Book Discussion

Genealogy Class: Intermediate
Wednesday, March 10, 7:00 p.m.
Laramie County Library, Cottonwood Room, Cheyenne

School’s Out Movie
Wednesday, March 10, 2:00 p.m.
School’s out, so students are invited to a screening of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs at the library.
Natrona County Public Library, Casper

Canine Companions: Newcastle
Wednesday, March 10, 7:00 p.m.
A reading discussion series of memoirs about the relationship between man and dog, facilitated by Phyl Sundstrom.
Weston County Library, Newcastle

MFA Student Reading
Wednesday, March 10, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Estella Soto, fiction
Adam Million, poetry
Lori Howe, poetry
Second Story Books, Laramie

Undergraduate Reading
Thursday, March 11, 7:00 p.m.
Students will read from works of poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction. This event is free and open to all. Look for more readings as the semester progresses!
Cooper Carriage House, Laramie

“Thursday Thrillers” Frankenstein Film Series
Thursday, March 11, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
This week’s film will be Frankenweenie.
Albany County Library, Laramie

Iran Uncovered with Robert Dreyfuss
Friday, March 12, 7:00 p.m.
Join investigative reporter Robert Dreyfuss for an eyewitness account of the 2009 Iranian election and its aftermath and to hear about interviews he conducted with key Iranian decision-makers and analysts. Dreyfuss will discuss: Does Washington have an alternative to negotiations? Will sanctions work? Is a military confrontation inevitable?  Dreyfuss has written extensively about the post-9/11 war on terror, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the confrontation with Iran. He covered the Iranian elections for The Nation and is currently writing about this month’s Iraqi elections on his blog The Dreyfuss Report at www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss. Dreyfuss also covers national security for Rolling Stone and writes frequently for Mother Jones and The American Prospect, as well as many other publications. His book, Devil’s Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam, was published in 2005. Read more about Dreyfuss’ background and find articles at www.robertdreyfuss.com.  Dreyfuss spoke about Afghanistan to an enthusiastic crowd at the library last fall. “We are thrilled to have Bob back at the library, he is extremely knowledgeable as well as a very personable and engaging presenter,” said Oona Doherty, Adult Humanities Coordinator.
Teton County Library, Ordway Auditorium, Jackson

Retrieving the Past: Photos from the Archives
Now on View
These 68 images are highlights from the digital collections of Jack Richard, Charles Belden and the Buffalo Bill Online Archives. The photographers Richard and Belden each captured moments of energy and action in their respective genres. Richard, a photographer from Cody, worked in the Yellowstone area from the 1940s to the 1980s, where his crisp, superbly composed images captured the Western way of life. Belden’s images were taken in the 1920s and 1930s on the legendary Pitchfork Ranch at the base of the spectacular Absaroka Mountains near Meeteetse, Wyoming. By photographing cowboys and cattle against this spectacular backdrop, he created some of the classic images of the American West.
The historic photographs taken from the Buffalo Bill Online Archive show the changing face of William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody (1846-1917) from young man living and working on the frontier to Wild West entrepreneur to aging businessman. Cody has been call one of the most photographed figures of the 19th and early 20th century – and the Buffalo Bill Archive is indeed proof to that claim.
Buffalo Bill Cody Historical Center, Cody

Paul Dyck Plains Indian Buffalo Culture Collection Preview
Now on View
Eighteen beautiful objects from the Paul Dyck Plains Indian Buffalo Culture Collection are now on view in the Plains Indian Museum Land of Many Gifts Gallery. This is the second round of objects from the collection, totaling over 2,000 artifacts, to be displayed.
Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody

Peter Sarkisian: Video Works, 1996-2008
January 30- May 8
Peter Sarkisian: Video Works, 1996 2008 is a small retrospective that features signature works and conveys how the artist has considered and resolved various approaches to integrating video into temporal and spatial experiences.
UW Art Museum, Laramie

Voices of the Valley: Stories of Skiing Through the Generations
Thursday, January 14, 7:00 pm
Pepi Steigler and Tommy Moe, Gold Medal Olympic skiers and employees of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort of different generations, share stories at the Wort Hotel, Jackson Room, Thursday, January 14, 7-8:30 pm. Refreshments provided. FREE. “Jackson Hole Stories: Voices of the Valley” is a five-part oral history program. Each program’s speakers share stories of their expertise: alpine skiing, backcountry skiing, dude ranch outfitting, fishing/river guiding, and playing music professionally.
Wort Hotel, Jackson

Teen Anime Club
Thursday, January 14, 7:00 pm
Campbell County Public Library, Gillette

Poetry Jam
Friday, January 15, 7:00 pm
Poets and musicians please arrive EARLY! Uncensored. High School & up. Refreshments and RefreshING!
Sweetwater County Library, Green River

Anne Muller Photography Exhibit: Land. Trust. Ranching in Their Hands
Through January 28
Teton County Public Library, Jackson

Let it Snow Reading Program
December 10, 2009 – March 31, 2010
Read or listen to 10 or more library books to complete the program.  Everyone who finishes the program will receive a flexible reading light.  Read 5 more books and enter a drawing for a grand prize.  Come to the “Let it Snow Somewhere Else Party” this spring just for participating.
Lincoln County Library, Kemmerer and Star Valley Branch Library, Star Valley

Retrieving the Past: Photos from the Archive
Now on view
In the photography exhibition, Retrieving the Past: Photos from the Archive, 68 images were selected for exhibition to reveal the diversity of the collection to the public, as well as the capabilities of the library’s new digitization program.
Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody

Paul Dyck Plains Indian Buffalo Culture Preview
Now On View
Eighteen beautiful objects from the Paul Dyck Plains Indian Buffalo Culture Collection are now on view in the Plains Indian Museum Land of Many Gifts Gallery. This is the second round of objects from the collection, totaling over 2,000 artifacts, to be displayed.
Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Plains Indian Museum, Cody

African Perspectives: Through the Eyes of Nancy-Carroll Draper
Now On View
Featuring more than thirty images taken by Nancy-Carroll Draper (1922-2008), African Perspective: Through the Eye of Nancy-Carroll Draper – A Tribute to Vision, is an interactive, digital experience presented on a 47-inch monitor. The exhibition allows visitors to select and view images; see the details and further deepen their experience of the beauty and wildness of Africa.
Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Draper Museum of Natural History, Cody

Title: Various Cakes Artist: Core

I Want Candy: The Sweet Stuff in American Art
October 2, 2009 – January 3, 2010
Nicolaysen Art Museum, Casper

Retrieving the Past: Photos from the Archive
Ongoing
In the photography exhibition, Retrieving the Past: Photos from the Archive, 68 images were selected for exhibition to reveal the diversity of the collection to the public, as well as the capabilities of the library’s new digitization program.
Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody

Paul Dyck Plains Indian Buffalo Culture Preview
Ongoing
Eighteen beautiful objects from the Paul Dyck Plains Indian Buffalo Culture Collection are now on view in the Plains Indian Museum Land of Many Gifts Gallery. This is the second round of objects from the collection, totaling over 2,000 artifacts, to be displayed.
Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Plains Indian Museum, Cody

African Perspectives: Through the Eyes of Nancy-Carroll Draper
Ongoing
Featuring more than thirty images taken by Nancy-Carroll Draper (1922-2008), African Perspective: Through the Eye of Nancy-Carroll Draper – A Tribute to Vision, is an interactive, digital experience presented on a 47-inch monitor. The exhibition allows visitors to select and view images; see the details and further deepen their experience of the beauty and wildness of Africa.
Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Draper Museum of Natural History, Cody

Reading Wyoming: Laramie
Tuesday, December 8, 2:00-3:30 pm
Books that Endure series
Eppson Center for Seniors, Laramie

Book Discussion: Out Stealing Horses
Tuesday, December 8, 6:30 pm
Alpine Branch Library, Alpine

Up Close with the Players:  Pride & Passion event
Thursday, December 10, 6:30 pm
Former Negro League players Hank Presswood and Johnny Washington will share their stories from the League.
Natrona County Public Library, Casper

Attention Muggles: Harry Potter Party in Powell!
Thursday, December 10, 5:00- 8:00 pm
Come enjoy a free showing of the newly released Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Rated PG), wizard-friendly treats to taste, librarians disguised as Harry Potter characters, and more!  Join us in the Gryffindor Common Room (or the Powell Branch Library Meeting Room). Feel free to come in costume and bring your friends!
Powell Branch Library, Powell

How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Friday, December 11, 4:00 pm
Story time for children and families
Laramie County Public Library, Cheyenne

Buffalo Bill Boycott Performs!
Saturday, December 12, 11am- 1pm
A Christmas program by “Buffalo Bill”. He will play music, sing, yodel, and tell stories! The program is free to everyone!
Powell Branch Library, Powell

RSVP ArtFest Reception
Saturday, December 12, 4:00 pm
This event is for adults
Laramie County Public Library, Cheyenne

Meet the Author: Shreve Stockton
Saturday, December 12, 1:00 pm
Meet Shreve Stockton, author of The Daily Coyote in the library Crawford Room. Copies of her book will be available for purchase.
Natrona County Public Library, Casper

Christmas Movie for Families
Sunday, December 13, 1:00 pm
A Christmas Movie, Sleepless in Seattle, will be shown for families on the big screen in the Crawford room.
Natrona County Public Library, Casper

Funds may be used for paid staff and volunteers of Wyoming’s cultural heritage institutions to attend training, conferences, educational workshops, or courses on topics related to the management and/or preservation of historical records, or for special projects at their institution. Each scholarship may cover registration fees, travel costs, lodging and per diem (for food). Funding may also be used to bring recognized experts into an institution for consultation related to the management, accessibility, or preservation of the historical records in its legal custody.

For more information, visit the SHRAB web site.

Humanities Forum: My Horse, My Gun, My Library
Monday, September 28, 6:30 PM
This Humanities Forum program is presented by Lynne Swanson.
Goshen County Library, Torrington

Read Out Loud
Tuesday, September 29, 6:00 PM
Join other members of the community in celebrating the freedom to read- by reading out of your favorite banned book and discussing the freedom to read.
Carbon County Library, Rawlins

Don Delillo Reading
Tuesday, September 29, 7:30-9:00 PM
Teton County Library in the Center for the Arts, Dancers Workshop Studio 1, Jackson
Don Delillo is widely regarded as one of America’s most important novelists.  Delillo will give a traditional reading from his new book Falling Man.  Author of 15 critically acclaimed novels, including White Noise, the winner of the National Book Award in 1985, and the Underworld, which was runner-up on the New York Times survey of the best American fiction of the last 25 years.  Salman Rushdie has called him an “American master.”  Do not miss this tremendous opportunity.

Banned Book Story Time
Wednesday, September 30, 5:00 PM
Carbon County Library, Rawlins

NIC at Noon: Richard Cohen and Friends
October, 2, 12:00-1:00
This event is the museum’s informal, monthly concert series where visitors are invited to bring in their lunch and hear performances by local musicians.
Nicolaysen Art Museum and Discovery Center, Casper

Opening Reception: I Want Candy: The Sweet Stuff In American Art
Friday, October 2, 6:00 PM
Nicolaysen Art Museum and Discovery Center, Casper

Movie: Fahrenheit 451
Saturday, October 3, begins at 1:00 PM
Carbon County Library, Rawlins

Book Sale
Saturday, October 3, 9 AM-4 PM
Park County Library, Cody

Saturday University
Saturday, October 3
This series is designed to both encourage consideration of important public policy issues and to provide an opportunity to just plain have fun participating in college level discussions of interesting topics. Presented by the Wyoming Humanities Council and the University of Wyoming, with the Teton County Library and the National Museum of Wildlife Art. The schedule is as follows:
9-10:30 AM -  Jeff Lockwood, author of Six Legged Soldiers: Using Insects as Weapons of War, will be discussing the ways insects have been used as weapons of war.
11:30-1:00 PM- Ingrid Burke, an ecosystem scientist, teaches about environmental change and what we need to know in order to avoid irreversibility.
1:30-3:00 PM – Susanna Goodin, Associate Professor of Philosophy, discusses how alchemy was once studied to unlock the secrets of nature in hopes of coming to understand the mind of God.  She will be questioning how theology, economics, culture, social trends and philosophy shape science.
3:30-4:30 PM- Roundtable Discussion  with all three presenters in an informal wrap-up discussion tying together the topics.

Reading Wyoming: Women of Mystery
Tuesday, August 4, 7:00 – 8:30 PM
Pine Bluffs Branch Library, Pine Bluffs

Humanities Forum: Across the Great Divide, by Dorene Ludwig
Sunday, August 09, 2009 – 1:00 – 2:00 PM
Town Hall, Hudson
Dorene Ludwig offers first-person vignettes of early western schoolteachers, physicians, artists, homemakers, missionaries, ranchers, and scouts — all of them female.

Second Nature, Jorge Santos
Continuing through August 22
Nicolaysen Art Museum & Discovery Center, Casper

From their website:

The retrospective exhibition will feature about two dozen works created by Santos, primarily, during the past 10 years.

Santos (b. 1959) spent his childhood in Angola on the coast of Africa and moved to the United States in 1982. He is an entirely self-taught artist, but was always fascinated by the act of drawing. His incredibly realistic and surreal figurative paintings possess a strange narrative style where the world is tilted off its axis and normal rules of social interaction and even physics sometimes do not apply. As a painter, he focuses the composition on interactions and moments that are not the main event, but are more psychologically interesting.

Special Treasures of the Brinton
Continuing through Monday, September 7
Bradford Brinton Memorial and Museum, Big Horn

From their website:

The museum is open to the public Mondays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. The Brinton Memorial will also introduce free admission on Sundays, when hours are from noon until 4 p.m. The BBM&M’s summer season ends on Monday, September 7.

This season’s featured exhibition in the Helen Brinton Gallery is Special Treasures of the Brinton. This show reveals the breadth of Bradford Brinton’s personal collection, which includes items such as an original Abraham Lincoln letter, sculptures and paintings by Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell and original etchings by artists as diverse as Edward Borein and Pablo Picasso.

The Wyoming Humanities Council’s Humanities Matter! conference will bring together representatives of community organizations, museum and library personnel, interested community members, and humanities faculty from across Wyoming to explore how to work together to create humanities courses and public programming that will address issues relevant to their lives, communities, and world.

To encourage collaboration between humanities scholars and community organizations following the conference, the council has created a special Humanities Matter! grant initiative to fund new projects in which college and university faculty work with museums, libraries, and other community organizations to serve their communities.  Conference travel scholarships will also be available.

The conference keynote address will be given by David Berry, winner of the National Humanities Medal and Director of the Community College Humanities Association. He also sits on the board of Imagining America, a consortium of colleges and universities that (as stated on their website) promotes “scholarly and creative work jointly planned and carried out by university and community partners.”

Another conference highlight will be a workshop led by four representatives from the Art of Regional Change (ARC) program at the University of California, Davis: the director, two faculty members, and a community partner. As described on their website, ARC creates “community cultural development projects that involve faculty, students, and community members in collaborative, place-based storytelling.” The ARC workshop at Humanities Matter! will provide attendees with an overview of ARC programs and look at the benefits and challenges of combining academic and public work. ARC representatives will then be available to guide conference participants as they begin to put together their own community projects for the Humanities Matter! grant initiative.

Topics that will be addressed by Wyoming scholars and nonprofit representatives include how to create courses and public humanities programming for specific audiences, such as nurses or veterans; how to combine humanities courses and programming with the sciences or the arts; a roundtable discussion of successful humanities programming around the state; the importance of exposing Wyomingites to global cultures; and how to implement service learning, which integrates community service with instruction, into colleges and their communities.

Humanities Matter! is sponsored by the Wyoming Humanities Council, with support from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund; the Wyoming Community College Commission; the University of Wyoming American Studies Program; and the University of Wyoming Foundation. The conference is also made possible by the We the People initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Visit the council website or call Jenn Koiter at (307) 721-9248 for further information.

Dubois Museum

Check out the variety of humanities events in Wyoming this week!

Tie Hack Tour, Dubois
Monday, July 27: 7:00 PM
Dubois Museum, 909 W. Ramshorn St., Dubois
Museum Education director leads a driving/hiking tour to tie hack ruins on Union Pass.
Meet at the museum at 7 p.m. and be prepared to carpool.

Summer Film Series: The Good, the Bad, and the Grizzly, Jackson
Tuesday, July 28 & Friday, July 31: 2:00 – 3:00 PM
National Museum of Wildlife Art,  Jackson
Screened in partnership with the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival.

Reading Wyoming: Canine Companions, Cheyenne
Thursday, July 30: 6:30 – 7:30 PM
Laramie County Library, Cheyenne

Explorers Club: Hollywood in Wyoming, Casper
Thursday, July 30: 2:00 – 3:00 PM
Fort Caspar Museum, Casper
Children learn about Wyoming’s past with stories and hands-on activities. Activity is free with admission. Children must be accompanied by an adult.  Admission prices are adult $3, Youth (18-13) $2, Child (12 & under) free. No reservation necessary.

Exhibit Opening: It Takes Weather, Water, and Work: Farming in Wyoming, Gillette
Thursday, July 30 – Wednesday, September 30
Campbell County Rockpile Museum, Gillette
Learn about early and modern farming in the state with this traveling exhibit. Topics such as foods harvested by Native Americans, the state’s arid climate, the importance of irrigation, sugarbeets, and modern farming are addressed through photographs, illustrations, and text. Exhibit courtesy of the Wyoming State Museum.

Sergey Larenkov intermingles historical photographs of World War II’s Seige of Leningrad with contemporary photographs of the same locations. Bombed-out buildings are blended with their own rehabilitated selves; tanks roll through placid parking lots; women kneel beside the dead in urban green space. The photographs offer a tangible representation of how the past stays with us and how our own lives and times wash over it.

Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii, on the other hand, photographed the past while it was still the present. In the early 1900’s, Prokudin-Gorskii was sent to survey the Russian Empire by Tsar Nicolas II. He did so beautifully and, through a tri-lens process I still don’t quite understand, in color. His subjects included old Russian architecture; railroads, bridges, and other forms of transport;  industry in all its forms, from factories to farms; and, perhaps most strikingly, the many peoples who inhabited the Russian Empire at the time. After his death in 1948, Prokudin-Gorskii’s heirs sold his equipment and photographs to the Library of Congress, which has created a searchable online archive of the images: The Empire That Was Russia. Worth a look, for sure.

Today’s post is all about Russia. Why? Because I adore the blog English Russia, whose tag line is “Because something cool happens daily on 1/6 of the Earth’s surface.” And what’s not to love? The blog has a quirky sensibility. Awkward English. Images of long lines and emerging punk fashion in Soviet and post-Soviet days. And photos of giant fish at Chernobyl.

Of course, English Russia isn’t the only one documenting contemporary Russia. Photographer Andy Freeburg’s marvelous Guardians series documents the workdays of the little old ladies who guard the art at national museums. His artist statement sounds earnest and sweet–

In the art museums of Russia, women sit in the galleries and guard the collections. When you look at the paintings and sculptures, the presence of the women becomes an inherent part of viewing the artwork itself. I found the guards as intriguing to observe as the pieces they watch over. In conversation they told me how much they like being among Russia’s great art. A woman in Moscow’s State Tretyakov Gallery Museum said she often returns there on her day off to sit in front of a painting that reminds her of her childhood home. Another guard travels three hours each way to work, since at home she would just sit on her porch and complain about her illnesses, “as old women do.” She would rather be at the museum enjoying the people watching, surrounded by the history of her country.

–but the photographs themselves are more than a little sly: many of the women look bored or asleep.

Leaving the quaint old ladies to Freeburg, another photographer, Anna Skladmann, has taken it upon herself to document the lives of Russian children. Wealthy Russian children, that is. Her Little Adults series captures the offspring of the nouveau-riche in their gaudy homes and garish outfits, looking, well, like little adults. It’s creepy. I can’t look away.