The Ucross Foundation, located in

Ucross The Ucross Foundation, located in Ucross, Wyoming, is a nonprofit organization that operates an internationally known retreat for visual artists, writers, composers, and choreographers working in all creative disciplines. History Founded in 1981 ...

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the sou ...

, is a nonprofit organization that operates an internationally known retreat for visual artists, writers, composers, and choreographers working in all creative disciplines.

History

Founded in 1981 by

Raymond Plank Raymond Plank (May 29, 1922 – November 8, 2018) was the founder and chairman of Apache Corporation. He led Apache from a small oil and gas concern to a conglomerate with interests in energy, commercial real estate, agriculture, manufacturing an ...

, Ucross is located on a 20,000-acre working cattle ranch in northeastern Wyoming. The Big Red Ranch Complex, which includes the Foundation’s main offices and a renovated barn that houses a public art gallery, was built in 1882 and is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

. The name Ucross comes from the original brand of the Pratt and Ferris Cattle Company in the 1880s, which operated a large ranching concern with Big Red as its headquarters. Along with James Pratt and Cornelius Ferris, one of the early partners in the ranch was

Marshall Field Marshall Field (August 18, 1834January 16, 1906) was an American entrepreneur and the founder of Marshall Field and Company, the Chicago-based department stores. His business was renowned for its then-exceptional level of quality and custome ...

Residency and outreach

The Foundation provides living accommodations, studio space, uninterrupted time in the

High Plains High Plains refers to one of two distinct land regions: *High Plains (United States), land region of the western Great Plains * High Plains (Australia), land region adjacent to the Great Dividing Range See also * Altiplano (disambiguation) The ...

landscape to competitively selected individuals, for two to six weeks. Up to ten individuals are in residence at any one time. The Foundation has four writing studios, four visual arts studios, and two composing studios and a choreography studio. Approximately ninety-five individuals are supported annually. Residents live in the historic Ucross School House or the Clearmont Train Depot, which have been renovated to include four bedrooms each, with a dining area, living area, and main kitchen in the School House. Ucross has hosted over 1,400 artists-in-residence from across the United States and the world. The Foundation participates in a number of long-term collaborations with other arts organizations, including the

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Theatre Program, the Alpert Award in the Arts (administered by

CalArts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of bot ...

and supported by the Herb Alpert Foundation), and the Ernest Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award for First Fiction. Ucross also collaborates with the

Alley Theatre The Alley Theatre is a Tony Award-winning theatre company in Houston, Texas. It is the oldest professional theatre company in Texas and the third oldest resident theatre in the United States. Alley Theatre productions have played on Broadway at L ...

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyomin ...

's MFA Program in Creative Writing, the Pew Fellowships in the Arts, The Ford Family Foundation Fellowship for Oregon Artists, and the

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’s Elaine Lebenbom Award for Female Composers. The Ucross Foundation Art Gallery operates year-round at no cost to the public and typically features exhibitions by Ucross Fellows. The barn loft provides space for occasional conferences and public concerts. The Foundation was named a recipient of the Wyoming Governor’s Arts Award for Excellence in the Arts in 2005.

Fellows of note

Notable Ucross Fellows include

Ron Carlson Ron Carlson (born 1947) is an American novelist, short story writer and professor. Life Carlson was born in Logan, Utah, and grew up in Salt Lake City. He received a master's degree in English from the University of Utah. He then taught at The ...

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Du Yun Du Yun (traditional Chinese: 杜韻, simplified Chinese: 杜韵) is a Chinese-born American composer, performer, vocalist and performance artist. She won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her opera '' Angel's Bone'', with libretto by Roy ...

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, Robert L. Freedman,

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, Perry Glasser,

Francisco Goldman Francisco Goldman (born 1954) is an American novelist, journalist, and Allen K. Smith Professor of Literature and Creative Writing, Trinity College. His most recent novel, ''Monkey Boy'' (2021), was a finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for F ...

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, Michael Harrison,

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, Jason Moran, Bill Morrison,

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, Mark So,

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Terry Tempest Williams Terry Tempest Williams (born 8 September 1955), is an American writer, educator, conservationist, and activist. Williams' writing is rooted in the American West and has been significantly influenced by the arid landscape of Utah. Her work foc ...

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, and

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.Ucross Foundation
"Visual Arts Residencies"
Residency Program. Retrieved May 17, 2019.

Land stewardship

Ucross has also supported numerous conservation initiatives, including the planting of thousands of trees on the ranch and the placement of a conservation easement on over 12,000 acres of the ranch with the Wyoming Chapter of

The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Natu ...

. In 2010, the Ucross Ranch, currently leased by the

Apache Foundation The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) is an American nonprofit corporation (classified as a 501(c)(3) organization in the United States) to support a number of open source software projects. The ASF was formed from a group of developers of the Ap ...

, was named a finalist for the Leopold Conservation Award, given by the

Sand County Foundation Sand County Foundation is a non-profit private land conservation organization located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1965, its work is inspired by world-renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold’s land ethic. Mission To advance t ...

. The newest land initiative at Ucross involves the creation of a community park that honors the Ucross founder’s commitment to land stewardship, along with that of his sons, Roger Plank and Michael Plank.

References

External links

Ucross Foundation
About Ucross Foundation {{authority control Non-profit organizations based in Wyoming American artist groups and collectives History of the American West Arts organizations based in Wyoming Sheridan County, Wyoming Arts organizations established in 1981 1981 establishments in Wyoming