Ucross announced today the third annual Ucross Arts Festival, which will be held throughout the artist residency campus on Sunday, August 20. The free, family-friendly event will feature performances by The Two Tracks and The Sea The Sea with food trucks in The Park at Ucross, as well as the opening reception of a new photography exhibition at the Ucross Art Gallery.
“Ucross is proud to celebrate the vibrant art scene in our region, and we are equally proud to celebrate our role in the nation’s cultural landscape,” said Ucross President William Belcher. “With that in mind, we invite friends and neighbors, as well as those who may not be familiar with our organization, to join us for a day of music, art, food, and good cheer at Ucross.” The festivities will begin with an opening reception of a new exhibition at the Ucross Art Gallery from 2-4 p.m. The Shape of Time: Sixteen Photographers and Their Creative Paths is guest curated by Ucross alumnus Keith Davis, a photographic historian, author, curator, and image maker based in Sheridan, Wyoming. “I think and hope that every viewer will find this show enriching,” Davis said. “The work is wonderfully varied in style and subject, and the overall theme gets to the heart of the artistic process. Each artist is represented by two works — one early, one more recent — and a statement on the journey in between. Years of work and thought are represented in the gap between the selected works, revealing so much about each artist’s approach. This exhibition allows us to appreciate what these superb artists have done as well as giving us special insight into how they think.” Featured Ucross artists include Barbara Bosworth of Stow, Massachusetts; Laura Cobb of Lincoln, Nebraska; Christina Fernandez of Norwalk, California; Anthony Hernandez of Fairfield, Idaho; Nicole Jean Hill of Eureka, California; Michael Kolster of Brunswick, Maine; Jin Lee of Chicago, Illinois; Serge J-F. Levy of Tucson, Arizona; Susan Moldenhauer of Laramie, Wyoming; Janet L. Pritchard of Mansfield Center, Connecticut; Victoria Sambunaris of New York, New York; Carla Shapiro of Kingston, New York; Joni Sterbach of Brooklyn, New York; Elizabeth Stone of Bonner, Montana; Youngsuk Suh of Bereley, California, and Incheon, South Korea; and William S. Sutton of Boulder, Colorado. The exhibition opening will include guided tours led by the curator and complimentary hors d’oeuvres by the Ucross chef. At 4 p.m., live music and food trucks will begin at The Park at Ucross. The Two Tracks is a touring Americana band that features music by Julie and Dave Huebner of Sheridan, Wyoming. The Sea The Sea is an indie folk duo featuring Ucross alumni Chuck and Mira Costa of Nashville, Tennessee, by way of Upstate New York. For more information about the bands and day’s activities or to register for free tickets to the Ucross Arts Festival, click here. The event is part of Celebrate the Arts, a month-long series of events celebrating the vibrant visual, literary, and performing arts scene at the base of the Bighorn Mountains. Our partner presenting organizations include The Brinton Museum, SAGE Community Arts, Sheridan College’s Whitney Center for the Arts, Ucross Foundation, and the WYO Performing Arts and Education Center. Discover all events at artinsheridan.com/cta. In celebration of the artist residency program's 40th anniversary, Ucross is hosting a gala and fundraising dinner on Wednesday, September 27. Ucross will present Governor Mark Gordon and First Lady Jennie Gordon with its Outstanding Patrons of the Arts Award for their generosity and commitment to the arts in Wyoming.
The Gordons will be welcomed to the stage by best-selling author Craig Johnson, a Ucross neighbor. Founding Trustee and longtime Chairman Jim Nelson will also be honored with the Raymond Plank Award for Visionary Leadership for his vision and unwavering support for Ucross. “We are thrilled to host our 40th Anniversary Gala on the beautiful Ucross ranch in northern Wyoming,” said Ucross Vice President Susan Miller of Sheridan, Wyoming. “Guests will be able to experience the same majestic setting that has inspired award-winning artists from across the world.” The gala will begin in the Ucross Art Gallery, carry through to the newly constructed Koehler Performing Arts Center and Lauren Anderson Dance Studio, and continue outside to a heated tent and on the patio overlooking the Bighorn Mountains. The festivities will include appearances by many Ucross friends and partners; short performances by special Ucross alumni artists; a fun, lively auction; and a dinner inspired by seasonal ingredients. “We hope the community will join us to celebrate our first four decades, support the organization’s future and honor the Governor and First Lady for their commitment to arts and culture throughout the state,” said Ucross President William Belcher. “As a former Trustee of the Ucross Foundation and former ranch manager at Ucross, Governor Gordon understands our program’s reach and impact. Artists come to Ucross, Wyoming, and do best their best work, free from distraction and obligation. They leave with a deep appreciation for what Wyoming has offered them. Ucross changes their lives, and their work goes on to change the lives of millions.” Governor Gordon recently spoke about the significance of Ucross in a video celebrating its 40th anniversary. “It’s no doubt that what Ucross has done for America’s cultural landscape is just remarkable,” Governor Gordon said. “The time and creative space the residency program gives to artists of all backgrounds, the wonderful studio space, and the opportunity to get together and talk about their respective disciplines at supper every evening…makes such a difference. “The conversations that have taken place on the ranch have enriched people’s lives and changed them forever,” the Governor continued. “Ucross is going to continue to be an important resource for Wyoming, the nation, and indeed the world.” Since its residency program began in 1983, Ucross has developed into one of the most respected artist communities in the nation. More than 2,600 visual artists, writers, choreographers, and composers have been to Ucross, benefiting from its uninterrupted time and studio space, as well as the experience of the majestic High Plains. Distinguished fellows include Annie Proulx, Colson Whitehead, Terry Tempest Williams, Billy Porter, Elizabeth Gilbert, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, Ann Patchett, Sigrid Nunez, Ricky Ian Gordon, Bill Morrison, Theaster Gates, Joy Harjo, Anthony Hernandez, and Tayari Jones. Funds raised during the Ucross 40th Anniversary Gala will support Ucross’s mission to foster the creative spirit of working artists, serve as responsible stewards of its historic 20,000-acre ranch, and promote an appreciation of the creative process through community programs with Ucross alumni artists. All dollars raised through table sales, ticket sales, the live auction, and donations in lieu of attending will help Ucross remain a meaningful and relevant resource for artists, the community, and the state of Wyoming. The Ucross Art Gallery is located at 30 Big Red Lane in Ucross, Wyoming. More information about the Ucross 40th Anniversary Gala is available here. Featured image: Wyoming/Susan, by Ucross Fellow Susan Moldenhauer Ucross is hosting its second annual Founder's Day event on Saturday, June 3, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The community is invited to tour the artist residency campus, visit the artists in their studios, explore the Ucross Art Gallery, enjoy a picnic on the lawn and celebrate the program’s 40th Anniversary. Free tickets are available here. Seven artists-in-residence are opening their studios to the public. Before you meet them, get to know each Ucross Fellow, featured in header image, from left: Catina Bacote, Nonfiction; Hamden, CT Originally from New Haven, Connecticut, Catina Bacote is a nonfiction writer. In 2021, her work earned her a Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship and an American Association of University Women Fellowship. Her essays have appeared in the anthology This Is the Place: Women Writing About Home, Ploughshares, Tin House, The Gettysburg Review, Kweli, The Offing, December Magazine, TriQuarterly, Prairie Schooner, Gulf Coast, The Common, The Southern California Review, and elsewhere. Her criticism, “The Funk of Defiance, The Freedom of Refusal,” will appear in the second edition of Bending Genre: Essays on Creative Nonfiction. She has presented at conferences and colleges throughout the country including The University of Chicago, The New School, Yale University, and Washington State University. Her work has been supported by residencies at Hedgebrook, Headlands Center for the Arts, The Millay Colony, Willapa Bay AiR, the Djerassi Resident Artist Program, Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts, MacDowell, and Ragdale, where she received the Alice Judson Hayes Social Justice Fellowship. Bacote holds an MA from Teachers College, Columbia University, and an MFA from the University of Iowa, where she was a Dean’s Fellow and subsequently served as the Provost’s Visiting Writer in Nonfiction. She is an Assistant Professor of creative writing at Trinity College and working on her first book project, which chronicles the lasting impact of the illegal drug trade on families and communities. Gerald Clarke, Visual Art; Anza, CA; Ucross Fellowship for Native American Visual Artists Gerald Clarke grew up on a reservation cattle ranch. Clarke’s family had no money for toys, and he learned at a very early age to be creative and make things for himself. The elementary school Clarke attended was progressive in terms of arts education, and he excelled in the arts. He received several awards in elementary school for his class art projects. Clarke’s ability to “build” and “fix” was translated into efforts in drawing, printmaking, sculpture, etc. Before graduation from high school, Clarke was told he was not “college material” by the guidance counselor. Eventually, he decided to give college a try. He decided to major in art because of his passion for making things, but also felt like he had a unique perspective that he wanted to share with others. After receiving a BA in art, Clarke went on to graduate school and earned MA/MFA degrees in painting and sculpture. Culturally, Clarke was raised with an understanding of the importance of family and community. Even at a young age, he appreciated the wide-open spaces of the reservation to wander, play and participate in the tribe’s cultural activities. While many contemporary artists stress the importance of self-expression, Clarke felt the weight of the responsibility owed to his ancestors. He believes self-expression is as natural as breathing and he does not focus on it at all. Instead, Clarke focuses on trying to make art that is honest to the life he has led as a contemporary Native person. Michael Kolster, Visual Art; Brunswick, Maine Michael Kolster was born in 1963 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and grew up in Rochester, New York. He earned his BA in American studies at Williams College, his MFA at the Massachusetts College of Art, and a certificate from the full-time Documentary Photography program at the International Center of Photography in New York City. Currently, he is Professor of Art at Bowdoin College, where in 2008, he received the Sydney B. Karofsky Prize for Junior Faculty in recognition of his teaching. In 2013, he was awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in Photography. His work is included in the permanent collections of the American University of Paris, Center for Creative Photography, Eastman Museum, High Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Photography, and Princeton University, among others. He has exhibited nationally and internationally, including solo exhibitions at the Telfair Museums in Savannah, Georgia; American University of Paris; Bowdoin College Museum of Art; Page Bond Gallery in Richmond, Virginia; and Schroeder Romero and Shredder in New York City. His first book, Take Me to the River (George F. Thompson Publishing, 2016), which examined four Atlantic rivers 40 years after the Clean Water Act, was nominated for the Aperture First Book Award. His second book, L.A. River (George F. Thompson Publishing, 2019), explores the ongoing channelization of the river running through America’s second-largest city. Kolster lives in Brunswick, Maine, with his wife, Christy Shake, son Calvin, and Nellie, their goldendoodle Sally Wen Mao, Poetry; New York, New York Sally Wen Mao is the author of the fiction collection NINETAILS (Penguin Books) and the poetry collection The Kingdom of Surfaces (Graywolf Press). She is also the author of two previous poetry collections, Oculus (Graywolf Press, 2019), a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and Mad Honey Symposium (Alice James Books, 2014). The recipient of two Pushcart Prizes and a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, she was recently a Cullman Fellow at the New York Public Library and a Shearing Fellow at the Black Mountain Institute. Her poetry and prose have appeared in The Best American Poetry (2021 and 2013), The Paris Review, Poetry, Harper’s Bazaar, A Public Space, Granta, The Kenyon Review, The Georgia Review, Guernica, among others. She currently lives in New York City and is at work on her debut novel, which will be coming out from Viking Books. Annie Saunders, Multidiscipline/Performance; Los Angeles, California; Ucross Partnership with the UCLA Center for the Art of Performance Annie Saunders is a multidisciplinary creator and director of site-specific experiences, and she has created award-winning multi-platform projects for major arts institutions including the Public Theater, The Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Broad Stage, and Summerhall, as well as site-specific projects in disused spaces set for demolition and experiential campaigns for multinational brands. Her site-specific audio piece CURRENT won the Tribeca Film Festival's Best Immersive Creative Nonfiction and the Tribeca X Award in 2021, and her large scale installation The Home, a headphone-based experience for one audience member at a time for Domestic Violence Awareness Month, received an Honorary Mention in Sound Art from Ars Electronica, won the D&AD Yellow Pencil (Creative Excellence for Spatial Design and Installation Design) and APA Ideas Awards in the UK for Best Experiential Project and Best Use of Technology for Good. The work is in archives in the Department of Film at MOMA NYC. She is a member of the inaugural ONX Studio, an invited accelerator for artists working in extended reality to develop significant works for the public realm through NEW INC (the New Museum) and an alumnus of the Devised Theater Working Group for next-generation performance-makers at the Public Theater. Saunders is the founder and artistic director of site-specific performance company Wilderness, and her experimental project The Wreck for Opera Omaha was called “ingenious...a persuasive expression of complex female feeling,” by the Wall Street Journal. Andrew Schneider, Interdisciplinary; Brooklyn, New York; Ucross Partnership with the UCLA Center for the Art of Performance Andrew Schneider is mostly interested in how humans telling stories about ourselves to each other can make us better at being humans. and how much the second law of thermos dynamics and grief have in common. He is an OBIE award-winning, Drama Desk-nominated performer, writer, and interactive-electronics artist creating original works for theater, dance, sound, video, and installation since 2003. Right before the pandemic, Andrew premiered the choreographic work »remains« commissioned by the Sasha Waltz & Guests company at Radial system in Berlin, Germany. During the pandemic he began work on a narrative, immersive installation set to premiere in NYC in 2023. The in-development title is NOWISWHENWEARE. Original performance work in NYC includes (2018, BAM Next Wave); AFTER (2018, Under the Radar, The Public Theater); YOUARENOWHERE (2015 OBIE award, 2016 Drama Desk nom); DANCE/FIELD (2014, Roulette); TIDAL (2013, River to River); and WOW+FLUTTER (2010, The Chocolate Factory Theater), among others. Schneider has been a recurring collaborator with The TEAM, Lars Jan / Early Morning Opera, Annie Saunders, David Dorfman Dance, Hotel Savant, and Fischerspooner. He was a 2019 Visiting Fellow in Theater Arts and Performance Studies at Brown University. He is a recipient of the Foundation for Contemporary Arts “Grants to Artists” award (2020), is currently a Sundance “Art of the Practice” Fellow, and has received a fellowship from the Junge Akademie / Akademie Der Künste in Berlin (2022). He teaches a recurring class on original-flavor reality at the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU. Off-Broadway credits upon request. Scott Manning Stevens, Nonfiction; Syracuse, New York Ucross Trustee Scott Manning Stevens is a citizen of the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation and earned his PhD in English from Harvard University. Dr. Stevens was the former Director of the D’Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies at the Newberry Library in Chicago. He is currently the Director of the Native American Indigenous Studies Program at Syracuse University. There he also teaches courses in the departments of English and Art History. During the academic year 2021-2022, he was a fellow at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Stevens is the co-author of two books on Native American history and visual culture, Home Front: Daily Life in the Civil War North (U Chicago 2013) and Art of the American West (Yale UP, 2014). Dr. Stevens is also a co-editor and contributor to the 2015 collection of essays Why You Can't Teach United States History without American Indians. His recent book chapters and articles include: “From ‘Iroquois Cruelty’ to the Mohawk Warrior Society: Stereotyping and the Strategic Uses of a Reputation for Violence,” Violence and Indigenous Communities: Confronting the Past, Engaging the Present (Northwestern UP, 2021) and “On Native American Erasure in the Classroom,” Teaching Race in Perilous Times (SUNY Press, 2021). Stevens also serves or has served on advisory committees at the National Museum of the American Indian, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the New York Historical Society. He has held fellowships from the Mellon Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the National Endowment of the Humanities. LEARN MORE ABOUT UCROSS FOUNDER'S DAY HERE. This spring, celebrating its 40th anniversary as an artist residency program, Ucross welcomed 55 visual artists, writers, composers, choreographers, and interdisciplinary artists from across North America to its historic 20,000-acre ranch in the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains in northern Wyoming.
“Ucross continues to serve as a vital resource for some of the nation’s — and world’s — most extraordinary and inspiriting working artists. This is abundantly clear when we look at the incredible list of Fellows we supported this session,” said Ucross President William Belcher. “We are honored to play a role in their creative process, in the development of new work, and in the country’s creative ecosystem.” Notable Ucross Fellows during this session have included novelist and screenwriter Hillary Jordan of Brooklyn, New York; composer Karim Douaidy of New York, New York; performance and multidisciplinary artist Annie Saunders of Los Angeles, California; and visual artist Esperanza Cortés of New York, New York. Residencies range from two to six weeks, with a maximum of 10 artists in residence at one time. Ucross Fellows receive a private studio, living accommodations, meals by a professional chef, and the unparalleled experience of the majestic High Plains. The residency is fully funded, and Ucross provides fellows with a $1,000 stipend to defray the cost of travel and other expenses. “My time at Ucross was an unforgettable experience,” said composer Badie Khaleghian of Houston, Texas, after his residency concluded. “The tranquil setting, supportive staff, and uninterrupted time and space to work on my creative projects allowed me to fully immerse myself in my art. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to have been a resident at Ucross and for the lasting impact it has had on my creative practice.” This session’s fellows were selected from more than 515 applicants by an independent jury of artists and critics across disciplines. The roster also includes recipients of the Ucross Fellowships for Native American Visual Artists and Writers, as well as artists awarded fellowships through partnerships with esteemed national organizations, including the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, Herb Alpert Award in the Arts, Marion International Fellowship for the Visual and Performing Arts, UCLA Center for the Art of Performance, Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, and University of Houston. The Spring 2023 Ucross Fellows are: LITERATURE • Catina Bacote, Nonfiction, Hamden, CT • Rachel Barenbaum, Fiction, Brookline, MA • S. Erin Batiste, Poetry, Brooklyn, NY • Patrice D. Bowman, Screenwriting, Forest Hills, NY • Kathryn Bunn-Marcuse, Nonfiction, Seattle, WA • Cathy Linh Che, Poetry, New York, NY • Ira Goga, Poetry, Norwich, VT • Emelie Griffin, Poetry, Houston, TX; University of Houston • Krista Hanley, Nonfiction, Lakewood, CO • Hillary Jordan, Screenwriting, Brooklyn, NY • Jessica Kahkoska, Playwrighting, Poughkeepsie, NY; Marion Fellowship • Yahaira Lawrence, Fiction, Sleepy Hollow, NY • Edan A. Lepucki, Fiction, Los Angeles, CA • Sally Wen Mao, Poetry, New York, NY • Sam Mueller, Playwriting, New York, NY • Kirtan Nautiyal, Nonfiction, Houston, TX • Elizabeth Owuor, Nonfiction, Oakland, CA • Marisa Silver, Fiction, Los Angeles, CA • Diana Spechler, Fiction, Plano, TX • Scott Manning Stevens, Nonfiction, Syracuse, NY • Deb Olin Unferth, Fiction, Austin, TX • David Heska Wanbli Weiden, Fiction, Highlands Ranch, CO MUSIC/CHOREOGRAPHY • JoVia Armstrong, Musician/Composer, Charlottesville, VA; Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice • Karim Douaidy, Musician/Composer, Brooklyn, NY • Margaret Glaspy, Musician/Songwriter, Verona, NJ • Badie Khaleghian, Musician/Composer, Houston, TX; Shepherd School of Music, Rice University • Sam Kim, Dance/Choreography, Brooklyn, NY • Ingrid Laubrock, Musician/Composer, Brooklyn, NY; Herb Alpert Award • Yunfei Li, Musician/Composer, Overland Park, KS • Emma O’Halloran, Musician/Vocalist, Brooklyn, NY; UCLA Center for the Art of Performance • Londs Reuter, Dance/Choreography, Durham, NC • Lucy Rupert, Dance/Choreography, Toronto, Ontario • Kate Schutt, Musician/Composer, New York, NY • Miles Toth, Musician/Composer, Brooklyn, NY • Carolyn Yarnell, Composer, Huntington Beach, CA VISUAL ARTS • Eduardo Aguilar, Inter/Multidisciplinary, Oaxaca, Mexico • Daphne Arthur, Painting, Arverne, NY • Hilary Brace, Drawing, Santa Barbara, CA • Gerald Clarke, Drawing/Printmaking/Sculpture, Anza, CA; Ucross Fellowship for Native American Visual Artists • Esperanza Cortés, Sculpture/Mixed Media/Installation, New York, NY • June Edmonds, Painting, San Pedro, CA • Michele Foyer, Painting/Sculpture/New Genre, San Francisco, CA • John Jesurun, Inter/Multidisciplinary, New York, NY • Michael Kolster, Photography, Brunswick, ME • Beth Krebs, Sculpture/Film/Video, Oakland, CA • Yuki Maruyama, Drawing/Painting/Installation, Oakland, CA • Jerónimo Reyes-Retana, Video/Performance Art, Boulder, CO • Teri Rueb, Sound Art, Boulder, CO • Talena Sanders, Film/Video/Installation/Photo, Oakland, CA • Annie Saunders, Performance Art, Los Angeles, CA; Center for the Art of Performance, UCLA • Andrew Schneider, Performance Art, Brooklyn, NY; Center for the Art of Performance, UCLA • Joshua Gen Solondz, Film/Video/Animation/Photo, Brooklyn, NY • Laurids Sonne, Sound Art, Boulder, CO • Jerry Wellman, Painting/Drawing/Installation, Santa Fe, NM • Tamara Zibners, Inter/ Multidisciplinary, Roswell, NM The Spring 2023 session began in February and concludes in early June. Before all artists depart, the public will have the rare opportunity to explore the artist residency campus grounds and visit artists in their studios during Ucross Founder’s Day on June 3 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Since Ucross’s first residencies were awarded in 1983, more than 2,600 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 winners Michael R. Jackson and Colson Whitehead, and former three-term United States Poet Laureate Joy Harjo. Ucross is accepting applications for the Spring 2024 session, due July 15 at 11:59 p.m. MST. Learn more here.
Ucross announced today the second annual Founder’s Day on Saturday, June 3, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The community is invited to tour the artist residency campus, visit the artists in their studios, explore the Ucross Art Gallery, enjoy a picnic on the lawn, and celebrate the program’s 40th Anniversary. The event is free and open to the public.
“This is an opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at our residency program and what makes it special,” said Ucross President William Belcher. “It’ll be a fun afternoon that will honor Raymond Plank’s legacy and celebrate our mission to foster the creative spirit.” The community will be invited to visit the studios of nonfiction writer Catina Bacote of Hamden, Connecticut; visual artist Gerald Clarke of Anza, California; photographer Michael Kolster of Brunswick, Maine; poet Sally Wen Mao of New York, New York; nonfiction writer Elizabeth Owuor of Oakland, California; multidisciplinary creator and performance artist Annie Saunders of Los Angeles, California; interdisciplinary artist and performer Andrew Schneider of Brooklyn, New York; and nonfiction writer and Ucross Trustee Scott Manning Stevens of Syracuse, New York. As they explore the picturesque campus grounds, visitors will encounter live music from the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra based in Casper, Wyoming, including Gary DePaolo (Principal Viola), known as Möbius Strings, who will be joined by Jennifer DePaolo (Principal Second Violin), and WSO Horn Quartet musicians Katherine Smith, Zarah Mattox, Colleen Perry Shaffer, and Sarah Zhukenova. Visitors may also enjoy a picnic on the lawn outside of the Big Red Ranch Complex. Present at the event will be Sheridan-based food trucks Java Gypsy, which offers an array of coffee, tea, and other beverages, and Stoked, which slings wood-fired pizzas. The first Founder’s Day was held in 2022, drawing nearly 200 attendees to the artist residency. The event recognizes the anniversary of the birth of the late Ucross founder, Raymond Plank. Born on May 29, 1922, Plank grew up on his family farm in Minnesota. He entered Yale University in September 1940 but left just three months later, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, to enlist in the U.S. Army Air Corps Reserves. During World War II, he piloted B-24 bombers, completed 40 combat missions and earned numerous commendations. After the war, Plank went on to graduate from Yale; form an accounting and tax service; and eventually co-found and become chairman and CEO of Apache Corporation, which was based in Minneapolis and is now based in Houston, Texas. Plank passed away in November 2018 at age 96. Plank founded Ucross Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, in 1981, and the residency program welcomed its first artists in 1983. In the four decades since, the program has developed into one of the most respected artist communities in the nation. More than 2,600 visual artists, writers, choreographers, and composers have been to Ucross, benefiting from its uninterrupted time, studio space, living accommodations, and meals by a professional chef, as well as the experience of the majestic High Plains. Many alumni have gone on to earn national recognition, including Pulitzer Prizes, MacArthur “Genius” Fellowships, National Book Awards, Tony Awards, and Academy Awards, among others. Learn more and get free tickets to Founder’s Day here. Ucross is located at 30 Big Red Lane, a half-mile east of the intersection of U.S. Highways 14 and 16. Parking is limited, and carpooling is encouraged. Ucross and the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice announced today that acclaimed musician, composer, and producer Dr. JoVia Armstrong of Charlottesville, Virginia, is the 2023 recipient of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice Partnership at Ucross award.
Created in 2022 through the vision of Kate Schutt, Ucross alumna and trustee, who studied jazz guitar at the Berklee College of Music, the joint music fellowship is intended to promote equity in the jazz field by providing a female jazz musician/composer with an artist residency of up to two weeks, which includes uninterrupted time, studio space, living accommodations, meals by a professional chef, and the experience of the majestic High Plains on Ucross’s historic 20,000-acre ranch in northern Wyoming. The award also includes a $2,000 stipend. Armstrong, the second-ever recipient of the fellowship, is an award-winning percussionist, educator, sound artist, composer, and producer, as well as an assistant professor of music at University of Virginia. Her work fuses various genres, including experimental hip-hop, improvisational jazz and technology, with concepts from Black studies, contemplative science, feminism, and environmental studies. She experienced her Ucross residency in late April. “My stay at Ucross gave me the time and space to work on compositions for upcoming projects without outside distractions,” Armstrong said. “The live/work space allowed me to put my phone on DND, work a few hours, and then sit on a comfortable couch to read or even nap after hours of heavy creative thinking. I would repeat the process throughout the day. This way of creating feels better than working under stressful conditions where I'm working against time or I have a lack of space and resources.” “Ucross was honored to welcome Dr. JoVia Armstrong to Wyoming to celebrate her achievements and support her creative process,” said Ucross President William Belcher. “We look forward to continuing to partner with the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice to champion women in jazz by providing time and space for the creation of new work.” “It is my honor to award Dr. JoVia Armstrong an artistic residency as part of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice’s partnership with Ucross,” said Terri Lyne Carrington, founder and artistic director of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice. “Dr. Armstrong is a tremendous percussionist, artist, producer, and educator — someone we can all learn from and view as an example of the power and inspiration that can happen when scholarship and creativity in music merge. I cannot wait to see the results of her residency and all that we will learn from it.” In 2015, Armstrong was named Best Black Female Percussionist of the Year by the Black Women in Jazz Awards. Between recording and touring internationally, she has performed with groups such as Omar, El DeBarge, Les Nubians, Maysa, Eric Roberson, Frank McComb, Rahsaan Patterson, Black Earth Ensemble, and Musique Noire. Armstrong serves as the secretary for the world-renowned AACM and is endorsed by Sabian, QSC and GonBops. The Antidote Suite, an album deriving from her dissertation work featuring her group Eunoia Society, received critical acclaim in Jazziz Magazine, Downbeat, Jazz Times, and the New York Times, among others. Ucross today announced that Anne Pendergast of Big Horn, Wyoming, has joined the artist residency program’s Board of Trustees. Born and raised in Maine, Pendergast earned a BA from Bowdoin College and an MS in geology from Oregon State University, then moved to Wyoming in 1983 to work with an oil and gas exploration company in Casper. She served on the Board of Trustees for The Nature Conservancy Wyoming for 16 years and the National Advisory Council for The Brinton Museum for six years. “Anne Pendergast is an accomplished leader who understands the connection between the arts, community, and land conservation here in Wyoming,” said Ucross President William Belcher. “As Ucross celebrates our 40th anniversary, we are honored to welcome Anne to our Board of Trustees, and we look forward to her input and guidance as we plan for our next 40 years.” Pendergast joins current Trustees Jim Nelson, chair, of Big Horn, Wyoming; Susan Miller, vice president, of Sheridan, Wyoming; Charlie Hart, secretary, of Big Horn, Wyoming; Tracy Boyle of Sheridan, Wyoming; Kim Cannon of Big Horn, Wyoming; Chad Deaton of Jackson, Wyoming, and Houston, Texas; Steve Farris of Ucross, Wyoming, and Houston, Texas; Greg Hill of Wilson, Wyoming, and Houston, Texas; Jesse Marion of Houston, Texas; Roger Plank of Ucross, Wyoming, and Houston, Texas; Kate Schutt of New York, New York; and Scott Manning Stevens of Syracuse, New York. “It is an honor to join the Ucross Foundation Board,” Pendergast said. “Having lived in Big Horn for 32 years, I have seen how valuable the work of Ucross is to the cultural enrichment of this county and the state of Wyoming. It’s a win-win: Artists from all across the U.S. visit our beautiful state and practice their creative endeavors, while our community members have the opportunity to attend the artists’ concerts, art shows, readings, dance recitals, and more.” Currently, Pendergast sits on the Board for the Center for a Vital Community in Sheridan and the Board of the Coldwater Conservation Fund, an arm of Trout Unlimited. A graduate of Leadership Wyoming in 2017, she enjoys fly fishing and world travel, as well as dogs, horses, gardening, and hiking. Pendergast has two grown children. After 14 years as the beloved chef of Ucross, the renowned artist residency program in Wyoming, Cindy Brooks has announced her retirement, effective this summer.
A California native, Brooks owned her own restaurant in Bozeman, Montana, before she brought her culinary prowess to Ucross in 2009. “Cindy feeds and nourishes our artists in residence, so they are free to focus on their projects, unburdened and uninterrupted. Every weeknight, she cooks and presents an artful, multi-course dinner for 10 — after she hand-delivers lunch to their studio doors and bakes dozens of her famous cookies,” said Ucross President William Belcher. “Cindy is an artist in the kitchen. The nourishment she provides is entwined with the artistic, emotional and physical nourishment of the residency experience.” Ucross alumni often cite the significance of the food and dining experience on their creative process. Their affection for Brooks continues years after their residencies. Brooks became nationally known for her work after the 2022 publication of “The Ucross Cookbook: Cooking for Artists on a Wyoming Ranch.” The initial funding for the project — nearly $45,000 — was raised primarily through individual donations of past artists in residence across nation. Additional funding was provided by the Raymond Plank Philanthropy Fund. Brooks wrote the book with the award-winning novelist, memoirist and cookbook author Cree LeFavour of New York, New York, who had enjoyed Brooks’s cooking as an artist in residence only a few years earlier. A blend of recipes, stories, photography and creative passages by alumni, the hardcover book showcases Brooks’s impact on the artists’ experience at Ucross. The release was timed with launch events in New York and Los Angeles attended by hundreds of artist-alumni. “Perhaps the greatest nurturing I received [during my residency] was the delicious food, prepared with such love by master chef Cindy Brooks and paired with the camaraderie of my fellow residents at dinner each night,” wrote Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning composer and playwright Michael R. Jackson of New York, New York, after his first residency at Ucross. “The consistent material and spiritual sustenance of both fortified me so I could return to the land of the living and, eventually, to a hit-making professional debut with my musical, ‘A Strange Loop.’” After she retires, Brooks plans to move to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and looks forward to exploring galleries, restaurants and hiking trails, as well as reviving her love of painting and drawing. An avid traveler, she has a fall trip to Spain and Tunisia planned. However, Brooks will miss her time at Ucross. She feels deeply connected to the land. Her house is on the Ucross Ranch, overlooking the rolling plains, and she has loved walking with her dog through the changing seasons. “Cooking for the artists has brought me so much joy,” Brooks said. “It’s been so rewarding — and also, so much fun. In what other job are you going to meet such a cross-section of wonderful, interesting artists?” A search for Brooks’s successor is underway. “We’re grateful for all Cindy has done and will be greatly saddened to lose her, but we’re excited for her next chapter,” Belcher said. “Now, we’re seeking an experienced chef to make the position their own.” Applications will be accepted through May 1, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. MT. Ucross aims to fill the position by August 1, 2023. Application information may be found here.
The Ucross Art Gallery announces its most recent exhibition, Field Guide: Teresa Baker + Anthony Hudson + Jessica Mehta + Eliza Naranjo Morse, which is on view through July 30. Field Guide features art by the 2020 and 2021 recipients of the Ucross Fellowships for Native American Visual Artists, including Teresa Baker (Mandan/Hidatsa) of Los Angeles, California; Anthony Hudson (Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians) of Portland, Oregon; Jessica Mehta (Cherokee Nation) of Portland, Oregon; and Eliza Naranjo Morse (Santa Clara Pueblo) of Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico.
In the exhibition, the four artists, who are all from different regions and disciplines, explore diverse cultural traditions while forging new personal identities and investigating topical issues such as the diasporic experience, resilience, and autonomy. Evoking a trek though the surrounding Wyoming wilderness, Field Guide invites viewers to explore the intersecting visions of these artists, as well as their connection to place, nature, and the larger universe. Offering a complex view of the present and past, and a comingling of place and voice, the works engage in contemporary Indigenous discourse while celebrating the vibrancy that Ucross’s extraordinary residency experience offers to each artist who attends. Several pieces in the show were created while the artists were in residency. “I was inspired by the freedom of that land at Ucross, Wyoming, and wanted that freedom to enter my choices in my work,” said Baker, who received the Ucross Fellowship for Native American Visual Artists in Spring 2020. The exhibition was guest curated by Andrea R. Hanley of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Hanley, who serves on the Ucross National Advisory Council, has dedicated her career to the work of contemporary Native American artists and the Native American fine art field. She started her career at the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., and she was the executive director of ATLATL, Inc., a national service organization for Native American arts. Hanley also worked at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona; the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in Santa Fe; and is currently the chief curator at the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian in Santa Fe. In addition to her work at the Wheelwright, she currently serves on numerous boards and is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation. “The exhibition exemplifies why these artists were selected to receive the Ucross Fellowship for Native American Visual Artists, and it showcases contemporary Native American art at its finest,” Hanley said. “The ambition of the work will resonate with audiences, as it speaks to history, people, and land narratives, as well as the dynamic and complex relationships that are part of the Native American experience.” Launched in 2017, Ucross’s Native American fellowship program was designed to support the work of contemporary Native artists and cultivate artistic leadership, capacity, and community building. The fellowship award has supported the work of Native visual artists at all stages in their professional careers. Each year, two new Fellowship recipients are selected, and each chosen artist is gifted a four-week Ucross artist residency, which includes uninterrupted time, a private studio, living accommodations, meals prepared by a professional chef, staff support, and the unparalleled experience of the majestic High Plains. In addition to the residency, the Ucross Fellowship for Native American Visual Artists also includes a $2,000 award, a $1,000 stipend, and a featured exhibition at the Ucross Art Gallery in the year following the artist’s residency. Due to the renovation of the Ucross Art Gallery, which started in 2021 and completed in 2022, Field Guide features the work of those artists who were in residency in both 2020 and 2021. Field Guide is on view at the Ucross Art Gallery, located at 30 Big Red Lane in Clearmont, Wyoming, through July 30. The gallery is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. On May 5, Ucross will present an artist talk at Sheridan College’s Kinnison Hall at 11 a.m., as well as an exhibition reception at the Ucross Art Gallery at 6 p.m. Both events will be free and open to the public. For more information, to view the exhibition’s brochure, and to register for the May 5 events, visit the gallery page.
Watch a timelapse video of Ucross Fellow Eliza Naranjo Morse (Santa Clara Pueblo) painting her mural, Stardust, in the Ucross Art Gallery in February 2023. Medium: acrylic paint, brown earth gathered from the hills of Ucross, Wyoming, red earth gathered from Diné Reservation near Window Rock, Arizona, mica earth mixed with clary gathered from Picuris and Kha’p’o hills in Northern New Mexico
**Featured image: Detail from Slow Lines, by Teresa Baker, courtesy of Tia Collection in Santa Fe, New Mexico Joy Harjo accepted the Ucross Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Arts at the WYO Performing Arts and Education Center in Sheridan, Wyoming, on Saturday, Feb. 25. Presented by Ucross, the renowned artist residency program, the award recognizes an individual’s extraordinary impact on the nation’s arts and letters.
“Thank you for all you have done and all you continue to do to support the arts, share and celebrate Native voices, and champion poetry, art and music,” said Ucross President William Belcher, as he presented the award to Harjo. “We are in awe of all you have accomplished, and we are honored that you are part of our Ucross community and part of what made our first 40 years so incredible.” Harjo, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, was an artist-in-residence at Ucross in 2013, as part of Ucross's long-time partnership with the Sundance Institute. She just completed three terms as the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States, from 2019 to 2022, and was the first Native American to hold the post. Harjo has written 10 books of poetry, several plays and children’s books and two memoirs. As a musician and performer, she has produced seven award-winning music albums. Her many honors include the Ruth Lily Prize for Lifetime Achievement from the Poetry Foundation, the Academy of American Poets Wallace Stevens Award, two NEA fellowships and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Harjo is a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, Board of Directors Chair of the Native Arts & Cultures Foundation and the first artist-in-residence for the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In Wyoming, Harjo gave a free community craft discussion at Sheridan College on Feb. 24, where she guided a packed hall of students, faculty and community members through her process, and a performance of music and poetry at the WYO Performing Arts and Education Center on Feb. 25, accompanied by her longtime musical collaborator, Larry Mitchell. When Belcher presented Harjo with the Ucross Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Arts at the end of the evening, the crowd gave a standing ovation. Harjo is the second artist to receive the Ucross Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Arts. The first was Pulitzer Prize-winning author Annie Proulx at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City in 2018. Proulx is a former Ucross artist-in-residence and member of the Board of Trustees. Harjo’s visit kicked off Ucross’s 40th Anniversary celebration. Since 1983, Ucross has supported more than 2,600 writers, visual artists, composers and choreographers with the gift of uninterrupted time and studio space on its 20,000-acre ranch in northern Wyoming. Like Proulx and Harjo, many alumni go on to have distinguished careers after their residencies, including Terry Tempest Williams, Elizabeth Gilbert, Ann Patchett, Ricky Ian Gordon, Theaster Gates, Tayari Jones, Sigrid Nunez, Academy Award and Tony winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, Emmy Award winner Billy Porter and Pulitzer Prize winners Michael R. Jackson and Colson Whitehead. Photos by Matthew Gaston |