Kev Hamm 3/6/25 Kev Hamm 3/6/25

USS Montana

Montana, Montana, Glory of the Seas

A powerful, informative, and fun television documentary, Montana, Montana, Glory of the Seas tells the story of two USS MONTANA warships – and landlocked Big Sky Country’s unique relationship with the US Navy for more than one hundred years.

First televised on February 22, 2025, the documentary was produced by Great Falls native Craig Wirth whose popular programs have provided unique stories about Montana and the West for many years. This one focuses on the USS MONTANA (SSN 794) nuclear-powered fast attack submarine that joined the Navy’s Pacific Fleet in 2024, and the legacy it inherited from the first USS MONTANA, Armored Cruiser Number 13, that was commissioned in 1908. It connects these warships to all Montanans who have supported them and their sailors.

Joining the Greater Montana Foundation, the Montana, Montana… lead funder, in supporting the program were Humanities Montana and the USS Montana Committee.

Kev Hamm 8/5/24 Kev Hamm 8/5/24

2024 Grant Awards

The Greater Montana Foundation, founded in 1958 by Montana broadcasting pioneer, Edmund B. Craney, announces 2024 grant awards totaling $369,359.

STATEWIDE ORGANIZATIONS

Montana Broadcasters Association $41,359

This grant was for production of the “EB Awards”, held at Fairmont Hot Springs on June 8, 2023+ to recognize excellence in news production, promotion and public service by Montana broadcasters, radio and television. The “EBs” are named in honor of Montana broadcast pioneer Edmund B. Craney, founder of the Greater Montana Foundation. These prestigious awards are presented annually during the Montana Broadcasters Association annual convention.
https://www.mtbroadcasters.org

Montana Free Press $20,000

To support this award-winning non-for-profit Montana digital, text and multimedia news organization, providing distribution to Montana news outlets for free re-publication, this grant will support the “broadcast expansion,” providing MTFP journalism to broadcast stations across Montana.
https://www.mtfp.org

Montana PBS $35,000

Montana Public Radio $25,000

University of Montana Broadcast Media Center
Montana Public Radio enriches the mind and spirit, inspires a lifetime of learning and connects communities through exceptional programming. This grant supports various radio, online and streaming programming including statewide news and analysis, economic and legislative reporting, MTPR’s weekly literary program, The Write Question, The Big Why, a program that seeks to answer questions from the Big Sky, and a wide variety of information and cultural programming that represents the unique character of Montana.
https://www.mtpr.org

ARLEE

Rise Up Montana $10,000

This grant supports the 60-minute production, "Journey to the Sun." This video will encourage communication on crucial issues, trends, and values by vividly bringing to the forefront the environmental challenges, cultural heritage, and historical significance of Montana's Glacier National Park and its iconic Going to the Sun Road. By intertwining the narratives of Montana's natural beauty, the road's engineering marvel, and the deep-rooted connections of Native American tribes to the land, the documentary will serve as a catalyst for discussions on several fronts.

BIG TIMBER

Sweet Grass Arts $8,000

This grant supports the production of a feature-length documentary film that will reveal the unique art and life of famed Western photographer, Barbara Van Cleve. From her youth on the family’s Montana ranch to her emergence as a chronicler of the transformation of the contemporary American West, Van Cleve embraced life as an artist and advocate for ranch women, and an unabashed leader in photographic genre long considered the domain of men.
https://www.sweetgrassartsalliance.org/sweet-grass-arts-theater

BILLINGS

Beartooth Films $9,500

RETURN is the story of adventure, vulnerability and healing that follows Jim Markel, Sr., a retired Green Beret who voyages from Montana to Vietnam for the first time since the war. Although the film has been released, this grant supports preparing the film for broadcast, to meet the specifications required for public broadcast.
https://www.beartoothfilms.com/return/

When They Were Here $10,000

This program is a feature-length documentary that is meant to bring to life the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls crisis in Montana and on the Blackfeet reservation. This grant will support the production of this 85-minute film.
https://artsmissoula.org/gallery/big-sky-film-institute/

Cooke City Avalanche $20,000

Cooke City, Montana, holds a unique position as one of the deadliest avalanche regions in North America, with a winter population of under 100 residents and a very small search and rescue team. This close-knit community is deeply affected each time an avalanche claims a life unnecessarily. Our project aims to delve into the heart of Cooke City, exploring the reasons behind its tragic reputation and the profound impact of repeated disasters on its residents. This grant supports the production of a 60-minute film.

BOZEMAN

Lotus Producers $10,000

This grant supports the project, “MODIFY-An Adaptive Snow Machining Film.” The film follows three adaptive athletes with different disabilities in the backcountry of southwest Montana on snowmachines (snowmobiles and show-bikes) . While adventuring together through the mountain landscapes they each open up about their individual experiences living with disabilities.
https://www.vasusojitra.com/

The Montana Sessions $30,000

4:08 Productions
Music is important to Montanans. Begun over 6-years ago with the production of the first installment, The Montana Sessions is an Emmy-nominated series featuring a wide spectrum of home-grown music in spectacular settings across the state. This grant will help fund 8-new episodes of this widely viewed and enjoyed series, filmed in 4-K.
https://www.montanapbs.org/programs/montana-sessions/

BUTTE

Beyond Yellowstone $10,000

There are few places in America so fascinating and yet so misunderstood as Montana, especially in this era of “Yellowstone.”
This grant supports a new audio project which will seek to set the record straight through deep narrative reporting, showing that Montana is far more complex and captivating than the one-dimensional image of big hats and cattle. It will tell the stories of Montana that are at risk of being lost and forgotten, the tales that challenge overwhelming and incorrect narratives.

HAMILTON

MAPS Media Institute $30,000

MAPS is a nonprofit educational organization whose mission is “to empower, inspire and prepare Montana’s next generation for future success through professional media arts instruction, engaging community service and compassionate mentoring.” This GMF grant supports the general operations of MAPS.
https://www.mapsmediainstitute.com

MAPS Fort Belknap Community Initiative $30,000

This grant supports the MAPS Fort Belknap Community program which will provide year-round free professional media arts education for youth ages 13-18 in the Fort Belknap Indian Community. The purpose is to empower, inspire and prepare this next generation of indigenous youth for success through hands-on media arts instruction, community service and mentoring.
https://mapsmediainstitute.com/programs/maps-media-lab/

HELENA

Archie Bray Foundation $7,500

This grant supports the fourth season of the Archie Bray’s popular Brickyard Podcast Network, which will take place August 2024-July 2025. This season will include seven podcast series for a total of 120 episodes, each 30-60 minutes in length.
https://archiebray.org/

Montana Historical Society $10,000

Within the new Montana Heritage Center, the Montana Homeland gallery will present, “Tribes Today.” This exhibit will explore the contemporary life of the tribes located in Montana today. This grant supports the production of a video to be displayed on a large LED video wall. This media piece imbues the interior of the tipi with vibrancy and energy. It will celebrate pride in being a member of an American Indian nation, and the connection tribal members feel to their place, their culture and those who came before.
https://mhs.mt.gov/

KALISPELL

Center for Restorative Youth Justice $3,000

This grant supports the production of “Sharing the Story of CRYJ.” This is a film project to illustrate the origins and program evolution of CRYJ. This project offers an opportunity to celebrate the successes of CRYJ’s teen participants and provide a deeper understanding for the community of the work of CRYJ.
https://restorativeyouthjustice.org/

MISSOULA

Montana CASA/GAL $10,000

Montana CASA will produce and distribute a three-part video series. The purpose of this production is to raise awareness of Montana CASA’s programs, recruit advocates to serve more children, feature this hope that happens with the reunification of families, and showcase the positive impact Montana CASA/GAL has in our communities. This grant supports the production of this series.

https://www.montanacasagal.org/

University of Montana School of Journalism $24,000

This grant was awarded to the University of Montana J-School to support various student productions and internships. The School of Journalism faculty and students produce a variety of radio, television and online programming throughout the academic year. This could include the Legislative News Service, documentary film production, The Native News Honors Project Montana PBS News Brief, Business: Made in Montana, graduate student broadcast projects or other initiatives.

https://jour.umt.edu/

MEDFORD, OR

Fireside Films $10,000

This program is a feature film, “You Can Call Me Jamie.” It is a story that is based on the life of a transgender woman, as told by her sister. It offers a unique and authentic look into the transgender human experience, and how it fits into the complex and dynamic relationships within a family. This grant supports a 90-minute production.

Kev Hamm 4/15/24 Kev Hamm 4/15/24

Farm Bill on Capitol Hill

In fall of 2023, the Greater Montana Foundation helped fund Montana television networks' Farm Bill on Capitol Hill coverage. It was a chance for a young journalist Ryan Gamboa to navigate the daunting landscape of Washington D.C. Ryan and his colleagues at the Scripps News DC bureau worked on stories that mattered, followed up on previous coverage, and reported on our congressional delegation conducting the nation's business. Ryan was a journalist first but also experienced the wonders of our nation’s capitol while working with an experienced capitol bureau, giving Montana’s agriculture community and MTN viewers first-hand reporting on the progress of the bill.

The Greater Montana foundation was proud to support the work of Ryan Gamboa and his colleagues on the coverage provided by Montana's MTN stations.

Kev Hamm 7/14/23 Kev Hamm 7/14/23

2023 Grant Awards

The Greater Montana Foundation, founded in 1958 by Montana Broadcasting pioneer, Edmund B. Craney, announces 2023 grant awards totaling $340,000. See below for a complete listing of this year’s grants.

STATEWIDE ORGANIZATIONS

Montana Broadcasters Association—$40,000

This grant was for production of the “EB Awards”, held in Billings on June 23, 2023 to recognize excellence in news production, promotion and public service by Montana broadcasters, radio and television. The “EBs” are named in honor of Montana broadcast pioneer Edmund B. Craney, founder of the Greater Montana Foundation. These prestigious awards are presented annually during the Montana Broadcasters Association annual convention.
https://www.mtbroadcasters.org

Leadership Montana—$5,000

Leadership Montana exists to develop leaders committed to building a better Montana through knowledge, collaboration and civility. This grant will support Listen First Montana, a program in the form of a series of podcasts during the first year of the COVID pandemic. Thus far, over 40 episodes have been distributed involving individuals of all backgrounds sharing heartwarming, educational, informative, occasionally heart-breaking but all distinctly unique and personal stories. Leadership Montana is currently working on a special mini-series connected to their Indigenous Immersion Initiative.
https://www.leadershipmontana.org

Montana Free Press—$15,000

To support this award-winning non-for-profit Montana digital, text and multimedia news organization, providing distribution to Montana news outlets for free re-publication, this grant will support a sixth season of the Long Streets Project with a focus on covering Montana’s increasingly urgent housing and job markets as well as track out state and local leaders are trying to pull the state toward meaningful solutions.
https://www.mtfp.org

Montana PBS—$37,500

For continuing support for the Friends of Montana PBS Program Fund, including various ongoing MTPBS programs such as 11th and Grant and Backroads of Montana. Exciting new productions include, George Bird Grinnell: Saving the West, Landscapes of a Western Mind: The Story of Ivan Doig, and Higgins Ridge, Jonnie (working title), and a wide range of news and public affairs programming.
https://www.montanapbs.org

Montana Public Radio—$22,500

Montana Television Network (MTN)—$35,000

This grant supports Under the Big Sky, and ongoing storytelling series produced and distributed by MTN. The series focused on first-person storytelling centered on businesses, individuals and organizations that drive commerce in Montana.
https://www.kxlh.com/ and various local television websites in the Montana Television Network.

USS Montana Committee—$14,000

This grant supported a videography crew to attend the commissioning of the USS Montana to provide documentary footage and background video for use by Montana media and for future documentary
production, and for archival purposes. The production crew covered the June 25, 2022, commissioning into the U.S. Navy fleet of the Virginia Class nuclear-powered fast attack submarine USS MONTANA at Norfolk, Virginia.
https://ussmontanacommittee.us

Montana Television Network (MTN) /KRTV $4,500

This was a commercial grant made in September to support a MTN/KRTV reporter for travel to Washington, D.C. to work with the Scripps Capital Bureau in covering the progress of the Farm Bill, including interview with the Montana Congressional delegation.
https://www.krtv.com/search?q=Farm+Bill

BIG TIMBER

Cramer Productions—$5,000

Crazy Mountain Museum
This program will be a 26-minute video documentary bout Jessica Zemsky, accomplished Montana artist. The purpose is to educate and inspire audiences of all ages who gain from here insight and style of painting, drawing and teaching. Her unique perspective and eloquence are evident in her art, and in her speech and writing.
Read more here.

BILLINGS

Ash Street Films—$5,000

Billings Good Evening LLC
“Your Opinion Please” is a short documentary that derives its name from a weekly call-in radio show that aired from between 1998 and 2008 on Yellowstone Public Radio. The documentary showcased carefully curated excerpts from the show, which provided calls with a live platform to express their opinions on various local, national and cultural issues.

BOZEMAN Area

Bear Hug Cattle Company—$15,000

Passion and Purpose for Veterans in Agriculture
Bear Hug Cattle Co. provides veterans with the resources and knowledge to be successful in the ranching industry by offering transitioning service members a 10-week intensive course. Bear Huge Cattle Co. is veteran owned and operated. This grant supports a three-part film series of approximately five minutes each to tell the story of the good work of Bear Hug Cattle Co. in supporting transitioning veterans.
https://www.bearhugcattlecompany.org

Extreme History Project—$15,000

The mission of this project is to bring Montana history to life and to continue to educate Montanans about historic women of our state. The EHP, with NXNW Creative Strategies, will create two 30-minute documentary films about six prominent women in Montana’s history. These films are companion pieces to the awarding-winning 2022 film, "The Story of Us,” also supported by the Greater Montana Foundation.
https://extremehistoryproject.org/

One Montana—$5,000

This grant supports a video project, Outside Kind, a series of videos helping to tell the story of why landowners and sportsmen need to come together to promote healthy communities and working landscapes, increase a sense of caring and stewardship for Montana’s public resources and enhance newcomers understanding of Montana, and help our communities welcome them.
https://www.onemontana.org

The Montana Sessions—$20,000

4:08 Productions
Music is important to Montanans. Begun over 6-years ago with the production of the first installment, The Montana Sessions is an Emmy-nominated series featuring a wide spectrum of home-grown music in spectacular setting across the state. This grant will help fund 8-new episodes of this widely viewed and enjoyed series, filmed in 4-K.
https://www.montanapbs.org/programs/montana-sessions/

Montana State University, School of Film and Photography—$10,000

One in Five Hundred is a documentary film that will explore the sociological effects and scientific caused of the devastating floods that tore through Yellowstone National Park and its surrounding gateway communities in June of 2022.
https://sfp.montana.edu/

Mother Range

AERO—$8,000

This grant supports a short-form documentary seeking to humanize Montana’s meat industry and show the risks, opportunities and rewards the state’s beef producers are experiencing within the current food system. Driven by first-person narratives, this film will highlight how ranchers are envisioning a new system and working to better connect to Montana consumers.
https://aeromt.org/
https://www.reframingrural.org/

HAMILTON

MAPS Media Institute—$25,000

MAPS is a nonprofit educational organization whose mission is “to empower, inspire and prepare Montana’s next generation for future success through professional media arts instruction, engaging community service and compassionate mentoring.” This GMF grant supporters the general operations of MAPS.
https://www.mapsmediainstitute.com

MAPS Media Lab—$25,000

The MAPS Media Lab is the statewide outreach program of the MAPS Media Institute. This program integrates media arts with service-learning curriculum in order to inspire and prepare rural, underserved youth to succeed in the 21st Century. This grant supports MAPS professional artist-educators travel to rural and tribal communities and facilitate community media arts workshops with middle and high school students.
https://mapsmediainstitute.com/programs/maps-media-lab/

MISSOULA

Missoula Butterfly House—$3,000

In mid-2018, the Missoula Butterfly House and the Insectarium and Montana Public Radio began collaborating on an idea for a new podcast. Together, they launched Bug Bytes. The purpose of Bug Bytes is to inspire an appreciation and understanding of insects, and introduce and educate listeners about and amazing world of insects and arthropod species that we share our planet with. This grant will support this fun and interesting series of podcast and radio episodes.
https://www.missoulabutterflyhouse.org

University of Montana School of Journalism—$20,000

POLSON

Kid’s Co-op—$10,000

The grant supports continued development, distribution and multi-media promotion of Turtle Island Tales, a PBS Learning Media program focused on Indigenous foods, health and culture of First National children and their families.
https://turtleislandtales.org/aboutus

WHITEFISH

Nate Chute Foundation—$5,000

This grant supports plans to write, film and produce and educational video detailing the early warning signs and risk factors for suicide and suicidal ideation and how to seek help from a trusted adult. The
video will be distributed to schools withing Flathead County at no cost to the district and will serve as a resource to teachers to start the conversation with their students about mental health and overall well- being.
https://www.natechutefoundation.org/

Kev Hamm 2/27/23 Kev Hamm 2/27/23

Bear Hug Cattle Co

Passion and Purpose for Veterans in Agriculture

Bear Hug Cattle Co. provides veterans with the resources and knowledge to be successful in the ranching industry by offering transitioning service members a 10-week intensive course. Bear Hug Cattle Co. is veteran owned and operated.

This grant supports a three-part film series of approximately five minutes each to tell the story of the good work of Bear Hug Cattle Co. in supporting transitioning veterans.

https://www.bearhugcattlecompany.org/

Kev Hamm 6/30/22 Kev Hamm 6/30/22

2022 Grant Awards

The Greater Montana Foundation, founded in 1958 by Montana Broadcasting pioneer, Edmund B. Craney, announces 2022 grant awards totaling $361,300. See below for a complete listing of this year’s grants.

STATEWIDE ORGANIZATIONS

Montana Broadcasters Association $39.300

This grant was for production of the “EB Awards”, held at Big Sky on June 11, 2022 to recognize excellence in news production, promotion and public service by Montana broadcasters, radio and television. The “EBs” are named in honor of Montana broadcast pioneer Edmund B. Craney, founder of the Greater Montana Foundation. These prestigious awards are presented annually during the Montana Broadcasters Association annual convention.
https://www.mtbroadcasters.org

Montana Free Press $25,000

To support this award-winning non-for-profit Montana digital, text and multimedia news organization, providing distribution to Montana news outlets for free re-publication, this grant will support a fifth season of the Long Streets Project with a focus on covering Montana’s increasingly urgent housing crisis and related cost-of-living challenges.
In addition, the GMF encouraged and funded an effort to provide broadcast-ready content from the Long Streets Project and other MTFP journalism.
https://www.mtfp.org

Montana PBS $40,000

For continuing support for the Friends of Montana PBS Program Fund, including various ongoing MTPBS programs such as 11th and Grant and Backroads of Montana. Exciting new productions include, George Bird Grinnell: Saving the West (working title), Landscapes of a Western Mind: The Story of Ivan Doig, and Higgins Ridge (working title). This grant also supports MTPBS coverage of news and public affairs, and the upcoming 2022 elections.
https://www.montanapbs.org

Montana Public Radio $25,000

University of Montana Broadcast Media Center
Montana Public Radio enriches the mind and spirit, inspires a lifetime of learning and connects communities through exceptional programming. This grant supports various radio, online and streaming programming including statewide news and analysis, economic and legislative reporting, MTPR’s weekly literary program, The Write Question, and a wide variety of information and cultural programming that represents the unique character of Montana.
https://www.mtpr.org

Leadership Montana $5,000

Leadership Montana exists to develop leaders committed to building a better Montana through knowledge, collaboration and civility. This grant will support Listen First Montana, a new program implemented in the form of a series of podcasts during the first year of the COVID pandemic. Thus far, 21 episodes have been distributed involving individuals of all backgrounds sharing heartwarming, educational, informative, occasionally heart-breaking but all distinctly unique and personal stories.
https://www.leadershipmontana.org

USS Montana Committee $6,000

This grant supported a videography crew to attend the commissioning of the USS Montana to provide documentary footage and background video for use by Montana media and for future documentary production, and for archival purposes. The production crew covered the June 25, 2022, commissioning into the U.S. Navy fleet of the Virginia Class nuclear-powered fast attack submarine USS MONTANA at Norfolk, Virginia.
https://ussmontanacommittee.us

BILLINGS

Spyrock Films $15,000

This grant supports production of a 60-minute documentary, Ryan Zahn Goes Pro. Ryan Zahn is a brilliant young engineer with a competitive spirit and a passion for building and customizing his own machines, from off-road vehicles to motorcycles. Ryan loves to test the limits of his creations through racing and tough truck competition. Many people have a hard time believing Ryan is capable of his achievements until they see him in action. Ryan Zahn was born without arms.
The Montana International Film Festival (MINT) is the fiscal sponsor for this production.

BOZEMAN area

Bear Hug Cattle Company $8,500

One Montana $5,000

This grant supports a video project – The Montana Way- a series of three videos, 3-4 minutes each. The goal of the video project is to promote healthy communities and working landscapes, increase a sense of caring and stewardship for Montana’s public resources, and enhance newcomers understanding of Montana, and help communities welcome them.
https://www.onemontana.org

The Montana Sessions $30,000

Music is important to Montanans. Begun 6-years ago with the production of the first installment, The Montana Sessions offers a wide spectrum of home-grown music in spectacular setting across the state. This grant will help fund 8-new episodes of this widely viewed and enjoyed series.
https://www.montanapbs.org/programs/montana-sessions/

BUTTE

Orphan Girl Productions $10,000

Last Best Constitution is a video history retrospective on Montana’s 1972 Constitutional Convention and the resulting state Constitution on the 50th Anniversary. This grant supports 20 one-hour episodes. Helena Civic Television is serving as fiscal sponsor for this project.

HAMILTON

MAPS Media Institute $25,000

MAPS is a nonprofit educational organization whose mission is “to empower, inspire and prepare Montana’s next generation for future success through professional media arts instruction, engaging community service and compassionate mentoring.” This GMF grant supporters the general operations of MAPS.
https://www.mapsmediainstitute.com

MAPS Media Lab $30,000

HELENA

The Myrna Loy $7,500

This grant supports The Myrna Soundstage, an online series – six new, 60-minute episodes - showcasing and celebrating Montana performers and musicians to the greater world. The program showcases the quality and diversity of Montana’s musicians who are doing original work, and supports Montana musicians and performing artists who face multiple struggles building a career and staying in Montana.
https://www.themyrnaloy.com

MISSOULA

ABC Fox Montana $13,000

The “Help Me Ben” series was approached with the story of a World War II artifact, a Japanese Good Luck Flag, The flag was a gift from a Japanese soldier to an American soldier. The desire of the American family is to reunite this Good Luck Flag with the Japanese soldier and his family in Japan and allow two families to share the moment of humanity of 80 -years ago. This grant will support the transportation and to and in Japan and the videography to fulfill this wish.
https://www.montanarightnow.com

The Common Ground Project $12,000

The Life in the Land project is a series of documentary films and podcast episodes which share perspectives from people who interact with the complexities of Montana’s lands, waters, and communities, looking at the success and value in collaboration and locally-led initiative. This grant will support the production of two films, 15 min. in length, and five podcast episodes, each 15 minutes. The Common Ground Project is the fiscal sponsor of this project.
https://www.thecommongroundproject.us

Missoula Butterfly House $3,000

In mid-2018, the Missoula Butterfly House and the Insectarium and Montana Public Radio began collaborating on an idea for a new podcast. Together, they launched Bug Bytes. The purpose of Bug Bytes is to inspire an appreciation and understanding of insects, and introduce and educate listeners about and amazing world of insects
and arthropod species that we share our planet with. This grant will support this series of podcast and radio episodes.
https://www.missoulabutterflyhouse.org

Dance River Productions $20,000

A Different Deadly Beast: The 1918-19 Influenza is a documentary film exploring the untold stories of the Montanans who struggled, innovated and worked together to survive the killing virus. This grant supports the production of this 27-minute film. The Montana History Foundation is the fiscal sponsor for this project.
https://www.danceriverproductions.com

University of Montana School of Journalism $25,000

This grant was awarded to the University of Montana J-School to support various student productions and internships. The School of Journalism faculty and students produce a variety of radio, television and online programming throughout the academic year. This could include the Legislative News Service, Documentary film production, The Native News Honors Project Montana PBS News Brief, Business: Made in Montana, graduate student broadcast projects or other initiatives.
https://jour.umt.edu/

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS

Meagher County Stewardship Project $10,000

Like many communities in the West, White Sulphur Springs faces an uncertain economic future and numerous headwinds that put pressure on their culture and way of life. Further complicating matters, a controversial, large-scale copper mine under development. This grant supports the production of a feature documentary, 26-28 minutes, exploring the cost-benefit presented by the mine.
https://www.meaghercountystewardshipcouncil.org

WINNETT

Winnett ACES $7,000

This grant supports the Winnett Agricultural Community Enhancement & Sustainability that will bring attention to the deep interconnectedness of rural Montana communities and their reliance on the land. Winnett ACES: Conservation of Community and Landscapes will be a film 20-30 minutes, produced in three segments.
https://www.winnettaces.org

Kev Hamm 2/24/22 Kev Hamm 2/24/22

Montana Heritage Center

The Montana Heritage Center captures the grandeur of the Treasure State by celebrating the natural features, diverse cultures, and stories of our past. After years of consensus building and careful design, the new home for the Montana Historical Society will include expanded museum exhibits; educational classrooms and a public event center; an enhanced research center; plus a café, outdoor courtyard and rooftop terrace. Visitors from across Montana and the world will experience state-of-the-art displays of our ever-expanding collections, only steps away from the Capitol building.
Construction activities started in Fall 2020, and the project is scheduled for completion in Winter 2024/2025.

The Craney Studio, a state of the art presentation, recording and live streaming media facility, will be located in the new event center of the Montana Heritage Center. The Greater Montana Foundation provided a grant of $600,000 very early in the process to support this project and fund the Craney Studio. The Montana Historical Society is also home to the E.B. Craney Film and Media Archives.

To donate to the project, click here.

Kev Hamm 9/6/21 Kev Hamm 9/6/21

2021 Grant Awards

STATEWIDE ORGANIZATIONS

Montana Broadcasters Association. $21,635 for the annual EB awards. The "EB Awards" are named in honor of Montana broadcast pioneer Edmund B. Craney and recognize excellence in local news, production, promotion, and public service. The awards are presented annually during the Montana Broadcasters Association convention. For two years, the awards ceremony had to be broadcast, but there are hopes for a live dinner and ceremony in 2022. That will be the 60th anniversary of the EBs.

An MBA committee developed new requirements for judging and new categories. GMF Trustee emeritus Bill Whitsitt played an important role in this effort. The EBs were live, produced in MTPBS studio, and some awardees were able to participate via Zoom. Radio staff were elsewhere. This can be accessed on YouTube.

Montana Free Press. $20,000 for continued support of this nationally recognized, award-winning, nonprofit online newspaper. GMF support is specifically for reporter Eric Dietrich’s economic stories, Long Streets. This series contains some of MTFP’s most impactful reporting, by all measures. Stories have also focused on the impact Covid 19 is having on the state’s economy

The Montana Free Press model is a new way to present the news. It is entirely funded by grants and contributions, aiming for high excellence and independence in reporting. Content is available to newspapers, on-line and radio, and free individual subscriptions. In the efforts to find better ways to get news out to readers, MTFP now includes podcasts, as well as print.

Montana Television Network. $40,000 of continued support for the story-telling series, Under the Big Sky, which recognizes and emphasizes community, pride, and Montanans’ entrepreneurial spirit. The program has won awards from the Montana Broadcasters Association and has received 3 Northwest Emmys. Stories are available on YouTube and MTN’s website.

Montana History Foundation, $8000, as fiscal sponsor for Reframing Rural, an original podcast series, whose mission is to share untold stories of people and places in rural Montana. This is an effort to celebrate culture, preserve history and cultivate curiosity and conversation across geographic, class and cultural divide. The founder, Megan Torgerson’s, rural homeplace is Dagmar, Montana, and stories on her first podcast captured stories from this small, agricultural community on ancestral Assiniboine land in the state’s extreme northeast corner. The podcast funded by GMF will focus on an interview-based approach with rural-raised, rural-based and rural-centered artists, academics, and activists from the Rocky Mountain West, Heartland and Pacific Northwest.

Montana has long prided itself on values rooted in rural culture, such as neighborliness, resilience, and a strong work ethic. Reframing Rural celebrates these values and frames a narrative through gratitude.

Montana PBS. $50,000 in continued support for the Friends of Montana PBS Program Fund. Support includes that for various regular MTPBS Montana programs, such as 11th and Grant and Backroads of Montana, along with several new broadcasts and documentaries. MTPBS also includes the broadcast of other GMF funded films, such as MAPS Media youth films.

Next year there will be new documentaries in addition to those Montana-based programs GMF already funds, including the Rise of the Freemen, one of the longest standoffs in Montana history, almost 25 years ago, and a documentary about George Bird Grinnell to illuminate the man and his life, placing him in the forefront of conservation, preservation, and indigenous cultural efforts. 2022 will also include important election coverage.

MTPR. $25,000 in continued funding for Montana Public Radio. There are several different programs which align with GMF’s mission. GMF funding will support three important programs: Economic business reporting, Can Do: Lessons from Montana Entrepreneurs, and the Write Question.

MTPR continues its long history of covering many important economic and business-related stories and will continue to address the issues of economic recovery from the Covid 19 Pandemic. Also included will be information from Montana entrepreneurs, and how they have adapted to the Pandemic, as well as “The Write Question,” a literary program, featuring authors from the western United States.

BOZEMAN

Montana State University. $10,000 for a film based on a special report of the work at Montana State University, Climate Change and Human Health in Montana. This special report by medical providers, climate scientists and an array of state, tribal, academic, and rural community sources, will be made into a film which addresses the issues and outlines what Montanans can do about them. There are many adverse effects and Montanans can learn about them in a sound, scientific, but not too technical, way through the film.

Montana Sessions. $20,000. An additional grant for this award-winning, unique music program, which features Montana musicians playing in spectacular outdoor Montana settings. Winning awards, shown online, at music festivals and on MTPBS, the successful series has garnered viewers from around the country and even from Germany.

One Montana. $5000 in funding to support brief videos, “The Montana Way,” to help bridge the urban-rural divide. These videos will showcase work connections and the valuable work done by landowners in conservation and many areas. The videos will help newcomers understand Montana better and build respect. There will be an emphasis on relationships between farmers and sportsmen and ways they can collaborate. The emphasis will be on a way to bring people together, with more understanding and respect.

Turtle Island Tales. Fiscal sponsor, Montana Kids Co-op. $14,500 for short, child-focused videos, emphasizing Native American foods and healthy eating. They feature Darnell Rides at the Door, actress and grandmother advisor, and her puppet grandson, Igmu, the bobcat. Videos will be available for schools and MTPBS. The team is working with MTPBS to create longer films on this critically important subject as well. The teams work with MSU medical research and Home Economics. Eating locally grown foods and traditional Native American meals is healthy and can help prevent diseases, such as diabetes.

DARBY

MAPS Media Institute Programs, $24,000 for this free professional media arts, after-school program for high school students in a four-county area. The increasingly successful program offers film, graphic design, new technologies, podcast and photojournalism. The program continues to win state and national awards, while several student films are shown on MTPBS.

MAPS Mobile Lab, $24,000, the successful statewide outreach program of MAPS Media programs. This provides the means for integrating media arts with a service-learning curriculum to serve rural, underserved youth in rural and reservation communities. MAPS professional artist-educators travel to rural and reservation towns and facilitate intentional community arts projects with middle and high school students.

To continue programs during Covid 19, they were able to go online and make changes which work. MAPS has made significant progress with their work, regardless of the challenges. In Fort Peck, all four schools in the district are making the MAPS program part of their regular school day curriculum. More is planned for the fall, with MAPS native students’ films featured at the International Traditional Games Society.

HARDIN

Crow Language Consortium. $7000 to continue support for Crow language YouTube Videos. These are a series of companion YouTube videos for children’s picture books in both Crow and Northern Cheyenne languages. A fluent elder in each language will read the stories, which will be subtitled in the target language and in English. These are part of an effort for language preservation and revitalization program. Language and culture are inextricably intertwined, especially in the case of especially in the case of Indigenous languages and the language revitalization projects protect and celebrate an integral aspect of Montana history and culture.

MISSOULA

UM Radio & TV. $19,500 in continued support for various programs, though some had to be postponed because of the Covid Pandemic: the student documentary film and Native News Honor project could not be completed. Business: Made in Montana also could not be made, as businesses did not allow students in. Others could continue, but the amount requested reflects a lower amount, due to Covid 19 and the inability to complete these programs. This meant there are funds remaining from last year’s grant, but there are hopes they can be used this year. From the Craney endowment for equipment, a new router and mics were purchased.

Big Sky Film Institute. $10,000 for the Youth and Native American Documentary Outreach program. While Covid has changed some of their methods, the Institute has been working successfully online and in person. There are three areas which GMF helps fund: Native Filmmaker Initiative Film Club, supported by tribes and OPI; Filmmakers in the Schools, Festival selected films and filmmakers visit schools; and Teen Doc Intensive, a brief, in-depth crash course in filmmaking. These are all non-fiction films

Montana Playwrights Network. President Pamela Mencher requests funding for a radio series, Montanans at Work. The programs, about 30 minutes long, will highlight and explore different areas of employment in Montana and they will be broadcast on a variety of community and public radio stations. They are also adding a streaming feature.

PHILIPSBURG

Granite County Historical Society. $20,000 for Montana Risk Takers, a proposed documentary on the history of mining in the Philipsburg area. The film is in the pre-production stage, interviewing those who lived through some of this area and researching documents. Many were involved in this dangerous and difficult occupation. MTPBS has indicated an interest in the final product.

Kev Hamm 7/15/20 Kev Hamm 7/15/20

A Montana Field Guide to 2020 Election Polls

Webinar Thursday, July 9, 2020

Our recent webinar: "A Montana Field Guide to 2020 Election Polls"

Speaker info:

Ms. Nicole McCleskey, a partner with Public Opinion Strategies, set the discussion stage by highlighting national trends in polling – and initial key questions about them. In the 2018 election cycle, Ms. McCleskey polled in five gubernatorial races, helping to win four. Since 2004, Public Opinion Strategies has been a partner on the bipartisan polling team conducting the NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll, one of the most respected surveys of public opinion on political, cultural, and economic issues. It has been described as the “gold standard” of public polling.

Dr. Eric Raile discussed election and political polling conducted by the HELPS Lab at MSU-Bozeman, as well as survey modes and margins of error. Dr. Raile is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Montana State University. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Michigan State University in 2008. The MSU Human Ecology Learning and Problem Solving (HELPS) Lab that Dr. Raile directs conducts polling in Montana and our region. The HELPS Lab recently published the Western States Coronavirus Survey which contained polling on Montana’s upcoming political races.

Mr. John Baldridge of the University of Montana’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) discussed recent and upcoming Montana-based policy opinion polling. Mr. Baldridge is Director of Survey Research at BBER. With a Master’s Degree from the University of Chicago, Mr. Baldridge has conducted survey research for 30 years, including initially at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. He had recently completed the third in a series of polls that examined Montanans’ top public policy issues of interest, preferred Montana news sources about those issues, and perceptions of news source credibility.

Dr. Andrew Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, presented overall poll quality takeaways. On the American Association for Public Opinion Research Task Force for Evaluation of 2020 Election Polls, Dr. Smith has more than 30 years’ experience in academic survey research. He is Professor of Practice in Political Science in the UNH Department of Political Science where he focuses on survey methodology, elections, and public policy. A leader in professional public opinion research professional organizations, Dr. Smith’s methodological research has included work on question wording effects, the issue of non-attitudes in surveys, and methods of improving the accuracy of pre-election surveys. He is a widely sought-after commentator on election polling, with special focus on New Hampshire and other regional elections.

Dr. Bill Whitsitt, GMF Chairman Emeritus and BBER Executive-in-Residence, was the webinar moderator. Dr. Whitsitt has managed highly-successful public opinion and communication research projects at national, regional and state levels.

Kev Hamm 6/30/20 Kev Hamm 6/30/20

2020 Grant Awards

GMF awards over $277,000 in grants

BOARD INTIATED GRANT

Bureau of Business and Economic Research, University of Montana: $4500 for A Montana Field Guide to 2020 Election
The Greater Montana Foundation trustees engaged the BBER, with whom we have worked before, for this webinar, with the leadership of trustee emeritus William Whitsitt. The purpose was to better educate Montana citizens about what to look for and understand in Public opinion polls and communication research – characterized perhaps most frequently by public opinion polls - can have multiple purposes and effects in a political season. In our representative democracy it is important for media and citizens alike to have basic understanding of types of public opinion polling done in Montana, and that will undoubtedly increase prior to the November general elections. The Montana Field Guide to 2020 Election Polls webinar explored all these topics. Attendees included primarily media representatives because of their key roles in analyzing and interpreting polling results – and asking questions about them - but also private- and public-sector organizations, including government, and citizens. There was no charge for the webinar, which was very favorably received.
Friends of MTPBS: $40,000 in continued support for the Montana Friends of PBS Program Fund, for broadcast and online, telling Montana’s story by producing programs that examine Montanan’s current pubic and civic affairs; the state’s rich lifestyle and culture and its complex history. In addition to numerous programs, including Backroads of Montana; 11th and Grant; and The Rundown with Jackie Coffin, this grant also supports a documentary in the planning stages, on the Freemen standoff in eastern Montana, between armed militia claiming a new township, “Justus Township, “ and FBI agents and other law enforcement. Other documentaries are also planned. Funds support 2020 election coverage, a partnership with University of Montana on “Montana Big Sky Poll of Montana voters.”
Montana Broadcasters Association: GMF partnered with MBA with $2000 for a debate between Senate Candidates and $2621 for a primary debate between gubernatorial candidates. A grant of $17,240 was awarded for a scaled down, virtual ceremony for the annual EB awards for broadcast excellence. The “EBs” recognize excellence in a variety of categories through a competitive process, encouraging and rewarding the best of Montana broadcasting. They are named in honor of broadcast pioneer E.B. Craney, GMF founder, and funded annually by GMF. The “EBs” recognize excellence in a variety of categories through a competitive process, encouraging and rewarding the best of Montana broadcasting.

HELENA

Montana Free Press: $20,000 for the third season of the Long Streets Project, continuing GMF’s support for this series of on-line stories using multimedia journalism to explore economic issues and trends facing Montanans. Long Streets features in-depth reporting, with uniquely comprehensive coverage of the state’s economy, and a subsection of coverage focusing on the economic impacts of Covid 19 pandemic. Web-based stories, which appear on the website of the Montana Free Press, are available for re-publication by commercial and non-commercial Montana news outlets, including broadcaster websites and daily and weekly newspapers.
Montana Historical Society: $15,000 to MHS State Historic Preservation Office for Montana’s African-American Heritage. This documentary will record and disseminate the history of an under-represented group, African Americans, in Montana, telling this story through historic places. Montana Historical Society has, over the past 14 years, gathered information about black Montanans and their history and created an interactive website, which will be featured in the film.
Montana Preservation Alliance: $5500 for the second chapter of “All Nations – Butte Ethnic Heritage” with radio broadcasts and Rich-Media Online Exhibits. This is part of the “All Nations” program, which features in various ways the diversity of nations which built Butte and our state. This project will feature stories of four groups, nationalities, who have been involved in this history, but may not be as well known. Including research and workshops, original material and oral histories, they will be broadcast by Butte Broadcasting and on an online website exhibit. (The first series was sponsored by the Butte-Silverbow Archives, which was unable, because of Covid, to submit a 2020 grant application, so MPA assumed this role.)
Montana Public Radio: $20,000 in continued program support, for radio, online and streaming, in areas such as general economic reporting. This includes continuing programs, such as Can Do: Lessons from Savvy Entrepreneurs; the Richest Hill, future history of American’s biggest Superfund site; and The Write question.
Montana Wilderness Association: $5500 of on-going support for Trail of the Week: Supporting Montana’s Outdoor Recreation Economy. This series of 52 one-minute radio spots feature lesser-known trails on public lands throughout Montana, with narratives featuring trail highlights. The program, the website and a new TV PSA, to be broadcast on PBS, available digitally and available to commercial networks, also emphasizes support for local businesses in each trail’s area, especially important during this era of Covid 19.

BILLINGS

Beartooth Films: $10,000 for continued support of “Return,” the story of a Montana veteran who returns to Vietnam for the first time since the war, accompanied by his son. This is a feature length film documentary of the veteran retracing his steps, reckoning with the past, while sharing reflections and insights from the war with his son. This includes a testimony of living with PTSD, and the vet’s reconnection with the Montagnards with whom he lived in Vietnam. The documentary is important for people to understand the war and its hardships then and in returning and encourage communication between generations.

BOZEMAN

Extreme History Project: $8000 for this project intended to bring Montana history to life through the stories of our people. These will be stories of those who have made an impact on our state, including stories not so well known about Montana’s Native American communities and African American communities. Each vignette will feature expert interviews, historic images, videos and, if possible, primary sources. Four vignettes will form a documentary for MTPBS and help Montana’s history come alive.

DARBY

MAPS Media Institute: $53,500 total: $28,500 in continued support for the award-winning MAPS Media Institute free after-school program serving four county schools, with outreach programs to rural and reservation communities. The public/private partnership integrates science, technology, engineering, the arts and math concepts within a media arts and service learning curriculum, including an entrepreneurial program; $25,000 for the MAPS Media Mobile Lab, the statewide outreach program. In response to urgent needs and often lack of opportunity in other rural and tribal communities, MAPS is working with school districts, community partners and donors to provide week-long workshops free of charge to all students for the workshops.

HARDIN

Crow Language Consortium: $8000, as part of a Crow language revitalization project, to help produce a YouTube children’s video series, featuring native language speakers in both Crow (Apsaalooke) and Northern Cheyenne, reading children’s picture books. The stories are from books in the native language, which the children are reading. This entire project, including the video series, helps preserve important native history and culture, while research shows that the benefits of second language acquisition includes increased grades in all school subjects, higher attendance and graduation rates and better family-school relationships.

HELENA

Artemis Common Ground: $10,000 in continued program support for Homeground Radio, Changes and Choices in the American West, which strives to offer a vision of the rural west emphasizing that a healthy economy and conserving our environment are interdependent, and that by working together we can achieve both.

MISSOULA

Missoula Butterfly House and Insectarium: $2500 in continued support for Bug Bites, a successful series of insect and arthropod educational podcast, created with Montana Public Radio. The goal is to further the organization’s mission of educating and inspiring Montanans and decreasing the degree insects and others are feared.
University of Montana: Montana Media Lab: $5500 for the Media Literacy and Digital Story Telling Initiative. The initiative targets middle and high school students in rural areas and reservations, providing media training through workshops and going into the schools, when possible. The program also emphasizes and teaches students how to separate fact from fiction in the news. It provides an opportunity for UM School of Journalism the opportunity to teach skills, while honing their own production skills.
University of Montana School of Radio-TV: $30,000 in continued support for various programs including Legislative News Service, with students reporting on the Montana legislative session; a new Outdoor Adventure Filmmaking; the Documentary student film is now launched as a partnership with the School of Visual and Media Arts, a cornerstone program in a certificate program in documentary film. The grant provides on-going support for programs: Business: Made in Montana, and the Montana PBS news brief. In conjunction with the Native News Honor project, a new component has created a series of radio programs to be distributed to commercial stations, with a later video component, as a joint documentary with the Montana Media Arts lab.

PHILIPSBURG

Philipsburg Arts Fund: $12,000 for “Philipsburg 2.0 Be Careful What you Wish For”, a sequel to the international award-winning documentary, “Saving the Burg,” also supported by GMF, which told of the great success in revitalizing the town and its economy after the decline in mining. Shown frequently to great acclaim on MTPBS, it was hoped the local success could be replicated in other communities. This film tells what happened afterward, as changes occurred, newcomers moved in, with some positive and negative effects. It includes the difficulties in dealing with the Covid Pandemic, especially important to an economy built primarily on tourism.

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS

Meagher County Stewardship Council: $5500 to support a documentary about White Sulphur Springs and its efforts to balance economic reality with a desire to maintain its character. A copper mine planned for the pristine waters of the Smith River Canyon promises an unpredictable future for its residents, with strident voices inside and outside the community force deeper thinking about the value of environment versus economy in the new rural west.

Kev Hamm 5/1/20 Kev Hamm 5/1/20

Greater Montana Foundation and Montana Broadcasters Association to Co-sponsor debates for Gubernatorial Candidates

Ron Davis, Chair, Greater Montana Foundation and Greg Pace, Chair, Montana Broadcasters Association, announced today that the two groups will hold debates for the Democratic and Republican candidates for Governor, on Saturday, May 2. There will be two 60 minutes debates, one for each party.

Originally scheduled to take place at the MTN Studios in Great Falls, they will now take place virtually, with all participants in separate locations around the state. Broadcasts will not be live, local stations will need to be checked for dates and times. Stations have been requested to not broadcast earlier than 6:00 pm that evening. Greater Montana Foundation is providing funding for the debates.

Davis and Pace said, “We are pleased to jointly sponsor these important debates, which are even more significant at this time, since candidates are not able to get out around the state meeting Montana voters. While keeping all safe, we will provide a real service to the Montana public by allowing candidates to showcase their backgrounds, policies and programs.

Those participating are Democratic candidates Lt. Governor Mike Cooney and businesswomen Whitney Williams, and Republican candidates, US Representative Greg Gianforte, Attorney General Tim Fox and Montana State Senator Al Olszewski.

Ron Davis, GMF Board Chair and President of Butte Broadcasting will serve as moderator. Panelists are Mike Dennison, Montana Television Network; Cyndny Koures, NBC Montana; and Taylor Tucker, Cowles Media. Questions will not be available in advance nor solicited from the public. Panelists will decide on the questions.

Panelists’ backgrounds:

Mike Dennison, the chief political reporter for the Montana Television Network, based in Helena. He has been covering politics full-time in Montana for 28 years, with MTN, and earlier as a news reporter. Cyndy Koures is Assistant News Director at NBC Montana. A 5th generation Montanan, she earlier spent most of her career in Spokane, in a variety of positions with KXLY TV and AM, garnering a number of awards.

Taylor Tucker is an award-winning anchor, reporter and producer at KFBB in Great Falls, Montana. Before moving from Wisconsin to Montana in 2015, she worked as an intern at the Center for Investigative Journalism and in other positions. She covers everyday issues for Montanans.

Davis and Pace encouraged all Montanans to take advantage of this opportunity to safely view debates among the candidates of both parties.

In conclusion, Davis noted the Greater Montana Foundation and the Montana Broadcasters Association have a longtime relationship, partnering on the annual “EB” awards for excellence in broadcasting, named for GMF founder Edmund B. Craney, as well as on candidates’ debates at the MBA annual meeting. A pioneer broadcaster, Craney established the foundation in 1958 with an initial focus on improving commercial broadcasting in the state. That focus has expanded to include a mission of “encouraging communications, with an emphasis on electronic media, on issues, trends and values of importance to present and future generations of Montanans, ” with grants awarded to the University o of Montana Radio and TV school, Montana PBS, Montana NPR and a wide variety of documentaries, films, broadcasts and podcasts.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATON:

Candidates for Governor will debate May 2. Co-sponsored by Greater Montana Foundation and the Montana Broadcasters Association, the debates were scheduled for the MTN studio in Great Falls. Now they will be virtual and broadcast on different stations. So far as we know, these stations will broadcast on Saturday, May 2, 6-8 pm o'clock.

MTN Stations: • KTVQ – Billings, Montana.
• KRTV – Great Falls, Montana. KXLH-LD – Helena, Montana.
• KXLF – Butte, Montana. KBZK – Bozeman, Montana.
• KPAX – Missoula, Montana. KAJJ-CD – Kalispell, Montana.
NBC Montana in Missoula, Kalispell, Butte and Bozeman will also be broadcasting Saturday from 6pm-8pm as will many radio stations across the State.

Check with your local stations!

Kev Hamm 6/30/19 Kev Hamm 6/30/19

2019 Grant Awards

GMF awards over $335,000 in grants

BOARD INITIATED GRANTS

$38,880 ($19,000 in late 2018) for the GMF’s third Communications Research: In-depth Follow-up Quantitative Survey on Internet Use for News and Information in Montana, including the news conference announcing the findings. This is the statewide News Media survey, administered by University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research, weighted by gender, age, education, rural versus urban and political preference, as taken from the US Census Bureau and Gallup, Inc. Top issues for Montanans continued to be Jobs and the Economy; Healthcare, Education, with the added issue of Spending and State Taxes (the survey was conducted during the Montana legislative session), and Drugs. The survey and responses are available on the GMF website.

GRANTS FOR STATEWIDE ORGANIZATIONS

Friends of MTPBS: $40,000 for the Montana Friends of PBS Program Fund, for broadcast and online, with continuing support for numerous programs, including Backroads of Montana; 11th and Grant; and new programs: Landscapes of a Western Mind: The Story of Ivan Doig; Mavericks, the freestyle skiing legacy of Montanans competing in World Cup and Olympic competitions; Barns of Montana: A Documentary; The Rundown with Jackie Coffin, and several documentaries in the planning process.

Montana Broadcasters Association: $36,511 for the annual EB awards for broadcast excellence. Named in honor of broadcast pioneer E.B. Craney, GMF founder, and funded annually by GMF, the “EBs” recognize excellence in a variety of categories through a competitive process, encouraging and rewarding the best of Montana broadcasting.

Montana Free Press: $20,000 in continued support for the Long Streets series of on-line stories featuring in-depth reporting on important issues related to Montana’s economy. Web-based stories, which appear on the website of the Montana Free Press, are available for re-publication by commercial and non-commercial Montana news outlets, including broadcaster websites and daily and weekly newspapers.

Montana Historical Society: $7,000 to digitize selections of the KRTV audio visual collection for addition to the Archives. This collection was transferred from the Mike Mansfield Library at the University of Montana, and includes many important programs, including longtime former GMF trustee, Norma Ashby’s “Today in Montana.”

Montana Public Radio: $20,000 in continued program support, in areas such as general economic reporting; and for programs including Can Do: Lessons from Savvy Entrepreneurs; the Richest Hill, future history of American’s biggest Superfund site; and The Write question.

Montana Wilderness Association: $2000 for Trail of the Week: Supporting Montana’s Outdoor Recreation Economy, with 52 one minute spots, partnering with eleven radio stations, and featured on MWA website. The spots feature lesser known trails on public lands throughout Montana, with narratives featuring trail highlights. The website also emphasizes local businesses in each trail’s area.

BILLINGS

Billings Library Foundation: $3000 for PSAs focused on promoting “1000 Books Before Kindergarten,” a national initiative to promote reading and libraries for young children, in order to improve their opportunity for success in school.

Friends of Yellowstone Public Radio: $10,000 in continued support for in-house produced, local shows, made by Montanans for Montanans. These include: Flavors Under the Big Sky, investigating many aspects of Montana food; Resounds: Arts and Culture on the High Plains; art and artists located in the High Plains of Montana and Wyoming; Field Days, produced with The Prairie Star newspaper which follows a single farmer or rancher through each season; and Billings Symphony Concerts, featuring encore concerts from the last ten years, and a new local show, Fifty-Six Counties, based on the book by the same name by author Russell Rowland, and broadcast by the author as he travels throughout our state; and a new podcast, the Weekly News Review.

BOZEMAN

Montana State University School of Film and Photography: $2,000 for the annual Hugh Galusha-Ed Craney award for two outstanding senior film projects.

Universal Vision: $10,000 in continued support for this Emmy-nominated series, The Montana Sessions, a broadcast and digital series, which takes Montana’s premier
musicians, recording them live in our state’s most scenic locations. The series captures the music that reflects Montana’s values, history and trends.

BUTTE

Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives: $5000 for an audio project as part of the “All Nations” program, which features in various ways the diversity of nations which built Butte and our state This audio project will feature stores of four groups, nationalities, who have been involved, but may not be as well known. With research and workshops, original material and oral histories, there will be four segments, each 30m minutes. They will be broadcast by Butte Broadcasting
DARBY

MAPS Media Institute: $60,000 total: $20,000 in continued support for the award-winning MAPS Media Institute free after-school program serving four county schools. The public/private partnership integrates science, technology, engineering, the arts and math concepts within a media arts and service learning curriculum, including an entrepreneurial program. In 2017, MAPS was one of 12 programs in the nation to receive a National Arts and Humanities Youth Programs award, the highest honor for organizations dedicated to creative youth development; $40,000 for the MAPS Media Mobile Lab, the statewide outreach program. In response to urgent needs in other rural and tribal communities, MAPS is working with school districts, community partners and donors to provide week-long workshops free of charge to all students for the workshops.

HELENA

Artemis Common Ground: $10,000 in continued program support for Homeground Radio, Changes and Choices in the American West, which strives to offer a vision of the rural west emphasizing that a healthy economy and conserving our environment are interdependent, and that by working together we can achieve both.

Montana Television Network: $40,000 for Under the Big Sky, a storytelling series produced and distributed by the Montana Television Network. Under the Big Sky focuses on first-person storytelling centered on businesses, individuals or organizations that drive commerce in the state of Montana. Under the Big Sky was previously awarded Program of the Year by the Montana Broadcasters Association and last year was nominated for six Northwest Emmy Awards, winning one. Additionally, each week a bonus portion is part of the stories that will appear in the thirty-minute broadcast. These bonus segments contain story material that would otherwise be discarded in the editorial process due to time constraints. The Under the Big Sky bonus segments were awarded the Feature News Series of the Year by the Montana Broadcasters Association in 2017.

MISSOULA

Big Sky Film Institute: $8000 for BSF Youth Documentary Outreach. With a focus on nonfiction films, BSI outreach is especially for economically and socially disadvantaged youth to increase media literacy. The various programs include: Filmmakers in the Schools, BSI Documentary Youth Fellowship, Teen Documentary Intensive, and MFI Film Club.

Friends of Irish Studies: $5000 to support a new documentary film on the life of Thomas Francis Meagher: Irish patriot, Civil War General, and acting Governor of Montana Territory. The film will emphasize his commitment to the cause of Irish freedom and his defense of the democratic rights of all American citizens. This is the story of a people and relationship between the US and Ireland, specifically Montana, that goes back over 150 years. And it deals with issues of immigration, injustice and discrimination that continue to affect this generation.

Missoula Butterfly House and Insectarium: $2000 a second grant for Bug Bites, a series of insect and arthropod educational podcast, created with Montana Public Radio. The goal is to further the organization’s mission of educating and inspiring Montanans and decreasing the degree insects and others are feared.

University of Montana Montana Media Lab: $5000 for the Media Literacy and Digital Story Telling Initiative. The initiative targets middle and high school students in rural areas and reservations, providing media training through workshops and going into the schools.

University of Montana School of Radio-TV: $30,000 in continued support for various programs including the summer internship program, graduate student broadcast project, and programs: Business: Made in Montana, and the Montana PBS news brief. The Native News Honor Project will create a series of radio programs to be distributed to commercial stations, with a later video component, as a joint documentary with the Montana Media Arts lab.

From the Heart Productions: $8000 for “When They Were Here,” a documentary film on missing and murdered Indigenous girls and women. Made by Blackfeet filmmakers, the documentary will include several actual stories, showing the devastating effects of violence against Native Women and highlighting information about recent Montana legislation addressing this critical issue.

PABLO

Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes: $7500 for post-production of a documentary film, “In the Spirit of ?Atatice`: The Untold Story of the National Bison Range, co-produced by the Tribes. This will include screening events to feature panel discussions, expanding on the history of the National Bison Range, as well as the Tribes’ relationship to the Bison Range and to the buffalo generally. The Tribes’ history is inextricably intertwined with the specific lands of the Bison Range and its buffalo herd. The film chronicles a number of relevant events and issues.

Kev Hamm 12/5/18 Kev Hamm 12/5/18

Long Streets Reporting Project

Supported by a Greater Montana Foundation grant, this is the initial story in the Long Streets reporting project. This project reflects the issue of top importance, Jobs and the Economy, as identified by Montanans in both of GMF's professionally conducted media surveys. This report has been republished widely in the Montana media.

You'll definitely want to take the time to read this outstanding reporting.

Kev Hamm 12/5/18 Kev Hamm 12/5/18

Long Streets Reporting Project

You'll definitely want to take the time to read this outstanding reporting.

Kev Hamm 10/11/18 Kev Hamm 10/11/18

Greater Montana Foundation awards over $315,000 grants to date, elects new Trustees

The Greater Montana Foundation has awarded over $315,000 in grants so far in 2018, including the sponsorship of primary debates for candidates for the US Senate and the US House of Representatives. GMF also still has funds available for qualified commercial station grants and for education assistance grants to help reporters report on economic issues.

“Our grants support on-going programs and invest in new ventures, while all these grants are intended to carry forward the mission and vision of our founder, Edmund B. Craney,” said Chair Ron Davis.

The Greater Montana Foundation was founded in 1958 by pioneer broadcaster Ed Craney, long before modern electronic communication, to provide financial support for programs encouraging communications, with an emphasis on electronic media, on issues, trends, and values of importance to present and future generations of Montanans, as described in GMF’s mission statement.

Davis noted that GMF’s two professionally–conducted media surveys identified three top issues for Montanans: Jobs and the economy; health care; and education. Projects and programs focused on any of these three issues enjoy a higher priority for funding.

The early emphasis was on commercial broadcasting and GMF continues to offer awards for excellence and continuing professional development for Montana broadcasters. Grants support the annual Montana Broadcasters Association EB Craney awards, for excellence in broadcasting.

While all grant applications are competitive, with a wide variety of recipients, there are on-going grants, including annual support for students in TV and radio at the state’s universities, with documentaries, news reporting and internships. Programs of Montana PBS and Montana Public Radio, are longtime recipients.

Also receiving numerous grants over the years is the Montana Historical Society, with an earlier $600,000 grant intended for the MHS new building, while grants to create a new film and media archives continue, along with technical updates to the Ed Craney Studio, MHS Museum’s auditorium.
An award-winning after-school program, MAPS Media Institute, Hamilton, and its new MAPS Mobile Outreach efforts also continue to receive support. A number of new documentary films, podcasts and radio programs were funded.

At the annual board meeting, GMF also named new officers and elected three new members to the Board of Directors: Edwin Johnson, Philipsburg, former University of Montana Registrar and Associate Dean; Robert McDonald, Polson, Communications Director, Confederated Salish Kootenai Tribes; and Sydni Tangaro, Bozeman CPA, Tangaro Lofgren CPAs.

Members retiring from the board, Norma Ashby Smith, Great Falls, and former chairs, Randal Morger, Fort Benton, and William Whitsitt, Bigfork, were offered great appreciation for their service.

New officers include Chair Ron Davis, Butte, president of Butte Broadcasting and General Manager of radio stations KBOW, KOPR and KGLM; Vice Chair Jim Senst, Great Falls, Vice President and General Manager, STAR Radio; and Secretary, Mary Willmarth, Great Falls, independent project contractor and business partner of Vision West, Inc. Fred Flanders, retired bank president, Helena, continues as Treasurer.

“We are always eager to encourage grant applications and identify new programs worthy of GMF support,” Davis emphasized. “Information is available on the GMF website greatermontanafoundation.org.”

Kev Hamm 10/11/18 Kev Hamm 10/11/18

2018 Grant Awards

GMF GRANTS OVER $315,000, FUNDS STILL AVAILABLE FOR CERTAIN GRANTS

BOARD INITIATED GRANTS

$7,427 for expenses related to two GMF-sponsored primary election debates, held in the Ed Craney Studio of the Montana Historical Society Museum. One debate was for candidates for the US Senate and the other was for candidates for the US House. These debates were intended to better educate Montanans about issues and choices in these important races. Both debates were broadcast and live streamed.

GRANTS FOR STATEWIDE ORGANIZATIONS

Friends of MTPBS: $50,000 for the Montana Friends of PBS Program Fund, for continuing support for numerous programs, including Backroads of Montana; 11th and Grant; and a new one hour version of C.M. Russell and the West, a one hour version of the successful three hour film, for national release, prospective documentaries, Barns of Montana and The Bozeman Trail, along with on-going news and elections coverage.

Montana Broadcasters Association: $40,000 for the annual EB awards for broadcast excellence. Named in honor of broadcast pioneer E.B. Craney, GMF founder, the “EBs” recognize excellence in a variety of categories through a competitive process, encouraging and rewarding the best of Montana broadcasting.

Montana Historical Society: $40,000 total: $20,000 in continued support for the Edmund B. Craney Film and Media Archives, which has been completed with GMF support over the last three years. Conservation work on endangered films will continue, along with purchases of needed equipment and an on-line presence. MHS will also build a broadcast film collection. $20,000 for improvements to the Ed Craney Studio, to provide updated and improved technical equipment, building on an earlier GMF grant for the Montana Historical Society’s Montana Museum’s auditorium.

Montana Public Radio: $20,000 in continued program support, in areas such as general economic reporting; Can do: Lessons from Savvy Montana Entrepreneurs; Richest Hill: The Future History of Americans Biggest Superfund Site. Funding also supports The Write Question, and Research in the Trenches.

Montana Reporter: $10,000 for a series of on-line stories on important issues related to Montana’s economy. Web-based stories, which will appear on the website of the Montana Free Press, will be available for re-publication by commercial and non-commercial Montana news outlets, including broadcaster websites and daily and weekly newspapers.

Montana Watershed Council: $2500 for Montana Watershed Stories, a digital, print, audio and visual campaign to improve public understanding and support of watershed groups. The Montana watershed groups bring landowners and communities together to find innovative, practical solutions to conserve natural resources. The Watershed Stories campaign will encourage communication of collaborative conservation and natural resources management on multiple levels.

BILLINGS

Beartooth Films: $7500 for “Return,” a full-length documentary following a Montana Vietnam veteran as he returns to Vietnam for the first time since the war. Joined by his son, this veteran sets out to retrace his steps, reckon with the past, and, for the first time, share reflections and insights from the war. This story carries with it a captivating adventure, an introduction to a little-known culture and a story of a father and a son on a hopeful, if heavy journey.

Friends of Yellowstone Public Radio: $10,000 to fund four locally produced community programs: Flavors Under the Big Sky, investigating many aspects of Montana food; Resounds: Arts and Culture on the High Plains; taking an intimate look at art and artists located in the High Plains of Montana and Wyoming; Field Days, produced in collaboration with The Prairie Star newspaper which follows a single farmer or rancher through each season; and Billings Symphony Concerts, featuring encore concerts from the last ten years.

BOZEMAN

Montana State University School of Film and Photography: $2,000 for the annual Hugh Galusha-Ed Craney award for two outstanding senior film projects.

Universal Vision: $10,000 for The Montana Sessions, a broadcast and digital series, taking Montana musicians and recording them live in our state’s most scenic locations. The series captures the music that reflects Montana’s values, history and trends.

DARBY

MAPS Media Institute: $60,000 total: $20,000 in continued support for the award-winning MAPS Media Institute free after-school program serving four county schools. The public/private partnership integrates science, technology, engineering, the arts and math concepts within a media arts and service learning curriculum, including an entrepreneurial program. In 2017, MAPS was one of 12 programs in the nation to receive a National Arts and Humanities Youth Programs award, the highest honor for organizations dedicated to creative youth development; $40,000 for the MAPS Media Mobile Lab, the statewide outreach program. In response to urgent needs in other rural and tribal communities, MAPS is working with school districts, community partners and donors to provide week-long workshops free of charge to all students for the workshops.

GALLATIN GATEWAY

Thunderheart Media: $5000 for Buffalo Resurrection, a second grant to support the completion of a one hour film documenting the Blackfeet Nation’s efforts to establish a thriving buffalo herd on their reservation. Its purpose is to inspire and educate native and non-native America about the power and importance of the buffalo to the American experience and how the animal can positively impact life in Montana and the US.

HELENA

Artemis Common Ground: $10,000 in continued program support for Homeground Radio, Changes and Choices in the American West, which strives to offer a vision of the rural west that a healthy economy and conserving our environment are interdependent, and that by working together we can achieve both.

Myrna Loy: $7500 to bring MAPS Media Lab to rural East Helena, to work in collaboration with two other projects to engage a group of 12-18 year olds in creating a series of short documentaries about teen life in rural East Helena. Its purpose is to address issues, including challenges of environmental remediation, and to build community around the town’s unique cultural identity and heritage.

MISSOULA

Missoula Butterfly House and Insectarium: $1575 for Bug Bites, a ten-episode pilot series of insect and arthropod educational podcast, created with Montana Public Radio. The goal is to further the organization’s mission of educating and inspiring Montanans and decreasing the degree insects and others are feared.

University of Montana School of Radio-TV: $30,000 in continued support for various programs including the student documentary, the summer internship program, student Legislative reporting; Business: Made in Montana and the Montana PBS news brief.

Kev Hamm 4/27/18 Kev Hamm 4/27/18

Candidate Forums

The first debate/discussion sponsored by the Greater Montana Foundation, featuring the Republican candidates for the US Senate, on April 26 at the Ed Craney Studio of the Montana Historical Society Museum went very well.

GREATER MONTANA FOUNDATION SPONSORS PRIMARY DEBATES

The Greater Montana Foundation sponsored debates between Republican primary candidates for the US Senate on April 26, with Democratic candidates for the US House on May 3, at the Ed Craney Studio (named for GMF’s founder) of the Montana Museum of the Montana Historical Society, according to Dr. Bill Whitsitt, GMF Board Chair. Both debates are 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm.

“The Debates will be live streamed and available for immediate viewing by any radio or TV station or for rebroadcast,” he said. “Our board decided that there needs to be more information available on major primary candidates, so we are funding these events to further our mission to benefit Montanans by “encouraging communications, with an emphasis on electronic media, on issues, trends and values of importance to present and future generations of Montanans.”

Whitsitt emphasized that while candidates will be debating positions, GMF seeks discussions on qualifications and points of view; so these might be better framed as “debates/discussions. Whitsitt will open the debates and introduce participants. He is Executive-in-Residence at the UM Bureau of Business and Economic Research and Visiting professor in its College of Business. He is a former Montana broadcaster and creator of the original Montana Television Network news organization.

GMF Vice Chair Ron Davis, Butte, will serve as moderator. He is the president of Butte Broadcasting and General Manager of radio stations KBOW, KOPR and KGLM. He is a member and has served as Chair of the board of the Montana Broadcasters Association and as a member of the board of the National Broadcasters Association.

Asking questions will be Mike Dennison, chief political reporter for MTN and former Helena-based political reporter for the Lee Newspapers and the Great Falls Tribune, and Beth Saboe, news and public affairs producer at MontanaPBS in Bozeman.

Seating in the Ed Craney is limited and available by invitation only. Seating in the Montana Historical Society Museum lobby is available for viewing on the large TV screen. An area just left of the museum front doors is reserved for news media wishing to interview candidates after the debates.

Participants on April 26 included all Republican primary candidates for the US Senate: Troy Downing, Judge Russell Fagg, Dr. Al Olszewski, and State Auditor Matt Rosendale.

Participants on May 3 include all Democratic primary candidates for the US House: Grant Keir, John Heenan, John Meyer, Jared Pettinato and Kathleen Williams.

“We hope the debates will better inform Montana voters in their decisions about voting in these primaries,” Williams concluded.

Logistic Notes: The URL for live broadcast is

https://www.youtube.com/c/MontanaHistoricalSociety/live.

Stations wishing to take these debates live will need to know how to pull the Youtube into their system. While there are many ways to make that happen, if there are any issues, please call Kev Hamm in advance at 406-417-0070 to test some ideas and see what equipment they have available.

The full-HD video will be available for download from a dedicated link after the broadcast and will be available sometime the next day. For any needed assistance you can contact Kev Hamm via email or cell 406-417-0070

GMF MISSION STATEMENT:
The Greater Montana Foundation benefits the people of Montana by encouraging communication, with an emphasis on electronic media, on issues, trends and values of importance to present and future generations of Montanans.”

####

Here is a story about the first event.

Kev Hamm 4/27/18 Kev Hamm 4/27/18

Media Coverage of the 2016 Presidential Campaign - Video Recording

Larry Abramson, Dean of the University of Montana’s School of Journalism, was the featured speaker for the “Bringing the U to You” Lecture Series at Great Falls College MSU recently, according to Greater Montana Foundation Trustee Norma Ashby, who arranged the lecture.

Abramson’s lecture addressed such provocative questions as, “Was anyone happy with how the media covered the recent Presidential race?” and “How is the public coping with the unlimited sources of information?” and “What about the accusations of fake news?”

Ashby noted that Abramson is uniquely qualified to provide insights on the recent campaign. He moved to Missoula from Washington, D.C., where he spent three decades as a professional journalist, nearly all of them at National Public Radio. Appointed in 2014, he is the first dean of the University of Montana School of Journalism to have a broadcast, rather than a print, media background.

With a grant for a professional video recording from the Greater Montana Foundation, this timely and relevant lecture is now available on-line at the Greater Montana Foundation website: greatermontana.org, under News and Events.

Larry Abramson Lecture:

Larry Abramson Q&A Session After the Lecture:

Kev Hamm 11/30/17 Kev Hamm 11/30/17

MAPS Media Institute

The Greater Montana Foundation is very proud of its support of the Irwin and Florence Rosten Foundation, also known as MAPS Media Institute. MAPS originated as Media Arts in the Public Schools in 2004. GMF has awarded $20,000 for the program and $60,000 for a new Mobile Lab in grants in 2017 to MAPS which allows the program to reach rural and reservation communities. GMF has awarded MAPS over $134,000 since 2014. The innovative work MAPS performs is increasingly successful and garnering a great deal of positive recognition.

One of the Blackfoot reservation students, Chase Hall, became an award-winning filmmaker as part of the MAPS outreach program. He was recently recognized in Helena, at the historic Montana Club, during an event featuring Wind River Movie Director, Taylor Sheridan, who was the keynote speaker. Mr. Hall is center in the photo, with Mr. Sheridan on the left, and Daryl Begay, Advisor, Wind River, on the right. You can read more about this in their Facebook post.

MAPS also has received a prestigious national award for "effectiveness in engaging youth in the arts or humanities" from the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, Institute of Museum and Library Services, and National Assembly of State Arts Agencies. – Ravalli Republic

2017 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award winners.

MAPS staff and students with National Endowment of the Arts Chairwoman, Dr. Jane Chu, at the 2017 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award ceremony. From left to right, student Zane Faux, MAPS Executive Director Clare Ann Harff, Dr. Jane Chu, student Myles Smith and MAPS AmeriCorps VISTA Sarah Jones.

MAPS student representative, Myles Smith, looking comfortable at the 2017 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, hosted at the historic Anderson House in Washington D.C.

MAPS staff and students with Pam Breaux, President and CEO of the National Assembly of State Art Agencies at the 2017 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award ceremony. From left to right, student Zane Faux, MAPS Executive Director Clare Ann Harff, Pam Breaux, student Myles Smith and MAPS AmeriCorps VISTA Sarah Jones.

Kev Hamm 6/7/17 Kev Hamm 6/7/17

2017 Grant Awards

Over $274,000 in communications and media education grants awarded by GMF

Funds still available for commercial grants.

The Greater Montana Foundation has awarded over $274,000 in grants and reserved another $40,000 for potential commercial grants in 2017. GMF continued an initiative to encourage and improve the ability of news reporters to better address the top issue identified in two GMF Media surveys: jobs and the economy.

“Our grant awards,” said William Whitsitt, Board Chair, “are intended to support excellence in carrying out the mission envisioned by our founder. Using the identified top issues provides a stronger focus for our granting. It is our goal to help members of the media improve their reporting of the top issue, jobs and the economy, through educational assistance. This will result in a better informed public.”

In 1958, long before public radio and TV or the internet were available, Ed Craney, pioneer broadcaster, entrepreneur and philanthropist, established the Greater Montana Foundation, to provide financial support for programs encouraging communications, with an emphasis on electronic media, on issues, trends, and values of importance to present and future generations of Montanans, as described in GMF’s mission statement. Other top issues identified in the surveys were health care and education.

GMF offers awards for excellence and continuing professional development for Montana broadcasters, with support for the Montana Broadcasters Association EB awards, reflecting Mr. Craney’s emphasis on commercial broadcasting. In addition, there is no deadline for grant applications from commercial stations if the request addresses an urgent and critical issue and production is time-limited.

The Greater Montana Foundation awards grants to a variety of recipients, with annual support for students in TV and radio at the state’s universities, including internships. Programs of Montana PBS and Montana Public Radio are also longtime recipients. An award-winning after school media training program, MAPS Media was funded again, along with a new grant for a MAPS mobile lab to take the program to rural areas and Indian reservations. The Montana Historical Society was awarded $25,000 for its new building, in addition to an earlier $600,000 grant for this purpose. Also funded were a variety of documentaries and interview programs.

GMF awards over $274,000 in grants. Statewide organizations are listed in the towns of their headquarters

BILLINGS

Billings Library Foundation: $5000 in a second grant for TV vignettes, as part of a new program to build literacy. The initial focus is on encouraging parents to engage with their preschoolers in activities at the library. Included is an opportunity for other libraries to insert their own information at the conclusion of each spot.

BOZEMAN

Friends of MTPBS: $55,000 for the Montana Friends of PBS Program Fund, including continuing support for numerous programs, including The Rundown with Beth Saboe, a series providing in-depth coverage of issues that matter to Montanans, Backroads of Montana, and 11th and Grant. The grant will also support two new documentaries; one on Montana barns and another on Montana pioneer John Bozeman.

Montana State University School of Film and Photography: $2,000 for the annual Hugh Galusha-Ed Craney award for two outstanding senior film projects.

GALLATIN GATEWAY

Kings Road Media: $5000 for Buffalo Resurrection, a one hour film documenting the Blackfeet Nation’s efforts to establish a thriving buffalo herd on their reservation.

Its primary purpose is to inspire and educate native and non-native America about the power and importance of the buffalo to the American experience - how the animal can positively impact many areas of life in Montana and the United States.

HAMILTON

Florence and Irwin Rosten Foundation for the Media Arts (MAPS): $20,000 continued support for the award-winning MAPS Media free after-school program which, in addition to serving four county schools, also provides a summer session and is working with the Salish-Kootenai college on the reservation and has expanded to the Blackfeet Reservation. The public/private partnership integrates science, technology, engineering, the arts and math concepts within multiple hands-on media courses disciplines, including a new entrepreneurial program.

Florence and Irwin Rosten Foundation for the Media Arts (MAPS): $60,000 for a new MAPS Media Mobile Lab program. In response to needs in other rural and tribal communities, MAPS now has a vehicle already donated for a mobile lab and is working with school districts, community partners and donors to get the program up and running. MAPS plans for three to five outreach programs of one or more weeks a year to various communities.

HELENA

Artemis Common Ground: $10,000 in program support for this nonprofit which strives to offer a vision of the rural west that a healthy economy and conserving our environment are interdependent, and that by working together we can achieve both.

Montana Broadcasters Association: $29,380 for the 55th annual EB awards for broadcast excellence. Named in honor of broadcast pioneer E.B. Craney, founder of the Greater Montana Foundation, the “EBs” recognize excellence in a variety of categories through a competitive process, encouraging and rewarding the best of Montana broadcasting.

Montana Historical Society: $25,000 for MHS new building. GMF has already completed a $600,000 pledge for this purpose, made over a period of years. This additional grant, made during the 65th legislative session, was intended to encourage additional private support, as well as an appropriation by the Montana Legislature.

Montana Wilderness Association: $5000 for Trail a Week: Supporting Montana’s Outdoor Recreation Industry and Rural Economies. Intended to support Montana’s outdoor recreation industry and rural economies, this program will feature a 60 second weekly trail feature in partnership with local TV stations. It will also be made available on MWA’s website’s on-line trail guide, highlighting lesser known trails, as well as nearby rural businesses.

MISSOULA

Missoula Community Radio: $5000 for radio interviews featuring speakers and attendees at the 2017 Native American Economic Development Summit. Both local and national speakers highlight economic development in Indian Country, as well as providing information about a variety of resources. The series of 12 one hour shows will be played on local and tribal radio stations and at tribal colleges.

Montana Public Radio: $20,000 in continued support for programs such as Economic Reporting & Podcast; Kids Like you and Me, stories played during The Pea Green Boat, about how it feels to be excluded or left out because of differences; The Write Question, a weekly literary program that features authors from the western United States; Finding Montana, a new podcast that will look at what Montana has been what it is now and where it is going in the future.

University of Montana School of Radio-TV: $21,500 in continued support for various programs including the student documentary, the summer internship program, Business: Made in Montana and the Montana PBS news brief.

PHILIPSBURG

Philipsburg Arts Fund: $12,500 for Saving the Burg, a 30 minute documentary which will highlight how the people of Philipsburg revitalized their economy through their own innovative community efforts, resulting in successful businesses and a strong economy. The town has won an award from Sunset Magazine for reinventing itself after economic decline. It is hoped other communities can use this as a model.

GRANT FOR BOARD-INITIATED PROGRAM

Educational Assistance Grants: $8000 to continue a pilot program of up to 16 grants. A media survey commissioned by GMF in 2015 indicated that jobs and the economy were the highest issue priority for Montanans. The program is designed to help news reporters improve reporting on this issue by providing educational incentives, helping to defer costs of college or university level courses in economics, business and related subjects.