Artist Nikki Pike to Visit UW Sept. 4

Denver-based artist Nikki Pike will visit the University of Wyoming Sept. 4-7.

Pike’s “Is This Land Your Land” is a new acquisition to the UW Art Museum’s collection and is on view in the entrance hall. The art is inspired by rarely sung lyrics from Woody Guthrie’s original peace activist song.

Pike is an activist committed to serving the community through her art practice and role as an educator. She sees herself as a cultural agent working together with local communities to promote activity and creativity.

With her expansive practice, she straddles public arts, social sculpture and service art, and is exploring ideas of relief art intended to aid communities responding to disaster. Her methods start from the ideals of democracy.

Her work has been featured at the Denver Art Museum, the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art and Art Basel Miami.

Additionally, she holds a professorship at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs.

Several programs are planned in conjunction with Pike’s visit:

-- “Lunchtime Conversations with Curators,” Wednesday, Sept. 4, 12:10-12:50 p.m., UW Art Museum. The event is planned as a curator-led walk-through where Pike will discuss her work, “Is This Land Your Land,” in the entrance hall. The event is free and open to the public, and lunch will be provided.

-- Artist talk, Thursday, Sept. 5, 6-7 p.m., Room 111 of the UW Visual Arts Building. Pike will discuss her process and production in the studio and on the street. She is inspired by spreading the values of empowerment, vulnerability and connection through experience as opposed to product. The event is free and open to the public.

-- Live screenprinting demo, Friday, Sept. 6, 3-8 p.m., the Artist Village in downtown Laramie during the Pop-up Art Walk. Pike will print and give away a limited number of thrifted shirts and bags that read “Is This Land Your Land.” Participants are encouraged to bring a shirt or bag to be printed at the demo. The event is free and open to the public.

-- Screenprinting workshop, Saturday, Sept. 7, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., UW Art Museum. Teens ages 13-18 can join Pike to learn steps in the printing process from coating and exposing screens, mixing inks and various methods of printing on bags, shirts and paper. Participants need to bring their own lunch and snacks. Everything else will be provided. The workshop is $20 per person, with limited scholarships available. Although the workshop is currently full, those interested can sign up to be placed on a waitlist at www.tinyurl.com/screensforteens.

“We’re excited to bring Nikki to Laramie and work with so many diverse audiences from teens to college students and those in the community. Her realness, generosity and enthusiasm are contagious,” says Katie Christensen, curator of education and statewide engagement at the UW Art Museum.

For more information about the Art Museum, call (307) 766-6622, visit the website at www.uwyo.edu/artmuseum, or follow the museum on Facebook and Instagram.

The UW Art Museum collects, exhibits and interprets art to inspire creativity and nurture lifelong learning for the people of Wyoming. Located in the Centennial Complex at 2111 E. Willett Drive in Laramie, the museum is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursday hours are extended to 7 p.m. Admission is free.