this vast beauty that holds us

The view from my daily hike above Jentel Artist Residency in Banner, Wyoming.

When I arrived in Wyoming last month, I wondered if a landscape could make me happy. As soon as I asked the question, I knew it was true. This place makes me want to run and hike and fold myself into the landscape. Out here, where I walk a mile down the road to get cell phone reception, it is easy to feel like the only person on earth. I am spending a month at the Jentel Artist Residency working on my book, The Life and Death of the American Worker, in the company of four visual artists and one poet.

The network of residencies that exists around the world provides a creative cacoon, a space that offers rest, moments to explore, and the chance to spend time with others navigating the often existential space of long-term projects. Here I have had the time to sleep profoundly, hike for hours, hold close this book-writing process, and remember that this is what I have wanted to do since I was a child.

I don’t know if my book will be good or bad or make you snore - I only know of my commitment to the process. I’m thankful for these spaces, and residences like Jentel, Mesa Refuge, and the Logan Nonfiction Program, which provide writers, artists, and filmmakers with the support to tell nuanced stories that might otherwise not be heard or seen.

Sending my love from my writing studio in Wyoming,

Alice

EVENTS

Jentel Presents,  Tuesday, November 1st, LIVE and Zoom

The colors of fall are beginning to wane and cooler temperatures are sending us scurrying to find vests, jackets, and our ice scrapers relegated to unknown places last spring. Join us, when the cohort of residents from all around the country present their visual artworks and writings at this month’s Jentel Presents. The community outreach program featuring the visual presentations and readings by the residents at the Jentel Artist Residency Program will take place LIVE on Tuesday, November 1st,  from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. at the SAGE Gallery Space at 21 West Brundage.

If you cannot join us in person, register in advance for the Zoom meeting presentation:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEqdOyuqj8qHtNfbMrMe4o8cCGmixtQDaOo
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

This month’s presenters include Stephanie Suter, Halifax, NS; A painter, Stephanie has had places to rest her head, but no home for some time. A wandering art-yogi in India, Nepal, Japan, Taiwan, Vermont, and Nova Scotia. Richard Hoffman, Salem MA; On the most basic level Richard is a keeper of notebooks, years of them: Notebooks are where he buries nuts like a squirrel. Diane Marsh, Estancia, NM; An oil painter, Diane mines life experiences, searching for a universal truth that serves as a roadmap for her work.(animals, nature, healing, fitness, and good coffee) Ana Wieder-Blank, NY, NY; Ana is a queer, non-binary, Jewish multidisciplinary visual artist making work about queerness, disability, non-normative bodies, climate change, and healing from trauma. Alice Driver, Little Rock, AR; Alice is a writer from the Ozark Mountains. She is fluent in Spanish and splits her time between Arkansas and Mexico. Rachel Maxi. Seattle, WA; A mixed media artist, Rachel is interested in experiencing environments. She has done artist residencies in Morocco, Playa in Oregon, Joshua Tree, CA, the Long Beach Peninsula, and Lopez Island, WA.