2019 - 2019

2019 Major Accomplishments

2019 Governor’s Humanities Awards

Gather Round – Hearth Toolkit

  • Humanities Montana did a deep dive on its services to Montana and introduced a new mission, new program opportunities, a new website, and new ways to make the humanities available to ever more Montanans.

  • Humanities Montana joined with Governor Steve Bullock and Lieutenant Governor Mike Cooney to honor five extraordinary Montanans with the Governors’ Humanities Award: Stephenie Ambrose Tubbs, Ellen Crain, Tami Haaland, Thomas McGuane, and Elizabeth McNamer. The actor Bill Pullman provided a memorable keynote address at the awards banquet.

  • Tribal Partnerships supported the Michif Cultural Festival in Choteau and efforts by the Selis-Qlispe Cultural Committee to develop a cultural app for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

  • Grants supported innovative programs all across Montana, including school assemblies on how video games teach the humanities, a Spanish language immersion course for younger students, and Debra Magpie Earling’s reading at the Upper Musselshell Historical Society.

  • Humanities Montana introduced the innovative DIY program Gather Round that uses a game-playing approach to inspire meaningful humanities  conversations in participants’ homes.

  • Hometown Humanities Red Lodge culminated with an Autumn Walkabout that featured the history and current cultural vitality of the host community.

  • The board elected new members Alden Big Man Jr. (Hardin), David Dietrich (Billings), Carla Homstad (Stevensville), Mary McCormick (Butte), and Aaron Parrett (Helena). We said good-bye to five fantastic directors: Victoria Cech, Patty Dean, Lorents Grosfield, Penny Redli, and Tobin Miller Shearer.