Discovery Days for Prospective UW Students and Parents

UW students work on a class assignment at the Art Museum.

Prospective students and their parents are invited to Discovery Days in the Student Union this Saturday, starting at 8 am. This event is meant to introduce prospective students to the UW campus, and showcase some of the academic colleges, extra-curricular activities, and events. The UW Art Museum will be there with information about our programs, education classes, and the opportunities that are available for UW students. If you're thinking about attending UW for college, then be sure to stop the Art Museum table to see the various roles we play in the Laramie community and on campus.

For more information on Discovery Days, visit the webpage for a schedule and all the details. For more information on the UW Art Museum and the programs and exhibitions available, visit the webpage or call 307.766.6622. The Art Museum is open on Saturdays from 10 am - 5 pm, so we invite you to stop by after Discovery Days to see the exhibitions first hand!

Reminders for Students

A couple of reminders for students - if you have work in the 35th Annual Juried UW Student Exhibition and would like to record a cell phone audio tour, in your own words and in your voice, to tell museum visitors about your artwork, TODAY is the last day to do so! All you have to do is write up a paragraph, the content is entirely up to you. The more students who participate, the better the experience will be for museum visitors. This is an opportunity for you to really convey what you want people to take away from your art. It's also a good way to gain exposure and let people know who you are as an artist.

Students are also invited to sign up to participate in 20:20 to be held on March 1st at 7 pm. This is an event that the Art Museum holds 3-4 times a year, focusing on a particular group of artists. This time the focus is on high school, LCCC, and UW art students. If you would like to present a brief talk and images of your work, please sign up! There will be museum staff, local artists, and faculty members in the audience, so this is a chance for you to show everyone (including fellow students) what you've been working on and what your artwork is all about.

If you have questions about either of these programs, or would like to sign up, please contact assistant curator Rachel Miller at 307.766.6621 or rmiller@uwyo.edu.

Mohamed Shata Available for UW Faculty and Students

Mohamed Shata

Egyptologist Mohamed Shata will be at the University of Wyoming Art Museum on Tues., Feb. 9.  In addition to his Art Talk at 7 pm entitled The Art of Ancient Egypt, Shata will be available at 4 pm to meet informally with students and faculty in the Art Museum's conference room. 

For his public lecture, Shata will explain the process, technique and images of the tombs built and decorated for the kings, queens and nobles of ancient Egypt during the New Kingdom (2700-2200 B.C.).

An archaeologist and licensed Egyptologist for the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, Shata received a degree in archaeology at Cairo University. He worked extensively on excavating sites in the vicinity of the Pyramids with Zahi Hawass, Egypt's vice minister of culture and secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.  He has also worked on restoring the Sphinx and has discovered many tombs of Old Kingdom royal family members at Giza. Shata was a presenter at the Eighth International Congress of Egyptologists.

The Art Talk is free and open to the public.  All are invited to attend.

20:20 Call for Student Participants

Calling all high school, LCCC, and UW art students!

You’re invited to participate in

at the UW Art Museum on Monday, March 1st, 7 pm

The UW Art Museum is pleased to announce its fourth 20:20 event. 20:20 is a fast-paced presentation format whereby presenters are able to show 20 images for 20 seconds each. The total presentation time is only 6 minutes and 40 seconds. Advance sign-up is required and offered on a first come, first served basis.

20:20 Students is scheduled at the UW Art Museum on Monday, March 1, 7-9 pm. It is open to LCCC, University of Wyoming, and high school students. All disciplines are welcome. The deadline to submit images in a PowerPoint format is Monday, February 22.

20:20 is an opportunity to share accomplishments in the arts, ideas, new work and images. The program is meant to foster open dialogue and communication among student artists and to provide an opportunity for networking with colleagues. It is also a great opportunity for students to practice public speaking skills, talk about their artwork, and to see what other students are doing.

The format of 20:20 is borrowed from a program that was first developed in Japan by two architects who were looking for a new way to present design ideas in an upbeat and exciting way. Events like 20:20 now occur internationally as specially organized evening events where the focus is on sharing information and community participation.

To sign up: contact Assistant Curator Rachel Miller at 307.766.6621 or rmiller@uwyo.edu
Deadline to submit images: Monday, February 22, 2010
*Images must be in PowerPoint format!

The UW Art Museum aims to host 3-4 20:20 events throughout the year, each one targeting a specific group of artists, arts organizations and educators. The next 20:20 will be held on June 7th, for Performing Artists.

Gallery Walk Through: Award Winning Students - TONIGHT

An image of the crowd at the opening reception for the 35th Annual Juried UW Student Exhibition on Friday night.

At the Art Museum's spring opening reception on Friday night, an awards ceremony was held in conjunction with the 35th Annual Juried University of Wyoming Student Exhibition. 46 awards, including cash and purchase awards, were given.

There will be a Gallery Walk Through tonight, featuring the award winning students. Each student will be given a few minutes to talk about their work and answer any questions. This event is free and open to the public and begins at 7 pm. Please join us to hear more about the great student artwork that is on exhibition!

2 Artists to Give Talks

Video artist Peter Sarkisian is seen here installing his exhibition at the Art Museum.

Photo courtesy of the Art Museum

Two renowned artists are at the Art Museum today and tomorrow to finish installing their work and to present public talks. Santa Fe artist Peter Sarkisian creates 3D surfaces on which he projects images that confront the viewer with a conflict of perception! His exhibition, Peter Sarkisian: Video Works, 1996-2008, is a small retrospective that examines his various approaches to video art. Peter will give an Art Talk tonight at 7 pm. On Friday, he will present a Gallery Walk Through at 10:30 am.

James Surls, Black tipped Flowers from the Garden
Photo courtesy of the artist

You might be familiar with James Surls' work already! He has two works currently on the UW campus. In Circle is a stainless steel piece on Prexy's Pasture and is a part of the exhibition, Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational. Recently, Coe Library installed Rolling Flower in their upstairs atrium. His exhibition, James Surls: Flowers, presents 5 large-scale sculptures that are precursors to the piece in Coe. James will present a Gallery Walk Through on Friday at 4:30 pm.
All events are free and open to the public. There will be an opening reception on Friday evening after James' Gallery Walk Through, beginning at 6 pm. An Awards Ceremony in conjunction with the 35th Annual Juried UW Student Exhibition will begin at 6:30 pm.

We hope to see you at these exciting events! For more information, call the Art Museum at 307.766.6622 or visit the website for additional information on these exhibitions.

New Shelton Studio Classes to Begin Next Week

Students gather with their artwork in the Art Museum lobby after completing a class in the Shelton Studio.

Photo courtesy of the Art Museum

Next week new education classes in the Art Museum's Shelton Studio begin! There are classes for teens and adults, and for children of all ages! Education classes at the Art Museum use art that is on exhibition as primary material for inspiration and learning. See below for class schedules and descriptions, and information on how to register. For more information, or to sign up, call the Museum's Education department at 307.766.3496.

The No-Stress Art Class: Exploring with Watercolor
Teens & Adults - Mon.: 7 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Class Schedule:
Session 1 - Feb. 1, 8, 15, 22, Session 2 - Mar. 1, 8, 22, 29
Session 3 - April 5, 12, 19, 26
$50/each 4-class session - OR - “Drop-In” rate - $15/class
Scholarships are available.

Laramie artist Jeanie Schlump shares her secrets for painting with watercolors. Whether you are a beginning artist or an experienced one, this class is structured to accommodate students’ individual abilities and schedules. Each Monday night session will provide a different painting experience, and students may progress at their own pace. It’s an enjoyable time of learning and experimenting – for adults and teens only! No experience is necessary.

FOR TEACHERS: Professional Development Credit is available

Can I try that?
Pre-school & Kindergarten - Thurs.: Feb. 4, 11, 18, 25
Grades 1, 2 and 3 - Tues.: Feb. 2, 9, 16, 23
3:30 - 4:30 p.m.; $25/4-class session

We’ll look for inspiration in the work on display in the 35th Annual Juried UW Student Exhibition. Each week students will have the chance to consider two different art-making processes and then select the one they want to explore. It could be painting, writing, wood sculpting, mask-making, engraving, and more. This is an excellent class for experimentation.

NEW! Afternoons at the Museum
Ages 6-11 - Mon.: Feb. 15, Apr. 26
1 p.m. - 5 p.m. $20/student - OR - $15/student for families with 3 or more children
Scholarships available – pre-registration encouraged

What do students do when they have a day off from school because it is a Staff Development Day for teachers or a school holiday? Why not spend the afternoon at the Art Museum? Modeled after our art camps, each day will be jam-packed with creative activities, using the most interesting materials! Healthy snacks will be provided.