THE UCROSS STORY
"Let the big sky expand your dreams," said novelist Patricia Chao after her residency at the Ucross. Located on a 20,000-acre ranch in the wide open spaces of northeastern Wyoming, Ucross is a magical setting for individual creative work, reflection, innovation, and dreaming. Annie Proulx's The Shipping News, Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love, Adam Guettel's The Light in the Piazza, Ricky Ian Gordon's operatic adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath – these are just a few of the acclaimed works that have been created in part during Ucross residencies.
Founded in 1981 by Raymond Plank, Ucross provides a rare gift in today's world – uninterrupted time – along with work space and living accommodations, to competitively selected visual artists, writers, and composers. Nearly 2,200 individuals have spent time at Ucross since we first opened our doors. They have come from every state in the U.S. as well as from many countries around the world, including Germany, France, Scotland, England, Poland, Egypt, the Netherlands, Canada, Thailand, Japan, and others. Ucross extends invitations to approximately 100 individuals each year, selected by an outside panel of professionals. Residents are also invited through national partnerships with the Sundance Institute, the PEN/Hemingway Award, the Herb Alpert Award in the Arts, the Alley Theatre, the University of Houston, Rice University, and many others.
In a sense, Ucross is a research-and-development lab for the arts. Individuals are not required to produce finished products while at Ucross, though many do. They are encouraged to experiment and explore. At any one time, ten individuals working in different disciplines are in residence together for periods ranging from two to six weeks. They experience an inspiring combination of solitude and community. There is expansive time for private work, as well as the opportunity for lively exchange at group dinners with fellow artists. As playwright Kia Corthron said, "I felt like there were 40 hours in the day."
The concrete results of residencies manifest as artists later make their work public, enriching the world's culture with books, plays, art exhibitions, musical performances, and so much more. Many Ucross Fellows have received major awards and honors. To name just a few, Pulitzer Prize-winning writers Annie Proulx and Doug Wright are past Residents of Ucross. So are MacArthur Fellows Charles Wuorinen, Sarah Ruhl, and Colson Whitehead, Tony Award-winning composer Adam Guettel, and National Book Award winners Ann Patchett, Jean Valentine, Sigrid Nunez, Susan Choi, Sarah M. Broom, and Ha Jin.
Ucross also operates an Art Gallery, open to the public at no charge, featuring work by past residents, contemporary artists of the West, and thematic exhibitions.
A commitment to the conservation and preservation of our historic landscape led the Ucross Foundation Board of Trustees to establish a conservation easement on more than half the ranch with the Wyoming Chapter of The Nature Conservancy in 1999.
In 2006, the Foundation was awarded the Wyoming Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts.
"Let the big sky expand your dreams," said novelist Patricia Chao after her residency at the Ucross. Located on a 20,000-acre ranch in the wide open spaces of northeastern Wyoming, Ucross is a magical setting for individual creative work, reflection, innovation, and dreaming. Annie Proulx's The Shipping News, Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love, Adam Guettel's The Light in the Piazza, Ricky Ian Gordon's operatic adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath – these are just a few of the acclaimed works that have been created in part during Ucross residencies.
Founded in 1981 by Raymond Plank, Ucross provides a rare gift in today's world – uninterrupted time – along with work space and living accommodations, to competitively selected visual artists, writers, and composers. Nearly 2,200 individuals have spent time at Ucross since we first opened our doors. They have come from every state in the U.S. as well as from many countries around the world, including Germany, France, Scotland, England, Poland, Egypt, the Netherlands, Canada, Thailand, Japan, and others. Ucross extends invitations to approximately 100 individuals each year, selected by an outside panel of professionals. Residents are also invited through national partnerships with the Sundance Institute, the PEN/Hemingway Award, the Herb Alpert Award in the Arts, the Alley Theatre, the University of Houston, Rice University, and many others.
In a sense, Ucross is a research-and-development lab for the arts. Individuals are not required to produce finished products while at Ucross, though many do. They are encouraged to experiment and explore. At any one time, ten individuals working in different disciplines are in residence together for periods ranging from two to six weeks. They experience an inspiring combination of solitude and community. There is expansive time for private work, as well as the opportunity for lively exchange at group dinners with fellow artists. As playwright Kia Corthron said, "I felt like there were 40 hours in the day."
The concrete results of residencies manifest as artists later make their work public, enriching the world's culture with books, plays, art exhibitions, musical performances, and so much more. Many Ucross Fellows have received major awards and honors. To name just a few, Pulitzer Prize-winning writers Annie Proulx and Doug Wright are past Residents of Ucross. So are MacArthur Fellows Charles Wuorinen, Sarah Ruhl, and Colson Whitehead, Tony Award-winning composer Adam Guettel, and National Book Award winners Ann Patchett, Jean Valentine, Sigrid Nunez, Susan Choi, Sarah M. Broom, and Ha Jin.
Ucross also operates an Art Gallery, open to the public at no charge, featuring work by past residents, contemporary artists of the West, and thematic exhibitions.
A commitment to the conservation and preservation of our historic landscape led the Ucross Foundation Board of Trustees to establish a conservation easement on more than half the ranch with the Wyoming Chapter of The Nature Conservancy in 1999.
In 2006, the Foundation was awarded the Wyoming Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts.