Art events across Wyoming seek to expand access, while building community

Music fills the Thursday evening air — a distant guitar riff, overlapping with a nearby fiddle. Roasting meat perfumes the festive atmosphere and the streets are an explosion of color. Visual and musical artists stationed at assorted downtown businesses build an overlapping cacophony of sights and sounds amid the Casper summer. 

This is Casper Art Walk, one of several art-based events in Wyoming, designed to make art more accessible to the general public. 

“Art walks or community events like that matter because we want to give artists the exposure that they need and deserve, and we want people to see how low the barrier to entry can be for becoming engaged in the arts,” said Erin Kershaw, one of the owners of Goedicke’s Custom Framing and Art Supply. 

“I don’t think that there’s like easy access to exposure for artists in Wyoming,” Kershaw said, “and so that’s something that I think we also want to see open up a little bit more.”

Easy access to the arts is something the founders of Art Walk had in mind decades ago. While Art Walk started in the 1990’s as a group of artists going over to each other’s houses, it’s become something more. This year, organizers have worked to remove even more barriers to access. 

“In the past what they’ve done [for Art Walk] is they used to have folks pay and they would have a business pay to be a part of our walk,” said Laura Hunter, ART 321’s director and an Art Walk co-organizer. “What we decided this year to do is to remove any . . . barriers.” This included waiving the fee associated with being part of Art Walk as a business, and recruiting a diverse range of artists. 

Today, Casper Art Walk takes over the Old Yellowstone District once a month. Similar events are held in Cheyenne, Laramie and Green River.

Art across Wyoming

“The arts make for better and stronger communities,” Wyoming Arts Council Executive Director Rachel Clifton said.

“Artists are like any other sector of the workforce,” Clifton said “They contribute financially, they contribute aesthetically. They give creative solutions to problems and are just a great viewpoint and perspective to have engaged in communities.”

While the Wyoming Arts Council is best known for providing grants and funding to artists, they also have several programs designed to support the arts in communities across Wyoming. 

The Creative Ageing Program brings art education to older adults, while the Independent Music Initiative, helps support independent musicians with training, and provides opportunities for them to perform. 

These programs attempt to reach as many people as possible, even in Wyoming’s more remote communities. 

In addition to the tangible benefits of art in communities, it can also be beneficial as a form of expression. 

“Arts keep humanity alive,” Evan DePaolo, a musician who performed at Casper’s Art Walk, said. 

A need for support

Though the arts are an important part of Wyoming’s cultural landscape, they need the support of a community to continue. 

In addition to attending shows and visiting galleries and art walks, there are other ways that people can support the arts. Most towns and communities in Wyoming have local arts organizations that are looking for donations and volunteers. 

“It’s also always helpful if you let your legislators know how important the arts are,” said Camellia El-Antably, the co-owner of Clay Paper Scissors Gallery and Studio in Cheyenne. “Knowing that their constituents think it’s important is really critical to maintaining and growing funding.”

Events around Wyoming

Events around Wyoming

• Casper/Mills
  • Thursday Art Walk, Aug. 1. 
  • Art in the Park, Sept. 7, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at Mike Sedar Park. 
  • Central Wyo Artists and Makers Festival, Aug. 10, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at Freden Park. 
  • Second Saturday Coffee Café & Art Walk, -Aug. 10, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at downtown coffee shops and cafes.
• Jackson
  • Art Fair Jackson Hole, July 26-28 and Aug. 16-18, $6 admission, children under 12 are free.
• Green River
  • Art on the Walk,  Aug. 6 and Aug. 20, 1-5 p.m. at Red White Buffalo. 

• Cheyenne
  • Cheyenne Frontier Days Western Art Show and Sale, on exhibit July 19 – Aug. 11.
  • Cheyenne Arts Celebration, Aug. 10, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. at South Lions Park.
  • Cheyenne Art Walk, Aug. 2, 5-8 p.m., downtown. 

• Laramie
  • Second Sunday Art Walk, Aug. 10, noon-6 p.m. at Bond’s Brewing and in the surrounding downtown area.