Deadline for Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund grants is May 2

The next grants deadline for the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund is May 2, 2011.

Here's some background info:

In 1998, the Wyoming Legislature, recognizing that Wyoming and its people possess a unique cultural heritage, created the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund (WCTF), including a five-member board named by the Governor. The mission of the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund is to serve the citizens of Wyoming by supporting 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 to support and invest in Wyoming institutions that help further this mission.

The WCTF can provide grant funding for all forms of arts and culture, including but not limited to:

·        Visual Art – photography, sculpture, painting, experimental, graphics

·        Performing Arts – theatre, dance, music

·        Crafts – clay, fiber, glass, leather, wood, jewelry, mixed-media

·        Design Arts – architecture, fashion, industrial, landscape

·        Media Arts – film, audio, video, technology/experimental

·        Literature – fiction, non-fiction, poetry, criticism

·        Folk/Traditional Arts – dance, music, crafts, oral traditions

·        Humanities – history, folklore/folklife, languages, anthropology, sociology

·        Historic and Architectural Preservation – conservation, survey, preservation planning, restoration or rehabilitation

·        Community Cultural Celebrations

·        Cultural Tourism

Grant applications shall, at a minimum, indicate the ability of the organization or project to accomplish one (1) or more of the following:

·       Create and complete innovative projects that expand and develop Wyoming’s cultural environment

·       Reward innovative thinking in advancing Wyoming’s culture

·       Preserve Wyoming’s historical and cultural heritage

·       Increase awareness of Wyoming’s historical and cultural heritage

·       Develop and promote cultural events that bring Wyoming citizens together to celebrate the State’s cultural heritage

·       Increase the availability and access of cultural opportunities for the citizens of Wyoming

·       Build long-term financial investment in Wyoming cultural institutions and infrastructure, including increasing and stimulating public and private investment

·       Strengthen and increase the organizational capacity of Wyoming’s cultural institutions

·       Increase cooperation, communication and partnerships between non-profit cultural organizations, public entities, the private sector and individuals for the benefit of Wyoming’s cultural life

·       Develop new local and/or regional organizations devoted to the advancement of culture

·       Support the role of Wyoming’s cultural life in community and economic development

·       Develop cultural heritage tourism in the state

Grant applications should address projects/events/activities that are not traditionally served by, do not qualify for, or are beyond the programs or resources of the State Historic Preservation Office, Wyoming Arts Council or Wyoming Humanities Council.