 Ucross, the renowned artist residency program in northern Wyoming, will present the internationally acclaimed performer, musician and writer Joy Harjo in a free community craft discussion in partnership with Sheridan College and a ticketed evening of music and poetry at the WYO Performing Arts and Education Center during the last weekend of February.
Harjo recently concluded her third term as the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States. A member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, she was the first Native American to hold the post and the second poet laureate to be appointed a third term in the position’s history. Harjo first visited northern Wyoming 10 years ago for the Sundance Institute Playwrights and Composers Retreat at Ucross. She experienced three weeks of uninterrupted time and space to focus on the creative process on the residency program’s 20,000-acre ranch. “The imagination finds refreshment in lands rich with plants and creatures of all kinds,” Harjo said of her residency. “Ucross is rich in spirit food.” Ucross is partnering with Sheridan College to present a craft discussion with Harjo on Friday, Feb. 24, at noon. The artist will guide the audience through her process of writing, composing, and performing. The event, hosted in Sheridan College’s Whitney Center for the Arts, Rooms 234/235/236, will be free and open to the public, with no advance registration needed. On Saturday, Feb. 25, Harjo will head to the WYO Performing Arts and Education Center. The evening will begin in the WYO lobby at 6 p.m. with a VIP reception, featuring a meet-and-greet with Harjo. Refreshments will be served. At 7:30 p.m., Harjo will take the stage to perform music and poetry. General, student and VIP tickets are available at wyotheater.com. “We’re thrilled to bring Joy Harjo, one of the nation’s most beloved and respected poets, to our region. This is a can’t-miss event,” said Ucross President William Belcher. “‘An Evening of Music and Poetry with Joy Harjo’ is also the kickoff to our 40th anniversary year, which will include many community-oriented events and activities. It’s an honor to celebrate this moment with our community, and we are grateful to do so with an artist as inspiring and accomplished as Joy Harjo.” Harjo is the author of nine books of poetry, including the highly acclaimed An American Sunrise; several plays and children’s books; and two memoirs, Crazy Brave and Poet Warrior. 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. As a musician and performer, Harjo has produced seven award-winning music albums, including her newest, I Pray for My Enemies. She 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 Tulsa’s Bob Dylan Center. Harjo lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Comments are closed.
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UCROSS FOUNDATION
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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 Fellowships for Native American Visual Artists in 2017 and Native American Writers in 2020. |
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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.