Wyoming State Museum Invites Artists to Create Día de los Muertos Artwork

The Wyoming State Museum is calling for artists to participate in a unique opportunity to celebrate the cultural and sacred traditions of Día de los Muertos (DDLM) through art, The Cheyenne Post reports.

As part of Cheyenne’s growing Día de los Muertos celebrations, the museum invites artists to submit proposals for original works that will play a key role in promoting the 2025 festivities.

Since 2021, the Wyoming State Museum has collaborated with the Laramie County Library, Cheyenne Botanic Gardens, and Cheyenne Depot Museum to host inclusive and family-friendly Día de los Muertos events. These celebrations honor the rich cultural significance of DDLM and provide public spaces for community engagement. Attendance has grown each year, with approximately 2,000 people participating in the 2024 celebrations.

The 2025 events aim to reach an even wider audience, and the chosen artwork will feature prominently in a regional marketing campaign to promote the festivities.

Artist Requirements and Goals

Artists submitting proposals are encouraged to reflect their cultural connections to Día de los Muertos and focus on:

• Cultural Representation: Capturing the sacred and historical significance of DDLM.
• Broad Appeal: Creating artwork suitable for multigenerational audiences, especially families.
• Diversity: Highlighting the varied people, places, and traditions associated with DDLM.

Artists of all mediums are welcome to apply, but the final work must be adaptable for print and digital use. If the chosen artwork is three-dimensional, it must also translate well into a two-dimensional format for marketing purposes.

Key Details for Applicants

• Eligibility: Artists must be members of communities that celebrate DDLM and have resided in Wyoming or neighboring states for at least 10 months of the year. Employees or board members of the partner organizations, including their families, are ineligible.
• Timeline:
  • Applications open: September 1, 2024
  • Submission deadline: January 1, 2025, by 11:59 PM MST
  • Winner notified: March 1, 2025
  • Final artwork due: August 1, 2025

The selected artist or collective will receive $2,000 to develop their work in partnership with the DDLM committee.

Applications will be reviewed by a committee of six community leaders, including cultural advocates, marketing professionals, and event organizers. Artists will be notified of their status by March 2025.

Interested artists can contact Melisa McChesney at 307-630-2573 or melisa.mcchesney@wyo.gov for more information.

This project is supported by the Wyoming Arts Council’s Arts Access Grant. For more details on the Wyoming State Museum and its DDLM celebrations, visit their website or contact the museum directly.