CHATEAU DE MORES STATE HISTORIC SITE AWARDED ARTS GRANT FOR WALKING TOUR, SUMMER THEATER IN MEDORA

The Chateau de Mores State Historic Site in Medora has been awarded a $2,000 grant by the North Dakota Council on the Arts (NDCA), in support of the site's efforts to promote history and community arts. The site is managed by the State Historical Society of North Dakota.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 29, 2002
Contact: Diane Rogness
(701) 623-4355

CHATEAU DE MORES STATE HISTORIC SITE AWARDED ARTS GRANT
FOR WALKING TOUR, SUMMER THEATER IN MEDORA

MEDORA - The Chateau de Mores State Historic Site in Medora has been awarded a $2,000 grant by the North Dakota Council on the Arts (NDCA), in support of the site's efforts to promote history and community arts. The site is managed by the State Historical Society of North Dakota.

The grant will help provide funds to the Chateau de Mores State Historic Site for the Footsteps into Medora's Past project. The project includes a walking tour of old Medora, including stops at sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and a museum theater production of the "Murder Trial of the Marquis de Mores." The walking tour will bring the past to life with vignettes depicting the past. Professional actors will assume roles in both the historical vignettes and the museum theater production to provide the best possible visitor experience.

Both the walking tour and the museum theater production will begin June 1 and continue through August 18. The walking tour will take place weekdays at 2 p.m. (MT), and Saturdays and Sundays at 10 a.m. (MT). The "Murder Trial of the Marquis de Mores" will take place every Friday, Saturday and Sunday beginning at 3 p.m. (MT), and will be held in the Billings County Courthouse Museum in Medora.

"Drama abounds in the history of Medora," said Bonnie Johnson, co-director of the Footsteps into Medora's Past project. "The re-enactment of the murder trial of the Marquis de Mores will offer summer visitors the chance to relive this major event in the Marquis's career in the Badlands."

The Footsteps into Medora's Past project is a collaborative effort between Dickinson State University, the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation, the Billings County Historical Society and Museum, and the Chateau de Mores State Historic Site.

The Chateau de Mores State Historic Site was among 18 recipients of Access program funding from the NDCA. A total of $28,500 in grants were awarded during this spring round.

The state-funded program is designed to help artists and organizations present arts programs in small and rural communities of North Dakota. It also supports organizations in communities of all sizes that bring arts programs to special constituencies or minority groups. The NDCA is a service and program agency of the state, established to develop the arts and promote the support of the arts in North Dakota. Grant funds are made available by the National Endowment for the Arts and appropriations from the state of North Dakota.

The application deadline for the next round of NDCA Access grants is November 1. For more information, contact the NDCA at (701) 328-3958 or visit their website at DiscoverND.com/arts.

The Chateau de Mores State Historic Site was the summer home of the French nobleman and entrepreneur, the Marquis de Mores, who came west in 1883. His enterprises included establishing the town of Medora and a meat-packing plant (now Chimney Park). Featured are interpretive center exhibits, video and museum store, original chateau and out-buildings, and tours of the chateau. For more information about the site and its programs this summer, call (701) 623-4355 or visit the State Historical Society of North Dakota's web site at DiscoverND.com/hist .

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