WCTF 2022 Annual Report

2022 Annual Report

In 1999, the Wyoming Legislature established the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund with the following declaration: “The legislature hereby finds that Wyoming and its people possess a unique cultural heritage….there is a need to preserve, promote and enhance that unique cultural heritage for the citizens of the state and the nation and for future generations to understand and appreciate the heritage which makes Wyoming unique among the United States.”

CURRENT WYOMING CULTURAL TRUST FUND BOARD & STAFF

No photo available

Susan Stubson, Chair, Casper

Jim Davis, Vice-Chair, Evanston

David Cunningham, Meeteetse

Sherri Mullinnix, Douglas Nancy Schiffer, Kaycee

Sara Needles, Ex-Officio, Laramie

Renée Bovée, WCTF Program Coordinator

Mary Hopkins, Laramie

TO DATE HISTORICAL DATA

WCTF Corpus Amount, $16.271 million

Interest earnings for the corpus investment provide the revenue for grant awards

Since 2007:

WCTF Grant Dollars: $7.872 million

Local Cash Match: $50.607 million

Local In-Kind Match: $10.955 million (Match is determined from actual final report statistics with 67% of projects completed.)

Volunteers have provided more than 231,273 hours of donated labor (the equivalent of 111 full-time employees)

WCTF grants have touched 214,629 students and 2,081,545 general audience members.

Since 2014, the WCTF has specifically tracked the number of FTE (full-time equivalent) hours. WCTF grants have supported almost 32 full-time positions within non-profit organizations and over 126 contractor FTEs.

$7,871,800 28

$50,607,436.11

$10,955,267 72

ON THE COVER: The City of Cheyenne Historic Preservation Board received Cultural Trust Fund grants in FY 2022 and FY 2019, to restore Cheyenne’s historic airport fountain. The airport fountain, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was constructed in the mid-1930s as a central feature in the city’s landscaping efforts around the airport and recognized the history of flight in Cheyenne. The airport’s history went from military pilot training during World War I to Air Mail service in the early 1920s to Boeing Air Transport Company to a renamed commercial air carrier United Aircraft and Transport Company (precursor to United Airlines).

WYOMING CULTURAL TRUST FUND GRANT AWARDS

The mission of the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund board is to serve the citizens of Wyoming’s culture and heritage through grant funding of innovative projects for the enjoyment, appreciation, promotion, preservation and protection of the state’s arts, cultural and historic resources; and supporting and investing in Wyoming institutions that help further this mission.

In FY 2022 (July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022) the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund (WCTF) made 47 grant awards, totaling $608,126. These grants assisted organizations in 21 communities in 17 counties. The WCTF is unique in its ability to support operations as diverse as museums, historic preservation, history, contemporary arts, craft and music festivals, theatre and dance productions, oral histories, podcasts, public art, documentary films and more.

The WCTF granting program provides two grant deadlines per year to better accommodate the needs of potential grantees: April 1 for projects/events/activities which begin after July 1; and October 1 for projects/events/activities which begin after January 1.

National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States, Jackson

From October 2021 through May 2022, the National Museum of Wildlife Art exhibition

“While They’re Sleeping: A Story of Bears” presented 51 artworks from the museum’s permanent collection. Grant funds from the Cultural Trust Fund assisted with interpretive signage including bilingual exhibit labels and signs and creation of in-gallery interactive media.

Relative Theatrics, Laramie

With Cultural Trust Fund support, Relative Theatrics produced the world premiere of the play “Riding Bicycles in the Rain” by Erin Considine at the Gryphon Theatre in Laramie. For distancing purposes, they used the Gryphon Theatre seating instead of putting the audience on stage as in past productions. The play was also filmed so subscribers who were not yet comfortable with attending a production in person, due to COVID, could view it at home.

The following grants were awarded in 2022:

Nicolaysen Art Museum & Discovery Center, Casper

ACulturalTrustFundgrantprovidedtheBRUSHsterstationaspartoftherecentremodeltotheNicolaysen’sDiscovery Center. The updates were much needed in the space dedicated to creative play and learning for children. Several local businesses sponsored the remodel, and volunteers helped build, paint and clean.

Hot Springs County Museum and Cultural Center, Thermopolis

With the assistance of a Cultural Trust Fund grant, the Hot Springs County Museum has completed renovations to the 1920 Middleton Schoolhouse. The renovations and repair of this historic one-room school house provides visitors withdisplaysofpioneerschoolsinourareaandtheopportunitytoseewhattheclassroommayhavebeenlike.School children can now have an immersion experience to broaden their understanding of our history and better understand how people lived in rural Wyoming during the early 1920s.

Rock Springs Renewal Fund, Rock Springs

Rock Springs Renewal Fund, dba Rock Springs Main Street/URA, through support from the Cultural Trust Fund, worked with Wyoming artiststocreate6uniquesnowmen for display in Downtown Rock Springs in early January through mid-March, 2022. The “Snowman Stroll” came from a discussion on how their community could embrace winter better. The project was designed to bring life, art and color to their community during the darkest, coldest days of the year. The snowmen were quickly a topic of community conversation and much appreciated. Downtown merchants worked to create fun-filled activities and the library used the snowman theme for January to March events and activities. Additionally, a custom children’s book about the Snowman Stroll was created.

Meeteetse Museum District, Meeteetse

WithaCulturalTrustFundgrant,MeeteetseMuseumswasabletopurchaseandinstallanewenergyefficientfurnace for the large gallery space at the museum. The old furnace had not worked for the last few years and the museum neededtomaintainthecorrectenvironmentfortheirartifactsandguests.Thenewfurnacealsohelpskeeptheirpipes from freezing!

Lander Art Center, Lander

The Lander Art Association hosted their annual “Art of Home” exhibition in November-December 2022, featuring the diverseculturalnuancesofartistsandartisansrepresentingtheWindRiverReservation:NorthernArapahoe,Eastern Shoshone and other minority tribes. This show highlights the gifts and talents of Native American artists and allows the cultural gap between the Fremont County community and the Wind River Reservation to be openly discussed, explored, and better understood. Funding from the Cultural Trust Fund supported curation by Lynette St. Clair and Patti Harris (Baldes) and the opening reception, including a performance by the Big Wind Singers.

Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra, Cheyenne

The Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra (CSO), with a Cultural Trust Fund grant, presented a performance of “A Time to Honor” featuring workings by all women composers. Originally scheduled for 2020 to coincide with Wyoming’s celebration of the women’s right to vote, this production was postponed due to the pandemic. Conducted by guest MaestraAvlanaEisenbergandfeaturedaworld-premiereofaCSOcommissionedwork,“StumblingTowardsEquality” by Wyoming native Anne Guzzo. The symphony also performed other works by Gwenyth Walker, Amy Beach, Joan Tower and Caroline Shaw.

Buffalo Bill Memorial Association

WiththesupportofaCulturalTrustFundgrant,theCenteroftheWeststaffandIndigenousTribalpresentersdeveloped teacher professional development courses on Wyoming’s Indian Education for All education standards. Presented for both on-site and online with Crest Hill and Paradise Elementary Schools in Natrona County, the goal of these professional development courses is to provide vetted and factual contact to enable teachers to implement these new standards. These courses also provide teachers with practical tools, inquiry methods, and access to Indigenous knowledge keepers who provide cultural expertise and resource materials. These trainings will continue through the Center of the West’s Canvas program and the Department of Education’s WyEdPro services.

Wyoming

Cultural Trust Fund grant funding helped Wyoming Singer-Songwriters hire eight judges, two professional videographers and a professional sound engineer for the September 2021 competition events in Ten Sleep. The Competition’s top two performers, Christian Wallowing Bull and Rob Weimann, participated in a mini-tour through Colorado and Southeastern Wyoming. Artists also have the opportunity to studio record their work for the music competition’s compilation album.

Singer-Songwriters, Laramie/Ten Sleep

Wyoming Singer-Songwriters, 2021 Competition with Wallowing Bull, photo by Brad Schneck

You Fund The Trust: We Fund the Cultural Programming And Projects That Make Wyoming Unique.

The Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund supports nonprofit cultural organizations and their programs statewide and serves as a catalyst for economic development and job growth.

Each year funding requests outweigh available funds from interest earnings on the corpus, a permanent investment fund. Your contribution will increase the availability of funding, from which your community will benefit greatly.

To make a donation to the Cultural Trust Fund, visit our website at wyoculturaltrust.com; or contact Renée Bovée, WCTF Program Coordinator, 307-777-5196.

Donations are tax deductible under 170(c)(1) of the tax code.

Thank you to the individual donors who have supported the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund Corpus, to date

David Cunningham, Meeteetse

Jim and Bonnie Davis, Evanston

Kass Harrell, Lander

Alan O’Hashi, Cheyenne

Nancy Schiffer, Kaycee

Albert Sommers, Pinedale

Tim and Susan Stubson, Casper

Marla and Peter Wold, Casper

BECAUSE CULTURE MATTERS