Ucross had a big year. In the first weeks of 2022, we published The Ucross Cookbook, and The New York Times printed a rave review. We received major grants, including two from the National Endowment for the Arts and one from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts in support of the Native American Art Curatorial Convening. Longtime President Sharon Dynak announced her retirement, and William Belcher took the helm. Ucross Fellows moved audiences across the world with events ranging from a poetry reading by M.L. Smoker in Santa Fe to a live-streamed discussion with Judith Freeman and Tina Barney via Zoom to Jalan Crossland and Brandon Hobson in The Park at Ucross. The "town" of Ucross grew — to population 26. We partnered with incredible organizations to better serve more artists, including Black poets through Cave Canem and female jazz composers through the Berklee Institute for Jazz and Gender Justice. Artists opened their studio to the public during the inaugural Ucross Founder's Day. On the same day, we launched the 40th Anniversary Campaign, with the goal to raise $5 million by the end of 2023. The Ucross Art Gallery opened in the fully renovated Big Red Barn with the exhibition Time, Mark, Memory: Ucross at 40, curated by Leah Ollman and featuring the work of 15 visual arts alumni. Just last weekend, we hosted a ribbon cutting for the Lauren Anderson Dance Studio and Koehler Performing Arts Center, celebrating with Lauren Anderson, the first African American principal ballerina for a major company, as well as the building's lead donors Deborah and Edward Koehler, Houston Ballet leadership, and many members of our community. And most important of all? We provided uninterrupted time and space on our beautiful ranch in northern Wyoming to 138 visual and interdisciplinary artists, writers, composers, and choreographers from 30 states and five countries. Your support has made this all possible. We hope that you will consider including Ucross in your year-end giving. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on individual donations to support each artist's residency, which costs approximately $11,000. Your tax-deductible gift will also help us serve as a cultural resource for our local and national communities by supporting our free exhibitions, events, and programs. DONATE HERE. Thank you. LOOKING TO THE FUTURE...2023 marks the 40th Anniversary of our artist residency program. We have a number of exciting offerings in store for future artists-in-residence, alumni, and regional community members. First up: We are bringing three-term U.S. Poet Laureate and Ucross Fellow Joy Harjo to the WYO Performing Arts and Education Center in Sheridan for an evening of art and music on February 25, 2023. Learn more and get tickets here. Comments are closed.
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