Lawmakers could salvage plans to restore a historic Wyoming arboretum after the legislature cut initial funding from the supplemental state budget. Its future now depends on bills in committee.
Companion bills introduced in the Wyoming House and Senate would recognize the Cheyenne-area High Plains Research Station and Arboretum as an official state historic site. The center was used a century ago to research and grow trees that could handle the area's harsh climate.
Jessica Friis, horticulturist for Cheyenne Botanic Gardens, helps steward the site.
"A lot of those trees are still standing today," Friis pointed out. "We'd like to return to that original mission where we can grow these tough plants in that greenhouse and make them available."
Friis pointed out today, trees grown there could be used for reforestation after wildfires and other modern needs. The bills now sit with the committees on agriculture and appropriations.
Megan Stanfill, executive director of the Alliance for Historic Wyoming, said the site is more than 2,000 acres in size, and includes an active grasslands research station, historic buildings, the Cheyenne National Cemetery and a Girl Scout camp.
"You have all of these different aspects, where it's outdoor recreation, it's historic sites, it's cultural heritage, and then it's also a place of solitude," Stanfill outlined.
If the area becomes an official state historic site, it would be cooperatively managed by the city of Cheyenne, Wyoming State Parks and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Disclosure: The Alliance for Historic Wyoming contributes to our fund for reporting on Civic Engagement, Cultural Resources, Education, and Women's Issues. If you would like to help support news in the public interest,
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By Amy Felegy for Arts Midwest.
Broadcast version by Terri Dee for Michigan News Connection reporting for the Arts Midwest-Public News Service Collaboration
They’re unlikely friends, skull anatomy and glitter theory.
In a new-to-the-internet hair and makeup class, the two have come together via the University of Michigan.
Free and accessible to anyone with decent Wi-Fi, the goal is simple:
“That no matter who is sitting in the chair, that the person who is applying the makeup understands how to work with whatever skin tone is in front of them, and they understand how to work with whatever hair texture is in front of them,” says Sarah Oliver, the U Michigan professor who created this Equitable Stage Makeup and Hair course.
From 8 Chairs to Hundreds
Oliver, who teaches costume technology and design, knew she needed to broaden her students’ understanding of on-stage presentation.
There are over 250 performers at the school at any given time—from opera and dance to musical theater.
The catch? They can’t all fit in an eight-seat makeup room backstage. So the idea was born: Film demo videos and put them online.
In a matter of months since its March 2024 launch, over 1,800 people have taken the course, which includes lessons in aging, special effects, hair, and drag. Special guests collaborated (read: TV star Alexis Michelle) to bring expertise to the table.
That expertise, colleague Christianne Myers says, has too long rested on the shoulders of performers themselves.
“For us, [this course] really was about hair and makeup and meeting performers’ needs,” says the University of Michigan costume designer. “Particularly Black performers have so often been called upon to be the experts of their own hair in a really specific way in regional theaters.”
In addition to equity concerns, having unnatural makeup or hair takes viewers out of the show, as does a performer who isn’t their best self on stage.
“Maybe your performance is suffering because you’ve haven’t had as long a break because you had to go and do your own hair instead of knowing you were going to hair appointments that everybody else did, or that someone doesn’t understand the hair texture that you have and they don’t have the proper wig for you,” Oliver says.
“You don’t even realize that those performers are wearing a wig except for you because you have a wig that clearly doesn’t work for your hair texture or your skin tone,” she adds.
Accessible Across Stages
The Coursera modules are truly for anyone, performers and instructors alike.
People having makeup done in these instructional videos have a range of skin tones; ages across the spectrum are represented.
“Inclusivity is sort of baked into all the teaching modalities,” Myers says.
The videos, three years in the making, are high-quality and broken into sections—you don’t need to take them all. Click, watch, learn.
Then, take your whole self, and go perform.
Amy Felegy wrote this story for Arts Midwest.
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By Brianne Sanchez for Arts Midwest.
Broadcast version by Mark Moran for Iowa News Service reporting for the Arts Midwest-Public News Service Collaboration
At the close of his whirlwind 2024, Caleb “The Negro Artist” Rainey paused to reflect. The Iowa City-based poet likened a year filled with career-validating recognition to ‘someone turning a spotlight on’ to illuminate his creative and community work.
“It’s like that moment in a play where everyone else freezes, and you get to step forward,” Rainey says. No single project catapulted his career. “A whole lot of people hit the lights at the same time for me. You prepare for something for so long, and then when it happens, it’s exciting and overwhelming.”
Over the past 12 months, many of Rainey’s wildest dreams have come true. He shared the stage with his hero, headliner Rudy Francisco, at the Mic Check Poetry Fest. (Grant funding from Arts Midwest helped support that event, which Rainey co-produces.) He launched ‘Looking Back at Black Iowans,’ a pioneering workshop series that engaged hundreds of high school students by bridging poetry and the state’s diverse cultural heritage. He created a new format for open-mic programming and expanded emerging artist mentorship. A documentary film about Rainey’s ascent as a spoken word poet and teacher premiered at Iowa’s Pearson Lakes Art Center and in Los Angeles.
In November, Rainey received an Iowa Author Award for poetry from the Des Moines Public Library Foundation.
“I’m always telling young people, if you have a poem that you’re ready with, then that opportunity will show up,” says Rainey, who facilitates IC Speaks workshops in Iowa City high schools. “Always stay ready so you don’t have to get ready.”
That attitude led to performance opportunities at events like the Okoboji Writers’ and Songwriters’ Retreat, which amplified his exposure and expanded his network. His infectious enthusiasm also caught the attention of collaborator Lisa Roberts, nonprofit founder of Iowa City Poetry. She witnessed Rainey remain undaunted by early-career rejections.
“I’ve learned a lot from [Caleb’s] ideas that, if you don’t see what you need, then make it happen,” Roberts says. “Don’t fret too long about not being invited into the club. Make your own club. That’s what he’s done. Then, he’s invited everyone else in.”
Committing to His Creative Practice
Now, Rainey is asking himself what comes after attaining so many of his dreams. He recognizes he still has so much to learn as a poet, performer, and youth facilitator.
At the beginning of 2024, Rainey chose to focus on the word ‘discipline’ and explore how he could be more attentive to his creative practice. 2025 will be about staying “centered.”
Conducting his monthly ‘poetry potluck’ prompt on Instagram with fellow Iowa poet Kelsey Bigelow is one way Rainey ensures he remains consistently engaged with his craft and in touch with a community that inspires him. On the first Monday of every month, followers submit words he incorporates into a completed poem that he shares the first Friday.
“The biggest thing that I had to learn when it came to the discipline of my writing process is to be dedicated to answering the phone when inspiration calls,” Rainey says.
Brianne Sanchez wrote this story for Arts Midwest.
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By Brianne Sanchez for Arts Midwest.
Broadcast version by Mark Moran for Iowa News Service reporting for the Arts Midwest-Public News Service Collaboration
Stories are shortcuts, introducing people and places we might not otherwise encounter. They help us discover meaningful connections, even amid isolating circumstances. Curious people often turn to books because novels and memoirs open up on demand, but everyone has a story to tell.
In Iowa, CultureALL’s Open Book program makes striking up a conversation with a stranger as simple as visiting the local library. Their catalog of personal narratives introduces real-life protagonists whose singular struggles touch broader topics like immigration, identity, grief, faith and more.
Since 2018, the Des Moines-based social impact organization has recruited more than 50 Iowans from diverse backgrounds to serve as human “Books.” They share short talks about a defining chapter of their lives with intimate audiences of “Readers.”
From Charlie’s harrowing story of surviving a traumatic childhood abduction to Sylvia’s tale of defying society’s expectations as a blind woman to earn her PhD in soil chemistry, human “Books” prove why people shouldn’t be judged by their cover.
“Open Book can be a catalyst to speed up a relationship and introduce a conversation that maybe wouldn’t have naturally occurred,” says Karen Downing, a retired English teacher who brought the concept to CultureALL.
CultureALL supports human “Books” through the storytelling process. It compensates them for visits to retirement communities, libraries, businesses and other locations.
Open Book’s story-sharing format was inspired by Human Library, a movement that began in Denmark in 2000 to address prejudice through personal connections.
CultureALL’s version is reciprocal.
“We realized that, yes, people want to hear other stories,” Downing says. “They also really wanted to share their own and get a sense of their lived experience in conversation with someone else.”
She and former CultureALL AmeriCorps Service member JJ Kapur collaborated to localize the Human Library concept and measure its empathy-building impact.
Humanizing Complex Issues
Initiatives like UpLift: The Central Iowa Basic Income Pilot have participated in Open Book to bring local voices to issues like poverty and homelessness. Congregations have also used the program to build relationships across racial divides. Funding from Humanities Iowa is helping the CultureALL program connect urban and rural populations, too.
“Hearing a personal story can change a lens on an issue or big, thorny topic that people maybe don’t have a nuanced understanding of,” Downing says.
The vulnerability Open Book encourages can be validating for participants like Yerliana Reyna, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic who moved to Iowa by way of the Bronx, New York.
Reyna is a middle school counselor who connected with Open Book after participating in the Iowa Latinx Project’s Media Ambassador Program. She shared her story at a senior center in Pella, a community known for its deeply Dutch heritage.
“I remember one of the ladies kept looking at me and then when I was done [speaking], she said, ‘You know that you are more brave than you think,’” Reyna says. “Your story can be of encouragement for somebody else.”
Brianne Sanchez wrote this story for Arts Midwest.
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