Lxi Weber, Executive Director of the Star Valley Arts Council, called into the Weekday Wake-Up on Tuesday, July 15 with her monthly report. Weber discussed upcoming events including Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, the Alpine Art Festival and the Thayne Chalk Art Festival. Weber also touched on WyoGives and the Thayne Community Center Mural.

A full transcript of the interview can be found below.

(0:00) Time for the monthly report from Lexi Weber, (0:03) Executive Director of the Star Valley Arts Council, (0:05) joining me live over the phone today. (0:07) Lexi, good morning, how are you today? (0:09) I’m great, how are you? (0:10) Hey, doing well, appreciate the time (0:12) and the update from the Arts Council as always. (0:14) You know, before we head into what’s coming up, (0:16) I think we gotta give a big shout out (0:18) to those who participated and organized (0:20) the Children’s Summer Theater.
(0:22) Alice in Wonderland Jr. was fantastic, very well done, (0:26) almost sold out shows every performance. (0:29) Yes, sold out every performance. (0:31) It was the biggest year we’ve had, (0:33) both for participants and for attendees.
(0:35) We’re just really pleased. (0:37) Yeah, went great, and then also you had (0:40) the art auction fundraiser, (0:41) sounds like that went pretty well, correct? (0:43) It did, that’s such a fun event (0:46) to have all these artists get together (0:47) and contribute their art, (0:49) and it’s beneficial for them too. (0:51) We had a really great turnout, we had great sales.
(0:53) It was a good event. (0:55) Perfect, of course you used that money (0:57) to run the Arts Council moving forward. (0:59) You also rely heavily on donations, (1:00) and tomorrow is Wyoming Gives Day, (1:02) a chance for people to donate (1:04) and have those donations matched as well.
(1:06) Tell us what’s happening tomorrow (1:07) for Wyoming Gives and the Arts Council. (1:10) Yeah, Wyoming Gives is a statewide day of giving (1:14) that’s organized by the Wyoming Nonprofit Network, (1:16) and it’s just designed to support (1:18) all of Wyoming nonprofit organizations. (1:21) So anyone who wants to donate to any of those nonprofits (1:25) can do that at wyogives.org. (1:28) So if someone wanted to donate to the Afton Food Pantry, (1:32) or to us, or to any other nonprofits, (1:35) they do that all at once.
(1:36) It’s kind of a add-to-cart system (1:40) you can check out all at the same time. (1:42) They make it really convenient. (1:44) The Star Valley Arts Council is participating this year, (1:47) and we received a match (1:50) from Hunter’s Furniture and Appliance.
(1:52) So any funds that are donated (1:54) during the 24-hour period will be matched (1:56) and make us eligible for additional funds (1:59) that are contributed by a state organization. (2:04) It’s not a one-to-one match, (2:05) but it’s a pool that gets divided (2:08) by anyone who receives funding from elsewhere. (2:12) So it could be doubled, more than doubled, (2:16) any funds that we receive tomorrow.
(2:17) It’s a really big deal for us. (2:20) So this all happens tomorrow from midnight to midnight. (2:24) And then all the funds raised (2:25) just help the Arts Council to bring in shows (2:28) and host workshops and all the things (2:29) that we’re doing this upcoming season.
(2:31) That’s fantastic. (2:32) So go through wyogives.org. (2:34) You can do it anytime during the 24-hour period tomorrow. (2:37) And how cool is it for Hunter’s Furniture and Appliance (2:39) to match those donations, (2:41) and then the potential for additional donations (2:44) coming in as well on top of it through WyoGives.
(2:47) Lexi Weber this morning on the Weekday Wake-Up. (2:50) Lexi, it was also announced recently (2:51) that the Arts Council’s partnering with the Town of Thane (2:54) for a really cool mural for the 250th celebration (2:59) next year on July 4th. (3:00) Tell us about this.
(3:02) I’m really excited about this. (3:04) I’ve just always wanted to help get some murals (3:06) in the Valley, so this will be really fun. (3:08) The Town of Thane received a really large grant (3:11) to facilitate this mural.
(3:13) It will be on the large, the really tall gym wall (3:17) on the outside of the community center. (3:19) And so it can be pretty significant. (3:22) That’s a very tall wall.
(3:24) They’ve asked the Arts Council to help facilitate (3:26) finding an artist to complete that project. (3:30) So we’re still working out all of the details, (3:32) but what we have decided so far (3:35) is that starting this Thursday, which is July 17th, (3:38) the interested artists will be able to submit (3:40) design proposals on our website, (3:43) and that submission window will close on July 31st. (3:47) The Town of Thane will choose which design they like best, (3:52) and then the artists can get to work right away.
(3:55) They will be paid $20,000, (3:58) and they will have until the end of October to finish. (4:01) So the Town will be providing scaffolding, (4:04) and then in that $20,000, the artists will be responsible (4:07) for getting their own supplies. (4:09) That’s really cool.
(4:11) And so obviously they’re hoping for a certain theme, right? (4:15) I mean, it is for the sesquicentennial, right? (4:18) Yep, they want it to follow the theme of Wyoming heritage, (4:21) and priority will be given to designs (4:23) that incorporate themes that are specific to Thane. (4:27) It’s a little tricky, (4:28) because I don’t know how many of those there really are. (4:31) I know that, you know, the Cutter Races or something, (4:34) or I don’t know if the Cheese Factory (4:36) would be applicable.
(4:39) It’s a little tricky, (4:40) because Thane doesn’t have the one specific thing (4:43) it’s necessarily known for. (4:46) But anyway, we’re still working on the rest of the details, (4:50) and we’ll have all of that up on our website on Thursday. (4:52) All right, you can start applying (4:53) and submitting your design ideas this upcoming Thursday.
(4:57) Details can be found at starvalleyarts.org. (5:01) And speaking of the Thane Community Center, (5:03) I understand the Chalk Art Festival is this weekend, right? (5:07) Well, it was supposed to be, (5:08) but we have had to cancel it. (5:10) We just didn’t have enough interest this year, (5:12) and so it’s not happening. (5:14) Okay, gotcha.
(5:16) All right, but what is happening (5:17) is Montana Shakespeare in the Parks. (5:21) Yes, it’s coming up really soon. (5:23) This year, they’ll be performing As You Like It, (5:25) and that’ll be on Sunday, July 27th (5:27) at the Kodiak Mountain Resort in Afton.
(5:30) The show starts at six, (5:32) and there’s a pre-show starting at 5.15 with local talent. (5:35) And we just wanna remind everyone (5:37) to bring chairs or blankets to sit on. (5:40) Very cool, that’s coming up free to attend, (5:42) Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, July 17th.
(5:44) And coming up next month, (5:46) the annual Alpine Art Festival, that’s in August. (5:50) Yep, this is our second annual Alpine Art Festival. (5:53) Last year was so fun, really successful.
(5:55) We’re excited to continue this. (5:57) It’s scheduled for August 15th and 16th. (6:01) Our vendor applications are still open on our website.
(6:03) This is for any kind of art. (6:06) It is a juried application process, (6:08) but it’s really broad as far as the art. (6:14) For example, we have some artists (6:17) that are doing cutting boards, (6:21) like really fancy wood type projects.
(6:24) We have ceramics. (6:26) We can do fiber art, (6:29) anything that is art-related at all, we want it. (6:33) We just want a really good variety.
(6:35) It’s going to be a really great event with over 20 vendors. (6:39) We’re gonna have live music. (6:40) Scoops ice cream will be there.
(6:42) And then we also have the car show (6:45) and the Star Valley Street Market (6:46) happening at the same time. (6:48) So this all happens in Alpine (6:50) on the bank of Jackson Hole Lawn. (6:54) Very cool, so that comes up on August 15th (6:57) through the 16th with the Alpine Art Festival.
(7:00) The monthly report from Lexi Weber, (7:01) Executive Director of the Star Valley Arts Council. (7:04) Lexi, as always, appreciate your time, (7:05) appreciate what the Arts Council does. (7:07) And just a reminder, (7:08) participate in YOGives tomorrow at yogives.org. (7:13) Lexi, thank you.
(7:14) Thank you very much. (7:16) It’s all part of the weekday wakeup (7:17) this morning on SVI Radio.