Briefs for May 27, 2020
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UM Art Museum reopens with popular Monte Dolack exhibition
UM News Service
MISSOULA – After a two-and-a-half-month closure due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Montana Museum of Art and Culture at the University of Montana reopened its doors Tuesday, May 19, with strict adherence to safety protocols outlined by the governor’s office.
The museum reopened with its popular exhibition “Monte Dolack: The Artist’s Nature” in the Performing Arts and Radio/Television Center and will extend its run until Aug. 29.
All of us at MMAC have waited a long time for this day, said MMAC Director H. Rafael Chacón. “We are excited to be back to sharing the art and culture we so desperately need in this time of global crisis.”
Going forward, the museum will follow strict sanitation and social distancing procedures to protect its staff and visitors. This includes keeping visitor capacity at 50 percent and groups under 10 people, maintaining a physical distance of 6 feet between guests, wearing appropriate personal protective equipment, sanitizing all surfaces touched by the public in common spaces and having visitors sign in to facilitate contact tracing should a staff member or volunteer become ill.
Celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2020, MMAC is home to one of the oldest and deepest art collections in the Rocky Mountain Northwest. Its world-class collection of more than 11,000 objects includes significant historic and contemporary works of art.
USDA grants available to spur innovation technologies in Montana
News from USDA
BOZEMAN — USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is accepting applications for grants until June 22, 2020, to fund Montana projects that could stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies. Conservation Innovation Grants generally fund pilot projects, field demonstrations and on-farm conservation research.
Tom Watson, NRCS state conservationist for Montana, said $225,000 is available for the state-component CIG this year. He said applicants can request up to $75,000 for projects lasting one to three years.
Watson said projects should address one or more of the three resource concerns identified for this program: soil health, water quality and quantity, and range health. All projects need to result in technology or methods that can be used to augment agency technical guidance; be designed with an understanding of NRCS practice standards, pertinent assessment tools, and planning criteria. Information about CIG and the application process is available online at grants.gov.
Applications must be submitted electronically through the grants.gov website by 11:59 p.m. EST on June 22, 2020. In addition, a PDF of the complete application must be emailed to: jerry.shows@usda.gov.
For more information, contact Jerry Shows at: jerry.shows@usda.gov or 406-587-6967.
