Yellowstone Art Museum

The Expansion Campaign
The Vault - The Gallery - The Future

The Yellowstone Art Museum is growing! Track our progress as the region's premier art museum take a quantum leap forward. Support at any level is welcome whether you are able to make a cash gift, volunteer some time, or just help spread the word about exciting things to come at the YAM.

Here's a bit more about our two-phased campaign:

Phase I, $6 million - Building the Visible Vault and the Charles M. Bair Family Gallery

• The first publicly accessible art storage facility and museum interpretive center in the region, located behind the YAM on North 26th Street - the picture shows an inside view
  The architect for the Visible Vault is Kim Olsen, O2 Architects, in Billings; our general contractor is Hardy Construction, also based in Billings
• After we finish the new storage and interpretive center, we'll add a new gallery in the museum ... the first interactive gallery to showcase Montana's entire artistic heritage
• Endowment adequate to sustain this operational expansion
• Exciting new programming initiatives

Phase II, $11 million - The Best Is Yet to Come

• Endowment to enable stable and genuine program growth
• The path to the top-drawer regional, national, and international visual arts programming that the region deserves
• Achievement of our vision of becoming ... one of nation's finest regional art museums.

• We've raised 75% of the Phase I goal of $6 million ... still more to go, and many wonderful commemorative naming opportunities exist
• We've secured generous grants from the Charles M. Bair Family Trust, the M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust, and the Henry Luce Foundation
• So far, over 300 of Billings' art lovers-individuals and businesses-have come on board with support to keep Billings in the state's cultural forefront
• Public support has come from the Montana Department of Commerce and Yellowstone County

Phase I - Our Timetable

Our goal is to complete Phase I fundraising goals ($6 million) by late summer 2010 so that endowment revenue will cover the modest operating cost increases we anticipate in the new art storage center.

Let Us Tell You More

We would love to answer your questions about the YAM's programs, our impact in the community, and the tremendous benefits of the arts. Our goal is nothing less than prize-winning excellence in exhibitions and educational programs. There are many ways to take part, large and small. We welcome the chance to give you more detail.

Dedicated volunteers and staff host informative events approximately each month to provide details and updates about our exciting way forward. For an invitation to future events, please contact Robyn G. Peterson at 406-256-6804, x226, or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  Bring a friend, enjoy some refreshments, and ride the wave with us!