For Immediate Release:

Governor Gordon Announces Seventh Round of Awardees for Semiquincentennial Grant Program

All funds have been allocated, the eighth and final round of grantees announced soon.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. - Dec. 17, 2025 - The Wyoming Semiquincentennial Planning Task Force has announced the seventh and second to the last round of awardees for the Semiquincentennial Grant Program. 

The grants program was launched last year and is supported with a $2 million appropriation from the Wyoming Legislature. The grants program allows communities to recognize and celebrate Wyoming’s unique role in American history and to explore both Wyoming’s lasting legacy and future potential. The projects will take place in conjunction with the celebration of the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026. 

Twenty-two entities were awarded grants this time around, totaling $398,640.72. They include:

• Wyoming Art Council: 250 Folk Arts Festival

The projects involve gathering previous Wyoming Arts Council Folk and Traditional Art Mentoring Grant recipients for two events that will take place on July 3 and 4, 2026.

• Wyoming League of Women Voters, Cheyenne: 250 Remarkable Women of Wyoming

The WY League of Women Voters - Cheyenne will implement a three phase project. Part I will be a live production of the one-act play "The Remarkable Susan," which depicts the 1873 trial of Susan B. Anthony. Part II will be a living history exhibit in which women who were instrumental in Wyoming's history, both past and present, will interact with America 250 celebration participants. Part III will be the creation of a "Ken Burns-style" documentary of the remarkable women of Wyoming, past and present, and will be available for use in classrooms through the State Department of Education. 

• Wyoming Military Department, Cheyenne: 250th Anniversary of USA memorabilia

The Wyoming Military Department will honor military volunteers of the 250th Anniversary by purchasing 200 commemorative coins and 200 memorabilia T-Shirts for the event. All airmen and soldiers that work this event will be doing it as volunteers.

• Wyoming State Parks & Cultural Resources/State Museum: People and Passages 

In commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the Wyoming State Museum will create People and Passages, a transformative core exhibit that reveals how Wyoming-despite being America's least populated state-has profoundly shaped the nation's character, economy, and ideals.

• Lander Community Foundation: Cross The Threshold

Cross the Threshold is a feature-length documentary that explores the post-service experiences of Veterans in rural Wyoming, focusing on identity, reintegration, and the culture of service in the West. 

• Washakie Museum and Cultural Center 1776 Musical Production

The Washakie Museum and Cultural Center requests support to produce a community musical theater production of "1776" in July 2026, to celebrate our nation's 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Performances are planned in at least three different towns in the Basin (Worland, Thermopolis, Greybull.) 

• Wyoming State Parks & Cultural Resources: Artists in Residence Celebrating America’s 250

For the celebration of the 250th, Wyoming State Parks and the Wyoming Arts Council proposes to include 20 Wyoming artists for 20 residencies in parks and historic sites across our great state, representing visual art, performing arts, folk and traditional arts, and creative writing.

• Wyoming State Parks & Cultural Resources: The Survey Tree

In a designated wilderness area of the Shoshone National Forest, four unique incised trees tell a small but intriguing story of the brave men who in the early 1890s surveyed the boundaries of a million acres of designated forest reserve adjacent to Yellowstone National Park. This project will bring a portion of the 1893 Gallagher Survey Tree to Wyoming’s Capitol for public exhibit in the Capitol Gallery between 2028 and 2029, encapsulating the 135th anniversary of the inscription of the tree and the original survey expedition of 1893.

• Campbell County Public Library, Wright Branch: Wright Story Walk

The Campbell County Library System, in cooperation with the Town of Wright, proposes to construct a 25-station story walk route that begins at the Wright Branch Library and winds its way through the town and back to the library.

• Glenrock Main Street: Glenrock Veteran’s Park

The Glenrock Veterans Park will honor the brave men and women who have served our nation and create a lasting tribute in Glenrock that recognizes the sacrifices and dedication of our veterans, past and present.

• Cody Public Art Committee: Wings over WY Mural: A Tribute to 250 Years of Freedom 

The Cody Public Art Committee proposes to install a 10 x 13 foot mural celebrating the 250th anniversary of the USA in downtown Cody. The painting, by local artist Brian Timmer, depicts an eagle over a colorful sunset with Cody's Cedar and Rattlesnake Mountains in the background.

• SAGE Community Arts, Sheridan: Different But SAME

Through the work of twelve distinguished artists across disciplines-painting, sculpture, beadwork, spoken word, and music-the exhibition will highlight the shared human experiences of resilience, identity, and belonging. The project emphasizes both diversity and unity, underscoring Wyoming's role in America's past, present, and future.

• Town of Greybull: Town of Greybull Celebrate America Flagpole

With the installation of the 60' flagpole we will be installing a commemorative plate highlighting the State of Wyoming and what makes Wyoming and Greybull so unique. Examples might include the date of statehood, our nickname "the Equality State" and the significant contributions made by locals. 

• Cheyenne Frontier Days Foundation: Digitizing Oral Histories of American Indians from the Wind River Reservation for the Oral History Stage at Morning Star American Indian Village

This project will digitize fragile cassettes containing histories of Native Americans who have lived and grown up on the Wind River Reservation.  Guests will be able to scan a QR code and listen to Native voices talk about their histories growing up on the Wind River, as well as remembering stories of their elders.

• Gillette Main Street: Honoring Edward Gillette

Gillette Main Street seeks funding to commission and install a life-size bronze sculpture of Edward Gillette, the surveyor and visionary for whom our community is named. In the 1880s, while working for the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, Edward Gillette identified a more efficient route between Donkey Creek and Hay Creek.

• Historic Red Shell School, Shell: A Vision for Vibrant Community Park – Shell Rural Education History 

Rural schools have long been essential in shaping education and community life across the United States. The Shell Valley once had nine rural schoolhouses; today, one of only two that remain in Shell, and the only one still owned by the public. This is a three-phased project to restore the school house and create a community park.

• Laramie Plains Museum: Progress in the Laramie Plains:  The World's Fairs in WY

The Laramie Plains Museum will celebrate the 250th with a series of exhibitions, speakers, and activities. Our events and exhibits will revolve around the World's Fairs and how the spirit of innovation propelled Wyoming forward.

• Goshen County Library Foundation, Torrington: Goshen County Docuseries:  Honoring Our Past, Inspiring Our Future 

The Goshen County Library Foundation, in partnership with local museums, schools, and tribal representatives, will produce a five-episode docuseries (7-12 minutes each) that preserves and shares the county's diverse history.

• Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum: From Rough Riders to US Presidents: 250 Years of American Legacy

In commemoration of the United States Semiquincentennial, From Rough Riders to Presidents: 250 Years of American Legacy will celebrate the shared history of American leadership and Western heritage through the lens of Cheyenne Frontier Days.

• Lincoln County, Osmond Elementary School, Star Valley: Osmond Learning Liberty Wall. 

Osmond Elementary School will install a Liberty Learning Wall; an interactive, museum-quality display that tells America's story of liberty through key documents, images, and multimedia.

• Sheridan Community Land Trust, Sheridan WY: Shelter for Streetcar #115

The last historic streetcar left in Wyoming, Streetcar #115, is in poor condition. Since its first restoration in 1976, it has been displayed at various locations around Sheridan, but has never been adequately protected from the elements. The Sheridan Community Land Trust now owns Streetcar #115 and has relocated it to the Big Goose Natural Area, where it will be permanently displayed under shelter for the first time in its century-long retirement.

• Thermopolis: Memorial Avenue of Flags

The Memorial Avenue of Flags stands as a proud tradition in Thermopolis, honoring the service and sacrifice of local veterans who defended the freedoms our nation celebrates. The Memorial Avenue of Flags Replacement Project will purchase new, high-quality American flags and durable replacement poles to restore this cherished display to its full dignity.

• Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody: Buffalo Nation: WY Indian Middle School, Sharing Generational Buffalo Knowledge

Buffalo Nation is an immersive exhibition that examines the persistence and resilience of our country through the American buffalo. As part of this exhibit, the Buffalo Bill Center of the West will collaborate with Wyoming Indian Middle School (WIMS). Over the course of the 2025-2026 school year, fourteen WIMS students will contribute a unique and powerful section to the Buffalo Nation exhibition, offering visitors an immersive look into the cultural and practical relationships between Indigenous communities and the buffalo.

Governor Gordon established the Wyoming Semiquincentennial Planning Task Force to develop and coordinate events and activities that honor this significant milestone. More information on the celebration will be made available on the dedicated Semiquincentennial celebration website at https://wyoming250.com.

All funds have been allocated; the eighth and final round of grantees will be announced soon.

For more information: 

Amy Edmonds, Communications Director, [email protected] 

Janelle Collins, Strategic Communications Director, [email protected] 

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