Carter County Museum

Educational programming is a central tenant of our mission. In 2023 we held a number of educational events, including the annual dino shindig, the junior scientist program, star parties and dark sky events, school tours, sewing soirees, yoga, and vaccine clinics in partnership with Carter County public health. In 2023, the shindig earned $14,281.75 in program revenue, with expenses of $8,817.61. A recovery destination grant from the Montana office of tourism covered a total of $15,091 in additional advertising expenses for the event. For the 11th annual dino shindig we hosted 744 people over a three-day period. Since 2013, the shindig has served 13,612 people. Approximately 939 people were reached through on-site educational programs, 16,228 through off-site educational outreach, and 32,706 through virtual programming.

Outreach program services in 2023 include both virtual and in-person services. Participation by the Museum director included involvement in the Museum association of Montana, visit southeast Montana, the Montana governor's tourism advisory council, the mt chapter of the international dark sky association, and national association for interpretation. The Museum director and curator attended the annual Montana dinosaur trail meeting, dinosaurs & mor event at Museum of the rockies, Museum advocacy day in helena, the museums association of Montana conference in missoula, the american alliance of museums annual meeting in denver, and the billings gem & mineral show. A grant from the foundation for Montana history in the amount of $7,500 was received for the Carter County talking trail project. An additional $2,500 will come from the grant in 2024 for a total of $10,000 from the foundation. The Montana learning center partnered with the Museum for the third year of the clades & spades fossil camp program, which served 15 people over a one-week period in august. In december, the Museum partnered with dahl memorial hospital to fund gifts for the nursing home residents. The Museum also became a fiscal sponsor for the Carter County veteran's memorial park project in 2023, which incurred $38,401 in income and $38,400.50 in expenses. The Museum spent two grants for a total of $10,000 from the eastern plains economic development corporation and Carter County community foundation ($8,000) and reimagining rural ($2,000) that were received in 2022 and spent in 2023 on the ekalaka community plan per grant agreements. A total of 88,686 people were served through in-person and virtual outreach programming in 2023.

Museum development - exhibitions at the Carter County Museum follow the narrative of the landscape through the deep past and its evolving relationship between a diverse group of indigenous and ranching cultures. Our collections were amassed over an 80+ year period and represent 90 million years of history and prehistory of southeastern Montana and Carter County. Contributions to this program service include the Carter County heritage orchard, Museum display fund, hell creek amber project, Museum displays, and feek's vision documentary project, for which we are a fiscal sponsor (income $69,490, expenses: $62,036.50). In 2022-23, the ccm participated in the national study for the measurement of Museum social impact, which found that the Carter County Museum was an integral part of the community's tourism and social infrastructure, in addition to being a vital heritage resource for residents and visitors alike. The Museum received a grant from the Montana office of tourism and business development in the amount of $109,187 funded the lambert room lighting project, began the big sky seaway exhibition, and joined the collaboration for ongoing visitor experience studies. Finally, the Carter County Museum engaged the services of the bannack group (bozeman, mt) to conduct a campaign feasibility study for the Museum renovation and expansion capital project ($45,000 expense) and spent $5,500 in professional fundraising services toward the campaign. A total of 5,502 people attended the Museum in 2023, which was a 6% increase from 2022.