The Art Box

Steve has been following the Monica & Felina story now for two years on Facebook as Monica's husband Robert has chronicled via video's the wonderful progress. Enjoy this episode about determination, creativity, overcoming fear and yes love. Read below for info on Monica. Monica Tarr I am not a creator of things from scratch. My talents lie in perfecting, changing, tweaking and bringing out the best in things that already exist. The things I am most adept at changing for the better are unlikely art pieces: teams, business outcomes, customer service, collaboration, hidden talents, personal transformations (like helping someone improve their brain health), food and recipes, and now, building a relationship of trust with a 1,200 pound animal that was ignored on a good day and abused on the bad days. Also, I love beautiful things and beings. Natural places, paintings, sculpture, photography, dance, biology, stars and beautiful souls. Monica's other labor of love is her drive for prevention of the causes of Alzheimer's disease. The Healthy Brain Habits group is a place to find information & support during your journey to prevent the causes of Alzheimer's disease and reverse early cognitive decline symptoms.You'll see posts, videos and guest speakers talking about brain health science, nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress reduction, detox, mindset, and habit change. Learn more: https://www.facebook.com/groups/healthybrainhabits/ Thank you for sharing your story Monica and we thank our loyal listeners for tuning in. Linda Harris - Steve Dudrow co-hosts

Linda met Floyd at his home studio to get a sneak peek at his work for the July exhibition.

Linda and Floyd recorded a few short episodes at Floyd's house/studio. This quickie is them discussing light and shadow.

We were honored to meet Jen Urso during the research phase of "Modern Desert Markings" exhibition sponsored by Nevadans for Cultural Preservation and the Marjorie Barrick Museum on the campus of the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Linda and Steve so enjoyed our time with Jen, we learned, we laughed, we cried, we understood, and we left as better people. Many hugs to Jen for gracing us with her time and story. Artist statement In my work, I am often making something visible that is invisible—talking or thinking about it in a way that can bring greater appreciation to moments we often ignore. This has included unearthing deep feelings of grief, delineating the boundaries of our public movement and magnifying the microscopic in the most mundane locations. I utilize public interventions, performance, drawing, mapping and technology to honor a sensitive approach to our environment and community that respects the unseen and unspoken. My practice revolves around subtleties of environments and behavior as well as attempting to undo the constructs expected to be necessary to take part in an artwork. I like looking at the details. I like the idea that there is always something more complex if we just take the time and attention to notice it. This process of awareness and investigation steers us away from the allure of a spectacle to discover something possibly more intimate and vulnerable. In a public setting where we’re drawn to be distracted, I create stumbled-on moments of focus with ephemeral materials or performance. In a gallery setting that already encourages hyper-awareness, I create an up-closeness or near invisibility so the work can be ignored or experienced intimately. I want to show that there is always more beneath the surface. Bio Jen Urso is a multidisciplinary artist creating works that utilize public interventions, performance, drawing, mapping and technology to honor a sensitive approach to our environment and community that respects the unseen and unspoken. Her work often takes place in the public via occupation, immersion and discovery. Jen has exhibited and performed across the United States, Canada, Mexico and Brazil, receiving numerous grants and awards. In addition to creating work, Jen has curated exhibits, published writing and creates custom hand-drawn maps. Jen is a passionate runner, gardener, seed-saver, environmental advocate, thinker and mother. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art from Carnegie Mellon University. She lives and works in Phoenix, AZ.

Welcome to the 100th episode and 1st year anniversary of the Art Box Podcast. ​ It was last April when Rachelle Knight and Steve Dudrow dreamed up a podcast for the VVAA and in May the BoD approved us to move forward. We would like to thank the 2022 BoD for giving us the green light to start on our journey. ​ In early June Tyler Roylance was our first guest and we were off and running, we crept along learning and trying to get better episode by episode. Rachelle came up with the idea of mixing in some short 10-minute episodes and Floyd Johnson was our star in these, we recorded some at his home and he was always available to consort with us on this short episode idea. Tyler jumped into these short episodes as well, even including some of his students for creative specials. ​ Rachelle moved to SLC in the fall and Linda Harris answered Steve’s frantic calls for help and help she did. Linda is a master at recruiting great guests, asking the most interesting questions, and getting grants for us to go on the road. Our other occasional co-hosts include Rachel Washington, who is also our happy starting and ending voice, Rayette Martin specializing in public lands’/archeology episodes and more recent Diane Alexanian, our Hollywood recruiter and co-host. Yes, The Art Box has gone Hollywood. ​ Upon our year mark we have passed 10,000 downloads along with our 100 episodes, we have traveled to Elko, Nevada for the 38th Cowboy Poetry Gathering, the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art in Las Vegas, the Mystery Ranch in Avi Kwa Ame National Monument, we have recorded one episode outdoors in Gold Butte National Monument, we have listeners in 23 countries and 48 states. ​ We started recording in the Women’s History and Culture Center thanks to Jean and Carol, we recorded quite a few episodes at the Mesquite library learning center, thanks to our hosts Judi and Vanessa. In early 2023 Mesquite Works with grants from the City of Mesquite, Do it Best Hardware and help from C&J Blinds, built a recording studio for our use at the Mesquite STEAM Center. To show our appreciation Linda and Steve will be teaching a podcast course this summer there as the Art Box is committed to building partnerships with local organizations. ​ Thanks to everyone who has seen us through this amazing year, our sponsors, our guests, and our loyal listeners. To celebrate our milestone, please enjoy this roundtable of former guests, all amazing artists, to talk about creativity in the Virgin Valley and beyond. Enjoy.

Drop in this June to view and purchase the amazing art created by the June Artist of the Month. Displaying the fill month of June in the Mesa Galley @ Mesquite Fine Art Center 15 W. Mesquite, Blvd.

Our friend Matt Harper provided Linda and Steve contact info for Alina Lindquist and wow are we ever glad he did, what a talent. Direct experience with the landscape is a cornerstone of my artistic practice. I primarily paint en plein air with oil to capture my initial experience on location. Sometimes I will use watercolor or gouache, depending on how much I want to carry that day. No matter what materials I use, the marks and colors captured outside inform my larger work back in the studio. There’s an ineffable quality of the desert, and painting is the only way to transcribe my experiences. My current work focuses on the Mojave Desert, more specifically, the Northwestern section. Observational study through painting, or sometimes just simply watching the environment around me, generates questions and a further desire to understand the environment I work in. The more time I spend outside, the more I research the landscape, the plants, and the area’s history. My studio work incorporates the essence of the location along with an additional layer of process informed through further readings about the desert. It’s an ongoing process of observing, learning, and painting. Ultimately, my work seeks to transmit my love and sense of wonder for the desert. Musings of the Mojave Exhibit Honors

Our friends Diane Alexanian and Jill Waters combined their super Hollywood powers to bring us acclaimed director and all around nice guy Shelley Jensen for a rousing hour interview. This is a great listen. Catch you in an hour when you can drop us a line at [email protected] to tell us how much you loved this episode. We loved his quote: "Life is a fun ride and it’s really up to the individual to enjoy it" A bit about Shelley. Shelley Jensen is an American television director and producer. He has directed episodes for a number of notable television series including The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Friends, Amen, What I Like About You, The Drew Carey Show, Webster, The Suite Life on Deck, Sonny with a Chance, I'm in the Band, Good Luck Charlie, Austin & Ally and other series. Jensen won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1996 for his directing work on Disney Channel's Adventures in Wonderland winning alongside David Grossman and Gary Halvorson. CREDITS Television Director Series; Multiple Episodes Brothers, Showtime, 1984-89 Amen, NBC, 1989-90 The Royal Family, CBS, 1991-92 The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, NBC, 1992-96 First Time Out (also known as Jackie Guerra), The WB, beginning 1995 Too Something (also known as New York Daze), Fox, beginning1995 The Wayans Bros., The WB, beginning 1995 Suddenly Susan, NBC, 1996-99 The Jamie Foxx Show, The WB, 1996-2001 Friends, NBC, 1997-99 Veronica's Closet, NBC, 1998-2000 For Your Love, The WB, 1998-2002 Jesse, NBC, 1999-2000 The Norm Show (also known as Norm), ABC, 1999-2001 Nikki, The WB, 2000-2002 Off Centre, The WB, 2001-2002 The Drew Carey Show, ABC, 2001-2004 What I Like about You, The WB, 2002-2004 I'm with Her, ABC, 2003-2004 Specials Hamlet, 1964 Associate director, Mouseketeers at Walt Disney World, 1977 First assistant director, John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together, ABC, 1979 Also affiliated with broadcasts of The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts, 1979 and 1980. Episodic "Captain Justice," Hard Knocks, 1987 "What Becomes a Legend Most," Hard Knocks, 1987 Marblehead Manor, NBC and syndicated, 1987 "Seoul Shake," Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, ABC, 1993 "Pros and Convicts," Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, ABC, 1994 "An Embarrassment of Teapots," Hope & Gloria, NBC, 1995 "Misery on 34th Street," Bless This House, CBS, 1995 "Poppa Was a Rolling Stone," The Parent 'Hood, The WB, 1995 "A Star Is Reborn," Hope & Gloria, NBC, 1995 "A Charming Tale," Party Girl, Fox, 1996 "Educating Nick," Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher, The WB, 1996 "Me and Mrs. Hale," Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher, The WB, 1996 "Natural Born Parents," Bless This House, CBS, 1996 "Sisters in Sex Triangle with Gazillionaire!," The Naked Truth (also known as Wilde Again), ABC, 1996 "We Don't Need Another Hero," The Parent 'Hood, The WB, 1996 "After Midnight," Men Behaving Badly (also known as It's a Man's World), NBC, 1997 "Caroline and the Bitter Beast," Caroline in the City (also knownas Caroline), NBC, 1997 "Dial M for Muffin," Life with Roger, The WB, 1997 "Gerald R. Fraud," Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher, The WB, 1997 "Caroline and the Marriage Counselor: Parts 1 & 2," Caroline in the City (also known as Caroline), NBC, 1998 "Caroline and the Sandwich," Caroline in the City (also known as Caroline), NBC, 1998 "The Closure," The Closer, CBS, 1998 "The Hand That Rocks the Office," The Closer, CBS, 1998 "Caroline and the Firing Squad," Caroline in the City (also knownas Caroline), NBC, 1999 "After You've Gone," Ladies Man, CBS, 2000 "Decent Proposal," Ladies Man, CBS, 2000 "Discrimination," The Michael Richards Show, NBC, 2000 "The Return of Katherine Twigg," DAG, NBC, 2000 "Bo Diddley," According to Jim, ABC, 2003 "The Smell of Success," According to Jim, ABC, 2003 "Tom Makes a Friend," Married to the Kellys, ABC, 2003 "Bobby's Bully," Like Family, The WB, 2004 "Ladies' Night," Like Family, The WB, 2004 Also directed episodes of Built to Last, NBC; Three Sisters, NBC; and (as Shelley R. Jensen) Wanda at Large, Fox. Pilots The Royal Family, CBS, 1991 Home, Fox, 1996 Secret Service Guy, Fox, 1996 Flavor, The WB, 1998 Good as Gold, CBS, 2000 Men's Room, NBC, 2004 Television Producer Series Brothers, Showtime, 1984-89 Joanna, ABC, beginning 1985 Supervising producer, Amen, NBC, 1986-91 Line producer, The Royal Family, CBS, 1991-92 Pilots Slickers, NBC, 1987 Married to the Mob, CBS, 1989 Five Up, Two Down, CBS, 1991 Film Work Stage manager, The Sound of Murder, Warner Bros., 1982 Director, The Third Wish, Newmark/Echelon Entertainment Group, 2004 WRITINGS Teleplays Episodic "Norm vs. Dad," The Norm Show (also known as Norm), ABC, 2001

Linda and Steve sit down with Mesquite Women's History and Culture Center founder Jean Watkins and General Manager Carol Saldivar for a heartwarming and enlightening interview. You will be inspired. "Bloom where you're planted" Learn more about these local heroes making impacts nationally. https://whccmesquitenv.org/

This was a Sunday recording episode to beat all, meet Alex Harper, Community and Education Chair for the Red Rock Audubon Society. Linda and Steve could have talked/learned from Alex for hours, but alas he needed to get home to Las Vegas. Avian field work brought Alex from South Florida to Las Vegas in 2015, and he has been finding rarities in the desert ever since. He first began guiding as a volunteer trip leader for the Audubon chapter in Miami as a teenager and took visiting birders around the city for specialties while in high school. His college education is in Environmental Science and he has done subsequent avian field work in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, California, the Florida Keys and Nevada. Alex is the flightiest of our team, as he heads up to Alaska every summer to guide, returning to Vegas for the fall, winter and spring. Alex is a registered Emergency Medical Technician and Wilderness First Responder. He began serving on the state records committee beginning in 2019. We loved these quotes. 'The scientific and analytical side help me make sense help me make sense of the world and the artist side helps me make sense of myself.' 'The desert just has a different way of operating.' You can watch Alex presenting at a TEDx seminar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVK9vt9QTGI The Silver State of Birding podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/silverstatebirding

Oh my goodness Linda and Steve got their luck on this week when we interviewed Oakland based artist Rachelle Reichart, this is an interview we did not want to end, but alas it was Friday and Rachelle needed to go help her daughter pick some Kale for dinner. Rachelle Reichert lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area. She creates drawings, mixed media works, sculptures and art books to consider the materiality of landscape and its representation to explore landscapes permanently altered by climate change and industrialization. Select exhibitions include the Contemporary Jewish Museum, Center for Contemporary Art at Pacific Northwest College of Art, Anglim Gilbert Gallery, German Consulate in New York City, San Diego Art Institute, and Mills College Art Museum. Artwork and research is included in many public and private collections, including the Center for Art + Environment at the Nevada Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Archive, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago Library, Meta Headquarters, and Adobe, Inc. Her artwork was presented at the California Climate Change Symposium, San Francisco State of the Estuary Conference, and the American Geophysical Union Meeting and published in the San Francisco Chronicle, Make: Magazine, California Home and Design, and New American Paintings. Rachelle Reichert Studio www.rachellereichert.com @rachelle_reichert Current: Modern Desert Markings: An Homage to Las Vegas Land Art Marjorie Barrick Museum, Las Vegas, NV Women of Northern California: Making Meaning for Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow John Natsoulas Center for the Arts, Davis, CA Upcoming: On Land Marin MOCA, Navato, CA The Space Program Artist Residency, Fall 2023 San Francisco, CA

Sue McPherson and Randy Bauman discuss the Mesquite Fine Art's Center Photographic Society May exhibition "Through the Photographer's Eyes" in this Ten Minutes With podcast.

Diane Alexanian super guest recruiter and now podcast co-host brought us long time friend and famous Hollywood Stuntman Chuck Waters for our 92nd episode. This is a MUST listen! The picture is Chuck on the set of High Plains Drifter from 1972. Chuck Waters is an American stuntman and actor who has worked on more than 130 films. Waters was born on September 14, 1934, in Libertyville, Illinois and grew up in Waukegan, Illinois. Even as a child, he was known for his adventurous nature: as early as five years old, he could be found climbing on the roof of his house and jumping to a nearby tree to get down. In high school, Waters could often be found scaling fire escapes or hopping trains. At 17, Waters and a friend hitchhiked to California and back, then Waters hitchhiked to New Jersey and back on his own, just for the adventure of it. After high school, Waters joined the Marine Corps for a short tour of duty. When he returned from the military, Waters enrolled in a plumbing apprenticeship school and spent 10 years in the plumbing business. In 1955, Waters married his first wife, Carol. The couple had four children. Waters decided to move to Hollywood in the early 1960s. Shortly after arriving in California, he read an article about stuntmen in the TV Guide. He found the challenges and excitement of a stuntman's career appealing and decided to try and make a name for himself in the stunt industry. Waters eventually connected with well-known stuntman, Paul Stader, who owned a boxing gym in Santa Monica where he trained up and coming stuntmen. Chuck began training with Stader and in 1965, after only 9 months of training, was recommended to take Stader's place on a job as a scuba diver on the TV series Honey West starring Ann Francis. In the 1970s, Waters' career took off. He performed stunts in major films such as High Plains Drifter, The Exorcist(crashing through a window and down 75 steps as Jason Miller's stunt double), The Deer Hunter, and Apocalypse Now. In 1973, on the set of the Clint Eastwood film Thunderbolt and Lightfoot , Waters met his second wife, Charlotte Peterson. The two were married in 1975. In the 1980s, Waters began receiving jobs as a stunt coordinator and he has alternated between orchestrating the stunts and performing them ever since. All of the stunts that Waters has performed have been live action stunts and have not been computerized in any way. Over the course of his career, Waters has worked with many of the top names in Hollywood, including George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, William Friedkin, Francis Ford Coppola and noted 2nd Unit Director Micky Moore. He has worked with actors such as Harrison Ford, Martin Sheen, Sean Penn, Robert De Niro, and Sean Connery. One of his longest working relationships is with actor/director Clint Eastwood, with whom Waters has done 13 films. Additional movies Waters has worked on include: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, National Lampoon's European Vacation, Flubber, Every Which Way But Loose, Flags of Our Fathers, and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Waters has been a member of the Stuntmen's Association of Motion Pictures and Television since 1966 and in 2001, received a Lifetime Member Award.

Doreen Kinkade Doreen entered the art world in 1974 when she signed up for adult art education classes at Chaffey College in Ontario, California. Her very talented teacher, Dee Cole, opened Doreen's world. She learned Batik, off-loom weaving, fabric collage, and slab pottery in three short years. After being transferred to Kentucky, she taught Macrame and off-loom weaving. A year later, they were again moved, this time to Iowa. Doreen became seriously involved in teaching crafts. She had a very successful Christmas Bazaar in her home for nine years. Doreen made fabric Santas, snowmen, and other items. As a team, she and John also made wood items. In 1991, while her husband was in Desert Storm, she took a class in reed basket weaving from Sue Little at Ankeny High School adult classes. She is now teaching those basket-weaving skills to others and belongs to the Iowa Basket Weaving Guild. Doreen and John moved to Mesquite in 2003, where she learned of the Virgin Valley Artists' Association at a sidewalk sale held under the "then shed" next to the gallery. Having been acquainted with clay work, she took a class at the VVAA pottery studio on wheel throwing from Kathleen and Harlo Birkholz. Doreen sold her work at the Mesquite Fine Arts Gallery, the Lost City Museum, and the Great Mesquite Chili and Arts Festival. She is an active potter and can be found frequently at the VVAA pottery studio as a volunteer and as an experienced potter. Around 2008 Doreen became interested in quilting. In 2019 she found a new love in making small Art Quilts using different fabrics and embellishments, thanks to her "wonderful" teacher Margaret Abramshe. She has entered many exhibitions at the Mesquite Fine Arts Gallery and has won many ribbons. Doreen's favorite thing to do now is teaching Basket-weaving to a great group of ladies three Mondays a month at the Pottery Studio. Each Monday is a different level of weaving. Doreen feels it is gratifying to teach someone who thinks they have no talent and have them walk out with a beautiful, finished basket. If the name rings a bell, Doreen's husband is a shirt-tail relative of the famous artist Thomas Kinkade.

Please let your heart and soul enjoy a poem written by Ms. AyeVee during one of our artist visits to the Jean Dry Lake Bed for the Modern Desert Markings exhibition. Ms. AyeVee is an award-winning poet and curator from Las Vegas. Her work has been published by Zeitgeist Press, Red Rock Review, Nevada Humanities, and Las Vegas Review-Journal, to name a few. She also curates poetry workshops, events, and features for Poetry Promise, Nevada Humanities, and the City of Henderson. During the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, she founded Beyond the Neon Poetry Slam.

The best thing about Hikmet's interview with us was that I got to edit it and listen to it again about another twenty times. You may know her as Katie Hoffman's co_curator for the Modern Desert Markings exhibit at the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, we know her as the consummate art professional and friend that we could have talked to for days. Born and raised on the east coast, Hikmet Sidney Loe fell in love with the Great Basin's deserts and the environs of Great Salt Lake. She is an author, curator, and educator whose work examines the changeable nature of the earth and addresses our perceptual and cultural constructs of the land. She draws inspiration from the smaller patterns found in the larger environment and from the changeable nature of land, water, and sky. She is the author of the award winning book The Spiral Jetty Encyclo: Exploring Robert Smithson's Earthwork through Time and Place (2017), the first book in a new series devoted to our cultural and regional understanding of Land art from the 1960s and 1970s. In 2021 she was named as a Research Fellow with Holt/Smithson Foundation; her work centered on organizing the artist Nancy Holt's extensive library for research purposes. https://www.hikmetsidneyloe.com/

Emily Budd Linda and Steve were ever so privileged to sit with Emily at her metal shop @ UNLV for a wide ranging interview on all things art, paleontology, desert trash and Rhyolite. If it wasn't for schedules, parking fines and the need for humans to nourish themselves with food we would likely still be there. Listen in to a great interview. More about Emily. Emily is a queer artist specializing in time travel through mold-making. Drawing from a background in bronze-casting and paleontology, her work speculates on our own futurity and fossilization. Reformative monuments, memorials, and artifacts become an act of queer place-making while contemplating human sustainability when facing imminent change. Pulling from experiences as a foundry craftsperson and metalworker allows her to navigate between structure and experimentation within a queer context, exploring the possibilities of a separated difference. Budd has been awarded various inspiring artist residencies including PLAYA Summer Lake, the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences, Vermont Studio Center and Recology San Francisco, the latter at which she spent four months developing a body of work made from materials gleaned archaeologically at the city dump. Budd earned an MFA at California College of the Arts where she received a Cadogan scholarship from the San Francisco Foundation, and a BFA in Sculpture at Miami University. Budd has exhibited throughout the US including at SOMArts Cultural Center and Minnesota Street Project in San Francisco, Site:Brooklyn, the Barrick Museum of Art in Las Vegas, the University of Arizona in Tucson, and SEED Lab at the Anchorage Museum. Currently serving as Visiting Assistant Professor of Sculpture at UNLV, both her personal practice and teaching philosophy consider how we define equitable futures and renew transforming worlds. https://emilybudd.com/home.html

Mark Brest van Kempen Steve must thank Mark for his take on the Modern Desert Markings exhibit that the 50 year old art became real art as the land has taken it back. Mark Brest van Kempen has created a variety of artworks using the landscape itself as sculptural material. From the Free Speech Monument on the UC Berkeley campus to Land Exchange at the National Academy of Art in China, his work explores the range of emotions and issues that are embodied in our complex relationship to the environment. He has spoken around the country and abroad on the possibilities of creating artwork that functions outside the museum /gallery context and that brings aesthetic and symbolic meaning to everyday situations. He has received numerous commissions for public art projects including the San Francisco Art Commission, the City of San Jose, the City of Seattle and the Haas Foundation. In 2012 Brest van Kempen was one of three Americans invited by the German Government to submit designs for a national Reunification Monument in Leipzig. His work has been presented in several books including Lucy Lippard’s The Lure of the Local and Peter Selz’s Art of Engagement as well as many publications including Time Magazine, The New York Times, Art in America, and the LA Times. Exit Art in New York, The Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena and The Richmond Art Center featured his performance project Living From Land in which he lived entirely from the land in a wilderness area for one month. Brest van Kempen has been Artist in Residence in several institutions including Dalsland Museum in Sweden, the Headlands Center for the Arts in California and the University of Utah's Marva and John Warnock biennial residency. He has received a California Arts Council Fellowship and has taught at the San Francisco Art Institute, Stanford University and California College of the Arts. https://www.mbvkstudio.com/ https://www.sfartistsalumni.org/post/1990-free-speech-monument-uc-b-by-sfai-s-mark-brest-van-kempen

Paige Bockman Meet the unsung hero of the Modern Desert Markings exhibit at the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art @ UNLV. You could find her on the field trips, find her arranging for art deliveries, coordinating artists, installing art and yes, even watering our special Mojave plants. Growing up in a small town in eastern Nebraska where everyone knew everyone, I was always interested in stories and eager to meet people with backgrounds different from my own. I went to college at Creighton University in Omaha Nebraska, where I studied Anthropology and Classical & Near Eastern Studies. It was also during this time that I also participated in archaeological digs on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, and fell in love with the island. I went on to focus my studies on the ancient history of Cyprus, looking at patterns of gender identity and social power through the medium of ceramics. I moved to Las Vegas in 2013 to attend the Master's program in Anthropology at UNLV. I quickly realized a life in academia wasn't for me, and started to look for other career paths. This led me to the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art, where my skills as an archaeologist could be used to organize the large collection of objects housed at the museum, and my interest in stories could be used to share information about artwork and artifacts to an audience beyond the classroom. I am now the Collections and Exhibitions Manager at the Barrick, where I do all of these things and more. Outside of work, I like to keep in close contact with my family back home, especially my nieces and nephews! I'm a dedicated plant mom, with a large collection of houseplants (though I've fallen in love with the desert, I haven't quite mastered the outdoor planting skills). I love hiking and going on bike rides, and going to different cultural festivals with friends. I'm an avid reader and always trying to learn more about something, especially the ecology and history of Nevada and this new region I'm now calling home.

What a fantastic interview we had with Alisha, from front yard gardens, to use of snail mail, lunch bag art for her daughter and the possibilities of cloning to facilitate 24 hour work days. All who listen know of our final question "What has inspired you this week?" Well, Alisha gave inspirational answers three times, I am sure she could have gone on. GREAT podcast! Alisha Kerlin encourages dialogue about art and ideas through interdisciplinary programs and innovative exhibitions linked to wide-ranging community outreach. With full graduate faculty status, she received the UNLV College of Fine Arts Outstanding Administrative Faculty of the Year in 2017. In the same year, she earned an inaugural UNLV Top Tier award, confirming her academic excellence, creative activity, and pursuit of research befitting a Top Tier institution. Kerlin played a vital role in the Barrick’s transition from UNLV’s “hidden jewel” into an award-winning university art museum. She introduced practices that brought the organization of the visual art collection in line with international museum standards. Committed to making the Barrick an accessible resource for all, she has created initiatives that target both the academic community and K-12 schoolchildren. In the first year, the Bus to the Barrick program brought over a thousand visitors to campus, most of them for the first time. Kerlin also rebranded the institution by adding “of Art” to the name, solidifying the fifty-year-old museum as a gathering place for the creative community. A graduate of the University of Tennessee (BFA) and the Milton Avery Graduate School of Arts, Bard College (MFA), she connects the university to a top-tier cohort of emerging scholars and artists. Kerlin’s own artwork has been shown at institutions ranging from P3Studio at The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas, to the Museum of Modern Art’s PS1 Museum in New York.

Steve made his way via horse drawn ATV out to Lizard, Nevada this evening to chat with the zany residents. We talked to the cast "in-character" on the stage, was it noisy, yes, was it funny, OMG yes. The scene stealing donkey even got in the act. See what all the fuss is about, get out to our theatre 150 N Yucca St, Mesquite, NV 89027 this weekend or next for a fun time. Tickets can be purchased here: https://www.mctnv.com/ Reviews: https://mvprogress.com/2023/03/21/mct-brings-melodrama-magic/?fbclid=IwAR099zo8Lkt0yCL2Re7t11v3Y_q9ojbXrmwjUvxpapKEAvuZXfvJPY-2yls This hilarious melodrama was written by Mesquites own Nancy Arnold and Sue Kjellsen. Directed by Nancy Arnold. Listen to our previous podcast with the writers: https://www.mesquitefineartscenter.com/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=590375&module_id=561139

The first time I heard the term Land Art was in college. My ecology instructor showed us images of Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty. We learned how creating the spiral altered the environment enough to cause the tiny microscopic organisms to change the color of the water surrounding it to red. Living in southern Nevada, I knew we had a few key Land Art pieces in the area. I had heard rumors about Heizer’s large Land Art piece called City. He spent decades creating it, but to date, only a select few had ever seen it. I have visited Heizer’s Double Negative and Ugo Rondinone's Seven Magic Mountains several times. In one sense, I am in awe of the scale and uniqueness of these Land Art pieces; on the other hand, it seems like the senseless destruction of a fragile desert environment. An environment that I deeply love. Fast forward to the pandemic of 2020, isolation indoors had started to take its toll on me. I needed time in nature and found solitude at the Jean Dry Lake Bed. This vast area is close to my home and provides easy access to open space with relatively few other individuals. During a Google search of the Jean Dry Lake, I learned that Michael Heizer’s Circular Surface Planar Displacement and Rift were created there. Around this time, a friend sent me the open call for the Modern Desert Markings at the Barrick Museum on the campus of UNLV. I applied and was selected to participate in the exhibit. The images I created are from a series of attempts to ‘go large’ in the vein of Heizer’s Rift without the impact on the environment. The art pieces I created encompass a variety of materials, from spray-painted cardboard to aluminum insulation and landscape cloth. I increased the scale through trial and error, eventually making a 180-foot line. After taking photographs via a drone, I removed all materials. The case for Land Art is complicated; is it art on the scale of Egyptian pyramids or the Nazca Lines? Or is it a degradation of the environment for the sake of art? https://www.paulajacoby-garrett.com/modern-desert-markings-exhibit

Rayette and I had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with Deanne and chatting about her many roles at the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art at UNLV as well as her unique art and believe it or not the ins and outs of why the fifth sense is not a museum staple.

Rachel, Linda and Steve had the pleasure of chatting with our friend Reenie McFarland the other day. If you do not live in Mesquite, Nevada, after hearing this conversation with Reenie, you will want to move here. Reenie McFarland 2-3-2023 As the daughter of an Army colonel, I grew up in a variety of locations and attended a dozen schools by the time I graduated high school. This gave me some strengths, such as the ability to adapt to new surroundings easily and to feel comfortable getting to know new people, but it also gave me some weaknesses, like no life-long friendships and an “out of sight out of mind” mentality. In addition, I had many opportunities to visit new places and get to know different cultures while my dad was stationed in Germany for 9 years of my life. I’ve climbed the Leaning Tower of Pisa, been to Pompeii, seen concentration camps, been to the Acropolis in Greece, skied St. Moritz, been to the Netherlands, Sweden, and other places in Europe. I’ve also seen Plymouth Rock, the Alamo, Niagara Falls, and many other US sights. I feel I had a fortunate childhood although different from many others. As a young adult, I graduated college and became a special education teacher. Later, I started my own elementary school that I operated as a one-room school for 10 years. I got my master’s degree in Educational Leadership, and spent the last 10 year’s of my career as the Director of Career Services at a private applied arts college. But for me, the greatest achievement of my life was mothering and raising four well adjusted children. I credit the 10 years I spent as a volunteer for La Leche League International with helping me become the best mother I could be. Your Child’s Self Esteem by Dorothy Corkille Briggs was my “go-to” book, which I read 3 times, where I learned that we are our children’s mirrors, and to only criticize behaviors and not the child, and many more things that build confidence and security in a child. As a retired adult, retired Dec. 29, 2017, I now have the time to explore things I thought about doing, things I started and stopped because work got in the way, or things I never thought I could or would want to do. The first thing I jumped into when my husband, Larry, and I moved to Mesquite, was volunteering. I joined Mesquite Works, the Mesquite Showgirls, and the Women’s Center. The second thing I did was get involved with the Mesquite Rec Center and personal fitness. I have always enjoyed exercise, specifically step aerobics, so I became certified and started teaching classes. I currently teach 5 classes at the Rec Center and 2 classes at Mesquite Fitness. Truthfully, this is my passion! It makes me feel good about my body and mind and I love the people I have met through my classes. I hope to continue doing this for as long as my body will let me. Performing at the Virgin Valley Theater is a new endeavor for me. I never did any acting as a child in school or church and never thought about doing it as an adult. I have always enjoyed plays and while attending one in Mesquite, one of the actor’s drew a blank with their lines and said “I got nothing”. Nothing happened and they continued the performance and there were no negative responses from the audience. This is what most people fear the most, and I thought, “it wasn’t that bad, I’m going to give this a try”. So, I auditioned for the upcoming play, “An Evening of Culture” and got a part. I did my second play, “The Hallelujah Girls” and still find it enjoyable so I will probably do another. Who knows what lies in store for me next, but I am always open to exploring new avenues!

Living my real-life six degrees of separation from Dulzura, California, to Las Vegas, Nevada to Lincoln City, Oregon, Steve happened upon incredible humans and artists Wick Alexander and Robin Brailsford via friends Paula Jacoby Garret and Niki Price. I hope by listening you will gain as much as I did in interviewing them. Robin Brailsford Lead Artist, Inventor, Aesthetic Engineer, Silversmith Brailsford Public Art PO Box 426 1116 Marron Valley Road Dulzura, California 91917 619-468-9641 [email protected] www.robinbrailsford.com “AS A PUBLIC ARTIST, I SEE MY ROLE AS RECOGNIZING THE POTENTIAL IN PEOPLE, PLACES AND THINGS, AND THEN REALIZING THAT POTENTIAL. Recently I have been examining the public art process itself, to make it more meaningful for me, the artist, and more inspired and interconnected for the citizens who are its owners. I energize the life and place within our contemporary culture, to create works that are evolutionary - linking concepts, materials, scale, cities, people and environment.” Wick Alexander Since 1980, San Diego native Wick Alexander has been producing distinctive paintings, sculptures and public artworks. Awards for his paintings have been presented by the National Endowment for the Arts, the California Arts Council and the Ford Foundation. His paintings are included in many private collections and museum permanent collections including the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego, the California Center for the Arts in Escondido and the Banff Center of the Arts in Alberta, Canada

Gregory Summers ASI / OPS “We go outdoors to enjoy the land or stay inside to avoid it. It is the outdoor artist that brings the outside in.” Born in the Flint Hills, Gregory Summers began his professional career at Hallmark Cards Inc in 1979. A Master Engraver, he now paints primarily “En Plein Air” across the globe with a limited pallet of only 4 colors. Former Vice President of the Greater Kansas City Artists Association, co-founder of the Missouri Valley Impressionist Society, and Brush Creek Plein Air: painting competition in Kansas City, Missouri. “I am inspired by creation and driven by the experience” Chosen in 2017 by the top 5 American art publications for the “Artists of the New Century” exhibit at the Bennington Art Gallery, Summers has embraced the world of landscape painting, winning top awards from coast to coast alongside some of the nation’s best plein air and studio artists. Summers is an elected member of the Salmagundi Art Club, Signature member of the American Impressionists Society, and the Outdoor Painter Society, along with active membership in the Oil Painters of America, Plein Air Painters of New Mexico, Plein Air Painters Colorado. R Gregory Summers. Amazing work. Love his biography… We the people like to hear the intimate parts of an artist’s life (not to be too nosey) as well as info about your art, who your mentors are, who your fellow painters are… and Summers shares with us his personal story as well as the story about his art career. So interesting. “In Ailies’s Glade” won 2nd place (oils) in the 2013 STEM Plein Air competition and it will soon be on its way to Charleston, SC – and will be included in the American Impressionist’s Show this year which will be at M Gallery of Fine Art in Charleston, SC. The show runs September 28 – October 30, 2013 with the opening reception on October 4th in conjunction with the French Quarter Art Walk!

Amy Wells bio is coming soon.

Linda and Steve had the pleasure of hosting an amazing couple, who give back with their amazing talents to their adopted town of Mesquite. Eric is a member of the Virgin Valley Art Association and of the Virgin Valley Photographic Society. Eric has a pre professional degree in pharmacy from Green River Community College, A Certificate of Highest Honors from the Glen Fishback School of Photography. He is also a Licensed Massage Therapist in both Montana and Nevada. He was on the board of the Montana Professional Photographer’s Association and rated in the Top 10. He has won numerous awards for his artwork and been working in the industry for over 45 years….. Lisa and Eric have two sons. Dan is a dentist and new bar owner in Butte, Montana. Nate is a C130 pilot in the Air Force. He is a Hurricane Hunter stationed in Biloxi, Mississippi. He is a film maker. Lisa became a dental hygienist in 1993 and has been blessed throughout her career. In 2017-2019 she attended Bible college and also finished her education as a associate board certified chaplain. She and Eric are now employed by Mesa View Hospice in Mesquite respectively as a chaplain and massage therapist. She works as a temporary hygienist during the summers in Montana. She travels with Eric performing old gospel music.

It was our pleasure to interview one of our founding members Harlo Birkholz recently. Instead of typing Harlo’s story here, we will let you just listen. Below are a few of his poems for you to enjoy. Who's in the Mirror I stumbled and it wasn't my toe That got me in trouble. I tried to blame the rock, the berm, the world, Until I saw me, in a mirror of my mind. Shocked, I said, “THIS has to end” but I had no definition for the elusive “This”. I stared at the wall, hummed “Ummm” and Contemplated my navel but came up empty. Someone suggested, “Find the cross” when I couldn't find my butt with both hands. Doing a desert walk-a-bout I talked to Mahatma, Buddha and Elvis. No help there. It didn't click until I passed a for-real mirror And saw myself, my real self, no illusions. “Myself” wasn't ugly, just unfamiliar. Getting to know The me of “me” brought myself back in perspective. I'm comfortable in my own skin now. It fits. My mind is settled. not exploding out. Even if My thoughts are expansive, they're calm. Thank you, whoever, for the me I've found. Harlo Birkholz A Cowboy Haiku The old cowboy knew, His days left were few. His horses sensed the good-byes When the ranch went, with wet eyes. Then old, too feeble to tend, Even his four legged friend Was gone. No more a wet nose saying Howdy to a pals hand... not playing. He wrote, the last to do. The stars in the sky My friends...are dimmer and cold. The earth beckons me. Harlo Birkholz

Last September we recorded our first outdoor episode with two of Steve’s favorite friends and humans Teresa Skye and Dave Ward. We met while volunteering for the US Fish and Wildlife Service at Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. We have been holding this episode to coincide with Teresa’s Brown Bag presentation and workshop on Nature Journaling on April 4. You can sign up here: https://www.mesquitefineartscenter.com/content.aspx?page_id=4002&club_id=590375&item_id=1883932&event_date_id=255 and here: https://www.mesquitefineartscenter.com/content.aspx?page_id=4002&club_id=590375&item_id=1925184&event_date_id=255 Dave Ward Born and raised in the East, David Ward has always considered the West his home. He has been a river rafting guide, a hiking guide, and a guide to the night sky, living his passion of sharing his love of the outdoors. Always searching for a dark sky, he spends his time between the deep canyons of Death Valley and the snow-clad peaks of the Pacific Northwest. Teresa Skye Teresa Skye has been a hiking guide and has put together outdoor programs for Death Valley Natural History Association since 2015. She is a former teacher, backpacking guide, and avid hiker. This includes hiking much of the Pacific Crest Trail, Yellowstone NP, and Death Valley NP. She currently volunteers for the Nevada Site Steward program as well as in Canyonlands NP and Ash Meadows NWR. Teresa has been nature journaling for several years, taking classes online as well as in-person workshops. She feels the joy of being a close observer of nature and capturing it in art and writing is something you can practice for life, no matter what your age or abilities.

The Art Box had an amazing fun interview with screen-writers Sue and Nancy last week. Our sides hurt from laughing and we can hardly wait for their newest Melodrama to open on March 17. You can get tickets at the Mesquite Fine Arts Center Monday-Saturday 10am to 4pm or on-line at: https://www.tix.com/ticket-sales/vvtgnv/6616 Let's learn more about these two dynamos. Nancy Arnold has appeared in community theater productions in Colorado and Alaska including The Corn is Green, Jack and the Beanstalk, A Member of the Wedding, Rumors, and The Importance of Being Earnest, to name just a few. Since the 1980’s, she has written and directed - as well as acted in - dozens of melodramas for Anchorage, Alaska’s mid-winter celebration known as Fur Rendezvous. Nancy has worked with young people throughout her life, conducting theater workshops for elementary-aged students and judging Alaska statewide talent competitions. She has also staged, choreographed, and directed several state and local scholarship pageants in Alaska. Her involvement with local pageants has given her the chance to meet some incredible young people, and she hopes she has encouraged them to follow their passion. A native of New Castle, Colorado, Nancy was a Theater Arts major at the University of Colorado. She has been married to husband Don for 53 years, has two sons, one daughter-in-law, and one incredible grandson who loves learning new accents. Nancy, who is retired from the Anchorage School District, moved with Don to Mesquite in February, 2018 after 38 years in Alaska. Nancy has been involved in the theater community since she arrived in Mesquite. She directed Arsenic and Old Lace, and appeared in An Evening of Culture and Hallelujah Girls. Along with Susan Kjellsen, she has written four melodramas for the Virgin Valley Theatre Group (VVTG) and directed each of them. These popular productions have garnered a wide and enthusiastic following. Nancy is also a member of the VVTG Board of Trustees, serving as its Vice President. Susan Kjellsen was born and raised in Kansas City and attended the University of Kansas, earning her Bachelor of Science degree in Education with an English concentration. She has lived in Alaska, North Carolina, and now makes her home in Mesquite, Nevada. She has three grown daughters, four grandchildren, two cats, and a dog. Susan has been writing for the past 40 years. Her early work was as a novelist with Harlequin/Silhouette Books. For several years, she was the head writer for the Anchorage, Alaska School District’s television station, writing all of their public relations videos. She also held the position of head proposal writer for K2 Solutions, Inc., a government contracting company in Southern Pines, North Carolina. Her freelance work includes articles published in Guideposts, Just Labs, and Retriever News magazines. Susan and her writing partner, Nancy Arnold, have written close to a dozen old fashioned melodramas first for Anchorage Alaska’s mid-winter carnival, Fur Rendezvous, and now for the Virgin Valley Theater Group in Mesquite. Susan does a little acting and singing in each play, “just because it’s so much fun.” She is also a member of the VVTG Board of Trustees. Susan is an avid photographer and spends as much time as she can exploring the backroads with her camera in hand searching for that next great shot. She got her first camera when I she was ten and has loved photography ever since.

Meet Johnny Trujillo. junior at Virgin Valley High School, Mesquite, Nevada. Recent recipient of an Emerging Artists award from the Virgin Valley Artists' Association, Johnny carries a 4.0 GPA, is an amazing artist and soccer player. The Art Box is looking forward to chatting with Johnny through the coming years. Thank you Eric Wordal for hosting this episode.

Join Linda and Steve as we interview some amazing artists at breakfast over the course of the week.

On Day two we attended an open mic session and enjoy an amazing array of Cowboy Poets. If you have a heart you are going to love this episode. We nabbed Glen Bair, from Ephrata, Washington for an interview along with his wife and one of his favorite daughters. Glen brought the audience to tears with his rendition of the "Calf in the Bathtub". Read more about Glen at: https://columbiabasinherald.com/news/2018/sep/06/ephrata-cowboy-poet-set-to-perform-at-quincy-2/ Next up was Eddy Christensen from Riverton, Utah and he enthralled us with a couple of his poems and left us with bad dreams about roosters and deep consideration before you rent a room in a mortuary. Thank you for your poetry book Eddy!

An honest-to-goodness cowboy who became one of the leading lights of the cowboy poetry movement, Waddie Mitchell knew of what he spoke long before be became a recording artist. Waddie was born Bruce Douglas Mitchell in 1950, and he grew up on a ranch near the Ruby Mountains south of Elko, Nevada. Living in an area not wired for electricity and where TV and radio reception was poor at best, Mitchell's father and the cowboys he worked with entertained themselves with stories and songs influenced by Western lore that had been passed along for generations. Young Mitchell absorbed their tales and became a full-time working cowboy at the age of 16. In his late teens, Mitchell joined the Army, and he was stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado, where he put his skills to work breaking and training horses for the U.S. Cavalry. During his hitch in the Army, Mitchell picked up the nickname "Waddie," from an old slang word for a cowboy. After returning to civilian life, Mitchell moved back to Nevada, where he got married and raised five children while working on ranches, dreaming of someday owning a spread of his own. Mitchell developed a local reputation for his poems about the life of cowboys and their slowly disappearing lifestyle in the American West. Discovering he was one of many writers keeping the cowboy's oral tradition alive, in 1985 Mitchell helped organize and appeared at the first Elko Cowboy Poetry Gathering. The event was a success, attracting over 2,000 people, and it became an annual event. It also sparked Mitchell's interest in performing, and soon he was doing readings throughout the Southwest, which proved to be more profitable than ranch work. Mitchell's big break came when he was invited to appear on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson; he initially turned down the appearance, having never seen the show and having no idea who Carson was, but he was persuaded to do the show and went over well enough that he came back for three more appearances. In 1992, Mitchell was signed to Warner Western, the Western music branch of Warner Bros. Records, and released his debut album, Lone Driftin' Rider. A mix of classic cowboy tales and original poems from Mitchell set to musical accompaniment, Lone Driftin' Rider was a critical success, and Mitchell would release two more albums through Warner Western, 1993's Buckaroo Poet and 1994's The Bard & the Balladeer: Live from Cowtown. Warner Bros. folded Warner Western in 1997, and in 1998 Mitchell re-emerged on the independent Shanachie Records label with the album Live. Shanachie released A Prairie Portrait in 2000 and That No Quit Attitude in 2002; the title track on the latter album was written for the 2002 Cultural Olympiad and inspired by the Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah that year. By this time, Mitchell was an award-winning poet and published author who balanced his successful literary career with his work as a cowboy. (His writing had also allowed him to buy the ranch near the Ruby Mountains he'd long dreamed of.) In 2005, Mitchell struck up a new recording relationship with the Western Jubilee Recording Company, an outfit that specialized in Western music and poetry. Western Jubilee reissued the 1998 album Live in 2005, and Sweat Equity followed in 2014. In 2017, Mitchell released Cohorts & Collaborators: Songs Written with Waddie, a collection of tunes Mitchell had written in tandem with Western musicians, including Sons and Brothers, Jon Chandler, Pipp Gillette, Brenn Hill, and others.

Russ Westwood was born in Moab Utah. He was raised on a mink ranch, but spent a lot of time around horses and rodeos. He is a retired Firefighter/Paramedic. He has served as the director of the Mesquite Western Roundup for several years and performs regularly in their shows. He is an active member of the Cowboy Poets of Utah. He recently won a Championship Buckle at the 2019 National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo in Abilene, Kansas. He writes some of his own poetry, but also performs the works of several of his favorite poets. Russ and his wife Marge reside in Mesquite [email protected]

As we ready for our busiest day we start with a review of our schedule and then we got lost and an angel called Marianne saved us, then graced us with some song. Sit back and enjoy as we frame up our day and listen to some music. You can find out more about Marianne Thomas at: www.mariannesongs.com

Delightful is how we would describe our time interviewing and being entertained by Doris. "If cowboy poetry was fresh milk and the cream that rises to the top was the very best, then Doris Daley would be very rich and very fattening." So says renowned cowboy ambassador Waddie Mitchell about an Alberta ranch girl whose love of wordsmithing has made her one of North America's favourite western poets, emcees and western humorists. Born and raised on a family ranch in the foothills of Alberta, Doris's authentic, sparkling poetry has taken her to campfires large and small, to highways, roundabouts and gravel roads throughout the west, and to concert appearances with the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and the Saskatchewan Opera Company. With a performance career spanning more than 20 years, Doris is a frequent performer at corporate and community events, Christmas parties, private parties and cowboy poetry gatherings. Learn more about Doris at: https://dorisdaley.com/

Fisher was raised in a San Joaquin Valley, CA farming family, and was active in 4-H and FFA. While studying Equine Science at the College of the Sequoias she rode horses for customers and was captain of the college horse show team. She rode sale pens for extra money at a local livestock sale and earned honors at Intercollegiate and Quarter Horse shows. During college she began singing big band standards in a dance orchestra to pay for horse show entries. After college she apprenticed training cow horses, preparing snaffle bitters, hackamore and bridle horses, and won the IARCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Championship in 1981. She followed up with Reserve Champion in the Hackamore in ’82. In 1983 she topped the Monterey Classic Bridle horse Sweepstakes while working on a cow calf operation and running a roping arena. If there was a campfire gathering with music, Juni was there with her guitar. In 1984 she moved to Santa Ynez, CA, to train cutting horses. A Santa Ynez area band asked her to play rhythm guitar and sing, and in time she was playing L.A. area clubs with a country dance band that also played western and cowboy music. Juni’s ability to ride at speed across the hills landed her with a position as a professional “whipper-in” with a foxhunt club in Tennessee. After that, point to point racing, steeplechasing, and horse trials took the place of cow horses, while she honed her songwriting skills among some Nashville’s finest writers. Her first Western release, “Tumbleweed Letters” (1999) reached Monterey Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival director Gary Brown in 2003. With his encouragement and endorsement, Juni shifted to music full time. In 2012 she returned to the cow horse world by winning the NRCHA Celebrity Cow Horse Challenge at the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity in Reno, NV, and began successfully showing a cutting horse reclaimed from another trainer’s throwaways. Fisher purchased a weaning Quarter Horse filly to raise in 2014 and is preparing to show that young horse at cow horse events when she’s not on the road. Fisher has penned songs recorded by Rex Allen Jr., Joe Hannah (Sons of the San Joaquin,) Ranger Doug (Riders in the Sky,) Kristyn Harris, Devon Dawson, Judy Coder, Notable Exceptions, 43 Miles North, and others, and her songs have been in award winning film soundtracks. She added “Author” to achievements with her debut novel, Girls from Centro in late 2018. Learn more about Juni: https://www.junifisher.com/

We were so delighted when former Montana Poet Laureate Mandy Smoker agreed to sit down with us for an interview. Mandy is the living embodiment of "pay to forward" with deep involvement in education for the underserved, her deep feeling poetry and now children's books. She describes the transmission of a poem as “rigorous juggling.” Carefully, she twines language, fuses vocabulary and in the process of enlightenment, words are threaded, deleted, stacked, and rotated. Bit by bit, a full, rich poem of understanding, love, and freedom prevails. “I’m hard on my poems and I’m a pretty vigorous reviser,” says Smoker who often writes under the moniker M.L. Smoker. “I’ll begin to write a poem and after it emerges, I’ll go through them line by line. I don’t feel as if I’m constructing a poem. At first, it’s more like the words are coming out. During the revision process, I will go back and wear a different hat and a different set of eyes and see it all through a different lens.” Poetry, she says, is like a spring, the watering of seeds of joy, an escalating connection that is alive at the moment in the world with her, a pattern of life that radiates out in all directions. “I never really know when the feeling will come to put a new idea out in the world. There’s never been any expectation, and it could be sporadic. There are times when I will write poetry because I’m feeling stable and grounded, and other times where there has been heartache and difficulty in my life.” Expression and Empowerment A member of the Sioux and Assiniboine tribes, Mandy was born in 1975 on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation and moved to California when she was in elementary school, graduating from high school in the San Joaquin Valley. She describes her earliest memories of writing as analogous to the sound of a bell penetrating deeply into her cosmos. “Since I was young, I’ve kept a journal… I’d write stories and create plays in elementary school. I loved writing as an expression of myself. It’s always felt like the right thing to do and has made me feel empowered. In fourth grade, I wrote a play and had my best girlfriends come over and we set up a stage and had props and we rehearsed our lines, and we won the school talent show. I felt strong and capable – and it was fun.” One of her earliest primary writing influences was California-born Nobel Prize winning author John Steinbeck (1902-1968). “I was introduced to John Steinbeck in middle school, and I made such a surprising connection to him and his voice. His style was unique to me. As I got older, I realized that my father’s side of the family from was Oklahoma and my grandparents left town and came to California during the Dust Bowl. ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ became personal to me, a connection to my grandparents’ migration, and their transition, and it gave me a window into my relationship with my grandmother that was unexpected.” Another seminal influence, but for almost entirely difficult reasons, was Native American novelist and poet James Welch, who was born in Browning in 1940. Welch, who died in 2003, is considered a leading author of the Native American Renaissance of literature. “My dad starting giving me Welch’s books,” says Mandy. “I went to high school in California and his novels were a way to connect back to Montana. My dad used Welch as an example to prove that Native people could write, too, and he would say, here is one of the best examples of that. He was from Montana and described the places that I knew, and that was transformative for me. As I got older I began to get more interested in poetry. James Welch’s ‘Riding the Earthboy 40’ became my bible and I read it a thousand times. He was a huge factor in my development as a writer.” She earned a BA at Pepperdine University and an MFA at the University of Montana, where she received the Richard Hugo Memorial Scholarship. She also studied at UCLA, where she received the Arianna and Hannah Yellow Thunder Scholarship, and the University of Colorado, where she was awarded the Battrick Fellowship for excellence in poetry writing. “In high school, I was drawn to journalism and in college I steered to literature. When my mom passed when I was 23 years old, I began communicating with her through writing, and some of that writing later became poems that are part of my collection. Then, I thought that I should study poetry and dive in there.” Free Verse of Identity Mandy composes free verse poems in which she opens her heart and accepts all her Native American blood ancestors with their good qualities, their talents, and also their weaknesses. Her spiritual relatives and blood relations are all part of her. She is them, and they are her. She does not have a separate self. “Identity is a big part of my work,” says Mandy. “Being a Native woman and knowing my history and knowing so much about the place where I come from and my ancestry, my family, and my home, I can’t separate it from anything that I do… My poetry is fully present, an

We fell in love with Yvonne when she described herself on stage at the Opening event as a rose between two thorns. She was a busy as a South Dakota Rancher during branding, but we somehow managed to get her to sit down with us at the Art Box. Such a sweetie, Linda and I were blessed. A little bit about her. Poet, Quilter, & Entertainer Yvonne Hollenbeck performs her original poetry throughout the United States, captivating audiences in her wake. She is one of the most published cowgirl poets in the West and is not only a popular banquet and civic entertainer, but also co-writes songs with many western entertainers. Yvonne also pens a weekly column in the “Farmer-Rancher Exchange” and writes articles about life in rural America in various publications throughout the West. Historian A three-generations-old family ranch is home to Yvonne and her husband, Glen. Together they raise angus beef cattle and quarter horses. More specifically, they live 30 miles from Winner, South Dakota, and 50 miles from Valentine, Nebraska, the closest towns with a post office, fire department and grocery store. South Dakota Ranch Wife Yvonne's poetry reflects everyday experiences that arise while sharing the range with Glen and their neighbors. However, a fleeting moment or simple event may also stir her pen to action. Mostly humorous in nature, her poems take a turn toward the serious side, especially the stories of her mother's and grandmothers' lives. From homesteading to the present, Yvonne often writes about women on the ranches of the Great Plains. "Patchwork of the Prairie" and the Fabulous Feedsack Era. In addition to her presentations of cowboy poetry, Yvonne's programs entitled "Patchwork of the Prairie" and "The Fabulous Feedsack Era" are two of the finest presentations in the heartland. In "Patchwork of the Prairie", Yvonne shows her collections of family quilts, spanning 140 years, including her own prize-winning creations. "The Fabulous Feedsack Era" is a historical presentation regarding feedsacks, the fabric of choice especially during the Great Depression, in which Yvonne displays actual vintage feedsacks, items made from them as well as quilts made from feedsack scraps. Poetry about quilts and quilters is presented throughout both trunk shows, which is enjoyed by men and women alike! And throughout the presentations, you will see power-point photos of the quilt makers, their homes, and items of interest to both programs. Both programs are included on the rosters of Humanities programs for both the States of Nebraska and South Dakota. Yvonne's web site: https://www.yvonnehollenbeck.com/

This is it folks, our final episode from the gathering. First a huge thanks to the Buchanan Family Band from Yerrington, NV. Besides a great show on our opening night, a super family interview they allowed us to use their rendition of "Little Brown Jug" as our opening and in episode interludes. What a nice family and so very talented. The volunteers worked so very hard, our press liaison Karyn was incredible getting us the inside tracks on Waddie and Yvonne interviews. Then we perused the various talented vendors. Kathleen Brannon with her beautiful bead work, we talked to for probably thirty minutes and who can forget her quote: "For everything that's good in life, there is a compromise" You can find her amazing art at: https://www.desertsagebeadart.com/ Our course we would not be complete without mentioning our now friend Larry. The Press room was not very busy, normally it was only the Art Box and KVMR radio Larry Hillberg. Larry gave us some great stories, deep to the heart. His great quote: "Story is very powerful on radio" Find out more about Larry and catch his show on-line at: https://www.kvmr.org/users/larry-hillberg/ We finish up this episode thanking our sponsors Nevada Humanities and National Endowment for the Humanities, trying our hand at Cowboy Poetry and finally sharing a song that meant so much to Larry in his story about his parents. We hope all of our loyal listeners enjoy our many podcasts from Elko. As you now know we recorded many hours and thought long and hard on how we would publish, an episode per day? One long episode or break it up in easy bite sized episodes. We chose the ladder and hope that works for you. Our best - Linda Harris and Steve Dudrow

Linda and Steve have been anxious to have Patricia as our guest, what an interesting, heartfelt chat opening our eyes to the life of a successful author and such a fine human. Thank you Patricia. Patricia Leavy, Ph.D., is a sociologist and bestselling author. She has published over 40 books, earning commercial and critical success in both nonfiction and fiction, and her work has been translated into many languages. Her works have garnered a slew of book awards including USA Best Book Awards, Independent Press Awards, International Impact Book Awards, National Indie Excellence Awards, Firebird Book Awards, International Book Awards, New York City Big Book Awards, and American Fiction Awards. She has also received career awards from the New England Sociological Association, the American Creativity Association, the American Educational Research Association, the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, and the National Art Education Association. In 2018, she was honored by the National Women’s Hall of Fame and SUNY-New Paltz established the “Patricia Leavy Award for Art and Social Justice.” Favorite Quote from Hollyland “Perhaps the yellow brick road was really just a trail of gold dust connecting one dream to another.”—Hollyland Preorder Hollyland: Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Hollyland-Novel-Patricia-Leavy/dp/1647422965/ref=sr_1_1?crid=166NRPCS6JL94&keywords=hollyland+leavy&qid=1673291857&s=books&sprefix=hollyland+leavy%2Cstripbooks%2C107&sr=1-1

Linda and Paul Villanueva visited with the Art Box at the Mesquite Library Learning Center and if one can judge by the voracity of laughter it was a smashing success. How lucky is our little town to have talents like Linda and Paul performing for us. You can find their music and schedule at: http://mesquitecafebluesband.com and on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/mesquitecafebluesband Thanks to hosts Linda Harris and Rachel Washington for such an amazing interview. Now get out and experience the Blues with Linda and Paul.

WOW what a voice!!!! We just loved Kristyn's performance and happily hosted her and her grand mom on our little podcast. Check out her website: https://kristynharris.com/ Kristyn Harris is a multi-award-winning singer, songwriter, and entertainer known for her western swing spin on original and classic songs of the western and rural lifestyle. She is recognized for her powerful voice, swing rhythm guitar chops, songwriting, yodeling, and energetic stage presence, as well as the passion and authenticity that she puts into each performance. Kristyn tours across the United States and internationally, both as a solo artist and with various band configurations. Outside of music, her time is spent with her herd of Black Angus cattle, working her newest colt, or trick riding. Her most recent album, A Place to Land, was awarded Outstanding Western Album for 2020 by the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.

Were we ever lucky to grab Headliner Poet Annie and her sister Megan for an Art Box guest appearance. Annie help tech us that no matter how big the star they have time to be ultra nice to everyone. While known as the family rambler, Annie Mackenzie has her roots planted firmly at the fourth-generation family ranch in southeast Oregon, 30 miles north of the small town of Jordan Valley. She spends her days assisting her two brothers and father in tending cattle, starting horses, and managing the unruly pack of border collies that inhabit the place. She has taught agriculture, served as the local high school FFA advisor, and worked with Sun J Livestock, contractors who gather wild horses across the western states. Though Annie competed in college rodeo, she found herself continually returning home to help out. She is now back where she feels she belongs–on the range with her brothers–writing poems and songs in her beloved High Desert. Annie is the recipient of this year’s Della Johns scholarship. Thank you Annie! Thank you to Nevada Humanities and National Endowment for the Humanities for sponsoring the Art Box visit to Elko, Nevada. Thank you to the Buchanan family for their intro music.

Reporting almost live from the 38th Annual Cowboy Poetry Roundup in Elko, Nevada. We are here by generous grants from Nevada Humanities, the National Endowment of Humanities and of course our own Virgin Valley Artists' Association. We are recording on the run, lots of background noise and we will do our best on the volumes. Today we were entertained by a young group of musicians of the Buchanan family from Yerington, NV. They were so very gracious to interview with us before their performance and afterwards. Such a talented young family. After that we moved to the main Auditorium at the Elko Convention Center to be entertained by DW Groethe, Yvonne Hollenback, Sourdough Slim, Robert Armstrong and R.B. Smith. There was no recording allowed in the main auditorium. We will be back on Thursday for some more Western fun!

Thanks to a grant by the Nevada Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities, The Art Box is going on a road-trip to The 38th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada February 1 - 4 2023. We interviewed famous Mesquite Cowboy Poet, Russ Westwood prior to going just to get in the mood for some good western fun. Check back to your podcast app as we will be publishing episodes from the gathering as often as we can. https://www.nationalcowboypoetrygathering.org/

Art and Creativity from the Old House at Center and Main – Meet Don Gomes Steve received many joys during his stint as Artist in Residence at Capitol Reef National Park, certainly one of them was meeting and collaborating with the Entrada Institute Vice President Don Gomes. Don is a human of many talents, morning DJ, book shop owner, movie star, rock star and just an all-around great person. Don’s career spans local government, the financial industry, the arts and nonprofit world. He has taught business, public, and nonprofit management at colleges and universities in five states. He served as Executive Director of the Utah Nonprofits Association from 2007 - 2009. Currently, Don is vice-president of the Entrada Institute in Torrey and is a board member of Utah Humanities. In Anchorage, Don was appointed to the Mayor’s Arts Advisory Commission, served on the board of Anchorage Project Access (a healthcare safety net group), and was Executive Director of Anchorage Community Theatre. His latest adventure, along with wife Annie Holt, is The Old House at Center and Main, where more than 30 local hand crafters and authors display and sell their work. Don heads up the Bicknell International Film Festival, an Entrada event, “Where good things happen to bad movies” and “Better living through bad cinema.” Don shares his musical talents with the “Bristlecones” along with Barry Scholl and Robert Marc. Don was a 1999 recipient of the Utah Humanities Council Friend of Humanities Award for his work with KCPW Public Radio. He was ring announcer for the World Wrestling Federation when touring through Utah in the early 80’s. Even with threats of terrorism, a fickle economy, a raging pandemic, and growing incivility, he says, “You can’t scare me I work for a nonprofit.”

Meet one of my favorite humans, Katie Hoffman, besides admiring her creativity, and prowess as an archeologist, she been tasked to lead me on almost impossible hikes and every time has brought me back alive. I may have been battered and bruised, but I did come back alive. Katie is the President of Nevadans for Cultural Preservation whom I have the pleasure of volunteering for. Katie Hoffman was born in Paradise, California, before enlisting and traveling the world with the United States Air Force. Throughout her travels, the art and culture of host countries inspired her artworks, and set the stage for an academic pursuit of anthropology, archaeology, and art. Heavily influenced by parenthood and cultural studies, Katie spent years hocking art and handiwork in the European bazaar circuit focusing on wearables, art quilts, and soft sculpture. She then emigrated to Southern Nevada in 2009 and throughout her decade in the Las Vegas valley, Katie’s practice has grown to include mixed media sculpture, ceramics making, and photography - leading to her current focus in assemblage and installation work, which gives her the artistic freedom to explore multiple techniques and materials at once. Since 2020, Katie has been splitting her time between southern Nevada and northern California where she has established a studio in her hometown of Paradise.