Ucross Arts Festival to Take Place in August, Featuring Jalan Crossland

Featuring famed Wyoming musician Jalan Crossland, the Ucross Arts Festival is set for Sunday, August 28, beginning at 4 p.m. in The Park at Ucross. The event, which is free and open to the community, will conclude Sheridan County's Celebrate the Arts weekend.

In addition to a performance by Crossland - who has experienced two artist residencies at Ucross - the festival will feature a reading by novelist Brandon Hobson of Las Cruces, New Mexico (Cherokee Nation), a recipient of the Ucross Fellowship for Native American Writers. Hobson's latest novel, "The Removed," was published to great critical acclaim in 2021 and won the Western Heritage Award. His first book, "Where The Dead Sit Talking," was a finalist for the National Book Award, among other distinctions. His short stories have won a Pushcart Prize and have appeared in the best American Short Stories, McSweeney's, Conjunctions, Noon, and elsewhere. He teaches creative writing at New Mexico State University and at the Institute of American Indian Arts.

Ucross Arts Festival attendees will also receive a complimentary print of a commissioned painting by Savannah LeCornu of Bellingham, Washington (Tsimshian [Wolf Clan], Haida, Athabascan, Nez Perce, and First Nations Nisga'a), a recipient of the Ucross Fellowship for Native American Visual Artists.

"The Ucross Arts Festival gives us the opportunity to share the work of our respected artist residency program's alumni with our friends and neighbors in northeastern Wyoming," said Ucross President William Belcher. "We are thrilled to present Jalan Crossland, a former artist-in-residence who spent many summers performing on the lawn outside of the Ranch House during our past Fourth of July gatherings. And we look forward to introducing Brandon Hobson and Savannah LeCornu to the community in what will be a wonderful celebration of the arts."

Local food trucks will sell food and drink throughout the Ucross Arts Festival, including Bonafide, Stoked Pizza and Papa Bino's.

How to Get Tickets

Tickets are free and available here or at ucross.org; however, only a limited number will be released. The Park at Ucross is located before the intersection of Highways 14 and 16 East in Ucross or at the address 2753 US-14.

Celebrate the Arts is a multi-day festival highlighting the vibrant arts community residing at the base of the eastern Bighorn Mountains. Local arts organizations, artist residencies and art studios come together to promote, display, and celebrate the unique visual and performing arts in Sheridan, Wyoming, and the surrounding communities.

Kicking off the Celebrate the Arts weekend, Ucross is teaming up with Sheridan College's Kooi Library to present a reading and discussion on Thursday, August 25, at 12 p.m. featuring Brandon Hobson, the award-winning author of "The Removed" and "Where the Dead Sit Talking" and recipient of the Ucross Native American Fellowship for Writers in Fall 2021. Light refreshments will be served; this event is free and open to the public. Sheridan College is located at 1 Whitney Way.

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