The 2005 Montana Governor's Humanities Awards were presented in a ceremony with Governor Brian Schweitzer on February 17th, 2005, in the Capitol Rotunda in Helena. The 2005 honorees are:

Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg of Canyon Creek and Condon. Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg have created a design and corporate presence that is known and admired world-wide; the philanthropy of the Liz Claiborne Art Ortenberg Foundation has benefited projects in environmental research, education, and the humanities, across four continents. In Montana, we honor Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg for their support of numerous projects in education and the humanities in our state, and most notably for their creation and support of the Montana Heritage Project. Now celebrating its tenth year, the Montana Heritage Project enables rural Montana students and their teachers to develop humanities research skills, to explore and document the histories of their communities, and to practice the values and civic arts of a democracy. For scores of Montana communities, the Montana Heritage Project indeed has brought about a "small town renaissance."

Jamie Doggett of White Sulphur Springs. Educated to be a teacher, Jamie Doggett has devoted herself to family ranching and to civic and political leadership that have benefited the public humanities in Montana and throughout the nation. She was appointed to the Montana Committee for the Humanities by Governor Stan Stephens and reappointed for successive terms by Governor Marc Racicot; she chaired the Committee in three of her twelve years as a member. In 1997, she was elected to the national board of the Federation of State Humanities Councils—only the third Montanan to be so honored—which she also chaired, with great distinction, in 2002 and 2003. In this role, she brought great credit to Montana, earned the respect and trust of national cultural leaders and members of Congress, and greatly benefited the cause of the public humanities.

Darrell Robes Kipp (Ah Pin Nuk Wah Pee Tah/Morning Eagle) of Browning. Educated at Eastern Montana College, Harvard University, and Vermont College, Darrell Robes Kipp has served the Blackfeet people and the people of Montana as civic and cultural leader, as historian and interpreter of the Blackfeet, scholar, author, and filmmaker. He has served as a member and chair of the Montana Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission and as co-chair of the acclaimed “Confluence of Cultures” national conference on Native Americans and the Lewis and Clark expedition. As a founder of the Piegan Institute and of the independent Nizipuhwahsin School in Browning, he is a nationally respected leader in cultural and linguistic preservation and in native language education.

Joseph A. Mussulman of Missoula. In 1988, Joseph A. Mussulman retired from The University of Montana, a distinguished artistic leader, educator, author, and scholar of music history and criticism. He then followed his passion for the Lewis and Clark expedition—a passion shared by many Montanans—and, with the support of numerous colleagues, he created the website “Discovering Lewis and Clark.” It quickly became, and now remains the premier, most-visited of all Lewis and Clark websites, earning the praise of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, and numerous other organizations and scholars. “Discovering Lewis and Clark” has brought the humanities to literally millions of users worldwide and has brought them to both historic and contemporary Montana.

Robert A. "Bob" and Pauline Poore of Butte. Through their long partnership, Robert A. "Bob" and Pauline W. Poore have devoted their considerable energies and resources to Montana and especially to their beloved city of Butte. Through their support of musical performances and other cultural endeavors, their deep concern for historical preservation, the restoration of the majestic Mother Lode Theatre and the creation of nationally-acclaimed youth programs at the Orphan Girl Theatre, the Arch at Montana Tech, and their gifts of land in the Flathead Valley to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the Montana Land Reliance, they have added immeasurably to the Montana story and to that of its most storied city.

Photo: The 2005 Governor's Humanities Awards Honorees: Joseph A. Mussulman, Renee Rasmussen (accepting for Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg), Darrell Robes Kipp, Pauline Poore, Governor Brian Schweitzer, Robert A. Poore, and Jamie Doggett.