"The Black Hills Are Not For Sale" mural goes up in L.A.

From Native American Netroots: On Saturday, Nov. 26, beginning at 1 p.m., there is an important event will take place at the intersection of Melrose and Fairfax in West Los Angeles. Harper's Magazine Contributing Editor and National Geographic photographer Aaron Huey, and prolific street artist of the Obama HOPE campaign image, Shepard Fairey, have collaborated and will produce a 20x80-foot mural THE BLACK HILLS ARE NOT FOR SALE installation before your eyes. It goes up during Native American Heritage Month. In case you didn't know: Part of the Black Hills are in Wyoming. That section has already been sold. (Artist's rendering above from nativeamericannetroots)

Laramie County Democrats meet Nov. 28 at Cheyenne IBEW Hall

The Laramie County Democratic Party will be holding its monthly meeting with the Democratic Grassroots Coalition on Monday, Nov. 28, at 7:30 p.m. at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) hall. According to Pres. Linda Stowers, the agenda will be committee updates and a discussion of "Why we are Thankful to be a Democrat." FMI: http://www.laramiecountydemocrats.org 

LCCC's Mental Health Awareness Week helps to stem Wyoming's shocking youth suicide rate

Heartwarming holiday statistics from the Wyoming Behavioral Health Division (formerly the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Division):  

• Suicide ranks as the 2nd leading cause of death for Wyoming’s adolescents and young adults.
• One of every six high school students reported they had attempted suicide.
• More Wyoming teenagers and young adults die from suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, and other medical illnesses combined.

On the local level, Laramie County Community College Counseling and Campus Wellness Center announces that Mental Health Wellness Awareness Week runs from Nov. 28-Dec. 2.


Come by the Mental Health Awareness table in Student Lounge in the College Community Center on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

Suicide Awareness & Prevention session will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 3-5 p.m. in Room 179 of the College Community Center. Free, but RSVP required. The purpose of this training is to promote help seeking behaviors and reduce the stigma of seeking help. Learn to identify warning signs of suicide, risks, and protective factors. Learn skills to help yourself, a friend, family member, or another student.

FMI: http://www.lccc.wy.edu/life/wellness

Get your art history on through Pepper Spray Cop art

This take on "Liberty Leading the People" by Eugene Delacroix has the notable addition of UC Davis's now-infamous Pepper Spray Cop. It's by Brady Hill on Tumblr. More in the Washington Post article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/arts-post/post/pepper-spray-cop-works-his-way-through-art-history/2011/11/21/gIQA4XBmhN_blog.html

Back-sliding on FDR's "Four Freedoms"

This Norman Rockwell poster is based on the “Four Freedoms” addressed by Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt in a January 1941 speech. The following January, the U.S. would be at war and these freedoms would be at risk abroad and at home. They are:

1.      Freedom of speech and expression

2.      Freedom of worship

3.      Freedom from want

4.      Freedom from fear

They are all worth revisiting 70 years later. We seem to be back-sliding on these basic freedoms. At home and abroad.

Lifted the poster from Kaili Joy Gray's post today on Daily Kos. Thanks, Kaili. 

Join Occupy Cheyenne as it creates its declaration

http://www.facebook.com/events/220563101350368/

LCCC Board Chair Brenda Lyttle speaks to Democratic Grassroots Coalition Dec. 3

This invitation comes from Linda Stowers, head of the Laramie County Democrats:

You are invited to lunch on Saturday, December 3, at 11:30 a.m. at the 
Historic Plains Hotel 1600 Central Ave. Cost is $16.50 per person. Speaker 
will be Brenda Lyttle, Laramie County Community College Board Chair. Please RSVP to Louise at 307-635-1592 by 
November 28. The luncheon is sponsored by the Laramie County Democratic Grassroots Coalition.

Felicia Follum wants to introduce you to Works of Wyoming (WOW)

Felicia Follum, Works of Wyoming

Wherever you may be in your arts career, sound marketing advice is crucial. Artrepreneurs in Wyoming may want to get to know Works of Wyoming in Laramie. Drop in and see the WOW Gallery and gift shop during the holiday season. It's located on the second floor of the Laramie Plains Civic Center, which has become action central for the local arts scene. 

Fellow artists, family and friends. I would like to introduce you to Works of Wyoming. I am currently the AmeriCorps intern working primarily on social media marketing as well as working in the gallery space and gift shop. (Last year I worked as the Graphic Design Intern for WOW and the WWBC. You can see my blog for that here.)

As the social media marketing person (I would love to say coordinator, though I do not officially have a title) I have been posting some marketing tips on the WOW blog. My current goal is to post every week on either Tuesday or Thursday and sometimes both. In addition to weekly social media marketing tips, there are basic professional development tips for artists, some fun projects and of course announcements for our workshops and shows. 

It would make my day if you would check out the blog and share it with your friends, especially artists and small business owners who could benefit from our services.  In addition to sharing the blog with people, I would also love to have more examples to post. If you would like to have your social media site, plans, or strategies in the blog, please comment below or contact me on the WOW Facebook page. If you would like to contact me through WOW feel free. Phone number is 307.742.6574 and the email address is wow@uwyo.edu. 

If you are not from Wyoming and would like help with your social media comment below for more info. If you are from WY and not a part of WOW, you should look into becoming a member. 

Contact WOW: WOW Blog or WOW Facebook or 307.742.6574 

Personal: Art Facebook Page (I don't add people I don't know in real life to my personal page, so be sure to go to FeliciaFollumDesign not FeliciaFollum. Thanks!)

 Cross posted in a slightly different form on the Wyomingarts blog.

Support your local artrepreneurs on Small Business Saturday

Support your local businesses, crafters and artrepreneurs. Go to Re-Occupy Main Street

Morris House Bistro sells great gumbo for good causes on Nov. 26

The Morris House Bistro in Cheyenne is conducting the “Gumbo for Gifts” fund-raiser for two good causes on Saturday, Nov. 26, beginning at 4 p.m. You will note that this is also the date of the annual downtown Christmas parade. For $10, you can get a bowl of homemade gumbo (before, during or after the parade). Vino’s is donating beverages (alcoholic and non) for the event. Proceeds will go to buy gifts for children in need and food for the hungry through Needs, Inc., and the Friday Food Bag Foundation.

FMI: 307-369-1378 or morrishousebistro@gmail.com.

In case you’ve never eaten at the Morris House Bistro, you’re in for a treat. This homegrown Cheyenne restaurant features real Carolina low-country cuisine and it made right on the spot. Never had the gumbo but it’s bound to be superb.

Occupy Cheyenne 11/21 General Assembly: Cold toes, warm hearts

Cool hand-crafted signs from Oct. 15 Occupy Cheyenne

I attended the second General Assembly for Occupy Cheyenne last night. We met outside in the parking lot of a city park. Temp hovered around freezing but thankfully the wind was not blowing. By the light of of city lamps and T's flashlight, we spoke about next steps. The next march will be held on Saturday, Dec. 10, noon-3 p.m. We'll assemble at the Wyoming State Capitol Building (we'll get a state permit!). There will be speakers and then we will follow the sidewalks down to Depot Plaza. There we will wave signs, shout catchy slogans and urge passing holiday shoppers to consider their roles in the 99%.

Those at last night's GA were of many ages and backgrounds. College students, state workers, a retired Air Force pilot, an economist, a welder, a graphic designer, an attorney, a social worker, an unemployed young person, etc. We were all out there in the cold to plan future events and to craft our message. Everyone seems to want a focused message from the Occupy Movement. At least that's what TV talking heads seem to want. Republican Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich wants us to take baths (baths? -- he must be living in one of his historical novels). Not sure what Newt's obsession with cleanliness is -- probably a metaphor for his need to cleanse his filthy soul.

To craft that message, we are meeting at noon on Saturday, Nov. 26, at the UU Church. We'll be working from the document drafted by Occupy DC. Needs to be Wyo-customized, as we have many issues within our state that need to be addressed. At the same time, we'll be customizing a Powerpoint presentation that was made during the recent teach-ins at the library and the UU Church. I joke about having a coherent message (see above). However, it is important. One of the first questions we all get is something along these lines: "What is Occupy (or the 99%) anyway?" A very good questions, and we hope to bring some clarity to that on Saturday.

More info will be forthcoming. Join is for the next Occupy Cheyenne march on Dec. 10. The Wyoming AFL/CIO has agreed to take part. We especially urge teachers to attend, as they no doubt will be under attack again in the upcoming legislature. Bring your signs. Bring your friends. I am inviting my fellow workers, whether they be part of the Wyoming Public Employees Association or not. I am inviting all of my fellow writers. Come on down! And shop locally while you're downtown.

In the meantime, go to the Occupy Cheyenne Facebook page and join in the conversation.

Dottie Lamm in The Denver Post: "Other faces in the crowd" at Occupy Denver are a bit older

Former Colorado First Lady and Denver Post columnist Dottie Lamm (on right,
with notebook) interviews one of our fellow "oldies" at Occupy Denver Oct. 8

I missed this column by Dottie Lamm when it first appeared in The Denver Post on Oct. 23. Lamm, Colorado's former First Lady (remember Dick "Gov. Gloom" Lamm?), attended the same Oct. 8 Occupy Denver protest that drew my wife Chris and I. She and her friends ("oldies") were concerned that they hadn't been seeing others of their age cohort at Occupy rallies. Dottie found Chris and I on the Colorado State Capitol steps and interviewed us for her Oct. 23 piece. Read the story at http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_19159646

Thanks for the cordial invitation, Pikes Peak Writers Conference

One of my Cheyenne critique group colleagues, Liz Roadifer, received this e-letter from the Pikes Peak Writers organization. Liz has been involved with this group for awhile and says they put on a great conference each spring. I may attend in 2012 for the first time. Some fine writers on the PPWC presenters' list, including Champion Mojo Storyteller Joe R. Lansdale and Robert "Elvis Cole" Crais. 

The link below takes you to a user-friendly web site.

This is such a simple and appealing invitation. Maybe other regional writing groups could take a page from PPWC: 

Dear Elizabeth,

You're cordially invited to the 20th Annual Pikes Peak Writers Conference, which will be held April 19-22, 2012, at the Colorado Springs Marriott.

Come help us celebrate 20 years of success with four jam-packed days of informative workshops, motivational speeches, networking opportunities, Read & Critique sessions, and the chance to pitch your manuscript to some of the most sought-after editors and agents in the business.

Some of this year's featured speakers* are:

Robert Crais
Jeffery Deaver
Susan Wiggs
Joe R. Lansdale
Donald Maass
...and more!

*Faculty roster subject to change without notice.

Find out why PPWC is known as one of the friendliest and best- organized writers conferences. 

Registration is now open

Questions? Contact registrar@pikepikespeakwriters.com

"Dr. Dirt" makes art by cleaning shapes into filthy urban surfaces

From Grist: Street artist Moose Benjamin Curtis doesn't use spray paint or wallpaper paste -- the usual tools of this trade. Instead, he wields scrub brushes, old socks, cleaning fluid, and, when he's living large, a high-pressure hose. He creates images by cleaning shapes into filthy urban surfaces such as retaining walls, signs, and tunnels. People have called it "reverse graffiti," "clean graffiti," and "negative space." Moose prefers "grime writing." He has called himself "a professor of dirt." For more: http://www.grist.org/cities/2011-11-04-dr.-dirt-street-artist-scrubs-images-into-the-urban-landscape

Moose's work at the Broadway Tunnel in San Francisco in 2009

Ol' Blue Eyes says (sings) it all about "New York, New York" in 2011

Chemical weapons used on peaceful UC Davis protesters

The wars come home: UC Davis Police Lt. John Pike uses pepper spray to move Occupy UC Davis protesters who were blocking officers' attempts to remove arrested protesters from the Quad on Friday afternoon. FMI: http://www.davisenterprise.com/... Photo credit: Wayne Tilcock/Enterprise photo

GA for Occupy Cheyenne Nov. 21 in Mylar Park

I can walk to this one... I'll bring a traveler of coffee to share.

Creativity is Occupy Movement's middle name

I didn't see "Cheyenne" or "Wyoming" flash on this building but maybe next time...

Here's what this is all about:

One of the most impressive moments of yesterday's Occupy Wall Street marches, was when someone projected a giant 99% "bat signal" on the side of one of lower Manhattan's skyscrapers as thousands of people swarmed across the nearby Brooklyn Bridge. New Yorkers know the Verizon Building as the windowless, concrete eyesore that looms over the bridge and mars the downtown skyline, so seeing it used is such a way certainly got a lot of attention. 

But who did it? And how were they able to project the stories-high words on the building just as the protesters made their way over the span? Boing Boing's Xeni Jardin spoke to Mark Read, one of the Occupy Wall Street organizer who pulled together a team of friends and artists that arranged for the projection to happen. 

Read says he got help from two video projection artists, Max Nova and JR Skola, who used a 12,000 lumen projector and programmed the software needed to properly program the message. He also found an apartment in a nearby housing project from where they safely angle the projection on to the building. He says he offered to rent the apartment from a single mother of three, but when she found out what they wanted to use it for — and saw what happened during the eviction of Zuccotti Park — she refused to take their money.

Music by Hans Zimmer, To Know My Enemy. 

Some of this is new to me. There is now a category known as "video projection artists?" And a 12,000-lumen projector? It must be huge. 

I ask Slim: "Why are Tea Party people so damn mean?"

I asked Tea Party Slim, "What makes you people so damn mean?"

Slim seemed taken aback. "Mean?"

"You're doing pretty well, aren't you?" I said, feeling a need to elaborate and/or rub it in. "Many of you are retired. Your homes are paid off and you have cars and RVs. You can visit your grandkids any time you want. Some, like you, are veterans and have the entire VA medical system at your disposal."

Slim appeared thoughtful. "We worked hard for our money. And some of us slogged through rice paddies protecting our freedoms."

"Were you ever actually in a rice paddy, Slim?"

He seemed to blush a bit. "You know what I mean. Some of us served."

I had come to grips with my non-service during the Vietnam era. Apparently Slim had not. "But you're doing pretty well now, right? No a rice paddy in sight here in Wyoming."

"We're taxed to death. I wouldn't say that's 'well off' "

"Just how are you taxed to death? We don't have a state income tax. Property taxes are low. Sales taxes are 5 percent...."

"But they tack on that 1 percent to pay for things we don't need."

"Like road improvements?"

"They are always working on the roads but nothing gets improved. And how come sand trucks take all day to 'improve' the roads every winter?"

I had to admit he had some good points. "But overall, our roads are good. No muddy quagmires to get bogged down in, right?"

Slim shrugged.

"Sewer and water system improvements. Flood control. New landfill. New library. I know that you and the misses use our library."

"All right, all right. The 1 percent added tax isn't so bad."

"There's no regressive grocery tax."

"We buy our groceries at the base BX."

"Like I said..."

"You wouldn't deny a veteran his benefits, would you?"

"I'm happy to pay my taxes so that you get those benefits." I smiled. It was my Cheshire Cat grin.

"Federal taxes are too high. Government too big."

Slim often digs these holes for himself. We sat there for several minutes while his words drifted through the air.

"Government...." I began.

"O.K., I was a government employee most of my life," Slim sputtered. "We all know that. But government is way too big. You wouldn't believe the waste that I saw. Taxpayer money isn't being spent wisely."

"At last we can agree on something," I said. Then I was silent as a Buddha. I felt like crawling out of my chair and sitting cross-legged on the floor. I would have too, if my knees weren't so ancient and bad.

Slim broke the silence. "Mr. Anti-War Pinko," he said.

"Make that Mr. Bleeding Heart Anti-War Pinko."

"Done."

"You call me names. Why is that?"

"You call us names. Teabaggers, filthy things like that."

"But that's a sexual term. And you guys yourselves used that, at least in the beginning."

"No we didn't."

"Maybe not. But the words you direct at Occupy Wall Street are so much more hurtful."

"They're bums," spat Slim.

"See what I mean? They're kids just trying to make a living."

"Why aren't they making a living? They're out on the streets throwing bricks at cops."

"First of all, they're not throwing bricks at cops. The protesters are nonviolent. The cops are the violent ones."

"They have to protect themselves!"

"From what -- peace, love and understanding?"

"A cop in San Francisco -- your favorite hippie town -- was slashed by a razor during a demonstration."

"I heard about that. There have been a thousand of these Occupy events and that's all you have?"

"There have been thousands of violent acts."

"Name them -- all of them."

Slim stared at me.

"You can't, can you? Meanwhile, you Tea Party guys pack heat to your demos and the cops look on meekly."

"Second amendment."

"Spare me," I said. "Name one incident where there was gunplay at an Occupy event." I could tell that Slim was replaying in his head hours upon hours of Fox broadcasts. "If this was a violent revolution by a bunch of wild-eyed radicals, don't you think there would have been gunplay by now?"

"Just wait," said Slim. "It will happen." He grinned. "And when it does, the cops can count on us loyally armed citizens to back them up."

I had a mental image of thousands of well-armed geezers taking to the streets. A cop's worst nightmare.

"I keep asking the same question but don't get an answer: Why are you so damn mean?"

"It's our God-given right as American citizens," said Slim.

"God, I'm sure, will be pleased to hear that."

EPA Chief: Pavillion tests are "of concern" and fracking may be the culprit

This just in from the Casper Star-Tribune:

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency says high levels of methane, benzene and chemicals found in two Wyoming water-monitoring wells are “of concern” and said hydraulic fracturing may be responsible.

In an interview set to air on the Bloomberg cable news channel Saturday and Sunday, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said the agency discussed results from two monitoring wells in the Pavillion area with state and local officials. The well data was released to the public last week.

Read more: http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/epa-chief-wyoming-water-well-results-of-concern/article_0aacd635-c62a-5eae-9f79-e6ae14eb1906.html#ixzz1e3vm0Cwo

I know that Rep. Cynthia "Kill the EPA" Lummis will pooh-pooh these findings to cater to her Know Nothing base, but the finding are the results of sound science and should be listened to. Do we really want to poison our fellow Wyomingites, such as John Fenton, a Pavillion rancher and member of Pavillion Area Concerned Citizens? John and his family were featured in the documentary “Gasland” (go to www,gaslandthemovie.com)

Howard Dean: "Where will you be Nov. 17?"

It appears that not everyone in the Democratic establishment has abandoned Occupy Wall Street

Butte, Montana, native Barbara Ehrenreich: Dem establishment has abandoned OWS

Barbara Ehrenreich, 2008 photo by Jay Westcott/Rapport

Barbara Ehrenreich knows something about America’s working people. She grew up in the hard-knock western mining town of Butte (Wyomingites know something about tough mining towns). Her best-known book is “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America.” She’s a life-long Democrat and an advocate for the “get out and vote” school of social change.

After watching the Democratic Party’s weak-kneed, lily-livered support for the Occupy movement, she may be changing her tune. I’ve been thinking along these same lines. Why should I support Pres. Obama when he turns a blind eye to those of us taking risks to advocate for real “change.” Why should America’s young people work for Obama’s reelection when he seems to be complicit in the overreaction to peaceful street protests, some of them visible from the White House? Why should I turn out to vote for any of those Democratic mayors and governors (I’m looking at you, John Hickenlooper of Colorado) who have used heavy-handed tactics against Occupiers?

Go to: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/15/barbara-ehrenreich-occupy-wall-street

Also read Ehrenreich’s essay about OWS in Oct. 12 issue of The Progressive: http://www.progressive.org/one_percent_barbara_ehrenreich.html

JH Weekly: Wyoming downwinders nervous (again) after two incidents at Idaho facility

Jake Nichols reports about two separate incidents at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) nuke facility across the border in Idaho. Read all about it here

In new "Over It (for the 99%)" video, Dane Clark says: "Stand up for yourself today"

Performance poet M.L. Liebler of Detroit sent the above link along with this news:

This just in from my musical partner Peter Lewis and his pal Dane Clark (John Mellencamp's drummer & Moby Grape producer). From the heart of Indiana. Peter is playing some guitar on the track. Dig We Must!

M.L. and Peter Lewis performed in Cheyenne last March and served as judges for the Wyoming Poetry Out Loud competition. Two very talented performers. Two big-hearted human beings. And great vid, Mr. Clark.

Why have the police resorted to violence against Occupy Wall Street protesters?

Following last month's police brutality in Oakland, and today's summary eviction of the Occupy Wall Street camp (and don't forget Seattle and Denver -- see above photo from Oct. 29 by Craig F. Walker of The Denver Post), American activists are reaching the conclusion that "police protect the 1%". More at Police Violence Reveals a Corrupt System (The Guardian via Common Dreams).

Seattle activist Dorli Rainey, 84, reacts after being hit with pepper spray during an Occupy Seattle protest on Tuesday, November 15, at Westlake Park. Protesters gathered in the intersection of 5th Avenue and Pine Street after marching from their camp at Seattle Central Community College in support of Occupy Wall Street. Many refused to move from the intersection after being ordered by police. Police then began spraying pepper spray into the gathered crowd hitting dozens of people. A pregnant woman was taken from the melee in an ambulance after being struck with spray. Photo: JOSHUA TRUJILLO / SEATTLEPI.COM

Retired cop tells NYPD: "Don't be Wall Street Mercenaries"

Captain Ray Lewis (Ret.) of the Philadelphia police has joined Occupy Wall Street. His sign is perfect: “NYPD: Don’t Be Wall Street Mercenaries!” That's exactly what the NYPD has become, as we witnessed throughout the day today. (Thanks to Cognitive Dissonance in Laramie for the photo.)

NEA Chair Rocco Landesman gets a taste of the SD/WY Black Hills this week

The Heritage Center at Red Cloud Indian School will be showcasing the musical group Scatter Their Own at the reception for National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman on Thursday, Nov. 17, 10 a.m. at The Dahl Center in Rapid City. Juliana, the bass player, is a recent honors graduate of Red Cloud High School on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Landesman will be in S.D. to talk about “Creative Placemaking in the Black Hills Region.” Last time we looked at a map, some of that Black Hills region was in Wyoming. And it still is! Some of our Black Hills artists and arts group reps might want to traipse over to Rapid on Thursday to what’s cooking, creative placemaking-wise.

Call for entries: Open Window online literary magazine

Lori Howe sends out a call to writers in Wyoming:

Open Window, the new on-line literary magazine of LCCC’s Albany County Campus in Laramie, invites you to submit your creative work for publication in its inaugural issue. 

Open Window is a literary magazine that publishes three regular issues and one special topics issue each year. We publish new and established writers, and invite you to submit in one or more of the following categories:

*Fiction: up to 5 pages of fiction

*Non-fiction: up to 5 pages of non-fiction

*Poetry: up to three poems or one long poem

*Please submit your creative work via email as an attachment in MS Word document format; work submitted in any other form will not be considered for publication. Submit your work by NOVEMBER 25, 2011, to openwindow.howe78@gmail.com

*Please observe the standard of numbering your pages and using 12-point font.

*Simultaneous submissions are acceptable with immediate notification of alternate publication.

*Please include a short cover page with bio, along with your work; in it should be your full name, some information about yourself, and a description of the work you are submitting for consideration, so that it will be read by the appropriate editor.

There are no reading or submission fees at Open Window. 

The first issue of Open Window will be published the third week of December, 2011. Acceptance/rejection notices will be sent via email before this date. 

Open Window Launch Party/Reading: A gala opening of Open Window, with a reading by the writers published in the first issue, will be held in the reading space above Night Heron Books in Downtown Laramie the week before Christmas, 2011. All of our writers are invited to participate and bring friends and family to help celebrate the occasion with appetizers and desserts by The Cakelady.

LCCC Theatre Club sponsors open mic night Nov. 17

The Laramie County Community College Theatre Club is sponsoring an open mic night on Thursday, Nov. 17, 7 p.m., at the LCCC Theatre in Cheyenne. Show up and sign up to go on stage with your original work. No admission fee, but donations of canned food items are appreciated and will be donated to local charities for the holidays. Coffee provided. More info on LCCC Theatre Club Facebook page.

Evening at Bas Bleu Theatre on Nov. 17 will help the homeless

Bas Bleu in Fort Collins is one of the best theatres in the region. Bas Bleu does good work, and it does good works. For more: Evening at Bas Bleu will help the homeless

Militarized police continue to attack unarmed Occupy protesters

Illustration of the continued militarization of our police forces. While this may look like a phalanx of armed soldiers closing in on a nest of well-armed jihadis in Afghanistan, it is instead armed Chapel Hill police moving against a handful of unarmed Occupy Chapel Hill "sympathizers." More disturbing details here.

You can "harumph" all you want, but a generational shift is underway in the arts world

Argentango is one of the many artists and
arts groups seen on Old Town Fort Collins
street corners during "Streetmospheres."

Way back in the previous century -- 1998 I think it was -- Fort Collins, Colo., sent out the call for a new motto. The old one was getting frayed around the edges.

The city received lots of ideas. But this is the one I remember best: "Fort Collins: Where Cheyenne Shops."

It was meant tongue and cheek and wasn't adopted. Without looking it up, I cannot tell you the current motto of F.C. This points out that they are probably unnecessary and a waste of the citizenry's time. It also illustrates the fact that there are any number of truisms attached to a city that probably don't belong -- or won't fit -- on its web site banner. I can think of several for Fort Collins:

• Where Cheyenne and Laramie shop
• Where Cheyenne and Laramie teens go to party and see indie bands on weekends
• Where Mike Shay and his beloved wife go to dine
• Where Wyoming craft beer fans go to refill their growlers
• Where Cheyenne people go to marvel at a vibrant downtown that doesn't have a huge hole as its centerpiece
• Where Cheyenne people go to get their hail-damaged cars repaired because we can't wait until February 2013 for an appointment

I could go on, but won't. The whole shopping thing is not as true in 2011 as it was in 1998. Cheyenne has many of the same big box stores that line College Avenue in Fort Collins. We have chain restaurants by the score. Our arts and entertainment offerings are growing.

But we live in the era of thriving downtowns. Fort Collins has one of the best in the West. It has that odd diagonal parking scheme in the middle of the street. It has galleries and funky shops and concert venues and sidewalk cafes.

You just can't get this in Cheyenne. Cheyennites say that it's just so much easier to travel 45 minutes to Fort Collins (or 90 minutes to Denver) than create something similar in our own downtown.

Harumph, harumph.

Part of that is a generational thing. Cheyenne gets high marks from Old Codger Magazine as a great place for retirement. Low crime rate! Low taxes! Low energy level! Cheyenne gets high marks from Old Military Codger Magazine as one of the top ten places for military retirees. Military base amenities and two-for-one hip replacements at the VA! Retirees of all stripes have a future (albeit a limited one) in Cheyenne!

Zzzzzzz....

Meanwhile, down in the city named after a fort that never existed, young people gather. Hipster.com recommends F.C. highly for its many hipster hangouts. Bust Your Head Wide Open mag calls the place one of "America's dream towns" for its active outdoor sports culture. The signature label at New Belgium Brewery is Fat Tire and it's brewed by wind power and tended by goatee-sporting brewmeisters. Almost 30,000 young people attend CSU and many grads stick around to start businesses in a town known for its entrepreneurship.

So it's only natural that Fort Collins entities have banded together to create the Arts Incubator of the Rockies. Those of us at the AIR meeting this past week in F.C. were anything but hipsters. Our median age may have been 45. But we're all looking ahead rather than behind. Our futures depend on it.

Traditional art forms are on the decline, and have been for at least a decade. Symphonies, opera, ballet, art museums, and all the rest see declining attendance. The audiences that remain are older. Expenses continue to climb. Even a math-challenged person such as myself (age 60.9163) can see that this is a losing proposition.

On the other hand, art schools continue to crank out record numbers of artists and writers and musicians. The supply side is thriving. The traditional demand side is shrinking. But a survey by Julliard shows that only 10 percent of music grads stay in the industry. Wonder how other university departments would look at such dismal statistics. "UW School of Geology: 90 percent of our grads work at McDonald's!" "CSU Veterinary School: Only 10 percent of our grads have anything to do with animals!"

Beet Street in Fort Collins is trying to breathe some new life into both the creation and the presentation of the arts. They are joined in this regional endeavor by the CSU School of the Arts and the City of Fort Collins. They were partners in a successful National Endowment for the Arts' Our Town grant that brings $100,000 to the AIR effort. The Western States Arts Federation in Denver and nine state arts agencies gathered in F.C. last week to discuss our involvement.

In Saturday's post, I outlined some of the core and potential programs that will be addressed by AIR. The major physical effort will be the renovation of the old Carnegie Library into a regional arts center.

We toured the building on Thursday. It's one of a cluster of historic buildings in City Park. Next door is the sprawling county library, which once was housed in the Carnegie Building, as was the case in hundreds of American towns and cities.

Exhibits, archives and storage for the Fort Collins Museum are now crammed into the Carnegie. All of it, along with the staff, will move to the new 47,000-square-foot Fort Collins Museum and Discovery Science Center by the summer. This new public-private partnership will feature interactive exhibits that blend history and science. It also has a new Digital Dome Theatre that is part planetarium and part IMAX

Meanwhile, back at the Carnegie, Beet Street's Beth Flowers tells us about the plans for the space. It will feature physical classrooms, a virtual learning center, an AIR resource center, Beet Street offices, black box theatre, gallery and other public spaces. The city owns the building so will maintain and manage it. CSU will conduct community-based continuing ed courses as well as classes that will feed into its new minor in Arts Business and Leadership and Master of Music in Arts Leadership and Administration.

"Bronwyn's Factory" by UW Prof Ricki Klages was 
selected from 1,200 entries for the prestigious
Manifest Press's inaugural
 International Painting Annual.

Yet to be decided is how neighboring states fit into the equation. We spent two days last week discussing options in the newly renovated Lincoln Center. Wyoming trains scads of artists at its lone four-year public university and its many community colleges. How will AIR serve them? The University of Wyoming could have its own CSU-like "A" for "Agricultural" on a mountain if one were close enough to campus. And that "A" could stand for "Arts." UW is in the midst of a complete revamping of its arts infrastructure. The massive new visual arts building, located strategically next to the award-winning UW Art Museum, will open in January. The old fine arts building will get a complete renovation over the course of the new two years. The English Department's creative writing program (ranked No. 30 in the nation by Poets & Writers mag) continues to be housed in the oldest building on campus (go figure).

Beefed-up endowments bring amazing performers, artists and writers to campus. Internationally-renowned dancer and choreographer Bill T. Jones wraps up his UW residency this month. Rebecca Solnit, Camille Dungy, Colson Whitehead and Salman Rushdie have taught young writers the past few years. Visual artists such as Jesus Moroles, Deborah Butterfield and Ursula von Rydingsvard have taught at UW and their sculptures have been featured on campus.

But the problem remains. UW does not have an arts administration degree program. And students still get a limited exposure to the business side of the arts. Some will get teacher certification and teach. Some will go on to master's and Ph.D. programs and teach. May others will want to make a living as artists and will have to figure it out for themselves.

We in Wyoming have an option that other regional players don't have -- we're right down the road from the AIR project in Fort Collins. Those arts business courses will be nearby. Some will be offered online, too. But since you're already traveling down snow-clogged roads to go to the hookah bar, why not take a workshop while you're there?

At last week's meeting, we talked extensively about ways that state arts agencies such as the Wyoming Arts Council could help sponsor AIR courses. Wyoming students could attend physical classes in F.C. Or maybe some of those courses could be offered at UW in some sort of cooperative agreement with border rival CSU. We talked about a partnership among regional land-grant universities -- all of our states have one.

We have hundreds of talented artists in Wyoming. We also have a problem with our college grads moving out of state to start careers in Denver, Salt Lake City, L.A., and Portland. Wouldn't it be amazing if we could find ways for our homegrown creatives to stay in Casper and Pinedale and Evanston? They will need business acumen to do so. Luck helps, too. But what's that famous saying about luck? "The harder I work the luckier I get." Maybe that should be: "The smarter I work the luckier I get."

We all need to work smarter in tough times. AIR could be one of the ways to work smarter. Wouldn't it be great if Cheyenne could claim a new motto that said: "Cheyenne: Where Fort Collins buys art and attends arts events."

Music on Cheyenne's Depot Plaza

I'll keep you posted on AIR developments. Also get updates on the Wyoming Arts Council blog.

It's a great time to be working in the arts!

Me: It's a great time to be working in the arts.

You: The heck you say. Local, state and national arts budgets are on the chopping block. The Kansas governor eliminated its state arts agency. K-12 arts teachers are being laid off. Music and visual arts and poetry graduates can't find jobs. Arts orgs and galleries and museums and performance spaces everywhere are crashing and burning.

Me: As I said, it's a great time to be working in the arts.

You: No hope for a fool.

Me: Or is there?

I'm flying high on the arts after a two-day meeting in Fort Collins, Colo. Arts types from nine states came to town to brainstorm ideas for the Arts Incubator of the Rockies (AIR.). This multi state effort to turbo-charge the region's artists and arts orgs and was spearheaded by a triumvirate of Ft Collins entities: Beet Street, the City of Fort Collins and Colorado State University School of the Arts.

It's a great thing when an arts organization, a city government and a major land-grant university get together to forge a plan for the future. A rare thing, too. Together they applied to the National Endowment for the Arts and received a $100,000 Our Town grant. Another major step. And then they invited their neighbors from WY, CO, NM, UT, ID, MT, NE, NV, SD and ND to town to talk about next steps.

So we did.

Fort Collins can brag about its arts and culture scene. This city of 140,000 sprawls along the Poudre River Valley and butts up against the Front Range of the Rockies. There's a big "A" up on the mountain that gets a fresh coat of whitewash every year from CSU students. The "A" stands for the "Agricultural" in Colorado Agricultural College and later Colorado A&M. Ag continues to be a big deal on campus and in the community. It stands for both flora and fauna, such as the large fauna investigated and studied and treated each year in the CSU Veterinary Program, one of the best in the U.S. "A" and "M" prompt students from all over the world to study water hydrology in Fort Collins. Water ministers from many parched Middle Eastern, Asian and African countries learned their trade at CSU. The university is home to the Colorado Seed Laboratory, where the genomes of the West's native plants are explored and safeguarded.

CSU's "A" and "M" creds are well-established.

But these days the "A" up on the hill could stand for "Arts."

During our two days in Fort Collins, we toured arts facilities. One belongs to the U, the renovated Fort Collins High School ("Go Lambkins!") that now houses the University Center for the Arts, or UCA. When I attended CSU from 1988-91, my little family lived in a little house just down the street from FCHS. My wife and I and our young son played catch on the football field which was a half-block from the house. I dodged student drivers on my daily walks to campus. There was that one Saturday morning when we found a frat boy from Phi Zappa Krappa passed out on our lawn. Apparently he had become disoriented after a frat bash and had settled in for a rejuvenating nap on our not-so-lush lawn. Our son awakened him with a pointy stick.

The frat house is still there. The high school is now the arts school. Our tour guide on Thursday was Jennifer Clary, a graduate of both the old FCHS and the new CSU arts school. She now works at the UCA. So it goes.

We watched a faculty chamber group as they warmed up in the Organ Recital Theatre for an upcoming concert. We saw the student Symphonia rehearse for its performance of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony. Great acoustics in the 550-seat Edna Rizley Griffin Concert Hall. Great facilities overall for music and dance and theatre. Also a fine visual arts museum.

As I watched the tattooed woman violinist and the viola player in his black hoodie bow their way through various symphony movements, I couldn't help but wonder what they'll be doing in 10 years. Playing in a major symphony? Bloody unlikely. Playing in a smaller symphony or community band? Possibly. Teaching music at the K-12 level. That's probable, although too many students look at education as a "fall-back" occupation if music performance doesn't work out. While some of them will be good teachers, others will be second-rate or worse and resentful that they're not making money in their chosen pursuit of music.

During our meeting, CSU School of the Arts Co-Director Dr. Todd Queen quoted from a Julliard study that found that only 10 percent of music school students stay in the industry after graduation. It's tough out there for a musician -- we all know that. It's tough out there for a poet and a dancer and a painter. That's why so many parents (this one included) attempt (with limited success) to steer their children into more practical avenues.

But what if there were other ways to an artist to make a living as an artist? What if we could shift away from the paradigm of "starving artist?"

That is a major goal of AIR.

Arts students need help with the big "B" of "business." They need to find new ways to promote themselves as artists which then will free up time for them to do their art. This is nothing new. Van Gogh painted up a storm but couldn't make a living -- his brother Theo had to keep him in bread and cheese. As a student in the CSU creative writing program, my goal was to write and learn how to write better. I was a teaching assistant too -- a little teaching experience couldn't hurt, right?

But in my third year, after a series of unsuccessful interviews for teaching jobs, I realized that I needed to reassess my goals. I asked the following question: "Just what the hell am I going to do now?" So I looked at all of my career assets and found that I could run or work for an arts organizations. Plenty of those around. My writing and corporate skills would come in handy. My time heading up the writers' committee on the CSU Fine Arts Series would be useful. Teaching skills, too -- I'd already taught at CSU and several community college writing courses in Fort Collins and Greeley.

It all added up to something. And I parlayed that something into 20 years working as an arts administrator at the state and federal level. I'm an acknowledged expert in my field. I've worked as a panelist and arts consultant to Colorado, Utah, Nevada, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kentucky, the Western States Arts Federation in Denver, etc. I've mentored many writers and later, as my job came to encompass all arts disciplines, I've assisted pianists, dancers, sculptors, rock musicians, painters, and so on.

But I have this sorrowful part of me that wishes now that, 20-some years ago, I had asked this question instead: "How can I make a living as a fiction writer?" That should have been my focus because writing is what I love. In the arts, it is all about you pursuing your passion. It also can be about forging a career in the arts world. Not just as a fall-back strategy but as something that a student does on purpose. It may include teaching but it very well may not.

Arts and beers and bikes are all players in
the new creative placemaking economy.

This is what I like about AIR: It addresses both of these tracks through workshops, classes, networking, coaching, mentoring, outreach and internships. It seeks to enlist professionals to mentor those in their field. It will look at ways to provide shared professional services, investment capital and revolving loan funds. It may enlist celebrity actors and musicians and writers to promote AIR goals. It may sponsor local and regional conferences.

The discussion is only beginning. In my next post, I'll address some of the ways that AIR plans to incubate regional artists and arts orgs in the West. I'll also look at the role that Fort Collins itself is playing in the Rocky Mountain West's arts and cultural renaissance. It's not all about "beers, bikes and (snow)boards" -- but all of those "B" words feed "A" energy (as in "Arts").

GOP lawmakers (maybe even WY Rep. Cynthia Lummis) want out of tax pledge

GOP lawmakers want out of Grover Norquist no-tax pledge, according to TheHill.com

Rep. Cynthia Lummis may be one of them. She was quoted this way Nov. 3 in the Casper Star-Tribune:

"Grover Norquist is not in my district. I represent the state of Wyoming and its people."

We'll see how long this lasts... 

Tests of Pavillion groundwater show levels of carcinogen benzene at 50 times the EPA limit

From the Billings Gazette:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it has found high levels of benzene and other chemicals in the latest groundwater samples from a community within a gas field.

A variety of chemicals and high levels of methane turned up in two wells drilled specifically to test for pollution in the central Wyoming community of Pavillion.

The carcinogen benzene measured as high as 50 times the EPA limit, according to a report released at an EPA public meeting Wednesday night in Pavillion.

Elevated levels of diesel- and gasoline-grade organic compounds also were found.

Meanwhile, the EPA has sampled 42 domestic water wells to date, finding methane in 10 wells and a chemical called 2-butoxyethanol phosphate in nine.

The EPA told the 50 or so attendees at the meeting that people with polluted water should not use it for cooking and drinking and should ventilate their bathrooms while bathing or showering.

The warning also was issued in Pavillion last year.

Read more: http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/article_06f19c56-0bea-11e1-85f1-001cc4c002e0.html#ixzz1dSfeGd44

Sen. Enzi and Sen. Barrasso vote to eliminate Small Community Air Service Development Program for Wyoming communities

Says Rep. Jim Byrd who represents Cheyenne in the Wyoming State Legislature: "I guess when you've got private jets at your disposal it's easy to forget that the rest of the people (99%) have to rely on local air service in WY." You said it, Jim.