Every Child Becomes a Star
College theater students bring acting experience to county children
Article from June 28th Issue of McKenzie County Farmer
By Betsy Ryan
Farmer Staff Writer
“When the lights go off and I am on the stage, I forget all about the people in the audience,” says 13-year-old Samantha Gillen. “Then I turn into someone new, I totally become my character.”
Missoula Children’s Theatre wants to provide as many children as possible with an experience just like Samantha’s.
With production workshops travelling all over the world, Missoula Children’s Theatre gets more than 65,000 children a year on stage. They have anywhere from 30-40 different productions going on at one time in various cities.
The structure of Missoula Children’s Theatre productions follows a pretty standard recipe. The directors come into town and hold auditions on Monday. Rehearsals start that very day and go through Friday.
After a week of practice, workshops and a dress rehearsals, the children perform the show on Friday evening and Saturday morning.
The directors then pack up and move on to the next town.
Missoula Children’s Theatre employs up to 120 people at a time. They send two directors to work together to travel from city to city on their tour. Many of the staff work all year around but there is an influx of shows and employees during the summer while students are on a break from school.
This year, Watford City welcomed Skye Coyne and Jackie Greisen to direct Treasure Island for the Missoula Children’s Theatre. Coyne is studying theater at the University of Central Florida and Greisen studies film and media at Whitman College in Washington state.
Both women are touring the United States directing and performing in Treasure Island for the summer, before they head back to school in the fall.
Watford City had 53 children show up for auditions for Treasure Island this year.
“It is amazing to have a production like this come to our small town,” says Diana Guadagnino who has four girls in the show. “This is a week of no TV, the girls are practicing so much. They are excited and enthused about getting this experience.”
Guadagnino has been particularly impressed with the organization that has gone into this play. Each child received a script with their part highlighted, and practices run like clock work.
“The children are all so focused and well behaved,” observed MJ Arnold who has two children in Treasure Island. “My kids want to be at practice, and that is the best way to know that they are engaged and having fun.”
Greisen and Coyne said that they have seen an incredible amount of growth in the Watford City cast of Treasure Island. Many kids went from being shy and scared on day one to being animated and confident by day four.
One performer in particular that they have seen grow this week is 10-year-old Jude Long, who plays Captain Patches, the captain of the pirates.
“I like that I was chosen to be the leader. I have really funny lines,” said Long. “My mom told me that I needed to set a good example and that I can step up and be a leader.”
Though the practices are long and tiring, Long finds the experience “totally worth it.”
Samantha Gillen is another performer that Coyne and Greisen pointed out.
“We have seen her slowly start to come out of her shell and take charge,” said Greisen. “She has a beautiful voice and is learning how to use it.”
When asked why he is in the show, nine-year-old Ephraim Arnold answers quickly, “Because it is a show about pirates!”
Ephraim has also enjoyed the excitement of the show.
“I feel 50-50 about it, half-nervous and half-excited,” said Arnold.
Coyne said that the hardest part of her job is having to say goodbye at the end of the week.
“Over the week we have such a big experience with these kids,” said Coyne. “We grow so close in such a short amount of time. I am proud of the work the children in Watford City have done.”
By Betsy Ryan
Farmer Staff Writer
“When the lights go off and I am on the stage, I forget all about the people in the audience,” says 13-year-old Samantha Gillen. “Then I turn into someone new, I totally become my character.”
Missoula Children’s Theatre wants to provide as many children as possible with an experience just like Samantha’s.
With production workshops travelling all over the world, Missoula Children’s Theatre gets more than 65,000 children a year on stage. They have anywhere from 30-40 different productions going on at one time in various cities.
The structure of Missoula Children’s Theatre productions follows a pretty standard recipe. The directors come into town and hold auditions on Monday. Rehearsals start that very day and go through Friday.
After a week of practice, workshops and a dress rehearsals, the children perform the show on Friday evening and Saturday morning.
The directors then pack up and move on to the next town.
Missoula Children’s Theatre employs up to 120 people at a time. They send two directors to work together to travel from city to city on their tour. Many of the staff work all year around but there is an influx of shows and employees during the summer while students are on a break from school.
This year, Watford City welcomed Skye Coyne and Jackie Greisen to direct Treasure Island for the Missoula Children’s Theatre. Coyne is studying theater at the University of Central Florida and Greisen studies film and media at Whitman College in Washington state.
Both women are touring the United States directing and performing in Treasure Island for the summer, before they head back to school in the fall.
Watford City had 53 children show up for auditions for Treasure Island this year.
“It is amazing to have a production like this come to our small town,” says Diana Guadagnino who has four girls in the show. “This is a week of no TV, the girls are practicing so much. They are excited and enthused about getting this experience.”
Guadagnino has been particularly impressed with the organization that has gone into this play. Each child received a script with their part highlighted, and practices run like clock work.
“The children are all so focused and well behaved,” observed MJ Arnold who has two children in Treasure Island. “My kids want to be at practice, and that is the best way to know that they are engaged and having fun.”
Greisen and Coyne said that they have seen an incredible amount of growth in the Watford City cast of Treasure Island. Many kids went from being shy and scared on day one to being animated and confident by day four.
One performer in particular that they have seen grow this week is 10-year-old Jude Long, who plays Captain Patches, the captain of the pirates.
“I like that I was chosen to be the leader. I have really funny lines,” said Long. “My mom told me that I needed to set a good example and that I can step up and be a leader.”
Though the practices are long and tiring, Long finds the experience “totally worth it.”
Samantha Gillen is another performer that Coyne and Greisen pointed out.
“We have seen her slowly start to come out of her shell and take charge,” said Greisen. “She has a beautiful voice and is learning how to use it.”
When asked why he is in the show, nine-year-old Ephraim Arnold answers quickly, “Because it is a show about pirates!”
Ephraim has also enjoyed the excitement of the show.
“I feel 50-50 about it, half-nervous and half-excited,” said Arnold.
Coyne said that the hardest part of her job is having to say goodbye at the end of the week.
“Over the week we have such a big experience with these kids,” said Coyne. “We grow so close in such a short amount of time. I am proud of the work the children in Watford City have done.”
Art in the Badlands
New Long X Arts Foundation focused on connecting art and community in Western North Dakota
Photo by Beautiful Bakken
Article from March 2017 Issue of North Dakota Living
Shelly Haugen remembers digging her hands in the cool, wet mud along Lake Sakakawea when she was a child. While her family cast their lines in the water she was on her hands and knees transforming that sticky clay-life mud into something beautiful.
“My dad let me put those clay things in the fire,” she recalls. “And what kid wouldn’t love that!”
And so from the earth of her home in Western North Dakota, an artist was born.
Haugen, who lives and works with her husband on their ranch near Alexander, has always drawn her inspiration from the beauty in nature that surrounds her, a gift she learned to appreciate from the artists and creative people who raised her. A mother of three and now a grandmother to seven, Haugen is known for her work crafting unique Teddy bears, which now reside in museums around the world, but these days her hands are back in that clay with a mission to spread her love of sculpting on to the next generation.
At the ranch, Haugen takes her granddaughter and neighbor, Henri, out on picnics to identify and pick wildflowers that they bring back to Haugen’s shop to create beautiful 3D plaster casts from clay molds. Last summer the pair put on an art show and sold those casts to raise $2,800 for the Boys & Girls Club of Richland County. Haugen has also spent some time in the classroom teaching kids how to work with clay.
“It’s important for kids to have that go-to in life,” said Haugen, who no longer sells her art for personal profit, but uses it as a way to help special causes and charities. “It’s hard being a kid sometimes and art is an outlet.”
Shelly Haugen remembers digging her hands in the cool, wet mud along Lake Sakakawea when she was a child. While her family cast their lines in the water she was on her hands and knees transforming that sticky clay-life mud into something beautiful.
“My dad let me put those clay things in the fire,” she recalls. “And what kid wouldn’t love that!”
And so from the earth of her home in Western North Dakota, an artist was born.
Haugen, who lives and works with her husband on their ranch near Alexander, has always drawn her inspiration from the beauty in nature that surrounds her, a gift she learned to appreciate from the artists and creative people who raised her. A mother of three and now a grandmother to seven, Haugen is known for her work crafting unique Teddy bears, which now reside in museums around the world, but these days her hands are back in that clay with a mission to spread her love of sculpting on to the next generation.
At the ranch, Haugen takes her granddaughter and neighbor, Henri, out on picnics to identify and pick wildflowers that they bring back to Haugen’s shop to create beautiful 3D plaster casts from clay molds. Last summer the pair put on an art show and sold those casts to raise $2,800 for the Boys & Girls Club of Richland County. Haugen has also spent some time in the classroom teaching kids how to work with clay.
“It’s important for kids to have that go-to in life,” said Haugen, who no longer sells her art for personal profit, but uses it as a way to help special causes and charities. “It’s hard being a kid sometimes and art is an outlet.”
A sample of the flower impressions Haugen does with her granddaughter, Henri
A Community of Artists
Community minded artists like Shelly Haugen are what founding board members of McKenzie County’s Long X Council on the Arts are hoping to draw out of the buttes and prairies of the area in an effort to bring more art based opportunities, not only for the artists, but for the community as well.
Founded informally in 2015, the Long X Arts Foundation is a non-profit organization made up of a board of directors with the mission of enriching the lives of Watford City and McKenzie County community members and youth by offering unique opportunities for arts-based development, cultivation and entertainment.
In the spring of 2016, in an effort to draw awareness and raise money for the foundation, the foundation hosted the 1st Annual Badlands Arts Showcase that featured an evening of original western North Dakota dance and music performances. Not only was the event a success, but it gave the organization insight into the expanse of artistic talent that resides in McKenzie County and western North Dakota.
“Not only did the event reinforce our notion that we had exceptional artists here, but it also showed us that the public was ready for the opportunity to experience it,” said Jan Dodge, a founding board member of the Long X Arts Foundation. “With support from the community, the sky is the limit on what arts based opportunities the foundation can provide for artists and residents as well.”
Art tells a story
Because sometimes more than words, art can tell a story of a place. This is what Mike Kopp and Mary Lou Tastad discovered on a camping trip they took together in the badlands during the height of the area’s oil boom.
“I was hearing all these stories about how the oil industry had destroyed the beauty of the area,” said Tastad who grew up as the fourth generation farm kid in the Red River Valley. “But what I discovered was that the beauty that I remembered as a child was still there. “
Tastad felt angry about the misrepresentation of the community and her newfound passion for the landscape helped to rejuvenate the way Kopp’s, who had been working in the area for decades. Both accomplished and award winning photographers, the pair decided to tell the story the way they saw it, through the lenses of the their cameras. The pair started by publishing the photos they took on their motorcycle trips through the area on a Facebook page titled “Beautiful Bakken,” and as the page quickly started gaining ground, moving from 40 followers to well over 2,000 to date, they expanded their project to include a dynamic website, beautifulbakken.com, focused on telling the story of the area, complete with places to eat, stay, explore and learn about the history.
“As photographers we work on diligently using our artistic concept to create a quality image people will want to hang on their walls,” said Kopp of the work they do in photographing everything from a bison in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park to historic buildings and Tastad adds that they work in photo-realism to accurately portray what really looks like out here to potential visitors and residents.
“We don’t want to portray the area to be something that it isn’t. Anyone can see what we see, they just have to go there and take a look.”
And while art can tell a story of a place, sometimes it’s the place that inspires the artist.
Community minded artists like Shelly Haugen are what founding board members of McKenzie County’s Long X Council on the Arts are hoping to draw out of the buttes and prairies of the area in an effort to bring more art based opportunities, not only for the artists, but for the community as well.
Founded informally in 2015, the Long X Arts Foundation is a non-profit organization made up of a board of directors with the mission of enriching the lives of Watford City and McKenzie County community members and youth by offering unique opportunities for arts-based development, cultivation and entertainment.
In the spring of 2016, in an effort to draw awareness and raise money for the foundation, the foundation hosted the 1st Annual Badlands Arts Showcase that featured an evening of original western North Dakota dance and music performances. Not only was the event a success, but it gave the organization insight into the expanse of artistic talent that resides in McKenzie County and western North Dakota.
“Not only did the event reinforce our notion that we had exceptional artists here, but it also showed us that the public was ready for the opportunity to experience it,” said Jan Dodge, a founding board member of the Long X Arts Foundation. “With support from the community, the sky is the limit on what arts based opportunities the foundation can provide for artists and residents as well.”
Art tells a story
Because sometimes more than words, art can tell a story of a place. This is what Mike Kopp and Mary Lou Tastad discovered on a camping trip they took together in the badlands during the height of the area’s oil boom.
“I was hearing all these stories about how the oil industry had destroyed the beauty of the area,” said Tastad who grew up as the fourth generation farm kid in the Red River Valley. “But what I discovered was that the beauty that I remembered as a child was still there. “
Tastad felt angry about the misrepresentation of the community and her newfound passion for the landscape helped to rejuvenate the way Kopp’s, who had been working in the area for decades. Both accomplished and award winning photographers, the pair decided to tell the story the way they saw it, through the lenses of the their cameras. The pair started by publishing the photos they took on their motorcycle trips through the area on a Facebook page titled “Beautiful Bakken,” and as the page quickly started gaining ground, moving from 40 followers to well over 2,000 to date, they expanded their project to include a dynamic website, beautifulbakken.com, focused on telling the story of the area, complete with places to eat, stay, explore and learn about the history.
“As photographers we work on diligently using our artistic concept to create a quality image people will want to hang on their walls,” said Kopp of the work they do in photographing everything from a bison in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park to historic buildings and Tastad adds that they work in photo-realism to accurately portray what really looks like out here to potential visitors and residents.
“We don’t want to portray the area to be something that it isn’t. Anyone can see what we see, they just have to go there and take a look.”
And while art can tell a story of a place, sometimes it’s the place that inspires the artist.
Photo by Beautiful Bakken
Inspired by place
That seems to be the unlikely case of 23-year-old singer/songwriter and Minneapolis area native Devin Wolf. After his parents moved to the community to take advantage of the economy out west, Wolf decided to put his pursuit of a degree in mechanical engineering on hold to find work near Watford City and Williston, only to discover, between the long hours and unfamiliar landscape of people, that his passion was music.
That’s the short story of it all. But Wolf is quickly and unexpectedly making a name for himself in the area’s music scene. His first paying gig was in Watford City’s Outsiders Bar and Grill. From there he’s been gaining ground and fans, being hired at local venues and area events, writing and recording original music and finding connection, encouragement and a chance to learn from other area musicians.
“There’s more of a support system here than I expected,” said Wolf of the community of musicians he’s met. “From them I get an informed opinion on what I’m doing, giving me confidence to continue. It’s not competitive, it’s more of a support system than anything.”
That seems to be the unlikely case of 23-year-old singer/songwriter and Minneapolis area native Devin Wolf. After his parents moved to the community to take advantage of the economy out west, Wolf decided to put his pursuit of a degree in mechanical engineering on hold to find work near Watford City and Williston, only to discover, between the long hours and unfamiliar landscape of people, that his passion was music.
That’s the short story of it all. But Wolf is quickly and unexpectedly making a name for himself in the area’s music scene. His first paying gig was in Watford City’s Outsiders Bar and Grill. From there he’s been gaining ground and fans, being hired at local venues and area events, writing and recording original music and finding connection, encouragement and a chance to learn from other area musicians.
“There’s more of a support system here than I expected,” said Wolf of the community of musicians he’s met. “From them I get an informed opinion on what I’m doing, giving me confidence to continue. It’s not competitive, it’s more of a support system than anything.”
Devin Wolf performs at an area event
Support for the Artists, Opportunity for the Community
Support. That’s the word that the Long X Arts Foundation is working to execute for up and coming musicians like Wolf, experienced artists like Haugen and visionaries like Kopp and Tastador. And to the members of the foundation, providing support means helping connect the artists to the community by providing opportunities in the form of performances, venues, gallery showings and classes, creating immediate access to arts programming for a rural community with residents and students who may not otherwise have the opportunity to experience them.
As a new organization, foundation members have been reaching out to the community through forums and one-on-one conversation, not only for financial support, but also for suggestions on how the foundation can go to work for the community.
“With enough support and feedback we can impact a variety of demographics,” said Daniel Stenberg, McKenzie County Economic Development Director and founding Long X Foundation Board member, who added that the board has been developing ideas for community and after school arts workshops in everything from dance to culinary classes as well as hosting special concerts or open mic nights, assisting with community theater or supporting the existence of public art.
Because in the end art, in any form, not only tells a story, but gives us the opportunity to pause, to listen, to see and to connect us in the unique challenges we face as humans in a complicated world.
“Art is a universal language,” says Haugen, who has been discussing the possibility of teaching a class on flower casting for the Long X Arts Foundation this summer. “If it moves you, it doesn’t matter who it’s made by. You don’t see the barriers.”
The Long X Arts Foundation will be hosting its 2nd Annual Badlands Arts Showcase
Thursday, April 27, 2017
5:30 PM Doors open to Art Show and Silent Auction
7:00 PM Doors open to performance showcase featuring Internationally Acclaimed Hoop Dancer Kevin Lock and other area musicians and dancers
Support. That’s the word that the Long X Arts Foundation is working to execute for up and coming musicians like Wolf, experienced artists like Haugen and visionaries like Kopp and Tastador. And to the members of the foundation, providing support means helping connect the artists to the community by providing opportunities in the form of performances, venues, gallery showings and classes, creating immediate access to arts programming for a rural community with residents and students who may not otherwise have the opportunity to experience them.
As a new organization, foundation members have been reaching out to the community through forums and one-on-one conversation, not only for financial support, but also for suggestions on how the foundation can go to work for the community.
“With enough support and feedback we can impact a variety of demographics,” said Daniel Stenberg, McKenzie County Economic Development Director and founding Long X Foundation Board member, who added that the board has been developing ideas for community and after school arts workshops in everything from dance to culinary classes as well as hosting special concerts or open mic nights, assisting with community theater or supporting the existence of public art.
Because in the end art, in any form, not only tells a story, but gives us the opportunity to pause, to listen, to see and to connect us in the unique challenges we face as humans in a complicated world.
“Art is a universal language,” says Haugen, who has been discussing the possibility of teaching a class on flower casting for the Long X Arts Foundation this summer. “If it moves you, it doesn’t matter who it’s made by. You don’t see the barriers.”
The Long X Arts Foundation will be hosting its 2nd Annual Badlands Arts Showcase
Thursday, April 27, 2017
5:30 PM Doors open to Art Show and Silent Auction
7:00 PM Doors open to performance showcase featuring Internationally Acclaimed Hoop Dancer Kevin Lock and other area musicians and dancers