Page 5 - Ivan Mcclellan News Today

On Air Now Playing Classical Wyoming On Air Now Playing Wyoming Sounds On Air Now Playing Jazz Wyoming All Streams

By Wendy Corr, Cowboy State Daily Most of our impressions of life in the “Old West” come from movies. But they only tell part of the story.  Photographer Ivan McClellan is working to fill that gap in knowledge by showcasing the role of Black cowboys in the American West – not just from the past, but in today’s rodeos as well. And a new exhibit at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody celebrates that culture. “I started shooting cowboys of color five years ago,” said McClellan...

Photographer Ivan McClellan grew up watching Western movies and Bonanza reruns, and going to rodeos with his family in Kansas City. But as a kid, he never saw earnest depictions of cowboys that looked like him. “I didn’t know a thing about Black cowboys,” says McClellan. Any depictions of Black cowboys he did see were as “a punchline”—Sinbad in The Cherokee Kid, or Cowboy Curtis on Pee Wee’s Playhouse. “What if a Black guy was...

The Mercury provides news and fun every single day—but your help is essential. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support! Good morning, Portland! Despite the summery temps of the past weekend, we're headed into another 'May showers' kind of week. (Take that, drought!) Today will be rainy in the mid-50s. -The authoritarian...

Photographer Ivan McClellan grew up watching Western movies and Bonanza reruns, and going to rodeos with his family in Kansas City. But as a kid, he never saw earnest depictions of cowboys that looked like him. “I didn’t know a thing about Black cowboys,” says McClellan in a recent interview with the Mercury. Any depictions of Black cowboys he did see were as “a punchline”—Sinbad in The Cherokee Kid, or Cowboy Curtis on Pee Wee’s Playhouse. “What if a Black guy was a cowboy...

7:08 A new exhibit at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West focuses on Black cowboys and rodeos: Eight Seconds: Black Cowboys In America. Wyoming Public Radios Kamila Kudelska spoke with photographer Ivan McClellan about his work, and the first Black rodeo he went to in Oklahoma. Ivan McClellan: I got out of my car and saw 2,000 Black cowboys there and I was just enamored of the culture immediately. The way the people dressed. The way that people wore braids, people had long acrylic nails, there...

A Casper-based non-profit, ART 321, is holding its first statewide conference aimed at addressing the health concerns of Wyoming residents through the arts. Wyoming has the highest youth incarceration rate and one of the highest suicide rates in the nation. But the Casper-based nonprofit, ART 321, plans to fight against it using the arts. Wyoming Public Radios Naina Rao talks with the nonprofits executive director, Tyler Cessor, about the need for a conference like this right now. The latest co...

Credit Kamila Kudelska Eight Seconds is the work of photographer Ivan McClellan. He was raised in Kansas City, Kansas and is a Black man. But McClellan wasnt exposed to Black rodeos and Black cowboys until 2015, when he went to the first one in Oklahoma. "I was like, Black people arent cowboys. I just kind of had that idea in my head. And it wasnt until I went to this rodeo and I saw people roping and wrestling steers and riding bulls and wearing Stetsons and all of that stuff, but they were al...

Growing up, Kansas City native Ivan McClellan knew he wanted to leave Kansas. He didnt know where he was going, but he knew he would go. After high school, he headed for Manhattan - New York. McClellan went to a drama conservatory and acted for six years before trying his hand at design.  But it was photography and telling peoples stories that piqued his interest.  "When I turned 17, I was determined to escape Kansas," McClellan said.  Six years ago, McClellan went to his first rodeo run by...