The Perfect Way for a Community to Celebrate Itself

 

Distinguished Alumna Lynne Simpson’s lifelong mission is to build community through the arts.

 

When Lynne Simpson received word that she would be honored as a University of Wyoming Distinguished Alumna, her first reaction was classic Simpson — humility mixed with a touch of imposter syndrome. “All I can think of is everybody to whom I owe deep gratitude for joining with me to make things happen,” she says. 

But those who know Simpson’s remarkable five-decade career building arts communities and championing the issues of our aging population across Wyoming know better. Simpson is a visionary who sees not just what is, but what could be — and then makes it happen. 

 

Simpson graduated from Cody High School and Cottey College, where she was student body president. Then, with a packed suitcase and $100, she headed to New York City to pursue her dreams of becoming a professional actor. She lived in the Rehearsal Club — the setting of the movie “Stage Door” — and studied theater at the American Theater Wing and at the Actors Center while working on Wall Street. She was Miss Congeniality in the Miss New York City contest and won a chorus role on the Perry Como Show.

But fate intervened. After a whirlwind courtship of 
13 days, Lynne and Pete Simpson became engaged during a Christmas visit to Cody. Though she hated to leave New York and her budding career, Simpson chose love. It would prove to be a fortuitous decision. In Pete, she found a true partner who shared her passions. Like Lynne, he loved theater, music and the humanities: “That makes a very magical marriage when you’re married to a partner who loves what you love.” 

Together, they became a formidable team, moving from Eugene, Ore. — where Pete earned his Ph.D. and Lynne performed at the University of Oregon — to Jackson, Casper, Sheridan and finally Laramie. Wherever the Simpsons landed, they quickly became active in public service and community theater. 

While living in Jackson, Simpson was awarded one of the first Wyoming Arts Council grants for the production of “The Little Prince,” and she inaugurated the famous Walk Festival Hall with a production of “Mame.” 
In Casper, she received a federal grant to celebrate the bicentennial and produced “1776,” among other activities. Another highlight was her production of “Oliver” at the local children’s home, which involved all 100 residents and the broader community. In Sheridan, Lynne directed five plays per year for the Civic Theater Guild and placed in two national theater competitions sponsored by the American Community Theater Association. She became a board member of that organization, traveling and speaking internationally.

 

When Pete became the UW vice president for advancement in 1986, Lynne saw her chance to complete her formal education. At age 50+, she earned a bachelor’s degree in humanities and theater, a master’s in public administration, and a master’s in education and adult learning. Working with the College of Education, she developed The Wyoming Project, a theater-in-education program that took her to England, touring rural schools in Yorkshire and teaching about the Oregon Trail and Wyoming’s natural habitat. Simpson then became a fellow at the National Endowment for the Arts as an assistant for the chairman during the 1991 Mapplethorpe controversy. 

Simpson became the director of senior services for Albany County in 1992. Under her direction, the first Wellness Center for Seniors was founded with its Life Long Learning Center. The partnership with UW retirees provided rich learning experiences for the county’s railroaders, businesspeople, ranchers and more. As a result, Simpson was invited to speak at the National Conference on Aging. 

Perhaps Simpson’s greatest skill has been her ability to write grants and to build public-private partnerships. She’s written over $1 million worth of grants that have helped several institutions: “All my projects were funded by five entities: city, county, state, federal and private funds.” This approach created what Simpson calls “the perfect way for a community to celebrate itself” — when both public will and private investment align behind a shared vision. 

Now retired, Simpson has been teaching workshops on creativity for retirees and the elderly in Cody. The entire Simpson family toured the state with a production of “John Brown’s Body” several years ago. Also accomplished artists and performers, Lynne and Pete’s children are the “projects” that matter the most, the most inspiring and the most loved. 

“The arts are a very necessary part of blessing and developing our humanness,” she explains. “Without them, you don’t die, but your humanness has less expression. Our creative talents have a way of healing us and making us bloom again in life.”