The Yellowstone Art Museum is built around the old Yellowstone County Jail — and maybe they should have kept it as a prison.

Last month, the YAM got word from the Yellowstone County Commissioners that the funding it receives through the county’s museum fund was being cut to $50,000 for fiscal year 2026 (county fiscal years run from July 1 – June 30).

That’s down almost three-quarters from the $188,053 the YAM received in fiscal year 2025, which was already down from the $220,000 they received in fiscal year 2024. It’s also significantly lower than the $144,840 the YAM said they’d been promised for the 2026 fiscal year.

The cuts, said Yellowstone County Commissioner Mark Morse, who signed the letter the commissioners sent to the YAM, are necessary to pay for the type of institution the m

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