Attention Wyoming artists! The call for entries for the Governor's Capitol Art Exhibition is now open.

Any artist currently living in Wyoming may submit work for consideration. There is no fee to enter. Apply now at https://artist.callforentry.org/festivals_unique_info.php?ID=12485 The entry deadline is November 18, 2023.

The Governor’s Capitol Art Exhibition is a biennial juried exhibit that celebrates the work of Wyoming artists. The exhibition was established in 2000 under an initiative by Governor Geringer and is organized by the Wyoming State Museum and the Wyoming Arts Council.

This exhibition is the primary avenue for the state museum to acquire modern Wyoming art for its Capitol and permanent collections. The art for the Capitol collection is selected by The State’s five elected officials and representatives from other state agencies. While the museum’s curators select purchase awards for the Museum’s permanent art collection. All other artwork in the exhibition is available for sale to the general public. 

The juried exhibition will be on display from February 9 through August 10, 2024 at the Wyoming State Capitol in Cheyenne. This year’s juror is Terri Porta from Billings, Montana.

About the Juror

Terri Porta is a multidisciplinary artist, place-maker, activist, and community advocate for the arts. Across her oeuvre of placemaking projects, there are two distinct connective tissues. These concepts weave through the kaleidoscope of expressionist color, centering her work around a better, more engaged community through activism and beauty. An engaged community is a window to the past and the future, which she highlighted in her historical timeline portraits at the City Hall Mural in Downtown Billings, using famous and local figures who have impacted the world through their art and lives. This work led to her selection as the first Artist in Residence for Billings through the Mobilize the Magic City project, which received a National Endowment for the Arts grant. Through generous donor support and enthusiasm, Billings is adopting new policies and improving communication with local artists to streamline collaborative efforts with Billings city officials. Terri’s work to communicate public art’s impact in encouraging creativity and mental health awareness is still ongoing. Terri received her Bachelor of Fine Arts at Montana State University Billings. 

The newest exhibit at the Wyoming State Museum, “Down the Barrel of History: Legendary Guns from Wyoming’s Past,” is now open!

"Down the Barrel of History" showcases Wyoming stories and histories told through twenty-seven guns from the Museum’s collections. This exhibit was co-curated by volunteer Evan Green with the Museum staff.

Starting in 2018, Evan began working with the Museum’s firearm collection, cataloging, researching, and creating Firearms Friday videos for the Museum’s YouTube channel. All of his hard work and dedication have resulted in this exhibit.

Some guns on display have an exciting history on their own, like the Colt Single Action Army that was on outlaw Al Smith during the “Hole-in-the-wall Fight.” While others are from moments in Wyoming’s history, like the three guns used on the Cheyenne-Deadwood stage route.

Whether you enjoy the stories or the historic guns themselves, this exhibit has something for everyone!

Come by the Wyoming State Museum during our regular hours from Monday - Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission is always free.

Join the Wyoming State Museum on July 15, for the third annual Dino Day. A high-energy, educational event for kids and kids-at-heart, Dino Day is an opportunity for dino enthusiasts to meet experts, learn, play, and discover Wyoming’s prehistoric past.

From 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 15, the State Museum and its grounds will be transformed into a dino-themed wonderland. Kids can meet fossil experts from the WU Geological Museum and Fossil Butte National Monument. A “Field of Dinos” with poles reaching toward the sky will show just how big (and small) some of the most famous dinosaurs were. Kids can also crawl through a “Tunnel Through Time,” play “Tricera-toss,” run through an obstacle course, smile for the photo booth, and more. 

Dino Day is for all ages and will feature crafts, games, and activities that bring attendees closer to the museum’s paleontological collections. The Museum’s Curator of Education will be providing hourly education talks and the Laramie County Library will contribute lively story times each hour as well.

Thanks to support from SCHEELS in Johnstown, CO, family programs like Dino Day are always free and open to everyone. Registration is encouraged so that museum staff can ensure there are plenty of activities and supplies for every attendee. Families can find the registration link at wyomuseum.wyo.gov/familydays or they can register by phone at 307-630-2573.

The Wyoming State Museum is located in the Barrett Building, 2301 Central Ave. in Cheyenne.  Please call 307-630-2573 for more information. State Museum fans can follow the museum’s Facebook and Instagram accounts to stay in the know about all upcoming events: @wy

Join the Wyoming State Museum on July 15, for the third annual Dino Day. A high-energy, educational event for kids and kids-at-heart, Dino Day is an opportunity for dino enthusiasts to meet experts, learn, play, and discover Wyoming’s prehistoric past.

From 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 15, the State Museum and its grounds will be transformed into a dino-themed wonderland. Kids can meet fossil experts from the WU Geological Museum and Fossil Butte National Monument. A “Field of Dinos” with poles reaching toward the sky will show just how big (and small) some of the most famous dinosaurs were. Kids can also crawl through a “Tunnel Through Time,” play “Tricera-toss,” run through an obstacle course, smile for the photo booth, and more. 

Dino Day is for all ages and will feature crafts, games, and activities that bring attendees closer to the museum’s paleontological collections. The Museum’s Curator of Education will be providing hourly education talks and the Laramie County Library will contribute lively story times each hour as well.

Thanks to support from SCHEELS in Johnstown, CO, family programs like Dino Day are always free and open to everyone. Registration is encouraged so that museum staff can ensure there are plenty of activities and supplies for every attendee. Families can find the registration link at wyomuseum.wyo.gov/familydays or they can register by phone at 307-630-2573.

The Wyoming State Museum is located in the Barrett Building, 2301 Central Ave. in Cheyenne.  Please call 307-630-2573 for more information. State Museum fans can follow the museum’s Facebook and Instagram accounts to stay in the know about all upcoming events: @wy

Wyoming State Museum Seeking Input on Facilities Plan

The Wyoming State Museum opened in its current location in the Barrett Office Building in 1951. As it approaches the 75th anniversary at that site, the museum has embarked on a study to consider what the next 75 years of the state museum might look like.

The Wyoming State Museum strives to be a point of pride for Wyoming residents and a magnet for incoming tourists. It provides an engaging visitor experience by highlighting the natural and human histories of Wyoming’s diverse 23 counties.

To help set priorities for reimagined facilities, the museum invites the public to complete a short survey by April 7th.

The survey can be found at: https://hga.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4IrNY8B5aUB6IHc

From March 30 – May 20, 2023, the Wyoming State Museum will showcase “GROUNDED,” a strategic and timely art exhibition organized by “ArtSpirit,” the arts initiative of Episcopal Church in Wyoming, and “CARAVAN,” a global arts non-profit.

The exhibit will open on March 30 at 6 p.m. with a special program and reception including speakers, participating artists, an Indigenous drum circle, and the cedaring of the artwork. 

“GROUNDED” brings together 15 premier and emerging contemporary artists from Indigenous American tribes traditionally based in and around the Great Plains. The exhibit is an artistic exploration that seeks to inspire our imaginations about our need to be "grounded" in our relationship with all of creation; the earth and its wildlife, each other and ourselves.

At this moment in time, our world is calling for restoration, from within and without, for a realignment of a sacred harmony and an awareness of a new balance between ourselves and the earth and all of life upon it. 

The creative work of this group of contemporary Native American artists will serve as a visual representation of the worldview, wisdom, and learnings of their ancestors as we reimagine how we live in order to heal our world.

Grounded in the interconnectedness of the sacred, the natural world, and one another, Native American traditional beliefs see everything on the earth as living in relationship. Their spiritual wisdom is therefore essential to developing a “sacred harmony” between all peoples and the earth. This unique contemporary art exhibition seeks to enable them to share their culture, heritage and sacred traditions to help us heal our world and foster wholeness among all peoples.

The 15 contemporary artists from 8 Indigenous tribes were invited to participate based on their previous work and their ability to express the exhibition’s theme through the lens of their heritage and cultural worldview.  The exhibition is curated by noted Northern Arapaho artist Robert Martinez. 

Ben Pease (Apsáalooke-Crow)
Brent Learned (Arapaho/Cheyenne)
Carlin Bear Don’t Walk (Apsáalooke-Crow/Northern Cheyenne)
Donald F. Montileaux (Oglala Sioux)
Henry Payer (Ho-Chunk)
Hillary Kempenich (Anishinaabe)
Jackie Larson Bread (Blackfeet)
Jackie Sevier (Northern Arapaho)
Jim Yellowhawk (Itazipco/Cheyenne River Sioux)
Joanne Brings Thunder (Eastern Shoshone)
John Pepion (Blackfeet)
Louis Still Smoking (Blackfeet
Robert Martinez (Northern Arapaho)
Talissa Abeyta (Eastern Shoshone)
Wade Patton (Oglala Lakota)

The exhibition is beginning its global tour in Wyoming, moving to other venues in the USA, including Washington, D.C., the United Kingdom, and ending in the Middle East. The organizing coordinator, The Rt. Rev. Paul-Gordon Chandler, the Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Wyoming, has extensive experience organizing large-scale exhibitions internationally.

At each venue, the exhibition serves as a catalyst for the development of events and programs to stimulate discussion, dialogue and education around the exhibition’s theme.  In Cheyenne, a special event on the morning of March 31, 2023 will focus on the Chief Washakie bronze sculpture created by award-winning Native American artist, Guadalupe Barajas. This piece was sponsored by St. Mark’s Episcopal Church as part of the City of Cheyenne’s “Capital Avenue Bronze Project.” 

Wyoming program partners include Wyoming Humanities Council, Wyoming Arts Council, six noted exhibition spaces, and Episcopal churches throughout Wyoming. 

For more information about the exhibition and associated programming, contact Genie Osburn, Communications Manager for The Episcopal Church in Wyoming: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The Wyoming State Museum is inviting non-profits, community groups, and researchers that are environmentally focused to host information booths at their April 1st  “Earth Extravaganza” Family Day event from 10 am-2 pm. 

“Earth Extravaganza” is a free event designed for families with children aged 5-10 years old. Wyoming State Museum family events are often attended by 300-500 people each month, creating unique opportunities for organizations to share their message with a wide range of Cheyenne community members. 

Partner organizations will host their own booths where families can participate in activities, learn about the organization, and discover ways that they can contribute to a more sustainable future for our planet. There is no fee to participate, and the museum will provide a pizza lunch for all partners and volunteers.

Interested organizations can contact Melisa McChesney, Curator of Community Engagement,  at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 307-630-2573.