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John Eding, Communications & PR Manager
303-866-3670 | john.eding@state.co.us

DENVER — May 24, 2021 —  Rain or shine, all are welcome to Community Appreciation Day on Saturday, May 29 at the Ute Indian Museum in Montrose (17253 Chipeta Rd). The full day of free admission and family fun runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. No advance registration is required. 

The Ute Indian Museum is pleased to host this occasion in recognition of outstanding community support for improvements to the museum and its grounds. The museum received $6,500 in donations after a windstorm damaged its tipis in early March. Earthworks Tipis, a division of Colorado Yurt Company, generously matched those donations with an additional $6,500. Guests can help paint a tipi from 9 a.m. to noon and watch their contributions go up during a tipi demonstration at 2 p.m. 

Several additional activities take place throughout the day, beginning with a Peace Pole demonstration at 9 a.m. Free fudgsicles and popsicles will be shared at noon, and a groundbreaking ceremony for a new naturescape at the museum, supported by a grant from Great Outdoors Colorado, will take place at 2 p.m. A complete schedule of activities—including Ethnobotany in the Garden Tours, film screenings, and petroglyph carving—is available at historycolorado.org/ute-indian-museum. Discounts of 30–50 percent will be available in the museum shop throughout the day.

“There’s never been a better time to visit the Ute Indian Museum,” said museum director CJ Brafford. “We hope new visitors and old friends alike will join us on Saturday and throughout the summer.”

Admission to the Ute Indian Museum and seven additional museums and historic sites throughout Colorado is always free for members of History Colorado. Students entering 4th grade and their families can receive a free membership to History Colorado through the History Buff program. More information is available at h-co.org/4thgrade.

Hands-On History Summer Camp
June 14–August 6, 2021
The Ute Indian Museum hosts eight weeks of fun, affordable summer camp at beautiful locations for young people ages six through 12. Campers learn and create together through activities that bring history to life and connect to our larger world. Hands-On History Summer Camp offers automatic tuition assistance up to 70 percent. History Buffs receive a 10 percent savings on summer camps. El Pueblo History Museum, Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center, History Colorado Center, and Trinidad History Museum also host camps. Details and registration are available here. 

PUBLIC SAFETY
The well-being of our staff and visitors is History Colorado’s highest priority. Enhanced cleaning procedures are in place, and some high-touch and high-traffic areas may be adjusted in accordance with public-health guidelines. Up-to-date policies and guidelines are provided at historycolorado.org/welcome.

About Ute Indian Museum
The Ute Indian Museum is nestled in the heart of traditional Ute territory, and the museum grounds include Chief Ouray Memorial Park, the grave where Chipeta was buried after her death in 1924, and a native plants garden. The Ute Indian Museum is a museum of History Colorado. The museum is located at 17253 Chipeta Road, Montrose and is Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Visit www.UteIndianMuseum.org or call 970-249-3098 for more information.

About History Colorado
History Colorado is a division of the Colorado Department of Higher Education and a 501(c)3 non-profit that has served more than 75,000 students and 500,000 people in Colorado each year. It is a 142-year-old institution that operates Colorado’s oldest museum, nine additional museums and historic sites, a free public research center, the Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, and the History Colorado State Historical Fund (SHF), which is the nation’s largest preservation program of its kind. The SHF currently administers more than 280 grants across Colorado, of which more than 70 percent are allocated in rural areas. The History Colorado Center is the nation’s first state history museum to display a monument toppled last summer with new, inclusive interpretation.

History Colorado’s mission is to create a better future for Colorado by inspiring wonder in our past. We serve as the state’s memory, preserving and sharing the places, stories, and material culture of Colorado through educational programs, historic preservation grants, collecting, outreach to Colorado communities, the History Colorado Center and Stephen H. Hart Research Center in Denver, and nine other museums and historic attractions statewide. History Colorado is one of only six Smithsonian Affiliates in Colorado. Visit HistoryColorado.org, or call 303-HISTORY, for more information.