Wyoming Arts Council

Meeteetse’s David Cunningham appointed to Cultural Trust Fund board


The Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund (WCTF) is one of the WAC’s sister agencies in the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources. The mission of the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund is to serve the citizens of Wyoming by supporting Wyoming’s culture and heritage through grant funding of innovative projects for the enjoyment, appreciation, promotion, preservation, and protection of the state’s arts, cultural and historic resources; and to support and invest in Wyoming institutions that help further this mission. Here’s news from the WCTF:

David Cunningham of Meeteetse has been appointed by Gov. Matt Mead as the newest member of the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund Board. His appointment has been confirmed by the Wyoming Senate.

Cunningham currently serves as the Director of Meeteetse Museums, an organization consisting of the Meeteetse Museum, the Charles Belden Museum of Western Photography, and the First National Bank Museum.

Cunningham holds a master’s degree in History from Missouri State University and a bachelor’s in History from Missouri Southern State University.

He  served as director of the Metcalfe Museum, located on the historic 640-acre homestead of pioneer artist Augusta Metcalfe, located in Oklahoma.

Cunningham went on to serve as executive director of Taos Historic Museum, which consists of the Ernest Blumenschein Home and Museum (which held the works of many of the founders of the Taos Society of Artists, including Blumenschein and Joseph Henry Sharp), the Hacienda Martinez (a restored 21-room adobe “great house” and regional trading center), and the Southwest Research Center of Northern New Mexico (a small repository for the library collections of the Harwood Museum of Art, the Taos Art Museum and Fechin House, and Taos Historic Museums).

Cunningham’s efforts in Meeteetse have focused on instituting “best practices” in the areas of administrative and collections management. The restoration and preservation of the First National Bank Building continues to be of the highest priority.

Additionally current Cultural Trust Fund board member, Susan Stubson of Casper, was reappointed for a second term. Other Cultural Trust Fund board members include Nancy Schiffer, chair, of Kaycee; Jim Davis of Evanston; and Sara Needles, Administrator of the Division of Cultural Resources, Wyoming Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources.

For more information about the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, visit the department website at www.artsparkshistory.com, or contact the WCTF Administrator, Renée Bovée, at 307-777-6312.


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