Joint powers board receives $10,000

The Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund board awarded $293,293.29 to 36 projects around the state at their recent grant review meeting in Thermopolis.

Awards were given to a wide variety of projects, from historic preservation, archaeological research, and petroglyph preservation and education to art exhibition, museum storage equipment, choirs and orchestra programming.

In Hot Springs County, $10,000 was granted for the Big Horn Basin Nature and Discovery Center Joint Powers Board, for a petroglyph wall and Native American workshops.

Board members include: Chair Shurie Scheel, Vice Chair Carrie Estenson, Secretary Toddi Darlington, Treasurer Reagan Stanley and board member Jeb Schenck. The board has also worked closely with Kyle Gillette of Schultz Foss Architects, P.C., Greater Learning Foundation Director Emeritus Ellen Sue Blakey, Heath Overfield of Engineering Associates and Hot Springs State Park Superintendent Kevin Skates on upcoming projects.

The mission of the Big Horn Basin Nature and Discovery Center Joint Powers Board is to provide hands-on science, art and nature education and to teach children about the cultural heritage and traditional arts of Wyoming and its residents, based on who we are, what we do and where we live.

The Big Horn Basin Nature and Discovery Center Joint Powers Board plans to build a Big Horn Basin Nature and Discovery Center on leased land located in Hot Springs State Park. The center will act as a regional hub of folk art, nature and science. It will showcase our area’s geology, culture and heritage, folk arts and history. The Children’s Outdoor Learning Area (Phase 1) will include structures for playing, climbing and building.

A Children’s Outdoor Learning Area will be built to incorporate nature, art and Wyoming’s cultural heritage as an integral, joyful part of children’s daily learning. Children who have regular contact with nature and art become deeper learners and experience complete whole-person development.

The Children’s Outdoor Learning Area and the Big Horn Basin Nature and Discovery Center will serve families with younger children, the senior population and the mentally and physically disabled residents. It will be a close, safe place for them to reconnect with nature and make things with their hands and imagination.

Visitors will learn why Wyoming is known for its wide-open spaces, clear dark night skies, and mountains so tall it takes their breath away. The area will provide places for stimulating, hands-on, spontaneous outdoor play. Ultimately, the space will positively influence children, families, and communities and will help draw attention from area educators as well as travelers, enhancing tourism in the community.

Long-range goals include developing a folk school for traditional arts, and a nature and discovery center. The board works toward creating a central location for artists to gather, to educate locals and visitors to our culture of making things with our hands, and to educate generations to the economic benefits of selling the products we make.

By September 2019 they plan to have the ground work completed, including a gravel parking lot, wood chip sidewalks to the learning area and a nature trail. They plan to complete the learning area by September 2020 and hold the first classes beginning in spring of 2021.

The surrounding habitat will include nature trails with educational signage displaying native flora and fauna. A petroglyph wall will enclose a portion of the learning area. Natural musical instruments will help with auditory development and creative expression as children experiment with different sounds, tones and effects. The materials used will feature the textures, smells, sounds and wonder of nature.

People who grow up without regular contact with nature and the outdoors are deprived of an opportunity to grow and learn to their fullest ability, as nature allows a child to engage all of his or her senses, including physical movement. The hands-on approach will teach about our unique geothermal resource and include a water feature telling the story of mineralization, sediment settlement and water flow.

Ultimately, the goal is for the space to positively influence children, families, and communities and will be utilized by area educators as well as travelers, enhancing tourism in the community.

The learning area enhances formal and informal education, with opportunities for students in the local public education system as well as students statewide, private education students and home-schooled children.

Among the expected outcomes is a base for educational activities. The learning area will provide a location for which the community can identify. The board will incorporate Greater Learning Foundation’s existing programs such as the Big Horn Basin Folk Festival and Plein-Air Thermopolis with newly developed camps, outdoor classes, and a children’s play area, where children will learn while they play.

It is further expected that this public space will develop into a destination for our town and county. The learning area will create an identity and image for our community that will attract new residents, businesses and investments, and will create a place for people to gather. It adds to and updates the community infrastructure and provides a place for anyone to explore, including those with disabilities.

It is the hope that this project will be never ending, with more things being added as each segment grows. Ultimately, this site will hold the Big Horn Basin Nature and Discovery Center and a folk art school, and create important trails that link our community together.

In terms of community health, children will learn about science and the outdoors, seniors will use the trails for exercise and socializing, and the mentally and physically disabled residents can experience the outdoors in a safe environment. Being outdoors has been shown to improve and sustain the health of seniors.

The hot springs in Hot Springs State Park offer recreation and holistic opportunities. The learning area will be the gateway into the park and provide parking for those who wish to walk the trails, use the pools and enjoy all the park’s amenities.