Yearning
As a lead into talking about artist communities in general and Jentel in particular,
I want you to think about yearning. While we may be quite content in our lives, we as engaged and creative people yearn in a variety of ways.
Who among us has not yearned for more time? Maybe quantitative. Maybe qualitative. Time that is uninterrupted. Time lost in work over the yellow pad or keyboard. Time to think. Time to pause and reflect. Time to daydream. Time to relax.
Who among us has not yearned for the experience of being valued for our work as creative individuals? Being appreciated for the ability to make words come alive with expression? Being respected for our contribution to culture and society? Being understood as a writer?
Who among us has not yearned for the camaraderie of like minded individuals? A forum for ideas and discussion of similarities and differences? A lazy afternoon conversation about work in progress? A late night conversation electric with insight and warmed by the energy of friends?
Although we live in a state rich in natural beauty, who among us has not yearned for a closer relationship with the landscape? Waking up to a sunrise blushing the snow capped mountains pink? Wandering off the county road and charting a path based on a whim?
Stopping to listen and catalog all the sounds of morning or evening? Feeling and noting the incremental temperature changes as the sun sets? Watching the clouds move and shift across a radiant blue sky?
Yearnings such as these are what draw creative individuals to artist communities and residency programs. What are they? Artist communities are professionally run organizations that provide time, space and support for artists’ creative research and risk taking in environments rich in stimulation and fellowship. Collectively artists’ communities represent a century old, national support system for artists and thinkers. The 100 plus US artist communities support over 4,000 artists per year. Artist communities serve exclusively to nurture art and support artists at the most vulnerable and invisible junctures of the creative process.
Let’s look at what a writer has to say about the resident experience.
I had the space to re-envision my work, to take the time to let it be what it needed to become, and to ride out the feelings of panic, excitement, and fear that the transition created. I was able to go deep here. Jackie Graves, Writer
You may agree with me that the future of American culture depends on supporting a broad array of artists today. Providing this support is the fundamental, vital work of artist communities.
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What are the Wyoming opportunities? Most of you are familiar with the Ucross Foundation in Clearmont and its twenty year history of supporting visual artists and writers. Many of you know Neltje and her quiet history of generosity and support to artists and writers. About 20 miles southeast of Sheridan is a recently established residency program; the Jentel Foundation. For the past two years, using a guest house and Neltje’s studio space, two visual artists and one writer have spent the month of March as residents on her ranch. In January 2003 we accepted the first group of six residents on a new site with two renovated buildings and five new buildings on a dedicated site on her ranch in the Lower Piney Creek Valley. In January 2003 we also moved from a single month long residency in March to year round programming offering one month residencies throughout the year. What is Jentel? What’s the origin of the name? If you take an avid scrabble player, J-e-n-t-e-l is an anagram for N-e-l-t-j-e.
An Artist Residency Program, how does it work? Through a national application and juried professional selection process, six individuals (four visual artist and two writers) are awarded a one month stay at Jentel. They share communal living, dining, cooking, and recreational space. They each have a private accommodation, a separate studio and $400 stipend to help defray expenses related to food preparation and personal expenses.
What is Jentel? A place, a group of structures that reflect the agricultural and historical heritage of the setting and echo the incredible beauty of the landscape. A log cabin, a pole barn, a weathered barn wood cabin, a contemporary residence and a Director’s house and studio.
What is Jentel? Also a place where every detail speaks of beauty and respect for the people who are here. A place where artists and writers are valued as individuals and valued for their creativity.
What is Jentel? A gift of time. When we experience a day, a weekend, a week at the lake, the mountains, the beach, or the desert, we are renewed and refreshed through recreation and relaxation. Time is the most precious commodity to an artist or writer. Residents have the time to renew, recreate and further their creative development. It is unfettered time, free from the distractions of day to day living.
Residents may use the time in a variety of ways. They are not required to finish or exhibit a body of work. They may read, walk, think, look, absorb, settle down, work in the studio and nap in the afternoons. Jentel is about the creative process versus the created product.
What is Jentel? A Gift to the Community. Neltje’s dream to share Jentel with all of us and for generations to come. There are exciting activities and events on the table for discussion and development that will bring the community to Jentel and bring Jentel to the community. Jentel has hosted dinners with artists and writers from the surrounding communities. Through Jentel Presents, residents bring readings and slide presentations to Sheridan and Buffalo on the first Tuesday of each month. Partnering up with University of Wyoming Art Museum and Department of Art, we plan to have selected residents back for exhibitions and visiting artist stints on campus. Interdisciplinary symposia on issues important and relevant to Wyoming and the creative arts community are under consideration.
Mary Jane Edwards.
Executive Director
Literary Lights over Laramie
University of Wyoming Art Museum
Laramie, WY
April 2003
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