© 2024 Wyoming Public Media
800-729-5897 | 307-766-4240
Wyoming Public Media is a service of the University of Wyoming
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Transmission & Streaming Disruptions

Ucross Receives National Grant For Native American Fellowship

Catherine Wheeler

The Ucross Artist Residency is receiving a $30,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in support of its Native American artist fellowship program.

The artist residency is located on a working ranch in northeast Wyoming and is an opportunity for creatives to break from their routines and focus on their work.

Ucross Development Director William Belcher said the grant will go to support residencies and stipends for artists.

The fellowship has previously only accepted visual artists, but with the NEA grant, the program will grow.

"Given the success of the program over the last three years, what we pitched to the NEA, was expanding it to include writers. The $30,000 will go towards three residences, right now we think it's going to be two visual artists and one writer during the 2020 sessions," Belcher said.

As a part of Ucross's grant, it will also provide a public component.

"In addition to the residencies themselves, some of this grant funding [will] help with public programs, workshops or public programs, or readings so the community can get involved and see some of the good work these artists are doing in the residencies," Belcher said.

In a press release, Gov. Mark Gordon congratulated Ucross on the achievement.

"As Governor and a former board member of the Ucross Foundation, I'd like to congratulate Ucross for securing this funding from the NEA," he said. "It's well-deserved recognition. I've heard over and over from artists whose masterpieces were inspired by their time at Ucross and its historic Wyoming ranch, which has become a leading artist-in-residence program in the country-Ucross is a special place."

This is Ucross's first NEA grant, and Belcher said the foundation is continuing to look for ways to expand the fellowship program.

Have a question about this story? Contact the reporter, Catherine Wheeler, at cwheel11@uwyo.edu.

Catherine Wheeler comes to Wyoming from Kansas City, Missouri. She has worked at public media stations in Missouri and on the Vox podcast "Today, Explained." Catherine graduated from Fort Lewis College with a BA in English. She recently received her master in journalism from the University of Missouri. Catherine enjoys cooking, looming, reading and the outdoors.
Related Content