Ucross to Reopen Art Gallery with Alumni Show

The public is invited to a reception on Friday, November 4, starting at 6 p.m., in the newly renovated Ucross Art Gallery. There will be an exhibit, ‘Time, Mark, Memory: Ucross at 40’ that features the work from 15 visual artists, maximizing the use of the new space. Tickets are free and open to the public via Eventbrite.

The gallery, which has been closed for 12 months to undergo a major renovation as part of the nonprofit organization’s 40^th Anniversary Campaign, extends Ucross’s mission into its community by offering exhibitions, events and educational arts activities to the public.

The newly renovated interior of the Ucross Art Gallery features a two-story central room, allowing for large-scale works of art, such as sculptures and installations. In addition, the gallery offers expanded wall space, a digital media room, art receiving and storage space, a collaborative meeting room and upgraded lighting and technology, as well as vastly improved accessibility.

“We are excited to show the community what we’ve been working on,” said Ucross President William Belcher. “The renovation and updated gallery design make large group shows like ‘Time, Mark, Memory: Ucross at 40’ possible, and Leah Ollman has done a wonderful job developing a show that fits the new space.”

The Exhibition: Curated by Ucross Fellow and arts writer Leah Ollman, “Time, Mark, Memory” features the work of 15 contemporary visual artists from Ucross’s impressive roster of visual arts alumni.

Ollman is an accomplished arts journalist, essayist and critic. She has been writing about art for the Los Angeles Times since 1987, and she has served as corresponding editor for Art in America since 1997. Her articles and reviews have also appeared in such publications as The Brooklyn Rail, Sculpture, Paris Review Daily, Photograph, Art in Print, History of Photography and ARTnews, among others. She started work as a guest curator for “Time, Mark, Memory” in late 2021.

“Time became the through line of this exhibition not only because the show celebrates an anniversary — the 40^th year of the Ucross residency program — but because a residency is, essentially, a gift of time,” said Ollman. “I wanted to consider how ‘residency time’ differs from ordinary time and to reckon more broadly with how time is experienced, physically, intellectually and emotionally.”

The Ucross alumni-artists selected for “Time, Mark, Memory” include recipients of many prestigious awards and honors in the field, including Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant awards, United States Artists Fellowships, Creative Capital Awards, the Herb Albert Award in the Arts, Guggenheim Fellowships and others.

The exhibiting artists include Michael Berman of Silver City, New Mexico; Arminée Chahbazian of Calistoga, California; Jennifer Garza-Cuen of Corpus Christi, Texas; Munson Hunt of Santa Fe, New Mexico; Shanti Grumbine of New Paltz, New York; Sharon Harper of Cambridge, Massachusetts; Lisa Hochstein of Santa Cruz, California; Elizabeth Hohimer of Marfa, Texas; Bill Morrison of New York, New York; Jenene Nagy of Riverside, California; Sarah McKenzie of Boulder, Colorado; Stephen Vitiello of Richmond, Virginia; Sarah Walker of New York, New York; Anne Wilson of Chicago, Illinois; and Katarina Wong of Santa Fe, New Mexico, New York, New York, and Havana, Cuba.

The new gallery provided Ollman with the opportunity to fill the space with a variety of media and forms, including photographs, sculpture, audio installation, video and mixed media. The works range from Hohimer’s “Laying Halfway in the Shade” in dirt-dyed cotton to Morrison’s short film “LIGHT IS CALLING” to Hunt’s “Torso,” a 150-pound sculpture in charred walnut.

“Whatever their medium, whether fiber or film, paint, pencil or photography, the 15 artists in the show engage with the complexity of time and make its elusive nature materially compelling,” Ollman said. “My own Ucross residency almost a decade ago was a tremendously formative and nourishing experience. Curating this show was an honor for me and a way to pay tribute to both the generous enterprise that is Ucross and to the residency program’s nearly 1,000 visual arts alumni.”

“Time, Mark, Memory” will run from November 4 through January 20, and the exhibition is sponsored by the Wyoming Arts Council, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Wyoming Legislature, and Arete Design Group.

The Gallery: Upon reopening, the Ucross Art Gallery will host three exhibitions annually, each showcasing works by contemporary artist-alumni, including an exhibition focused on recipients of the Ucross Fellowship for Native American Visual Artists.

“Time, Mark, Memory: Ucross at 40” is the first in a series of three alumni exhibitions that together are designed to celebrate Ucross’s 40^th anniversary as a residency program. Since 1983, Ucross has provided visual and interdisciplinary artists, writers, composers and choreographers with uninterrupted time, studio space, living accommodations and the experience of the majestic High Plains on its 20,000-acre working cattle ranch.

“The Ucross Art Gallery is connected to our mission and our investment in community engagement” Belcher said. “It will allow us to champion artists beyond their residency, and it will provide relevant and meaningful arts programming to visitors of all ages.”

The gallery’s renovation is a key component of the 40^th Anniversary Campaign. Ucross has been working with Arete Design Group, a Sheridan-based architecture firm, and O’Dell Construction as contractor, on the project since October 2021.

The Ucross Art Gallery is located at 30 Big Red Lane in Ucross, Wyoming. Starting November 4, the gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., or by appointment.

Learn more at ucross.org.