Lander Art Center
Our mission is to foster a strong arts community in Fremont County by providing arts learning opportunities and exhibition experiences for all.
Our story
LAC began in 2003 as a vision to carve out space for art in a town without one. A dedicated group of local artists put on pop-up shows, taught hands-on classes, and ran their own supply sales. In 2004 it became a 501(c)(3), and it has been part of the Lander community ever since.
What started in borrowed rooms is now a gallery, a clay studio, and classrooms. In 2024 we began taking on the visual arts programming of Art Link Wyoming, and the merger was finalized in early 2025, bringing arts education directly into Fremont County classrooms.
What we believeArt is for All
That is the last line of our mission, and we mean it literally, so we built it into the price.
Our classes use self-selected pricing. The listed tuition is the standard rate, and anyone who needs the reduced rate types one word at checkout. There is no application, and no one you have to convince. We stopped requiring families to prove they deserved a seat, because a person who has to explain themselves at the door has already been told something about whether they belong. Here is how it works.
The five principles LAC works from:
We welcome all people, regardless of background, belief, or experience, to explore and create together.
We honor each person's autonomy to make their own choices about their creative path and growth.
We believe in the capacity of every human to discover, learn, and create meaningful work throughout their lives.
We foster genuine wonder and openness to possibility, because curiosity is where every good thing starts.
We actively cultivate kindness toward ourselves and others, rejecting the negative self-talk that keeps us from moving forward.
How LAC works
LAC runs on a shared leadership model. Four staff roles carry the organization, an Executive Director, an Education Coordinator, a Gallery Assistant, and a Clay Studio Manager, and no one of them is a single point of failure. Around them work roughly fifteen contract instructors across every medium we teach, and a working board. Meet our board of directors.
In the community
Our exhibitions are free to walk into, and they always will be. Art in the Afternoon returns this year. And rather than staging every event ourselves, we increasingly show up at other people's: art markets, public events, and gatherings run by other organizations in Lander, where our job is to be a good partner rather than the host.
Where to next
Come see us
258 Main Street, Lander. The gallery is free to walk into, and there is almost always something on the walls.
Questions about visiting, renting the space, or anything else go to director@landerartcenter.com.
Email the director