Your future, our focus
P O W E L L, W y o. - The Northwest College Photo Theme House invites the public to an unveiling of its 2007 "Touch of the West" calendar and silent auction to benefit the Reaching Hands Ranch at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 28, at Parlor News Coffeehouse in Powell.
The 2006-07 Photo Theme House students chose to showcase the western way of life in its annual calendar by telling stories photographically of the everyday artifacts of cowboy life.
The calendar narrative explains that people often "take for granted the worn pair of leather gloves that shield our hands from the bite of the bitter cold winters or the horseshoe that rusted after falling from the bottom of a horse's hooves after beating against the dusty earth during a cattle drive. ‘Touch of the West' captures the character of tools and other implements used in our every day life. There is a narrative within each worn piece of leather and every frayed rope, and this year's Photography Theme House has strived to visually tell these stories."
The calendar features 12 scenes printed in an antique tone resembling the sepia tone of very old photographic prints. The calendars will be available for purchase at $5 each. Students will be on hand to sign calendars and talk about their images and the experiences and insights gained from the project.
A silent auction of 14 images reflecting the "Touch of West" theme will be held during the unveiling to benefit the Reaching Hands Ranch, a project ranch outside Powell that uses rescued horses to mentor at-risk youth. Last year's calendar benefit attracted more than a hundred people who filled Christmas gift lists and donated to help Andy Scott's surgery in Portugal become a reality.
One of the primary goals of the Northwest College theme houses is to integrate students and community, augmenting more real-life experience to the academic experience. Community service projects are a hallmark of the NWC theme houses. The calendar production project also gives photo students a taste of the full, start-to-finish considerations involved in a commercial project and the opportunity to see how the final product is received by the public.
Theme house students participating in the calendar project and benefit auction are: Barb Girard, Powell; Trisha Casey, Billings, Mont.; Aleeshia Denison, LaBarge; Blake Hendrix, Idaho Falls, Idaho; Jayne Johnson, Powell.; Esther Lee, Billings, Mont.; Kari Neff, Gillette; Michael Reimer, Newcastle; Brian Schwarz, Powell; Eva Shuman, Powell; Teala Starr, Ennis, Mont.; and Melissa Wagner of Harrison, Mont.
They invite area residents to drop by after work Tuesday, Nov. 28, and peruse the auction photographs, check out the calendar and listen to live music.