professor of printmaking at the University of Wyoming and a former Ucross artist-in-residence, curated the mixed-media exhibition, which includes work by 20 artists. “As you explore the pieces in the exhibit, I urge you to consider what makes a book,” Ritchie writes in his introduction. “Is it the physical object or the narrative it contains?” The exhibition presents books in classic presentation, as well as scrolls, accordion structures, and other artful interpretations and deconstructions of the traditional book as an object. Visitors can also explore audio recordings, flip through colorful collaged pages, and create their own narratives by arranging film negatives on a light board. “We are delighted to share these unique creations with our greater community,” says Sharon Dynak, President and Executive Director of Ucross. “This surprising and thought-provoking exhibition is unlike anything Ucross has featured in the past. We are honored to be part of this statewide project.” In addition to Ritchie, contributing artists include Alicia Bailey of Colorado, Aleta Braun of New Mexico, Katie Christensen of Wyoming, Kayla Clark of Wyoming, Casey Gardner of California, Marine Lahaix of France, Joseph Lappie of Iowa, Maria Lee of Arizona, Lisa Lofgren of Illinois, Toni Mosley of New Zealand, Val Pexton of Wyoming, Marnie Powers-Torrey of Utah, Andrea Przygonski of Australia, Mark Ritchie of Wyoming, Nick Satinover of Tennessee, Marc Snyder of Pennsylvania, Sue Sommers of Wyoming, Louise Taylor of the United Kingdom, Cerese Vaden of Arizona, and Ian van Coller of Montana. The exhibition is supported in part by the Wyoming Arts Council through funding from the Wyoming State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts. Narratives of the Possible: Artists’ Books is open Monday through Friday by appointment only, with free admission, through October 27. The exhibition is located in the Raymond Plank Center, a community space situated at the intersection of Highways 14 and 16 East in Ucross. To schedule an appointment, prospective visitors may email info@ucross.org or call 307-737-2291.  Ucross, a prestigious artist residency program in northern Wyoming, announced the forthcoming publication of “The Ucross Cookbook: Cooking for Artists on a Wyoming Ranch.”
The cookbook will feature the most popular recipes of Ucross Chef Cindy Brooks, who has served Ucross artists for over 12 years. Brooks, a California native, owned her own restaurant in Bozeman, Montana, before she brought her culinary prowess to Ucross in 2009. Brooks’s coauthor of the cookbook was Ucross alumna Cree LeFavour. LeFavour, who lives in New Orleans, is a novelist, memoirist and the author of several cookbooks, including the James Beard Award finalist “Fish.” “Cindy’s cooking is an art form,” Ucross President and Executive Director Sharon Dynak said. “Our artists have been begging Cindy to share her ‘secret recipes’ for years. And — because we are all about art in all forms — this is going to be much more than a cookbook. It will be a true celebration of Cindy’s creative thinking, a tribute to our resident artists and a look at our extraordinary High Plains setting.” As Joy Harjo — U.S. Poet Laureate and a Ucross alumna — wrote, “The imagination finds refreshment in lands rich with plants and creatures of all kinds. Ucross is rich in spirit food.” In addition to exploring the recipes, readers will enjoy a taste of the cultural experience of ten artists sitting around the communal Ucross dinner table at the end of a long day in the studio. Ten acclaimed former Ucross artists-in-residence have written brief essays for the cookbook, including author Sigrid Nunez; visual artist Munson Hunt; choreographer Ann Carlson; playwright and screenwriter Doug Wright; writer and former chef Brendan Basham; multi-disciplinary writer, composer and performer Karma Mayet; operatic baritone Nathan Gunn; novelist and investigative journalist Suki Kim; composer and playwright Michael R. Jackson; and novelist and nonfiction writer Judith Freeman. “The Ucross Cookbook” is slated for publication in December 2021, but it is dependent on public participation in The Ucross Cookbook campaign on Kickstarter, a crowdfunding platform for creative projects. The fundraiser goal is $40,000, which will cover the costs of photography, printing and design by Radius Books, among other expenses. Contributors will receive thank-you gifts ranging from a signed copy of the cookbook to a dinner for six prepared by Brooks. Following Kickstarter’s all-or-nothing model, if the full amount is not raised by September 14, then Ucross will receive none of the donations. “We are glad to welcome the public into this creative project,” Dynak said. “We know that this cookbook will be a beautiful bookshelf addition, for both Ucross alumni and those just getting to know the organization.” More information on “The Ucross Cookbook” and Kickstarter campaign is available at ucross.org. Ucross, a prestigious artist residency program and creative laboratory for the arts, announced today its Fall 2021 Fellowships for Native American Visual Artists and Writers. The two awards represent Ucross’s commitment to supporting contemporary Native American art and voices.
Novelist Brandon Hobson lives in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where he is assistant professor of English at New Mexico State University. He also teaches at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. Interdisciplinary artist Jessica Mehta, currently based in Exeter, England, is completing a PhD at the University of Exeter. She was recently awarded a 2021/2022 Fulbright U.S. Scholar award in Bangalore, India. Both Fellows are enrolled citizens of the Cherokee (Aniyunwiya) Nation. Hobson and Mehta will each receive residencies that include uninterrupted time, studio space, and living accommodations on Ucross’s 20,000-acre ranch at the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains. Each Fellow is awarded a $2,000 stipend, as well as opportunities to present their work publicly, at Ucross or elsewhere. “We are honored to award our Native American Fellowships for Writers and Visual Artists to Brandon and Jessica,” said Ucross President and Executive Director Sharon Dynak. “These two accomplished artists have shown excellence and great dedication to their craft. We are thrilled to be able to support each of them with the gift of uninterrupted time, and to welcome them to Ucross this fall.” Hobson’s most recent novel is The Removed, published to high praise earlier this year by Ecco Press. His previous novel, Where the Dead Sit Talking, was a finalist for the National Book Award, winner of the Reading the West Book Award and longlisted for the Dublin International Literary Award. He is also the author of Desolation of Avenues Untold and Deep Ellum. At Ucross, he plans to work on a book that will be published by Scholastic. His writing has won a Pushcart Prize and has appeared in many journals, including McSweeney’s and Conjunctions. Mehta is the recipient of a 2021 GLEAN: Portland award and Regional Arts and Culture Council Make/Learn/Build award and is the upcoming poet in residence at Hugo House in Seattle. In 2020, she was a First Peoples Fund Artist in Business Fellow. She has two books releasing this year, When We Talk of Stolen Sisters (Not a Pipe Publishing) and Antipodes (New Rivers Press). Her work has been exhibited in numerous galleries, including Carnation Contemporary Gallery in Portland and the International Print Center in New York. While completing her PhD in Literature at the University of Exeter, she serves as a post-graduate researcher at the largest Victorian Centre in England, the first Native American to hold this position. |
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Photo credits: Board and staff photos courtesy of William Coupon; additional website images courtesy of Martirene Alcantara, Trine Bumiller, Jennifer Garza-Cuen, Bill Megalos, and Neerja Kothari: video on homepage courtesy of Bill Megalos.
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LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Ucross Foundation acknowledges with respect that it is situated on the aboriginal land of several Indigenous communities, including the Cheyenne, Crow, and Lakota nations. Indigenous people continue to live in this area and practice their teachings and lifeways. Today, this region remains an important place for many Indigenous peoples. As a Wyoming institution, we recognize and respect this historical context and are working to build reciprocal relationships with the Native nations on whose lands we are situated. In partial fulfillment of that commitment, Ucross established a Fellowship for Native American Visual Artists in 2017, which will expand to include Native American writers in 2021.
Ucross Foundation acknowledges with respect that it is situated on the aboriginal land of several Indigenous communities, including the Cheyenne, Crow, and Lakota nations. Indigenous people continue to live in this area and practice their teachings and lifeways. Today, this region remains an important place for many Indigenous peoples. As a Wyoming institution, we recognize and respect this historical context and are working to build reciprocal relationships with the Native nations on whose lands we are situated. In partial fulfillment of that commitment, Ucross established a Fellowship for Native American Visual Artists in 2017, which will expand to include Native American writers in 2021.