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William B. Pratt Endowment Fund
The William B. Pratt Endowment Fund was established as a legacy gift to the people of Montana to help them tell and share stories- especially the untold ones- about Montana's arts, culture, and history and to learn about the traditional art forms and cultures of Montana.
The 2024 grant cycle is open Friday, January 19 through Monday, April 1.
Each year, the fund awards grants to benefit Montana Indigenous, Folk, Traditional, and Media Arts. The William B. Pratt Endowment Fund will make grants to:
- Build awareness, involvement, and preservation of Indigenous, Folk, and Traditional Arts in Montana.
- Encourage the education about, as well as the production and presentation of, Media Arts in Montana.
Grants will range in size from $500 to $2,000. Small grant requests less than $750 can apply using a simplified application form. Grant applications will be accepted from early January to late March. Grant announcements will be made in April/May and grants awards will be issued in July.
Eligible applicants include 501(c)(3) Organizations and governments including local, state, and tribal governments. Individual artists and other entities may apply under a fiscal sponsorship.
Applicants are eligible to apply in one of two funding areas:
- Media Arts Education programs
- Montana’s Indigenous, Traditional, and Folk Arts
See a full list of the guidelines here for Media Arts here.
See a full list of the guidelines here for Indigenous, Folk, and Traditional Arts in Montana here.
Past Grantees
- Myrna Loy (Helena)- $1,500 for Music of the Medicine Line, a 4-day festival about Metis music and culture that acknowledges the artistic, musical and social contributions of the Metis and Little Shell People to Montana.
- Tobacco Valley Board of History (Eureka)- $500 for a History Suitcase on Hand Quilting to be used by local elementary, middle and K-8 schools, as well as by the local home school association.
- Big Sky Film Festival (Missoula)- $1,500 for the Native Filmmakers Club that takes a selection of Indigenous-made documentary films and their filmmakers into classrooms across the state.
- $2,000 to the Playwrights Network to support episode 3 of a four-part radio series called “Montanans at Work”. The episode is titled “Montanans as Play: Humor in Indian Country” and explores how humor plays an important role in American Indian cultures and identity.
- $1,800 to the Fork Peck Community College to support the Buffalo Chasers Podcast.
- $1,700 to Big Sky Film Festival to support the Native Filmmakers Initiative Film Club.
- $1,500 to the Blackfeet Community College to support Piikani oral history through songs.
- $1,000 to the Big Sky Film Festival to support the documentary “When They Were Here,” a documentary on the Missing and Murdered Women and Girls crisis in Montana.
- $2,000 to Montana Playwrights Network (Clancy) to support live performances by Montana traditional tribal artists in the 2nd Annual Winter Lodge Rendezvous to be held on December 2 and 3 at the Helena Avenue Theatre.
- $500 to the Lewis and Clark Foundation (Great Falls) to support the performance and interpretative activities of dancer Louie Plant Sr., Ksanka [Standing Arrow Band] of the Ktunaxa (Kootenai) Tribe of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes of the Flathead Nation, at the Lewis and Clark Festival.
More About the Fund
The William B. Pratt Endowment Fund was established by William B. Pratt who has a life-long interest in Indigenous, Folk, and Traditional arts, with experience as a musician working in the folk tradition and as a living history and production artisan in forged iron. This fund also honors his work in documentary and industrial film/video production, fostering community video efforts, and his extensive experience in grants administration, the development of arts and nonprofit organizations, and fostering philanthropy in the state.
We're Here to Help
For additional help, questions or comments, contact Elisa Fiaschetti, Impact Programs Director.