CHRONICLE
October 8, 20151 The Lovell Chronicle I 13
Is it a sculpture? Is it
a light? Northwest College
alumnus Roland Simmons
of Cowley creates artworks
begging both of those ques-
tions. An exhibit of his
Lumalights opens Tues-
day, Oct. 13, in the North-
west Gallery.
The "Roland Simmons:
Where Light and Imagi-
nation Meet" installation
launches with a 7 p.m. art-
ist's reception in the gal-
lery, located in the Cabre
Building on the Northwest
College campus in Powell.
Simmons' Creations
range from 36 to 90 inch-
es tall in various colors and
undulating shapes that
have withstood the test of
time, holding up to four de-
cades of change in artistic
trends, architectural de-
sign and home and office
d cor.
That record is made
even more impressive
when considering the ma-
terial used to make the
lights--single face corru-
gatedThepaper.genesis of these l: :
enduring artworks trac-
es back to the late 1960s
when Simmons was a ju-
nior at Brigham Young
University majoring in in-
dustrial design. Feeling in-
adequate compared to his
fellow painting, sculpting
and drawing students, and
convinced his professors, if
given a chance, would've
COURTESY PHOTO JAMES WOODCOCK, N-WC
Lumalights by Cowley artist Roland Simmons go on display Tuesday, Oct. 13, in Northwest Gallery. The
enduring designs are made from single-faced corrugated parchment.
voted him the "student "My teacher looked
most likely to fail," Sim- at it. Held it. Turned it
mons walked into class around and around and
one day with a three-di-spent extra time examining
mensional homework as- it," Simmons said. When
signment that changed the teacher announced,
everything. "I think you've got some-
thing," he also ordered his
previously underperform-
ing student to spend the
rest of the semester devel-
oping the idea further.
The object inspir-
ing this sudden change in
course was made from an
8-by-4-inch rectangle of sin-
gle-faced corrugated parch-
ment that Simmons scored
and folded into a modular
shape with six sides.
Simmons took his pro-
fessor's order to heart, de-
veloping and refining his
process, even making it the
topic of his master's degree
thesis. After a short stint in
the industrial design field,
he launched his own com-
pany in 1976 and has made
his living ever since pro-
ducing Lumalights.
The lights earn their
nickname "zipper lamps"
from the trademark zip-
per that allows them to col-
lapse for shipping.
"I'm amazed at the vi-
sual pleasure derived from
a sculptured sheet of parch-
ment as natural light plays
upon its surfaces," Sim-
mons said. "Equally pleas-
ing are the transformations
that occur as natural, ex-
ternal light is replaced by
artificial light from within,
which produces a soft and
peaceful light source."
The lamps, featured in
a 1996 issue of Cond Nast
House & Garden, have won
numerous awards and can
be found in homes and of-
rices around the world.
Each one carries Sim-
mons' signature and date
of creation.
Also included in the
exhibit is one Luma-
light made from a plastic
material.
"Roland Simmons:
Where Light and Imagina-
tion Meet" is displayed in
Northwest Gallery through
Nov. 13. Admission is free.
Byron News
BY PAMELA COZZENS
HOPKINSON
307-272-8979
pamhopkinson@gmail.com
Glen and I just re-
turned from a quick trip to
Salt Lake City for the open-
ing of the newly refurbished
church history museum.
Glen had been asked a year
ago to do a large painting of
"the sacred Susquehanna
River." The painting is four
by five feet and hangs in an
area of the exhibit showing
the early beginnings of the
restoration of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.
The museum has been
closed for a year to install
the new exhibit, which has
been in the planning stages
for three years. The former
exhibit had been on display
for 24 years and the new ex-
hibit will also be a long-term
installation.
Glen put the final touch-
es on the painting in July
and delivered it to the muse-
um for framing. The paint-
ing was actually purchased
by an art patron, who then
loaned the piece to the mu-
seum for this exhibit.
Glen first painted a
small painting of this scene
several years ago after a
family trip to the Harmony,
Pc. area. He and daughter
Heather and granddaugh-
ters Chloe and Lily walked
down to the banks of the
Susquehanna River and
played at the edge of the wa-
ter. It was a beautiful day
and the scene was memo-
table. Glen returned home
and portrayed the scene on
canvas.
Maryanne Andrus,
the museum's exhibitions
and programs manager,
commented that she had
searched through sever-
al hundred photographs of
images looking for a paint-
ing to put in a special spot.
She said she had about giv-
en up when she decided to
check some church art con-
test entries and came across
the image Glen had painted
earlier. She said she knew
immediately that this was
the scene that needed to
be in that particular spot.
She contacted Glen and the
painting progressed from
there.
The museum has had
more than 7 million visitors
Senior Chatter
Defensive driving
BY PHYLLIS BRONKEMA
AARP is offering a de-
fensive driving course for
a nominal fee through the
.... North Big Horn Senior Citi-
zen Center on Tuesday, Oct.
13. The course will be held
from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The
cost is $15 for AARP mem-
bers and $20 for non-mem-
bers and includes lunch.
Participants should check
with their insurance pro-
viders to determine eligi-
bility for the course. Reser-
vations are appreciated, as
it enables the instructor to
bring the right amount of
materials.
The Public Health De-
partment will be offering
flu shots at the Center on
Thursday, Oct. 8, from 9
a.m. to 4 p.m. Participants
need to bring their Medicare
Part B Card or $20 to cover
course offered
the cost of the shot.
Looking ahead to the
Halloween party, partic-
ipants may want to plan
their costumes. Funny but
useable white elephant gifts
would be greatly appreciat-
ed for the Halloween bingo
game.
Card players showed
up at the Center on Thurs-
day, Oct. 1, for their usu-
al food and entertainment.
Players were treated to an
unbelievably large and de-
licious slice of chocolate pie,
which gave them the energy
to play more skillfully than
usual. Linda Robison capa-
bly won high in pinochle,
and Sheila Hansen grabbed
the highest score from fel-
low bridge players.
The Center is closed
Monday, Oct. 12, in obser-
vance of Columbus Day.
COURTESY PHOTO
Byron artist Glen Hopkinson and his wife Pam check out an exhibit featuring
one of Glen's paintings at the recently restored Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints history museum in Salt Lake City.
since it first opened in the
80s. It was a pleasure to get
a personal tour from Mary-
anne, who shared many sto-
ries of the decisions made
pertaining to what was go-
ing to be displayed and
how. Many of the new dis-
plays are interactive with
touch screens and use a mul-
timedia approach. There are
many artifacts from early
church history on display.
The museum is open six
days a week and admission
is free. It is a good stop for
those finding themselves in
Salt Lake City. The tour can
take 20 minutes and just hit
the high spots, or a couple
hours. Either way, visitors
will want to return.
It is always pleasant to
hear from former Byronites
who are now living in vari-
ous places around the coun-
try. I get a call once in awhile
from Ray Havig, and Vernon
(Keith) Dove is great about
emailing. Local friends in
Cowley, Lovell, Powell and
Cody have called or stopped
me on the street to comment
about a column they partic-
ularly like. My cousin Dave
Cozzens, gives me a pat on
the back from Texas where
he now lives.
These notes and visits
are always uplifting, as it
is good to know that some-
one out there is reading this
column and getting a chuck-
le, a smile or a memory jog.
Vernon's recent communica-
tion was reminiscing about
Al and Frank or the "Davis
boys" as he referred to them.
He wrote, "Just read
your article on the grave-
yard visit. Caused me to be-
gin ruminating on my part
of them there. Don't know
if you would be interest-
ed in my tidbit or not but
here goes. Orson Lorenzo
(Ren) Vail, Angus' brother,
was briefly married to the
grandmother of Brent and
Brad Davis before she died,
I think of pneumonia. That
would have been Frank and
Al's room. Don't know her
name but she should be in
the Davis plot. He really
was hit hard at her death
and would not allow any
talk about her in his pres-
ence. This was his only
marriage, brief as it was.
"Anyhow, I guess the
Davis boys were briefly
step-cousins of mine for a
short while. I believe this
all occurred when my morn
(Virginia) was just a little
girl. For what it's worth,
it still remains part of the
Byron story. It also might
explain why both Al and
Frank took such good care of
Uncle Ren in his later years,
when he was all by himself
at the old Vail ranch before
he died, as well. Just some
ramblings from a maturing
Byronite."
I had not been aware of
this connection between the
Davis and Vail families and
I was also interested to note
that Ren Vairs real name
was Lorenzo. Who knew? In
talking further with Vern,
he mentioned that A1 Da-
vis, as a young man work-
ing in the oil fields, would
stop by Ren's place with a
fresh made loaf of bread
and jelly, or a casserole, and
stay to sit on the porch and
visit a while. Sounds
like the "boys" thought high-
ly of Ren.
9- m-
We returned home from
our trip late at night and
were greeted by a chilly
house. I told Glen I thought
it would be fun to see how
long we could go into Octo-
ber without turning the heat
on and instead, just add lay-
ers like they did in the "old-
en" days." As I sit here typ-
ing with a cold nose and
cold toes, I am rethinking
that bright idea. Happy leaf
crunching autumn days.
Cowley News
Nice to have Hinckleys around
BY DRUE TEBBS-MEEK
307-548-6901
Alex Hinckley Cram-
er of New York is visiting
her family. She has been
here two weeks and is stay-
ing with her sister Maurine
Cole in Powell. Her brother
Chris Hinckley and his wife
Sarah have recently moved
to Rexburg, Idaho, and have
also been in Cowley and
Powell visiting relatives.
It is very rare these days
to have so many members of
one family living in Cowley
or near Cowley. Frank and
Karen Hayes Hinckley and
Schuyler and Ann Hayes
Hinckley and sister Allison
Hinckley Munkres and her
husband Pony also live in
Cowley. This almost makes
those of us who grew up and
settled in Cowley envious,
as our sisters and brothers
are living in other states.
The late DeVere and
Madge Marchant Hinck-
ley are the parents of the
Hinckley siblings. They are
a close-knit family and luck-
ily Chris and I are class-
mates and Alex and I were
very close friends, so I was
in their midst quite a bit. It
is so wonderful to have the
people we love, appreciate
and keep in touch with re-
turn to their roots and cel-
ebrate life and love with us.
Our neighbors were the
late Paul and Mary Hinck-
ley Meeks. Mary was De-
Vere's sister and their chil-
dren are John Paul Meeks,
Jessie Ann Meeks Hampton
and Madelyn Meeks. Our
lives have been entwined
throughout the years and as
we get older we appreciate
the history we have in Cow-
ley and the friendships that
have kept us close.
It is Monday and to-
day the sun is shining and
the temperature has ris-
en. With those few days of
wind, rain and cold weath-
er, our furnaces were on and
air conditioners were off.
We hope we have a break
and an Indian summer and
we don't go into winter for
another month. One never
knows.
Last week Maurine
and Alex were at Schuyler
and Ann's home for supper,
which is the house where
Paul and Mary Meeks lived.
I was invited to visit and
have supper with the fam-
ily, as was Bobi Jo Leon-
hardt. We all had a few
hours together to reminisce
and laugh and just be to-
gether. What blessings we
have all received as we were
raised in Cowley and have
such deep connections to
each other, our classmates
and our relatives.
