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.
