Artist Presentations: Musician Jessi Harvey and Dancer Julyn Wildman residence in Emlen Biology Lab
Join us for dynamic presentations from Jessi Harvey and Julyn Wildman, Open AIR Artists-in-Residence at the Masquer Theater on the UM Campus. The presentation will be followed by refreshments and a chance to mingle and meet the artist. This event is free and open to the public.
For accessibility concerns please email info@openairmt.org
Registration is appreciated, but not required. Register here.
About the Artist: Jessi, also known as George, Harvey is a Montana-born freelance composer and teacher; gardener and reader; thinker and walker. Works are based in the natural world, integrating social curiosity and environmental causes; described by Seattle Mag as “full of surprises and consistently attention holding” and clarinetist Julia Lougheed as “diving into the absurd corners of the human condition-the moments where you have to laugh so you don’t cry”. Their work, by the nature of our conversation, was awarded first place at the 2020 Darkwater Womxn in Music Festival's Composition Competition. Jessi has been commissioned by Opera Elect, the Art Song Collaborative Project, Karin Stevens Dance, LA duo Strange Interlude, among others. Music has been performed throughout the United States and Canada, including at the Waterloo Contemporary Music Sessions, Music By Women Festival, and the Montréal Contemporary Music Lab.
About the Artist: Julynn Wildman is a dancer, choreographer, and teaching artist based in Helena, MT. She grew up in Colorado, splitting her time between the Western Slope and the Denver Metropolitan area. This stoked a lifelong pursuit in the complements and contrast of natural sciences and human cultural vibrance.
Julynn graduated summa cum laude from Bard College at Simon’s Rock in 2013 with a BA in Cross-Cultural Relations and Dance. She pursued coursework in Interdisciplinary Art and Media at Columbia College Chicago before relocating to Helena for a tenure with AmeriCorps, serving at ExplorationWorks! Science Center.
Julynn’s choreography has been featured in student showcases and professional productions alike. She was a contributing choreographer for Cohesion Dance Project’s Resonance ~ an evening of Art Inspiring Art (2018-2020) and in 2018, presented Death of Others, an original community based performance exploring grief and empathy. In 2020, Julynn received a fellowship through Intrepid Credit Union and the Holter Museum of Art to create Body in Motion, a dance film and immersive installation exploring evolutionary biology and comparative anatomy. As a performer, Julynn has danced in many stages and sites throughout Montana, notably as a soloist in Cohesion Dance Project’s Nutcracker on the Rocks (2013-2019) and Resonance ~ an evening of art inspiring art (2018-2020) and as a guest performer in What’s Going On (Vincent Thomas Dance, 2017), Cave (Amber Moon Peterson, 2017), and Beyond Words, the body as narrator (Jennifer Glaws, 2022).
Julynn’s teaching practice is vital to her creativity. She is a Montana Teacher Leader in the Arts through the Montana Arts Council and the Montana Office of Public Instruction. She has taught art, dance, and creative movement in schools, residential living facilities, group homes, dance studios, and non-profit arts organizations. Her span of students includes early childhood, adolescents, adults, geriatrics, and individuals with special needs and physical or developmental disabilities.
