Arts & Culture

The Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation is a major supporter of the yearly Montana Folk Festival. This annual July event in Butte, Montana, features performances by hundreds of the nation’s finest musicians, dancers and craftspeople. In addition to the performance stages, there are several themed festival areas: the Montana Folk Life Area, the Family Area, two Festival Marketplaces and the Festival Food Courts.

The festival site is situated in the heart of the nation’s largest National Historic Landmark District in Butte, Montana. The Stage offers a panoramic view of Butte’s historic high rise buildings and the surrounding mountains, and is located on the site of the original mine yard — a remnant of Butte’s early days as Montana’s copper mining capital.

The Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation has been a supporter of The Missoula Children’s Theatre (MCT) since 1990. The MCT organization includes MCT Community Theatre, local youth programs such as the Teen Art Group, Performing Arts Camps, Next Step Prep, and an international touring group in addition to its namesake, the Children’s Theatre.

The Missoula Children’s Theatre has delighted audiences with its performances for over 40 years but its mission still remains the same: education and enrichment of children through entertainment and the arts.

SPARK! works in collaboration with artists, classroom teachers, university staff, school administration, and volunteers to ensure that the arts are an essential part of every school day. SPARK! promotes Arts Enhancement, Arts Integration, Art for Art’s Sake, and a program called STEM to STEAM: Science Technology Engineering Arts & Math.

The Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation, the city of Missoula, Missoula County Public Schools, and a wide array of local arts organizations have teamed up to help bring our community a John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Any Given Child Initiative. The program, developed by the Kennedy Center, focuses on ensuring equal access to diverse arts learning opportunities for any given child in our K-12 public school system.