Resounds: Arts And Culture On The High Plains

The Buffalo Bill Center of the West based in Cody homes five museums and a research library. The Plains Indian Museum, The Buffalo Bill Museum, The Draper Natural History Museum, the Cody Firearms Museum, and the Whitney Western Art Museum provide thousands of visitors with a range of perspectives and education of the American West.

The Heart Mountain Interpretive Center preserves, memorializes, and provides education about the experiences of Japanese Americans incarcerated during WWII. The Center operates a world-class museum, historic site, and conference center, drives national programming, and inspires nonpartisan solutions to problems of our modern democracy.

Dr. Ilse-Mari Lee Hastings is the President and founder of the Montana Youth Symphony. She joined the faculty of MSU in the fall of 1989 and served as Dean of the Honors College. She holds a doctorate in Cello Performance and Pedagogy, as well as master’s degrees in Cello Performance, Music Theory, and Composition.

Tami Haaland is the author of four poetry collections: If I Had Said Beauty, What Does Not Return, When We Wake in the Night, and Breath in Every Room, which was the winner of the Nicholas Roerich First Book Award.

Preeti Vasudevan's provocative theatrical works redefine individual identity, uniting artists and audiences alike. Using just about every mode of the performing arts (including dance, music, poetry, visual art, mime, and theater), Preeti invites collaborators to form a 21st-century language of expression.

Corrie Williamson was born on a small farm in southwestern Virginia. She is the author of two previous poetry books: The River Where You Forgot My Name, which was a 2019 Montana Book Award Honor Book, and Sweet Husk, which won the 2014 Perugia Press Prize and was a finalist for the 2015 Library of Virginia Poetry Award. Joe Wilkins was raised on a sheep ranch north of the Bull Mountains of eastern Montana. He is a novelist, essayist, and poet.

Precious McKenzie has an MFA in Creative Writing and a Ph.D. in British Literature. In 2022, she served as a Fulbright Scholar in Ireland, teaching graduate students in the Public Humanities. She is the Director of Advancement for the Yellowstone Art Museum.She writes poems, short stories, and children’s books. Precious is the author of over 50 books for young readers, including Cinder Yeti (the 2020 Library of Congress Great Reads from Great Places selection for Montana), Ruffian, a novel for teens, and Infestation, a young adult novel.

Over the past 30 years, Aaron Pruitt has provided leadership in programming, production, and fundraising at Montana PBS, and in 2017 he was appointed General Manager.

The Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts was founded in 1951 by brickmaker Archie Bray, Sr. The Bray provides residencies for ceramic artists from around the world, a year-round exhibition schedule, summer workshops, and community classes.

Molly Kruckenberg is the Director of the Montana Historical Society. She studied history as an undergraduate and completed a graduate degree in library science. She began work with the MTHS in 1999 and moved to the role of Director after working as an archivist and then manager of the library and archives.