NEW EXHIBIT NOW OPEN AT THE UCROSS ART GALLERY

The current exhibit at the Ucross art gallery features three artists in residence at the Foundation. There will be a public reception to take place on July 30 from 5-7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

The exhibit will run from May 14 through August 27. The exhibit features work by Monica J. Brown, from Chicago, Ill., Sheridan native and teacher at Sheridan College, Brittney Denham-Whisonant, and Bill Will from Portland, Oregon.

Tracey Kikut, Program Director said that two artists, Denham-Whisonant and Brown, will be in attendance, and willing to talk about their artwork. “Bill Will won’t be able to make it, but Brittney and Monica will be here.” Kikut, said.

According to the news release, the works presented offer a cross-section of Americana through a variety of expression, including Will’s sculptural work, Denham-Whisonant’s quilted textiles, and Brown’s photo-collage and mixed media. An audio work created by Brown, who is a poet as well as a visual artist, is also included in the exhibition.

“Monica’s work is about memory, memory of things in the past,” Kikut, said, “Memory of family, heritage, things like that. Monica is also a poet, and her poetry is on display and some if for sale. In fact, many of the pieces of art in the exhibit are for sale.”

Monica J. Brown explores memory, history, and personal mythology through visual art, sound, movement, writing, and performance. She has exhibited nationally and internationally; created murals with Chicago’s Hubbard Street Mural Project and Detroit’s Live6 Neighborhood Arts Project; and performed at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Prop Theatre, and the Columbus Performing Arts Center.

Kikut had this to say about one exhibit.

Brittney Denham-Whisonant is a multidisciplinary artist, born in California and raised in Wyoming.

“Brittney’s art is in the textile media,” Kikut said. “She does a process called Cyanotype, a photography process on fabric. She also raises her own indigo to use on the fabric.”

Denham-Whisonant earned an MFA at The Ohio State University, and she is currently Gallery Director and Assistant Professor of Photography and Printmaking at Sheridan College. Her work has been exhibited nationally. Recent exhibitions include The Arrival: Works by Brittney Denham at COS Gallery in Visalia, California; Everything is Different Now at Stay Home Gallery in Paris, Tennessee; and Woman’s Work at the Yellowstone Art Museum in Billings, Montana. She lives in Sheridan, Wyoming.

Bill Will is a conceptual sculptor and installation artist whose work is known for its focus on contemporary social and political issues.

In 2005, The Art Gym at Marylhurst University featured a 25-year mid-career retrospect of his work, and in 2006, he was awarded the 15th Bonnie Bronson Fellowship, which is an award made to outstanding artists living and working in the Pacific Northwest. In 2017, the Hoffman Gallery of Contemporary Art at Lewis & Clark College presented Fun House, a site-specific exhibition of installations and sculpture created by Will between 2005 and 2017. In addition, Will has completed more than 30 public art commissions. He is a Professor Emeritus at Oregon College of Art and Craft.

His artwork on exhibit at Ucross is a series of US Maps. One large map, is made with pieces of denim. “This herringbone pattern,” Kikut pointed to a piece of the map. “Is the type of denim used to make trousers during the westward expansion. Over there is a barbwire map, fencing is a part of American, and the map can be interpreted in many different ways.” she added.