We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
A recent grant from the Montana Department of Tourism will allow the completion of the Foothills Exhibit at the Blaine County Wildlife Museum. Shown here, the mural is completed and work will begin this spring to add the diorama and wildlife to complete the last major exhibit at the local museum.
With funding from a recent grant awarded by the state Office of Tourism's Montana Main Street Project, the Blaine County Wildlife Museum will soon complete its Foothills Exhibit. The Foothills Exhibit, which will depict wildlife in a setting much like the lower area of the Bear Paws, is the final major exhibit that has not been completed at the popular local museum.
Tammy Edwards, Wildlife Museum Manager, said, "Our board has been working toward the completion of the Foothills Exhibit. The exhibit will incorporate the last of our major Montana taxidermy pieces. Other big game and local animals are already represented in the previously completed exhibits". Central to the Foothills diorama will be an elk bull, cow and calf. Plans also call for a prairie dog town to be a part of the Foothills Exhibit. Based on visitors' reactions to the Buffalo Jump Exhibit completed in 2001, museum supporters realized it was important to show animals in realistic settings and began developing the exhibits.
The Main Street Project grant
Edwards said there were several attempts by the museum to secure funding through the state tourism program. Bill Harbolt, one of the original members of the Museum's governing board, wrote the recent successful grant. The grant was submitted in June and $59,570 was awarded, through the Governor's Office, in September. Edwards added, "Bill has been very supportive of and active in the museum and its development."
Edwards said designers Kurt Wohnsen and Liz Marshall, owners of Acorn Exhibits in Minnesota, will be arriving in March to begin final work on the diorama for the exhibit. David Rock, a muralist based in Sisters, Oregon, completed the background mural for the Foothills Exhibit earlier. David Rock Designs and Acorn Exhibits work collaboratively on the design for the background mural for each exhibit. Some of the wildlife pieces that will be used in the new exhibit and the completed mural were displayed last year during the museum's annual fundraiser in March. Soon those pieces will have a permanent location in the new exhibit.
More grants, more projects
Scott MacKenzie, also a museum board member, described how another new grant will be used to make informational signs for each exhibit. Edwards said visitors currently use a printed guide to learn about each exhibit. She explained, "The new signs will allow a more permanent source of information for each exhibit. Visitors will be able to move smoothly through the exhibits as the information will be readily available on each display." Acorn Exhibits will design the informational signage to complement the overall design of the exhibits. Per MacKenzie, this grant was from a regional foundation that has supported other projects at the museum.
An additional grant, already received, will be used to create a 'portable exhibit' that demonstrates the various stages of taxidermy. Edwards said, "Acorn Exhibits is building the exhibit and will bring it when they come in the spring to work on the Foothills Exhibit. They have the taxidermy materials and are putting them into the mobile exhibit."
The new exhibit about taxidermy was an outgrowth of the interest shown in the pelt collection, a hands-on exhibit very popular with children. The pelts are in the lobby of the museum and allow children to touch and feel pelts of various animals that are displayed in the permanent exhibits. The taxidermy exhibit will be mobile and can be moved into viewing areas of the museum for special tours or activities.
Next Banquet and Auction event
Edwards said the annual Banquet and Auction is a major fundraiser for the facility. Funds raised during the annual banquet are used to support maintenance and operational costs of the facility. Outside funding is sought to further the educational mission of the Wildlife Museum and develop the accompanying exhibits. Edwards announced the upcoming Wildlife Museum Banquet and Auction will be held on Saturday, March 5, 2016. A schedule of activities will be available closer to the date of the event.
