2026 Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office’s Wyoming Archaeology Awareness Month Poster

Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office 

Wyoming Archaeology Awareness Month Poster Program (WAAM) 

This program is celebrated annually in September and consists of a series of statewide activities and programs devoted to discussing archaeological issues and to educating the public about the importance of preserving and protecting Wyoming’s archaeological heritage. The centerpiece of WAAM is the poster, and associated educational brochure, produced annually for distribution statewide, nationally, and internationally. 

In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding, the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) proposes a special theme for the poster program to reflect the celebration of our Nation. Traditionally, the poster program features and celebrates an archaeological site or artifact from Wyoming. In honor of the Semiquincentennial, the SHPO, is seeking a Wyoming artist to create a work to be featured on the poster for 2026 around a set theme th...

Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office 

Wyoming Archaeology Awareness Month Poster Program (WAAM) 

This program is celebrated annually in September and consists of a series of statewide activities and programs devoted to discussing archaeological issues and to educating the public about the importance of preserving and protecting Wyoming’s archaeological heritage. The centerpiece of WAAM is the poster, and associated educational brochure, produced annually for distribution statewide, nationally, and internationally. 

In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding, the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) proposes a special theme for the poster program to reflect the celebration of our Nation. Traditionally, the poster program features and celebrates an archaeological site or artifact from Wyoming. In honor of the Semiquincentennial, the SHPO, is seeking a Wyoming artist to create a work to be featured on the poster for 2026 around a set theme that honors Wyoming’s history. 

2026 Wyoming Archaeology Awareness Month Poster Theme: 

As we prepare to celebrate our nation's 250th anniversary, people in Wyoming know that much of our shared story in the High Plains and the Rocky Mountains can be traced to our relationship with the horse. Archaeological scholarship from the Blacks Fork River site in southwestern Wyoming - alongside finds from other areas of the West - shows that by 1776, many Native people in Wyoming had already established a relationship for more than a century with horses - herding them, raising them, riding them, even providing veterinary care - and integrating them into other parts of life, including ceremony. Although not yet chronicled in European historic records, these early connections between Native nations and horses are visible in beautiful petroglyph panels across the Plains. 

This project is seeking a Wyoming artist to envision and explore what Wyoming’s Indigenous peoples’ connection to the horse in the 18th century means as a celebration of one of the many ways in which our great state was thriving during this time period. We are seeking visual artists who will explore, through art, Wyoming’s early connection with horses through the archaeological record and how this understanding has contributed to our National heritage. 

Proposed descriptive themes are as follows (to be finalized in coordination with the selected artist in order to complement the artwork): “Hoofbeats as Heartbeats,” “Echos of Equus,” “Gallop into the Past,” “The Thundering Spirit of the West,” or “Thundering Beings of the Plains.” 

Subtitle: “Commemorating America’s 250th Anniversary in Wyoming” 

The commissioned work needs to be situated within an archaeological, ethnographic, and historical context. This will be done by referring to historical or archaeological texts regarding the use of horses by Native Americans such as “Hoof Beats: How Horses Shaped Human History” by William T. Taylor and “Horse Nation: The Worldwide Impact of the Horse on Indigenous Societies Post-1492” by Peter Mitchell. These texts will be provided to the chosen artist by the State Coordinator.

ARTISTS MUST SUBMIT ON CAFE TO BE CONSIDERED: 

A resume and artist’s statement

Statement of Purpose (no more than one page): explain your submission and how it relates to the identified theme

Submit a written digital design proposal (no more than one page) that encapsulates your proposed idea to be featured on a poster. The proposal must indicate the medium, how the artwork will be archaeologically informed, and how it would be represented on a poster. Unless the proposal is a graphic design proposal, the Artist does not need to describe other elements to be included on the poster, such as title text and other graphic design elements. If the Artist is not a graphic designer, the layout of the poster will be designed by a graphic designer featuring the commissioned artwork. The commissioned art must be able to be represented on a poster (e.g. photographable or scannable) and the proposal must describe how it will be represented on a poster. Archaeology month posters from many states over the years can be viewed at the following webpage and will provide applicants with examples of previous art featured on posters (paintings in 2019 and 2020, photography many years, and objects in 2011, 2016, 2024, 2025) : https://www.saa.org/education-outreach/public-outreach/state-archaeology-celebrations/poster-contest-winners

Submit up to six digital images files of samples of previous work. Include title and medium.

QUESTIONS:  For program and media inquiries, please contact Gwendolyn Kristy, State Historic Preservation Office, at 307-766-5366 or via email gwendolyn.kristy@wyo.gov. For application inquiries, please contact Kimberly Mittelstadt, Wyoming Arts Council at 307-274-6673 or via email kimberly.mittelstadt@wyo.gov.

Application deadline: July 18, 2025, 11:59 P.M. MT.
 

Application Requirements:

• Must create a work of art that can be represented on a 24”x36” poster in a high quality format. Video and audio submissions will not be considered. 
• Artist must work within the identified theme and use the archaeological source material provided to inform the work of art. 
• Must be able to utilize historical, ethnographic, and archaeological reference material to inform the project. 
• The artist must work closely with the State Coordinator for Wyoming Archaeology Awareness Month. 
• Minimum monthly check-ins with the State Coordinator are required for the duration of the project (virtual or in-person). 
• Must be able to meet the required deadlines of the project.
• The piece of art to be featured on the poster must be finalized and accepted by the State Coordinator no later than November 15, 2025.  
• A contract with the state of Wyoming is required.

ELIGIBILITY: The Wyoming Archaeology Awareness Month poster program is open to visual artists. Artists must be year-round residents of Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Idaho, or Utah. Preference will be given to year-round residents of Wyoming. Both established and emerging artists are welcome to apply. We highly encourage Native American artists to apply for this Commission. The artist must be willing to work within the archaeological theme identified for the project. 

SELECTION: Artist will be chosen at minimum by a representative of the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office, Office of the Wyoming State Archaeologist, and the Wyoming Arts Council.

NOTIFICATION: Notifications will be made by late July 2025. The successful artist will then meet with the State Coordinator to plan the project.  

DONATION: The selected artist will donate the artwork submitted in the proposal and final artwork for the poster to State Parks and Cultural Resources. The Agency will auction it at a public event about the 2026 poster to raise funds supporting Wyoming Archaeology Awareness Month for the future. This will be in coordination with the Wyoming State Museum. 

COPYRIGHT: The artist shall retain copyright of the artwork but agrees to grant the State of Wyoming and State Parks and Cultural Resources a non-exclusive, limited, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, free of all charges, transferable license to use images of the artwork, as outlined in this contract, for promotional and non-sales purposes. The artist may make use of the artwork for personal and professional promotion using the language, "Produced for Wyoming Archaeology Awareness Month for the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office."

STIPEND: Stipend is $6000.00. Half is payable prior to completion of the artwork and half is payable upon completion and final acceptance of the artwork for use on the poster.

Residency Requirements: Artists must be year-round residents of Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Idaho, or Utah