Ucross, Wyoming, population 26, may be small but it is large in the world of art. This tiny town has played host to world-renowned artists, established and up-and-coming, for more than 40 years.
This is all thanks to the dream of founder Raymond Plank and the mission of the Ucross Foundation to provide artists a creative space and time to focus their energies on their craft.
The artist residency began in 1983 and since has hosted more than 3,000 people, including artists from every state and foreign countries. Each year, about 115 artists are selected for the residency.
Each person is given a workspace, living accommodations and meals prepared by a chef. The participants come from a range of backgrounds and are visual and interdisciplinary artists, writers, composers and choreographers.
“What Ucross does is just take all of the world’s distractions away and provide this really wonderful haven for artists to focus solely on the creative process,” Executive Director Caitlin Addlesperger said. “We leave that interpretation of what the creative process is totally up to the artists.”
The application process is extensive, said Addlesperger. There were 940 applications during the last open call and only 50-60 artists were accepted.
Virginia Broersma of Long Beach, California, had to apply twice before being accepted into the competitive program.
She counts herself fortunate to be able to spend three weeks away from her studio in Los Angeles and be under the wide-open skies of Wyoming during the early fall of September.
“It's so beautiful,” Broersma told Cowboy State Daily. “I've been getting work done in my studio here, and it's great to have that space. I've also been trying to just enjoy Wyoming, and there are some hikes we can take nearby.”
From City to Open Skies
Broersma drove from Long Beach, through Utah and into Wyoming.
She especially wanted to enjoy hot springs along the way and stopped at Monroe, Utah, and Thermopolis at Hot Springs State Park. These bubbling springs are an aspect of nature that she has been incorporating into her mixed medium painting, and she literally soaked up the experience.
“I took a little bit of a longer road trip and went not on the main freeways, but some back highways and enjoyed the variety of landscapes,” Broersma said. “Every five minutes, it felt like it was different and extraordinary.”
While living in the city is where life has taken Broersma for now, she has missed the open spaces and being close to nature so was ecstatic when she was chosen through a competitive process for the residency.
“I was really interested in Wyoming as a place and the idea of being in quiet spaces that I don’t have access to normally,” Broersma said. “It just felt like such a luxury. And I feel really respected and supported as an artist here in Ucross.”
Many artists tell Addlesperger that the time flies by in Ucross, and they spend their time in both studio and exploring the area.
“Just resting is such an important part of the creative process and not something that many artists or just many people have the opportunity to truly do,” Addlesperger said.
Artists from around the world compete for coveted residency spots in tiny UCross, Wyoming. The town of 26 triples in size with the prestigious program, which has drawn American and interantional talent for 40 years. (Josh Dorman via @UCrossFoundation) 
During her residency at Ucross, artist Virginia Broersma of Los Angeles, California, was given a studio of her own to create her art, giant abstract paintings. It was her second time to apply for the residency and the first time she was accepted into the program. Broersma said that the wide-open skies and beauty of Wyoming has inspired her to create. She is grateful for the opportunity to visit the Cowboy State and is already making plans to come back. (Courtesy Virginia Broersma) 
During her residency at Ucross, artist Virginia Broersma of Los Angeles, California, was given a studio of her own to create her art, giant abstract paintings. It was her second time to apply for the residency and the first time she was accepted into the program. Broersma said that the wide-open skies and beauty of Wyoming has inspired her to create. She is grateful for the opportunity to visit the Cowboy State and is already making plans to come back. (Courtesy Virginia Broersma) 
Ucross, Wyoming, population 26, triples in size when artists join the residency. The Wyoming scenery and wide-open spaces inspire artists, composers, writers and performers from across the United States who come to immerse themselves in both their art and Wyoming. (Courtesy Virginia Broersma) 
During her residency at Ucross, artist Virginia Broersma of Los Angeles, California, was given a studio of her own to create her art, giant abstract paintings. It was her second time to apply for the residency and the first time she was accepted into the program. Broersma said that the wide-open skies and beauty of Wyoming has inspired her to create. She is grateful for the opportunity to visit the Cowboy State and is already making plans to come back. (Courtesy Virginia Broersma) 
Artist Virginia Broersma traveled across Wyoming to reach Ucross for a three-week artist residency. Her studio at Ucross is the same size inside as her studio in Los Angeles, California but the setting is so much different from the big city. Broersma especially is entranced with the big sky and seeing the stars at night. (Courtesy Virginia Broersma)
The Ucross Experience
Broersma has her own room and her studio is a brisk ten-to-15-minute walk away, although she is not always in a hurry to get back to her painting as she soaks in the Wyoming scenery.
“Every day you get to go out and see the deer in the field,” Broersma said. “We can go for hikes where we see sheep and cattle and I just ran across a snake when I was walking back.”
Over the weekend, Broersma went with others in the residency to the Born in a Barn festival in Sheridan and they were all able to immerse themselves in Wyoming culture as well as see the local crafts and homemade goods. Through these opportunities, Broersma views the Ucross residency as a precious gift.
“They have access to our really our beautiful 20,000-acre ranch,” Addlesperger said. “We have private hiking trails on the ranch for the artist, walking trails on campus.”
These are aspects of the residency that Broersma truly appreciates.
“I've been trying to not only be closed off in my studio, but really open to the experience of being here,” she said. “Everyone is enamored with the big skies. It's just been amazing to watch storms roll through and to see the lightning.”
In her studio, there is a guest book where every artist before her could write about their own adventures in Ucross.
“I've been reading the guest book, and it's quite astonishing how many people have come with something in mind and then it all goes out the window because of this amazing place,” Broersma said.
She read how a composer was in Ucross with a project planned out but then his work completely shifted because of the openness and the sounds of the space.
“This place seems to be transforming a lot of people,” Broersma said, “Especially the stars at night. It's just an extraordinary experience for someone, especially who lives in the city where you're lucky if you see one star."
Broersma came to Ucross with the plan to experiment and try some things out that are different from what she would normally do, including working with a new color palette.
“Normally I'm a figurative painter,” she said. “All my paintings have some kind of reference to the body in them, even if it's a little bit abstract.”
Broersma had attended an open studio her first week at Ucross and that viewing lit a fire under her to pursue her plan of just trying new things and not worrying about being perfect.
“I think that I have a freedom in my mental state when I'm outside of my routine,” Broersma said. “I’m excited to see how Wyoming and Ucross influence me when I get back to L.A.”
The Artist Connection
The patrons of Ucross see the residency as a research-and-development lab for the arts. Individual artists are not required to produce finished products while at Ucross and are instead encouraged to experiment and explore. The foundation primarily raises the money to offer these free residencies through fund-raising galas held alternatively in Texas and Wyoming and with grants.
“We have calculated that one artist's four-week residency is about $12,000,” Addlesperger said. “That includes studio space, meals, and staff support with working artists.”
Throughout the year, ten individuals will be in residence together for periods ranging from two to six weeks. While most of the time is spent in private work, there is one requirement at Ucross which is to join the chef-prepared group dinners with fellow artists for a lively exchange.
It is during these dinners that Broersma got to know the other resident artists ranging from music composers to those working on theater productions.
“Everyone's responding to the space and to our time here,” Broersma said. “We've all made friendships and really are treasuring this time.”
Broersma also plans to return back to L.A. and help other artists find their way to Ucross through The Artist’s Office. This is her side business she began in 2018 to help artists apply for grants and other opportunities they would otherwise miss out on.
“I've always had day jobs in administrative positions, and I took those skills for organization and spreadsheets to the art world,” Broersma said. “It's a way that I can take the things that I'm learning in my own career as an artist and provide the information to other artists.”
Broersma has given herself permission not to paint the entire time of her residency at Ucross. She also wants to make sure she has the time to enjoy Wyoming.
“We are all trying to embrace this space,” Broersma said. “Back home, we can't just stare at the sky, so our time here is about really being present which I think is most important.”
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
