Six UW Alumni, Professors Earn Fellowships from Wyoming Arts Council

The University of Wyoming’s art community is full of inspiring creatives, and people are starting to notice.

The Wyoming Arts Council recently named four alumni and two professors as 2020 fellowship recipients.

Jason Stenar Clark and Erin Jones received Creative Writing Fellowships -- in poetry for Clark and fiction for Jones. Both earned Master of Fine Arts degrees in creative writing from UW and currently reside in Laramie.

Clark’s work as a poet appears in a variety of online publications and zines. Most recently, he has published opinion essays for the online news outlet WyoFile.

Jones is Wyoming Public Radio’s cultural affairs producer, as well as host and senior producer of the storytelling podcast HumaNature. Her written and audio work has won numerous national awards.

Performing Arts Fellowships went to UW faculty members Marsha Knight and Nicole Lamartine.

Knight is a professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance where her primary responsibilities lie in the teaching of ballet and pointe technique, historical dance, choreography and dance pedagogy. She conceived and directed “Six Songs from Ellis,” a full-evening dance/theater piece composed of oral histories of immigrants and refugees who passed through Ellis Island.

Lamartine is an associate professor in the Department of Music, serving as director of choral activities. She leads the Collegiate Chorale, the UW Singing Statesmen and the Happy Jacks, and also teaches conducting and studio voice. Her choirs have been honored to sing at several national and regional conferences, and she is a recognized expert in females conducting male choirs.

Laramie’s Wendy Bredehoft and Garrett Cruzan earned Visual Arts Fellowships. Both graduated with Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in art from UW.

Bredehoft’s mixed media work investigates visual nuances of the world around us, focusing on details that contribute to understanding and responding to specific places and experiences. She is currently president of the Wyoming Arts Alliance and a board member of the Western States Arts Federation.

Cruzan concentrates on conceptual art, addressing issues of identity, cultural production and belonging. His current work reflects a growing concern for both collective and individual relationships with “big data.” During his time at UW, he was broadly recognized for advocacy and commitment to diversity in the community.

For more information about this year’s recipients, visit https://wyoarts.state.wy.us/announcing-the-wyoming-arts-council-fellowship-recipients/.

The Wyoming Arts Council’s fellowships are merit-based and are awarded to Wyoming artists based on their submitted portfolios of work that reflect serious and exceptional artistic investigation. Recipients each receive a $3,000 award and the opportunity to share their work with the community. Submissions are juried anonymously by jurors from outside the state with extensive backgrounds in each artistic area.

The Wyoming Arts Council provides funding and support statewide for projects big and small through grants, partnerships, programs and unique opportunities. The council plays an important role in the economic and social development of every community by investing in the arts. It awards almost 150 grants and fellowships each year, funding programs and projects from every county, serving more than a million participants.