Yellowstone County Funding Cuts — Summer 2025

We are awestruck by the outpouring of appreciation we’ve received from our community. We held hope that the impassioned letters, emails, social media posts, phone calls, and public comments delivered in support of the YAM would positively impact the commissioners’ decision making.

Special thanks to everyone who raised their voice and shared why the Yellowstone Art Museum is important to you. By doing so, you illustrated why support for the arts is vital: it builds community.

Like you, we are disappointed with the commissioners’ decision. For more than 30 years, the museum and Yellowstone County worked in partnership to provide education outreach programs, engaging exhibitions, and care for our historic building. Museum programming fosters creativity, critical thinking, and cultural understanding—skills we should invest in, not abandon.

There are difficulties ahead, but we will always champion accessibility to the arts.

The YAM faces an unexpected $170,000 funding gap after county funds were reallocated, and we need your help to keep our doors wide open for the community.

Every donation, large or small, sends a powerful message: our community values creativity, education, and the stories art tells. Your gift today ensures that art, education, and creativity remain accessible for everyone.

Give today to ensure that exhibitions continue to inspire, children discover new possibilities, and our region’s stories are celebrated.

Learn More About the Issue

Click the button below for a fact sheet further detailing the impacts of reduced county dollars, the importance of stable local funding, and the museum’s wish for more collaborative relationship with the county commissioners.

Tell the Yellowstone County Commissioners to Restore YAM Funding

Before August 31, 2025, let the commissioners know what the YAM means to you.

Use one of the templates below or draft your own letter, and send your message to the commisioners:

Mark Morse
 mmorse@yellowstonecountymt.gov

Mike Waters
 mwaters@yellowstonecountymt.gov

Chris White
 cwhite@yellowstonecountymt.gov

Contact the Commissioners Collectively
 commission@yellowstonecountymt.gov

There will be two opportunities to share a public comment with the comissioners, as well. Public budget hearings are scheduled for August 26 (9am) and September 2 (9am) at the Yellowstone County Courthouse (Room 3108).

Share with Your Circle

Follow the YAM’s social channels and help share the news about this funding cut.

The simple acts of liking, commenting, and resharing these posts can go a long way in creating more community awareness. Please follow along and help us notify others!

Become a Member

The Yellowstone Art Museum thrives because of strong public–private partnerships. Public funding, through the County Museum Fund, provides a vital foundation, while private support ensures we can grow, innovate, and serve our community.

Ongoing generosity sustains everything we do and one of the most reliable ways to support the YAM is through membership. Memberships provide steady, predictable funding that helps us plan exhibitions, care for our collection, and offer educational programs to people of all ages.

Join or renew today, or gift a membership! Your commitment makes a lasting difference—every single year.

Amazing Years Lie Ahead for Our Museum

Museum staffing resources haven’t been this strong since 2019. The public response to recent exhibitions has inspired us and provided assurance that we’re offering important programming to our community. Free Admission for Yellowstone County residents continues to welcome new visitors through our doors and increase museum visitation.

 

YAM will welcome 25,000 visitors in 2025

• Thousands of Montanans—from Yellowstone County and counties across the state—visit and enjoy the YAM each year.
• Arts and Cultural Institutions, like the YAM, support state tourism and provide a valuable attraction for visitors.

 

YAM Education Programs

• YAM art education programs served 8,974 learners in 2024.
• 7,390 of these student contacts were from Yellowstone County (82%).
• YAM Docents serve approximately 9,000 children a year through tours of current exhibitions at the YAM for various ages, from preschool to college/adults.

 

YAM Largest Museum Employer in Yellowstone County

• YAM employs 17 full-time and 9 part-time staff members who reside in Yellowstone County.
• Each job the museum sector creates generates $16,495 in additional tax revenue (Oxford Economics, 2018 report, “Museums as Economic Engines).
• In Montana, arts organizations add approximately $2.4 billion dollars in value, along with 20,269 jobs, representing 3.3% of the state’s GDP (National Assembly of Arts Agencies, Creative Economy Profiles).

 

YAM as a leader in Montana

• As the premier contemporary art museum in Montana and the larger region, the YAM’s programming and work benefits artists and students from outside communities in addition to our own.
• The YAM cares about uplifting Arts & Cultural Institutions throughout our state and proudly supports collaboration among these partners.