Wyoming Arts Council

Deadline Approaching for Wyoming Performing Arts Fellowships


The application period closes May 8th for the Wyoming Arts Council’s 2017 Performing Arts Fellowships. Applications are accepted online via Submittable at wyomingartscouncil.submittable.com/submit.

The annual Performing Arts Fellowships are awards of merit, based on an applicant’s body of work, and honoring Wyoming’s performing artists whose work reflects serious and exceptional talent.

The format of the 2017 fellowships is new with a total of 4 fellowships to be awarded. 2 fellowships will be given in the category or Music; applicants may apply either in Composition or in Performance, and 2 fellowships will be awarded in the category of Theatre and Dance; applicants may apply in either Creation or in Performance.

Recipients will receive a $3,000 fellowship. Also new this year: The Arts Council will work with winners to find an appropriate venue or showcase to publicly share their work, providing a travel stipend to reach the destination.

Jurors for this year are:

Theatre and Dance Juror
Gerry Hansen is an educator, director and choreographer, with twenty-two years’ experience as a director, including thirty-four university productions and three original Made-for-Television-Musicals. Gerry also has nine years’ experience teaching at the university level with courses and productions at University of California, Santa Barbara; University of California, Riverside; University of California, Santa Cruz; Santa Barbara City College; and Sheridan College, Wyoming.

Since 2011 Gerry has been the Artistic Director of UCSB’s Shakespeare in the Park Program, which is co- produced by UCSB’s Theater and Dance Department and the Isla Vista Arts Program. Having thirty years of dance experience, Gerry also regularly choreographs and teaches dance sequences for her theatrical productions.

In addition, Gerry also teaches the movement-based Italian theatre form Commedia dell’Arte, for both UCSB and Sheridan College, WY. She directs yearly summer performance workshops, training students in Commedia techniques and performing to Gerry’s original Commedia dell’Arte plays. Gerry also teaches, directs and choreographs for UCSB’s College of Creative Studies, including having directed and choreographed three original CCS Made-for-Television-Musicals, and numerous performance courses for their Music Composition Major. All performance courses incorporate cross-disciplinary teaching methods exposing Music Composition students to Theater, Dance, Film and Media.

Music Juror
Alex Komodore is a Denver-based virtuoso guitarist. His powerful interpretations, formidable technique, and natural musicianship have won unanimous praise from prominent international critics, audiences, and many of the world's finest guitarists.

A much sought after soloist, chamber musician, and orchestra soloist, his recent performances and master classes have taken him across the U.S., Victoria B.C. and Vancouver Island, Athens, Greece; Istanbul, Turkey; and the Dominican Republic. Showing rare versatility, he has performed as a guitar, theorbo, mandolin, and tenor banjo soloist with many orchestras across the U.S. His many CD credits include the Etherean, Folk Era, Delos, Salt, and Poco a Poco labels, with heavy global distribution, including worldwide airplay at the 1992 Summer Olympics.

Komodore is chair of the guitar program at Metropolitan State University of Denver, where he is a Full Professor of Music. He has judged in many of the world’s most prestigious guitar festivals and competitions, including the Portland International Guitar competition, the Denver International Guitar Competition, the Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival, and the Guitar Foundation of America International Youth Guitar Competitions. He was recently awarded one of the guitar’s highest honors as Host to the Guitar Foundation of America 2016 International Convention and Competition, held on the MSU Denver campus in June of 2016.

Applicants for the Performing Arts Fellowships must be at least 18 years old and Wyoming residents, living within the state’s borders for at least 20 months in the previous two years.

Applicants cannot be full-time students pursuing high school, college, or university art-related degrees. A complete list of eligibility requirements and additional information can be found on the Arts Council website.

For more information, contact Rachel Clifton, 307-777-5305 or rachel.clifton@wyo.gov.


Sort By Category By Month By Year
Cancel