Casper College’s Annual Humanities Fest Taking Place NOW

The Casper College's annual Humanities Festival and Demorest Lecture is happening now. It started on Feb. 20 and goes till the 24th. This year's topic is "Human/Nature."

Dxcept for the dance concert, the festival is free and open to the public.

It is featuring keynote speaker Susan Rogers, a multiplatinum-earning record producer, engineer, mixer, and audio technician best known for her work with Prince from 1983 to 1987.

Today's agenda begins at 11 a.m. with the "Wonder Room" nature exhibition by visual artist Tina Opp.
The exhbition "celebrates joy and curiosity sparked by the discovery of artifacts, exploring what is lost and what remains in the process of erosion and the passing of time,” said Opp.

At noon, “Opera Wyoming Presents’ Gnossiènne’ and ‘Rabbit,’ a play by David Foxton,” will be presented with dance choreographer Anthony Gamroth.

“Opera Wyoming has amazing talent, and I believe the dance corps helps to round out the diversity of talent within the organization,” Gamroth said. In the summer of 2023, he choreographed Opera Wyoming’s production of “The Sound of Music.” “Rabbit” marks his theatrical directorial debut.

Events will shift to the Casper College Werner Wildlife Museum at 2 p.m. for environmental educator Valerie Bayer’s “Nature Journaling — Get Curious.” The session will provide an “… introduction to the principles, techniques and joys of nature journaling,” said Bayer, founder of the Northern Rockies Nature Journaling.

At 3:30 p.m., Julia Whyde, the Dean of the School of Fine Arts and Humanities at Casper College, will present “Sense Practice and Place.” “Observing well determines the extent to which we are either in consonance with the world around us or just passing through. Because observing well is an exercise in presence, the extent to which we can learn to be sensually, as in the five senses, aware of our surroundings determines the human/nature connections we are able to make,” said Whyde.

Participants will practice the art of observing well and translating their observations of the Werner Wildlife Museum space into haiku.

A reception for the Casper College Humanities Festival will begin at 5 p.m. in the Werner Wildlife Museum. It is free and open to the public.

The festival will then move to the Leland and Barbara Scifers Dance Performance Theatre for the opening-night performance of Amy Fitzsimmons’ production of “Pencils Down.”

“Pencils Down!” is a contemporary dance performance comprised of a collection of vignettes, each with a theme of a school-related scenario or idea, conceived, directed, and choreographed by Fitzsimmons, Casper College dance instructor. A talkback with the director and cast will follow the performance.

Nothing is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 23, but on Saturday, Feb. 24, The Natrona County Library will present a family afternoon event featuring pizza, a movie, and a craft.

Additional presentation information, presenter bios, and links for Zoom connections can be found here or by calling 307-268-2606.

Except for the Natrona County Library and the Casper College Werner Wildlife Museum, all other venues are on the Casper College campus.

The 2024 Humanities Festival Sponsors include the Wyoming Humanities Council, the Casper College Foundation and Margaret Demorest Endowment, the Casper College Goodstein Foundation Library, the Casper College School of Fine Arts and Humanities, the University of Wyoming at Casper, the Casper College Visual Arts Department Galleries, and Casper College.