Storytelling is deep in our DNA, and it’s at the core of an upcoming Juneteenth event called In Our Own Words – Spoken Word & Songs at the University of Wyoming (UW) Neltje Center in Banner. The evening is put on in partnership with the Sheridan-based nonprofit SAGE Community Arts.
Three artists will share words and songs on June 19, starting at 5 p.m., with a community supper as a space for conversation and connection.
Laramie-based writer Lena Newlin is one of the evening’s featured artists.
“ I worked for 22 years in public health and then decided to, after COVID, shift away to exploring more of my own personal family history, which is related to Japanese-American incarceration,” she said. “I had family incarcerated at Heart Mountain during World War II. I left behind my public health career and decided to really focus on writing about some of my family stories.”
Newlin is a fourth-generation Wyomingite and comes from a long line of railroaders, coal miners, teachers and adventurers. She’s currently pursuing a PhD in public humanities at UW, where she’s expanding her storytelling chops to include poetry and photography.
“ I think the arts is always a great way to build community,” said Newlin. “Different people have different skills and different talents, and different mediums of art will resonate with different people.”
The writer pointed to two Wyoming-based projects that are doing stand-out work in sharing the stories of the state and its people: Restorying the West and Women Shaping the West: Stories of Wyoming.
“ Those are two more public-facing opportunities to see what other great work people are doing and who lives here. Who are our neighbors?” said Newlin.
The Juneteenth storytelling event is part of a larger six-week exhibition titled Different but SAME at SAGE Community Arts, which is the brainchild of Northern Arapaho and Chicano artist Robert Martinez.
For Newlin, the goal of the broader exhibition is to create opportunities for people to connect.
“ The era that we're currently living in, it feels like we're receiving messages from politicians and from the media about how divided we are and how different we are,” she said. “But the reality is, if you sit down and talk to somebody, if you make a connection with somebody, you realize how similar we are and how much we have in common.”
On Friday night, Newlin will be joined by poet Christopher D. Sims and musician J Shogren.
Sims’ writing and performance practice is influenced by hip-hop traditions and spoken word lineage. He’s also is the author of multiple poetry collections, including “If Black Lives Mattered” and “The Art of Being Black: A Black Man’s Truth in Poems.”
Shogren lives in Centennial and makes music that blends roots-inspired sounds, Americana twang and layered narrative songwriting. He’s performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C and on the popular YouTube channel Western AF.
“This program reflects the heart of Different but SAME,” said the Director of the UW Neltje Center, Beth Venn, in a press release. “Each of these artists brings a distinct voice and practice to the stage. Together, they create a space where difference is not only present, but essential to understanding what we share.”
The event is free and open to the public, with advance registration required.
