73 schools brought student artwork to the Wyoming State Art Symposium held at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper.

The event features thousands of works from high school kids around the state.

“Wyoming is the only state in the entire nation to hold an event like our State ArtSymposium.  It shows that our wonderful community supports the arts, art education and the students that have found their niche.  Our state-wide community comes together in so many ways to help provide a space and funding for our annual celebration of secondary art students and teachers” stated the WSAE President Michelle Miller.

“The range of the collection that is curated by all of us collectively is absolutely awe inspiring to see in person and experience as a viewer: the student work is simply impressive to say the least.”

Today was the first day the symposium was open to the public, tomorrow it will be available for viewing for free from 8:00 a.m. to noon.

Many of the art teachers that attend Symposium also bring a piece of artwork that they display in a collection of teacher work at the Nicolaysen Museum.

The work was transported to the Nic on Wednesday an dis then picked up by each teacher on Friday as we leave town to head back to our own communities. Friday morning will be your last chance to view them.

Teachers also auction their own artwork to help raise money for the Wyoming Secondary Educators Association, which grants skilled students with scholarships to help support their journey in their post-secondary art education.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — A Wyoming Legislature group has criticized an upcoming drag bingo fundraiser as misappropriating state funds for its event. A representative from the Wyoming Department of Health shot that argument down.

On April 10, the Wyoming Freedom Caucus released a statement admonishing the health department for awarding a $3,000 grant request for organizers of the annual Drag Queen Bingo event, hosted by Wyoming AIDS Assistance, on April 27 in Laramie. The caucus stated in its release that it believes the use of tax dollars to fund the drag event is “an insult to those who have suffered and lost their lives to this deadly and serious disease,” referring to AIDS and HIV.

“Taxpayers should not be expected to fund the escapades of ‘boozed up cowfolk’ at ‘R-rated’ drag shows,” the caucus states in the release. “Publicly funded AIDS prevention efforts should be targeted on evidence-based strategies — not a perverted and scandalous event.”

The far-right legislative group, comprising 11 members in Wyoming’s House of Representatives, states on its website that it champions “smaller government, strong family values, and the protection of individual freedoms and liberties as outlined in the U.S. and Wyoming constitutions.”

Department of Health’s response

The health support organization Wyoming AIDS Assistance, which hosts the annual drag event, applied for and received just under $3,000 of federal funds through the Wyoming Department of Health’s Communicable Disease Unit, according to health department public information officer Kim Deti. The grant program’s purpose is to help prevent infections and disease by dispensing small grants to organizations working to achieve such ends.

“Because the event [Drag Queen Bingo] also includes an emphasis on disease prevention and testing in addition to its fundraising purpose, this expenditure of federal funds was deemed appropriate by unit staff,” Deti told Cap City News via email.

The grant awarded to Wyoming AIDS Assistance covers the cost of HIV prevention messaging and rapid HIV tests, which are freely available to attendees at the bingo event, according to Scott Cheney, founding member and board president with the organization. Cheney and Wyoming AIDS Assistance have requested and received the state grant for the drag event for around a decade.

“Through partnerships, volunteers and the incredible generosity of donors, we’ve made significant strides in raising awareness, reducing stigma and improving access to resources for individuals living with HIV and AIDS in Wyoming,” Cheney told Cap City News in an interview. “I think a lot of people want to think AIDS isn’t a problem anymore — and it still is. It has been for years. We’ve made strides in treatment, but strides in treatment don’t pay for someone living in Jackson to travel to Cheyenne for their treatments.”

The Communicable Disease Unit approves grant requests for a variety of organizations and initiatives, Deti said, including public nursing offices and nonprofit health clinics. Past grant recipients have used the funds for efforts such as testing, training of healthcare providers, distribution of infection prevention materials like condoms, advertising and education.

According to guidelines provided by Deti, the purpose of the grant is “to support community efforts in Wyoming which promote HIV, Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI), and viral hepatitis B & C prevention and testing as well as MPOX prevention and testing.”

‘Vital resource’ for Wyomingites with HIV and AIDS

The annual Drag Queen Bingo is the only fundraising event that Wyoming AIDS Assistance hosts, said Cheney, who has been operating the organization since the early 2000s. Drag Queen Bingo would be lucky to collect $1,000 in the organization’s early years, Cheney said. In 2023, Drag Queen Bingo raised $44,000.

Cheney and his team have raised $750,000 since Wyoming AIDS Assistance’s inception in the early 2000s. Every dime raised remains within the state of Wyoming and is directly given to residents living with HIV.

The bingo fundraiser isn’t just about entertainment, according to Cheney. The event provides free HIV rapid testing to guests and disseminates prevention messaging to attendees throughout the night. Overall, the event is consistent with Wyoming AIDS Assistance’s mission of raising awareness about HIV and supporting Wyomingites living with the virus.

“At the end of the day, what we’re doing matters,” Cheney said. “We are a vital resource to the state, to our communities, and we have been one for over 20 years. And we’re not going to stop.”

Whether you’ve lived in the great state of Wyoming all of your life or you’re just passing through on vacation, one thing is certain, we have some of the best quality air in the entire country. As a matter of fact, we’re tied for second place with Indiana. Only Delaware is ranked higher.

That being said, the Cowboy State is not one of the “greenest states”. According to a recent study conducted by personal finance website, WalletHub, out of all fifty states, Wyoming is ranked 44th overall.

The WalletHub study went on to say:

Eco-friendliness and personal finance are related. Our environmental and financial needs are the same in many areas: providing ourselves with sustainable, clean drinking water and food, for example. We also spend money through our own taxes in support of environmental security.

WalletHub ranked each state by a number of key metrics which included:

• Environmental Quality Rank – 31st
• Eco-Friendly Behaviors Rank – 41st
• Climate-Change Contributions – 46th
• Air Quality Rank – 2nd (tied with Indiana)
• Soil Quality Rank – 48th
• Gasoline Consumption (in Gallons) per Capita – 48th
• Energy Consumption per Capita – 47th (four-way tie with North Dakota, Louisiana & Alaska)  

It easy to see by looking at the numbers, that our overall ranking would’ve been even lower if our air quality ranking wasn’t so exceptionally high. Here’s to hoping some of Wyoming numbers will be better come this time next year.