MISSION
ALCES Community Works connects Wyoming artists and storytellers through public art and public history rooted in place, memory, and community. We believe creativity is essential to civic life — that the arts spark dialogue, deepen belonging, and strengthen the democratic fabric of our communities. Working statewide, we use arts-based methods to co-create projects that reflect the lived experiences of Wyomingites, foster meaningful partnerships, and invite people into the ongoing work of shaping our shared future. We are committed to helping communities across Wyoming tell collective stories of people, place, and culture — because a vibrant democracy depends on who gets to be seen, heard, and remembered.
APPROACH
SUPPORT: We connect and champion artists and storytellers across Wyoming, offering meaningful support in ways that honor their full humanity as thinkers, visionaries, and culture bearers. We pay them equitably for their labor and ideas — while opening doors to national opportunities, broader recognition, and the civic stage their work deserves. Because when artists from every corner of this state are resourced and seen, the stories that shape our shared identity grow richer, truer, and more complete.
EDUCATE: We develop curricula and public programming that deepen engagement with our projects and the histories they uplift. Through partnerships with schools, universities, and community organizations, we co-create learning experiences that are place-based, justice-oriented, and grounded in the arts. We believe that education is itself a site of belonging — and that when young people encounter their own histories and communities reflected in what they learn, they are more prepared to imagine and build a different world.
CREATE: We curate, co-create, and support public art and public history projects that center civic partnership, community voice, and thoughtful collaboration. Through participatory processes, we create space for the kinds of collective meaning-making that strengthen the democratic fabric of Wyoming life — and that insist representation is not a gesture, but a foundation. When communities see themselves in the public record, something shifts: people begin to understand that they belong here, that their stories matter, and that change is possible.
AMPLIFY: We create and share multidisciplinary stories rooted in the lived experiences of Wyomingites — actively building systems of representation, belonging, and public voice. Through intentional outreach, we amplify these narratives to shift perception, challenge erasure, and make the case that art and storytelling are not only reflections of social change — they are engines of it.
WE BELIEVe in:
The arts and humanities as fundamental to a just, problem-solving, and forward-looking democratic society — not ornamental, but necessary. Not a luxury afforded to some, but a right that belongs to everyone.
Celebrating the social movements, people, and events rooted in collective care, resistance, and justice — and ensuring their stories hold a permanent place in our shared cultural record, where they can continue to inspire and instruct.
Creatively unearthing and amplifying buried histories from the places we call home — because the fullness of who we are depends on the stories we are willing to tell.
The transformative power of the arts to illuminate our past, deepen our experience of the present, and expand our collective imagination of what is possible — including a Wyoming where everyone recognizes themselves in the story we tell together.
A just and equitable statewide creative economy where artists, culture bearers, and storytellers are supported as visionaries and memory workers — and where their work is understood as a driver of the social change our communities are capable of making.