Ucross Foundation Receives $30,000 Grant from National Endowment for the Arts

On Jan 11, 2022, the National Endowment for the Arts announced that the Ucross Foundation, the artist residency program in Ucross, Wyoming, has been approved for a $30,000 Grants for Arts Projects award. Over the next two years, the grant will fund four residencies with an emphasis on increasing support for underserved artists, including Native American visual artists and writers.

“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts projects like this one from Ucross that help support the community’s creative economy,” said NEA Acting Chair Ann Eilers. “Ucross is among the arts organizations nationwide that are using the arts as a source of strength, a path to well-being, and providing access and opportunity for people to connect and find joy through the arts.”

Ucross’s grant is through the NEA’s Artists Communities discipline, which provides assistance to artist communities for projects that encourage and nurture the development of individual artists and foster and inspire their creative processes.

Since 1983, Ucross has supported the creation of new work by providing the gift of time and space on a historic 20,000-acre ranch in the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains. Ucross fosters the creative spirit of deeply committed artists and groups by providing uninterrupted time, studio space, living accommodations, and the experience of the Wyoming High Plains.

Residencies are awarded to 100 artists each year. Ten artists are in residence at one time, typically a mix of four visual artists, four writers, and two composers.

“Ucross is honored to receive this significant national support for our work, especially in amplifying contemporary Indigenous art and voices,” Ucross President Sharon Dynak said. “We are gratified to be recognized alongside so many peer organizations, who are all working on behalf of the country’s artists.”

“The NEA grant award will directly help us fund four residencies,” added Ucross Director of Development and External Relations William Belcher. “These residencies provide uninterrupted time, studio space, living accommodations and a stipend. This time to work, think and experiment is so valuable to artists. We thank the National Endowment for the Arts for recognizing the need and supporting artist residencies like Ucross.”

Ucross’s work is among 1,248 projects across America totaling $28.8 million that were selected to receive this first round of fiscal year 2022 funding in the Grants for Arts Projects category.