Ucross Welcomes Julie Klett as Residency Manager

Ucross Foundation announced on September 14 that Julie Klett is the new manager of its acclaimed artist residency program in northern Wyoming.

A native of rural New Hampshire, Klett joins Ucross with two decades of experience in project management, marketing and development, paired with a background in the arts. Most recently, she produced events for the Town of Estes Park, Colorado. Other key professional positions include communications director for the New Hampshire Audubon and director of donor relations for the Rocky Mountain Conservancy, for which she helped raise millions of dollars.

Klett is a painter who has been awarded artist residencies at the former Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts in Saratoga, Wyoming, and Borgo Santo Pietro in Tuscany, Italy. Her work has been shown in New Hampshire and Colorado. Klett also has been a production director and DJ for an alternative music radio station. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Journalism from the University of New Hampshire.

“Julie will be a wonderful addition to the team at Ucross,” said Ucross President William Belcher. “Her perspective as an artist who has experienced residencies, along with her on-the-ground work in customer service and donor relations, make her uniquely qualified to serve as residency manager.”

In her role, Klett will support the visual artists, writers, composers and choreographers who enjoy uninterrupted time, studio space, living accommodations, meals by a professional chef and the experience of the majestic High Plains on Ucross’s 20,000-acre ranch. Residencies are awarded to 100 artists each year; 10 artists are in residence at one time.

“Ucross is a beautiful and biodiverse place,” Klett said. “I look forward to sharing my love for the Great Plains and ensuring that our artists-in-residence have the best possible experience while they are here.”

Since 1983, Ucross has provided more than 2,500 residencies to distinguished fellows such as Annie Proulx, Terry Tempest Williams, Elizabeth Gilbert, Ann Patchett, Ricky Ian Gordon, Bill Morrison, Theaster Gates, Anthony Hernandez and Tayari Jones. National Book Award winners Susan Choi, Sigrid Nunez and Sarah M. Broom have been residents, as have Academy Award and Tony winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, Emmy Award winner Billy Porter, recent Pulitzer Prize winners Michael R. Jackson and Colson Whitehead and three-term United States Poet Laureate Joy Harjo.