Exhibition Celebrating Carissa Gold Mine Opens in UW Visual Arts Gallery

A new exhibition by current and former University of Wyoming artists Wendy Lemen Bredehoft, Susan Moldenhauer and Margaret Wilson is now on display through Sept. 14 at the University of Wyoming Visual Arts Building gallery, located at 22nd Street and Willett Drive.

“Sequencing Through Time and Place: The Carissa Mine” is a collaboration among UW artists Lemen Bredehoft (mixed media), Moldenhauer (photographer) and Wilson (dancer/choreographer). A closing reception for their exhibition is Friday, Sept. 7, from 7-9 p.m. The UW Visual Arts gallery is open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

Lemen Bredehoft, Moldenhauer and Wilson have been working together under the name Sequencing Through Time and Place since 2009. Their work explores the fundamentals of the creative process and how artists perceive, respond to and convey place through different expressive lenses. They have worked side by side in Wyoming, London, Venice and, most recently, at the Carissa Mine at the South Pass City historical site in Fremont County.

“Sequencing Through Time and Place: The Carissa Mine” presents a contemporary response to place through works that explore physical, historical and cultural aspects of the historic Carissa gold mine through photography, dance and movement (video and performance), and mixed media.

The exhibition concentrates on three sections of the mine: the smaller head or "hoist" house where ore was extracted and brought to the surface; the trestle for transporting the ore; and the mill house where gold was processed from the ore.

“Sequencing Through Time and Place: The Carissa Mine” is presented in conjunction with the 150th anniversary of South Pass City. A second exhibition is scheduled at the Lander Art Center July 20-Sept. 2.

The exhibitions are funded, in part, by the Friends of South Pass City and the Wyoming Arts Council through the Wyoming State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.