The mood at Billings’ Yellowstone Art Museum is somber.

The museum recently eliminated four staff positions — the communications manager, a curatorial team member, the membership coordinator, and the rentals coordinator. At the same time, they've decided to suspend SummerFair and the Halloween-time masquerade ball, two of the YAM's five annual fundraising events.

Reductions in staff and programming were made, said YAM Executive Director Jessica Ogdin, as a result of a 73% cut in country funding for the museum.

The latest cut leaves the YAM with only $50,000 of county funding for the 2026 fiscal year which started July 1 and runs through June 30. That’s down from the county’s contribution of $188,053 in 2025, which was significantly reduced from $220,000 the previous year.

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