(bright music) - Get ready for a night of film and conversation about topics like land stewardship, culture, and tradition.

PBS Utah's "Shared Story" series wants you to be a part of the discussion, and Laura Durham is here to share why.

Welcome, Laura.

- Thank you.

- So tell me about this upcoming event.

- Well, this is part of the monthly "Shared Story" series we have in West Valley City with the Celebration Center.

And I'm really excited about this one because, I don't know about you, did you grow up in cowboy culture at all?

- I grew up in Arizona, but not really cowboy culture.

- Yeah, same.

And I love learning about it.

And this is about the disappearing American West and what that's doing to the traditional cowboy.

And there's this great film called "Land With No Rider" that I was able to see, and I thought this would make a great topic for an event because it's so relevant to what's happening in Utah.

These traditions of, and I'm not talking about the cowboy you see on TV and commercials.

This is like the real Western traditional cowboy and what's happening to the industry.

And so we're gonna cover topics, like you said, stewardship, land, but also the traditions and the culture of the lifestyle of the cowboy.

- Yeah, and I love that with part of these events, you're able to also dive into discussion and having people share their stories and how they feel about traditions vanishing like that.

- Yeah, we're gonna have a panel discussion, moderated by "Utah Insight's" Lauren Steinbrecher.

We're bringing in Wade Garrett, who works with the Utah Farm Bureau.

So real-life experience being a rancher, but also working with administration and policy in Utah.

So he's got two great perspectives.

And then we're bringing in a bona fide country-western singer, Brenn Hill.

He is a headliner at the Elko, Nevada Cowboy Poetry Gathering.

He's a singer, but he's also bringing a cowboy poet with him, which is gonna be amazing.

And what I love about cowboy poetry is that it's really just about the mundane things that happen when you're a rancher or a farmer out in the West.

And it's also, it can be really funny.

It can be really poignant.

But the film is gonna complement what we're talking about beautifully, 'cause it's just really a meditation on what's happening.

- I love that.

I'm excited to hear more about it as it goes on and more about it from everybody involved.

It looks like an incredible event, and you should definitely check it out.

We've got the information for you right there on the screen.

It's the "American Cowboy and the Disappearing West" event, August 17th at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center.

For more details, just head to the website on your screen for more information.

I'm Liz Adeola.

Thank you for watching "Contact."

(bright music) Philanthropy, Arts, culture.

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Hi, I'm Liz Adeola, the host of Contact, a show that connects you with local events and organizations that serve your community.

If you work for a nonprofit and would like to be on Contact, please visit pbs.org/contact