Join the Wyoming State Museum on July 9 for a “Great Outdoors” themed Family Day. From 10 am until 2 pm, families and groups can enjoy a high-energy, outdoor and indoor opportunity to get to know the great outdoors of our beautiful state.

Partners from Wyoming Game & Fish, Wyoming State Parks, Wyoming Office of Outdoor Recreation, and others are excited to teach kids how they can become more connected with nature. Kids can make crafts, use story stones to tell stories about their time in nature, play with sidewalk chalk, and hear presentations from a museum educator. 

Like all Wyoming State Museum Family Days, this event is FREE for all ages and will feature crafts, games, and activities that bring attendees closer to the museum’s collections. Registration is free. Families can find the registration link at wyomuseum.wyo.gov/familydays or they can register by phone at 307-630-2573.

Family Days are generously sponsored by SCHEELS in Johnstown, CO. Thanks to their support, these events are always free and open to everyone! Each month features crafts, games and activities, as well as visiting partners from the Rocky Mountain region. 

The Wyoming State Museum is located in the Barrett Building, 2301 Central Ave. in Cheyenne. 

Please call 307-630-2573 for more information. Family Day fans can follow the museum’s facebook and instagram accounts to stay in the know about upcoming events: @wyomingstatemuseum.

Sara Davis Receives Mark A. Greene Emerging Leader Award from Society of American Archivists

CHICAGO—Sara Davis, state archivist at Wyoming State Archives in Cheyenne, is the 2022 recipient of the Mark A. Greene Emerging Leader Award from the Society of American Archivists (SAA).

The award celebrates and encourages early-career archivists who have completed archival work of broad merit, demonstrated significant promise of leadership, and performed commendable service to the archives profession.

Since her initial position as an archives intern at the Frederick Law Olmstead National Historic Site to her current role at the Wyoming State Archives, Davis has been a strong advocate for archival collections, users, and colleagues.

At the State Archives, she successfully applied for a National Historic Public Records Commission grant to support a traveling archivist program to build a network connecting the state’s numerous cultural institutions.

She effectively uses her role as a spokesperson for "people's history" for the state to preserve the voices of those not traditionally represented by the archives. For example, she established a community speakers’ bureau to communicate with members from underrepresented communities about the crucial role their records play in documenting Wyoming state history. With the institution’s recent acquisition of the Latin American Federation’s papers, these efforts are already bringing positive results.

Davis’s leadership is also evident in her previous work as a university archivist for the University of Wyoming at the American Heritage Center. Davis played an essential role in founding the institution’s Diversity Committee, as well as curating a digital and physical exhibit to commemorate Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming who was murdered in 1998. Within SAA, she has led continuing archival education efforts as an active member, vice chair, and then chair of the Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) Education Subcommittee, where she reviews curriculum to ensure courses meet the needs of a growing number of archivists seeking to learn more about digital archives.

As her nominator writes, Davis’s “rapid growth from consultant to state archivist demonstrates her increasing responsibility, proven track record, and potential in the profession.” One former mentor writes that they “[look] to her as a guide and role model where we were once in opposite roles. I have watched Davis become an expert at whatever she takes on while leading with compassion and grace. She is clearly dedicated to and passionate about her work as an archivist.” A former supervisor adds that “Davis creates programs from scratch, sees projects successfully to completion, and ensures that every product is of high quality.”

Established in 2011 and renamed in 2017, the award honors SAA Fellow and Past President Mark A. Greene.

Find the press release here: https://www2.archivists.org/2022-Mark-A-Greene-Emerging-Leader-Award-Sara-Davis

With the closure of all roads into Yellowstone National Park due to “multiple road and bridge failures, mudslides and other issues.” travelers may want to look at accessing camping and other accommodations prior to getting to northwestern Wyoming.              

There are state parks located throughout the state with most on the way to Yellowstone National Park. Guernsey, Glendo and Boysen are located along the route from Cheyenne to Casper and continuing on to Shoshoni, Thermopolis and Cody (I-25 to US 20-26, etc).

Travelers traveling along the I-80 corridor, Cheyenne to Rock Springs or Evanston and then north will find Seminoe State Park near Rawlins.

Traveling along I-90, Keyhole State Park is located between the South Dakota State Line and Gillette with Medicine Lodge State Archaeological Site located south of Greybull near Hyattville before traveling west to Cody.

Other camping opportunities are listed on the Wyoming Outdoor Recreation Wonder Map found at https://wyooutdoorrecreation.wyo.gov/. The Wonder Map lists, in addition to state park campgrounds, national park, forest service, local and private campgrounds throughout the state and provides information such as cost and amenities.

The Wonder Map also provides information on a variety of activities like hiking, biking, fishing and others.

Additionally, NPS officials state that they “will not know the timing of the park’s reopening until flood waters subside and we’re able to assess the damage throughout the park. Visitors planning on coming to Yellowstone in the upcoming weeks should pay close attention to the status of road conditions,” the NPS added.

Flooding of the North Fork River on the western edge of Buffalo Bill State Park has necessitated the closure of North Fork Campground Loop A campsites.

Reservations for the next two days for those campsites have been moved to Loop D of the North Fork Campground. The situation will be reassessed Tuesday afternoon and if flooding continues another two days of reservations will be moved from Loop A campsites to Loop D.

Buffalo Bill State Park currently has openings in the Lake Shore Campground for visitors needing a campsite.

For more information, please call Park headquarters at 307-587-9227.

Due to rising water concerns from the Tongue River in northern Wyoming the Connor Battlefield Campground in Ranchester is temporarily closed until further notice.

Due to the potential for flooding in the area, a timetable as to when the site may reopen has not been determined.

No other Wyoming State Park or Historic Site is currently experiencing flooding at this time.

Fort Bridger State Historic Site is pleased to welcome the Haunted Historian (of the acclaimed podcast) on Saturday June 25.

Known over the years for paranormal activity, the site will welcome ticketed guests to explore after dark with special paranormal detection equipment. This event will focus on historical descriptions and details to explore the hidden past. Buildings around the fort will be open, equipment will be available to use, and the Haunted Historian staff will be on site.

Tickets can be purchased at  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ghost-hunt-at-fort-bridger-tickets-269247635927. 

The Wyoming State Records Committee will meet at 2 p.m., Monday, June 20, via Google Meet.

Meeting ID:  meet.google.com/tyu-hmte-xbp

Those wishing to listen in can do so by calling:  (US) +1 971-915-3428 PIN: 672 722 850#

The Wyoming State Records Committee reviews, and considers for approval, retention schedules of public records. The State Records Committee is the final authority in determining whether state, county and local government records are retained permanently or disposed of after a designated period. Committee members include representatives from the State Archives, Attorney General’s Office, and the Department of Audit.

The meeting agenda includes retention requests for State and local agencies, and accession and deaccession requests involving a variety of archival materials.

If you require special assistance, please contact the Wyoming State Archives at 307-777-7826.

Deadline Approaching for Wyoming Arts Council Fellowships 

The application period closes June 9, for the Wyoming Arts Council fellowships in Visual Arts, Performing Arts, Creative Writing and the Native Art Fellowship. All fellowship recipients will receive a $3,000 unrestricted award as well as an opportunity to showcase their work in the state.

Fellowships are open to Wyoming residents, and are merit-based awards. Applications are juried by noted artists and professionals in the field who are from outside the state. 

The Visual Arts Fellowships are selected based on the artist’s portfolio and honoring work that reflects serious and exceptional investigation. Artists working in any medium may apply. Up to three fellowships may be given each year. Applications must be submitted online through CaFE . The jurors for this year’s Visual Arts Fellowships are Tasha Kubesh, independent curator, and Bobbi Walker, founder of Walker Fine Art in Denver, CO. 

The Performing Arts Fellowships are given to honor excellence in the artists' field and are based on appropriate media samples and artist statements. Up to four fellowships may be awarded; two in the category of Music and two in the category of Theatre and Dance. Artists may only apply in one category (Music or Theatre and Dance) and applications must be submitted online through https://wyomingartscouncil.submittable.com/submit. The juror for this year’s Performing Arts Fellowship in Theatre and Dance is choreographer, dancer, and producer Dominic Moore-Dunson based in Akron, OH. The juror for the Music category is Storm Gloor, associate professor in the Music and Entertainment Industry Studies department at the University of Colorado Denver.

The Creative Writing Fellowships are awards of merit, based on a writer’s body of work, and honoring Wyoming’s literary artists whose work demonstrates exceptional writing. One fellowship will be awarded in each category of Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, and Fiction, for a total of up to three fellowships. Writers may only submit in one category and applications must be submitted online through https://wyomingartscouncil.submittable.com/submit. The jurors for this year’s Creative Writing Fellowships are EJ Levy for Fiction, Florence Williams for Creative Nonfiction, and Michelle Otero for Poetry.

The Native Art Fellowship is an award of merit open to Native artists based within Wyoming, across any artistic discipline or medium (visual, literary, performing, folk & traditional, etc.) This fellowship is designed to raise the profiles of the highly talented Native artists in Wyoming and celebrate their artistry. Two fellowships will be awarded this year and applications must be submitted online through https://wyomingartscouncil.submittable.com/submit. This year’s jurors are Karen Ann Hoffman, a Haudenosaunee Raised Beadwork artist and citizen of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and Topaz Jones, a multidisciplinary artist and enrolled member of the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of Duck Valley Indian Reservation, with descendancy ties to the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, and the Lummi Nation. 

Additional information can be found on the Arts Council website. Complete eligibility requirements can be found with each call on Submittable and CaFE. For more information, contact Taylor Craig at the Arts Council, 307-274-6673 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Caption: The jurors for the 2022 Wyoming Arts Council Fellowships. Clockwise from top left: Tasha Kubesh, Storm Gloor, EJ Levy, Bobbi Walker, Michelle Otero, Topaz Jones, Karen Ann Hoffman, Florence Williams, Dominic Moore-Dunson.