FA L L / W I N T E R 2018
DIRECTOR’S COMMENTS | Laura J. Millin In its 43-year history MAM has been fortunate to have been led by remarkable individuals who have nurtured and grown the museum at its various stages into the marvelous and vibrant institution it is today. One big game changer for MAM was the successful 2006 Renaissance Campaign for Expansion & Renovation, which had the dynamic leadership of co-chairs Vivian Morgan Brooke and J. Martin Burke. Martin was messianic, and Vivian championed MAM’s campaign with the same powerful leadership and determination she applied to community causes throughout her active life— issues such as reproductive rights, rights for women and families, consumer rights, and the rights of LGBTQ+ people. The MAM family Vivian Brooke at the Farmer’s Market in 2010. was devastated by Vivian’s passing in June, but it came at a time when MAM saw itself involved in causes near and dear to her heart. Those that are, in fact, still being fought in our community: gender parity and human rights. This is a time to stand-up, as Vivian did, for what we believe. This fall MAM joins the 50 States Initiative created by the Manhattan-based group For Freedoms. The enduring relevance of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s historic 1941 Four Freedoms speech—invoking freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear—will be explored in a focus exhibition from MAM’s collection in the Travel Montana Lobby in late September. We also invite you to join us for the Artists on Guston series that will engage political and racial discourse in connection with Philip Guston’s painting Cigar (1969), on loan courtesy of Art Bridges. MAM friend and former Montana Congressman Pat Williams, who led the fight to save the NEA in 1989, said, “Art can flourish without politics; the reverse is not true. Democracy needs art’s subversiveness; the voices of protest, appeal, and warning are necessary to arrest the vigor of the often wrongheaded decisions of errant governments. The arts reflect the patronage of many thus representing diversity and pluralism—our societies’ bulwark against tyranny.” MAM joined the effort led by Empower Montana together with the City of Missoula to create the Missoula Rainbow Crosswalk at the corner of Pattee and Pine streets in the Art Park. This is a community action to help LGBTQ+ people feel welcome and safe in our community. Special thanks to MAM patrons John Keegan and Anthony Cesare, as well as John Shaffner and Joe Stewart, for their generous sponsorship of colors of the rainbow crosswalk. This bright addition to our civic space will serve as a symbol of solidarity, visibility, and acceptance for our LGBTQ+ friends and neighbors. Here too we will remember Vivian, who led state legislation to decriminalize consensual sexual relations between persons of the same sex in 1990 and 1991. In 2013 the state legislature finally declared that homosexuality was no longer a crime, and Vivian was acknowledged as a champion of this effort and invited by Governor Steve Bullock to the bill signing. We are honored to applaud and remember her.
new exhibitions // 03 collection news // 08 continuing exhibitions // 09
art classes // 12 public programs // 14 art swing // 16
Cover Image: Harold Schlotzhauer, Cameo, 2018, acrylic on Tyvek, 72 x 53 inches, courtesy of the artist.
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NEWEXHIBITIONS
Stephen Hunt, Niikahkomimm, photograph, 20 x 24 inches.
STEPHEN HUNT: KITAWAAHSINNOON/THE LAND THAT FEEDS US
August 9–December 8 // Lynda M. Frost Contemporary American Indian Art Gallery Art Swing at MAM: Friday, October 19, 5–8 pm This is the premier exhibition of Stephen Hunt’s photographs. Hunt studied photography with David J. Spear at Salish Kootenai College while pursuing his BS in social work. Hunt frames his photographs with a perspective of the land that connects to tribal stories or culturally significant events. Hunt, who is Blackfeet (Amskapii Pikaanii), Nez Perce (Nimipuu), Sioux (Sisseton), Pend d’Oreille (Qìispé), and Chippewa Cree (Ne Hiyawak), was raised on the Flathead Indian Reservation. His photographs span the Flathead Reservation, the Blackfeet Reservation, and the Blood Reserve, where his wife Chelsea is from. Hunt invites the viewer to experience his family’s travel between these places, poignant landscapes or events, and portraits of his daughters Ksiskstaki-aakii and Soyiikayii-aakii as they grow up and learn about their cultural heritage. The exhibition features two distinct bodies of work: images of the land and portraits. Taken as a whole, the photographs demonstrate the diversity of Hunt’s interests and reveal a consistency in Hunt’s photographic eye for active compositions. The forced perspectives and close framing create strong diagonal lines throughout the show. Hunt’s consistency allows him to move between subject matter and successfully unite the images. In Land of the Goat, the viewer is put in the foreground, making it an active
rather than a passive experience. In Chief Mountain, again the vantage point places the viewer in the frame on the steep angle of the mountainside. Both of these images reference traditional stories or knowledge revealed by the viewer’s familiarity with Native culture or by the title. When Hunt turns his camera’s lens to capturing people, his main subject is his family. But again, Hunt invites the viewer into the scene— looking over a shoulder as his wife is pinned with an award in Niikahkomimm, up at his daughter in her regalia, at the kitchen counter as the family prepares meat for the winter. The portraits are glimpses of intimate family moments. As part of his day job, Hunt works with websites and analytics, but he places his greatest efforts on his family, where he seeks to instill in his children the importance of land and culture. He regularly gives back to his community by volunteering and working with youth at cultural camps. Hunt also travels the powwow circuit singing with Black Otter, an original, Blackfoot-style and champion drum group. To prepare for this exhibition, Hunt reviewed over 16,000 images that he then narrowed down to 300, from which the final selection was made. Hunt responded that, “It is a small reflection of our, and my, connection to the land as first peoples.” MAM is committed to projects such as Hunt’s to provide opportunities for the next generation of contemporary American Indian artists to exhibit new work.
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Harold Schlotzhauer, Flip Side, 2008, acrylic, ink, and pastel on paper, 9 x 12 inches. (Facing): Harold Schlotzhauer, Modest Offering, 2004, acrylic on Tyvek with wood stick frame, 50 inch diameter.
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NEWEXHIBITIONS
HAROLD SCHLOTZHAUER: LIVING IN A GOOD DREAM
September 7–February 9 // Carnegie Gallery
Art Swing at MAM: Friday, October 19, 5–8 pm Schlotzhauer is a consummate artist who has created artwork for more than 50 years. The exhibition highlights a diverse array of works from the late 1960s to present, showcasing the continual progression of Schlotzhauer’s unique vision of abstraction. Throughout the course of his career, Schlotzhauer has worked to refine his authentic style while redefining the language of abstraction in the wake of Abstract Expressionism and other movements of the mid-twentieth century. The paintings are edge-to-edge compositions constructed with arrangements of geometric forms, representational images, and amorphic shapes. “I am interested in the fluid boundaries between abstraction and representation,” wrote Schlotzhauer. He finds steadfast joy in pure creation, and it is apparent in these works. The use of solid color from a saturated palette gives the paintings immense enthusiasm and vitality. Schlotzhauer’s bold brushstrokes contrast with the geometry and solid colors. These contrasting elements do not compete, but rather build a rich complexity with interplay between vivid gesture and solid form. The use of line is also a signature of Schlotzhauer’s distinct visual language—solid lines delineate shapes and hard edges to either push the form forward or force it to recede into the picture plane. His paintings thrive on these relationships between formal elements to create movement, energy, and layers of space in pictorial plane without the conventions of representational illusion.
Primarily a painter and printmaker, Schlotzhauer also makes sculpture influenced by his love of the outdoors and recreation. In the 1990s, influenced by travels and study in Japan, he began to merge the two media by building kites from wood and Tyvek, and then painting them. He moved to painting on skateboard decks, snowboards, spinning tops, and surfboards. The objects are more than a three-dimensional support to paint upon; Schlotzhauer’s work is in essence about energy, freedom, and movement. He has devoted his life to surfing, snowboarding, climbing, and experiencing nature. The painted boards and kites are playful but serious artworks that combine the artist’s enduring passion for a genuinely creative lifestyle. Schlotzhauer was born in New York in 1941 and raised in San Jose, California, where he became passionate about surfing, climbing, and skateboarding. He earned his MFA in 1996 at California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland. He taught in the California Bay Area throughout the late 1960s and 1970s, including at his alma mater CalArts, California State University, and University of California at Berkeley and Davis. In California, Schlotzhauer was a founding member of Nut Art, a movement that emerged in the late 1960s and—not restricted by style or medium and favoring emerging formats—embraced eccentricity as part of an ongoing process of self-definition. Schlotzhauer was hired as a professor of art at MSU Bozeman in 1980 where he worked until retiring in 2008.
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NEWEXHIBITIONS
CATHY WEBER: UNDERSTORY/OVERSTORY
August 28–January 12 // Faith Pickton and Josephine Aresty Gallery First Friday: September 7, 5–8 pm, Gallery talk at 7 pm Saturday + with the Artist: September 8, 11 am Exhibition Tour with the Artist: September 29, 10:30 am Adult Workshop with the Artist: September 29, 11 am Art Swing at MAM: October 19, 5–8 pm Weber creates a site-specific installation of found and altered trees to recreate a magical forest populated by black birds that alight in branches and rise in a murmuration on the gallery walls. This is Weber’s first foray into large-scale installation, and she produced this work solely for MAM. The title refers to the ecological relationship between upper and lower forest vegetation that expresses the diversity, composition, and structure of the ecosystem. Understory refers to the area of growth beneath the canopy, while overstory refers to the upper crown cover. The terms also refer to stories that are hidden and those that are revealed. The forest is a metaphor in fairytales for those things that are kept hidden, magical, or secret, and it informs Weber’s family history, where she uncovered her lineage to women who were persecuted for practicing witchcraft. The installation adopts the metaphoric language Weber has developed in her paintings and illuminated manuscripts, where she depicts handmade and natural objects arranged in lines to create visual poems. Likewise, in this installation she arranges ceramic birds and recovered aspen from her property along the Grasshopper Creek in the Pioneer Mountains in southwestern Montana to create an immersive experience for the museum visitor. Weber’s work is about the interplay between natural and human systems. She believes we have a responsibility to the natural world and to one another that takes the form of justice and community. With Understory/Overstory, the disruption of ecosystems is as
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much a metaphor for the inequities experienced within human communities as it is for the consequences of human decisions playing out in the landscape. The concept of environmental or climate justice implicit in Weber’s installation is that everyone participates in a system that is mutually beneficial and sustainable. Clean environments and clean communities are a right as much as an ideal. Author Gretel Ehrlich, backpacking through the landscape in her book The Future of Ice, reaffirms the implicit qualities found in nature when she wrote, “Everything we need to know about beauty, justice, time, movement, subtlety, and surrender is here.” Weber imagined this installation after she visited Nathan Coley’s outdoor sculpture at the National Galleries of Scotland titled, There Will Be No Miracles Here. It is a 19-foot-tall scaffold with neon text. This statement was taken from a royal proclamation made in 17th century France at a site of frequent miracles. Coley’s interest in public space and how systems of personal, social, religious, and political belief make up our towns and cities—and thereby ourselves—resonated with Weber. Her response is to make art that insists miracles surround us, beauty is everywhere, and art is integral to the human experience. Weber wrote, “What best motivates me in my work is the potential to uncover, expose, and describe the sacred. The fruits of the earth and the human heart offer the language. Working is the prayer.” By working with common, humble materials, Weber hopes to make beauty accessible, and to create a shared space and shared experience for her viewers.
Tabletop Theater Free Family Art Workshop: Saturday, September 22, 11 am –12:30 pm
KATHLEEN HERLIHY-PAOLI: ACT THREE
September 22–December 15 // Morris and Helen Silver Foundation Gallery Art Swing at MAM: Friday, October 19, 5–8 pm Tabletop Theater Free Family Art Workshop: Saturday, September 22, 11 am –12:30 pm Act Three is a series of acrylic paintings from Missoula artist Kathleen Herlihy-Paoli. The paintings feature sharply rendered subjects that focus on water issues and wildfire in the West. Each painting features a classic theater stage with parted curtains and the main subject pictured center stage. This visual thread creates a cohesive series and leads the viewer directly to the next painting. Although some of the issues that Herlihy-Paoli paints address serious concerns, she manages to keep the works approachable with her customary playfulness. MAM Associate Curator John Calsbeek recently spoke with the artist about this series. Here’s an excerpt from their conversation:
John Calsbeek: The theatrical setting of the images offers so many wonderful details. How did you arrive at using the stage and theater curtains as the backdrop of the paintings? Kathleen Herlily-Paoli: I began using the stage and curtain images after a lengthy health battle that involved many surgeries and their physical and legal aftermath. The series began with one angry painting that I never finished. I scrapped that painting, but I realized that the stage part of it was very useful. JC: I like the idea that the viewer of these paintings is seated “front and center” to the story. The solitary object or single subject that occupies the stage is the key
content you want the viewer to explore. KH-P: Absolutely, it is my intention to frame the viewer’s focus and to draw the viewer into whatever I choose to put on stage. By painting a simple glass of water and putting it on stage, the glass of water becomes something more important than if had I just painted a glass of water by itself. I guess they all make the viewer ask, “Why is this on a stage?” JC: You often sew objects onto the canvas like buttons or beads that reference something in the painting such as raindrops or stars. You are such a skilled painter that sometimes the viewer has to ask whether it is painted on or sewn into the canvas. They add a wonderful, playful element to the paintings. KH-P: I am drawn to circular shapes. The buttons and beads that I sew on are in memory of my maternal grandmother. She was a remarkable woman, whose strength in times of adversity has always been inspirational. Among other things, she was an expert seamstress; she bought fabric by the bolt and made matching outfits for her many grandchildren. As a young teenager, she would ask me to sew on the buttons, finish hemming a dress, or help her with other finish details. The buttons and objects conjure memory for me, while the stage, curtains and subject matter of the paintings, mostly tend to conjure hope. All reference live theater arts, which for centuries, and in many cultures, remain an important form of communication. Kathleen Herlihy-Paoli, Pipeline, 2018, oil on canvas with beaded inclusions, 20 x 20 inches.
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COLLECTIONNEWS
M
AM lost one of its best and brightest champions last May. Patricia Dunkum, a founding member of MAM in 1974, passed away at age 93. In addition to more than 35 years of service as a museum volunteer, Patricia was an avid art collector who in 2006 revealed that she, with the support of her husband Aubrey (19222013), intended to bequeath her collection to MAM. She designated several works and invited MAM to select additional objects in conversation with her children. With their generous input, MAM accessioned 12 new artworks into the Collection. The selection includes what Patricia claimed was her first “real” acquisition, Conquistadoras, a vibrant parade of bold, barechested women by Fernando A. Alonso that captured Patricia’s imagination during the 1996 exhibition at MAM, Aquarelles Oaxacanos: Suenos y Mythos/
Oaxacan Watercolors: Dreams and Myths. Once the collecting bug bit, Patricia made many joyful purchases from benefit auctions, local galleries, and UM student exhibitions, and she received numerous gifts from artists and friends. A well-traveled, lifelong learner and community member, she was drawn to James Dew’s bright landscape of Chartres and fearlessly embraced enigmatic contemporary works by Brad Allen, Noellynn Pepos (d. 2017), and Don Voisine. These and other works are now held in trust in the MAM Collection for all of Missoula. Patricia was dedicated to the MAM Collection as well. In 1998, Patricia, Rhea Blanchard (19322017), and Ethel MacDonald led the effort to raise funds to purchase Vera, a nearly life-sized outdoor ceramic sculpture of a nude, grandmotherly gardener by UM graduate Trisha Kyner. In 2004 Patricia joined MAM’s Collection Committee, a group of volunteer community members who review and vote on every acquisition. For five years, she played a direct role in growing the Collection, including during the Renaissance Campaign, which stands to date as MAM’s most intense period of collecting. Upon her retirement from the committee in 2009, Patricia, along with Aubrey, received the inaugural MAM Award to recognize their outstanding dedication, generosity, and service to MAM.
Lee Nye, Portrait of Patricia, gelatin silver print, 1958. MAM Collection, Bequest, Patricia Dunkum, 2018.
CONTEMPORARY COLLECTORS CIRCLE
ADRIAN ARLEO STUDIO VISIT: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 5:30 pm Drive to Lolo for an evening of champagne and hors d’oeuvres while visiting the renowned ceramist Adrian Arleo’s home studio. Arleo studied art and anthropology at Pitzer College and received her MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, and she has been a resident artist at Oregon College of Art and Craft and at Sitka Center for Art and Ecology. She exhibits nationally and internationally, and is in numerous public and private collections. She received awards from the Virginia A. Groot Foundation in1991, 1992, and1995, as well as the Montana Arts Council Individual Fellowship. CCC Members will have an opportunity to meet and talk with the artist and see new work. Arleo is one of the selected artists participating in In Praise of Folly: Five Artists After Philip Guston.
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According to Arleo, her work explores, “the vital interconnection between the human and non-human realms; the imagery arises from associations, concerns and obsessions that are at once intimate and universal. The work frequently references mythology and archetypes in addressing our vulnerability amid changing personal, environmental, and political realities.” The CCC is a group devoted to furthering understanding of contemporary art and MAM’s collection. Members vote on collection purchases, participate in stimulating art experiences, and visit artist studios throughout the year. To join the Contemporary Collectors Circle or RSVP for this event, contact Brandon Reintjes, Senior Curator, brandon@missoulaartmuseum.org or call (406)728-0447.
CONTINUINGEXHIBITIONS
ART BRIDGES: PHILIP GUSTON, CIGAR
Through December 31 // Shott Family Gallery
Conversations with Artists On Guston: John Buck and Jay Schmidt, September 19, 6 pm Adrian Arleo and Richard Notkin, October 25, 6 pm Throughout the fall, Philip Guston’s Cigar (1969) is on view courtesy of a loan from Art Bridges. This iconic artwork will serve as the catalyst for five regionally based, nationally renowned artists—Adrian Arleo (Missoula), John Buck (Bozeman), Jaune Quick-To-See Smith (Corrales, New Mexico), Richard Notkin (Vaughn, Washington), and Jay Schmidt (Bozeman)—who created artworks in response to Cigar and to Guston’s aesthetic practice. These artists evoke, investigate, and expand upon Guston’s artistic legacy, and demonstrate the continuing power of Guston’s work as a touchstone for contemporary, and American, art. The response artworks will result in a group exhibition at MAM in 2019, In Praise of Folly: Five Artists After Philip
Guston. The title is drawn from the Moriae Encomium, a 1509 satirical essay by the Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, social critic, and theologian Desiderius Erasmus (c 1466-1536). Erasmus, encouraged by the new vision of individual potential that emerged with the Renaissance, criticized the traditions and structures of European society and the Roman Catholic Church. The essay has since come to stand more broadly for critique of power structures in general. Guston’s Cigar is significant in being one of the first paintings the artist created after moving away from abstraction. This important mid-career shift came in the wake of awards and critical acclaim surrounding Guston’s art. His turn to narrative figuration was widely criticized and misinterpreted at the time, but came
to be seen as heralding the decline of Abstract Expressionism. As Guston put it, “I got sick and tired of all that Purity! I wanted to tell stories.” Guston intended for his paintings to be interpreted in light of the political violence of the late 1960s, but he also thought of the paintings as ironic self-portraits. Guston painted hooded Klansmen not always as a direct reference to racism, but rather as a comment against the war, injustice, and hypocrisy he witnessed in American politics. Guston, wrestling with his morality and compelled to action, asked, “What kind of man am I, sitting at home, getting into a frustrated fury about everything and then going into my studio to adjust a red to a blue?” MAM looks forward to exhibiting these works and delving into the continued conversations throughout the year.
Philip Guston, Cigar, 1969, oil on canvas, 52 × 60 1/8 inches, Art Bridges. Photography courtesy of Sotheby’s.
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continuing exhibitions SUKAH WOROB: ZAMENHOF’S TABLE
Through September 15 // Morris and Helen Silver Foundation Gallery Montana master printmaker Sukha Worob presents new work exploring language and communication in this exhibition of installation and large-scale prints.
PHOEBE KNAPP: ROUGH CUTS
Through October 10 // Art Park
Knapp’s exhibition continues throughout the fall in the Art Park. These four meditations on the medium of wood take different forms to accentuate possibilities in sculpture. Knapp has created ambitious monolithic forms using a chainsaw and fire. She uses archetypal forms—the sphere, the slab, the wedge—as her language for telling us stories of the landscape, how it is shaped, what it holds, and how we experience it. Her themes border on the metaphysical and investigate deep time and long history. For instance, Tablet incorporates walnut planted by the early Spanish settlers in America as they established missions along the California coast to query humanity’s relationship to the codex and recorded histories. For this exhibition, Knapp created a new sculpture—Lightning Strike, that evolved from a temple-like ziggurat holding a chalice of fire to its present form of an inverted, y-configuration crowned with a bronze zig-zag, memorializing the instant of divine inspiration, the birth of fire, and the burning of the forests.
CONTINUED SELECTIONS FROM COMMUNITIES:WEST III
August 14–October 27 and November 2– December 29 // Lela Autio Education Gallery MAM will continue to offer a rotation of print selections from Communities:West III, a portfolio of 52 prints donated by artists Sukha Worob of Bozeman and Andrew Rice of Salt Lake City. This third installment of the biennial portfolio project is the largest yet and exemplifies the diverse community of printmakers working in the western United States. Continuing the summer’s inaugural exhibition, the remainder of the portfolio—35 prints in all—will be shown in two different exhibitions throughout the fall and winter. The exciting variety of work includes nationally known artists who address themes such as environmentalism and personal narrative using imagery ranging from photobased realism to concrete poetry. Phoebe Knapp with Tablet, 2004, walnut, metal, copper-coated cast-iron pipe. Photo by Tom Bauer, Missoulian.
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EDUCATION + COMMUNITY OUTREACH
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Summer with ARTreach and MAM on the Move! This new, mobile community initiative connected over 260 underserved kids over the summer to the exhibition, John Baldessari: Interference Effects, Selections from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation. For the second consecutive summer, thanks to generous support from the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation, MAM’s ARTreach program brought over 500 kids to MAM from local summer camp programs for a guided inquiry-based tour and an artist-led hand’s-on art project.
NEW ARTIST RESIDENCY LAUNCHES 33RD FIFTH GRADE ART EXPERIENCE MAM is excited to launch its 33rd annual Fifth Grade Art Experience (FGAE) by offering a week-long residency with Dillon artist, Cathy Weber. Each weekday from October through January, hundreds of fifth graders from Missoula County Public Schools and beyond will spend the first three hours of their day at MAM interfacing with Weber’s exhibition, Understory/ Overstory, and then create their very own bird sculpture project using air dry clay. The opportunity to work directly with Cathy Weber will impact students on a deeper level, connecting them directly to her artistic process, her creative problem-solving complexities, and the inspirations and challenges that she and most artists encounter when making art. After creating their own artworks inspired by MAM’s exhibitions,
students will walk to the Missoula Public Library to get a library card and explore books related to their museum visit. We are grateful to the Montana Arts Council for supporting Weber’s residency at MAM. This program continues to thrive and carry momentum as MAM refreshes the curriculum annually. This year, MAM’s new education team will infuse the program with an interpretive philosophy that expands upon Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) principles, launching inquiry methods of observation and interpretation. Using the inquiry method, self-engagement and the process and culture of selfdiscovery become the core of MAM’s education programs.
For Art Guide Volunteers
Tuesdays: September 4, 11, 18, 25, 8:30– 10:30 am Are you interested in leading tours of museum exhibitions for all ages and joining our stellar group of beloved volunteers? Would you like to gain professional training in interpretive strategies? We’ll provide you with the necessary tools, skills, and practice to help generate discussion and deepen the viewing experience for visitors and students in the Fifth Grade Art Experience. Trainings include an orientation to MAM’s inquiry-based interpretive strategy. A minimum of one training is required to lead tours.
For Education Volunteers
Thursday, September 6, 4–5 pm Would you like to work with professional teaching artists and exhibiting artist in the classroom during the Fifth Grade Art Experience or a scheduled class or workshop? Education Volunteers assist with a variety of art classes and workshops for all ages and abilities while gaining training in best practices in art education.
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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
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FOR KIDS
AFTER SCHOOL ART ADVENTURE
MAM’s teaching artists and education interns convened in June for a professional development training led by Educator/Coordinator Jenny Bevill and Education Curator Kay Grissom-Kiely. Funding for the training was provided by the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation. The “My Time is Valuable” signs shown here refer to a project initiated by Jody Servon in 2017.
MAM is excited to introduce a new educational initiative this year: professional development trainings for teachers and artists. These hands-on workshops will connect individuals with the core values and mission of MAM,share best practices in the field, and provide enrichment opportunities for arts educators in our community. Contact Jenny Bevill at jenny@ missoulaartmuseum.org for more information or to register.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP: HOW DO ARTISTS RESPOND?
Focusing on Philip Guston’s controversial 1969 painting, Cigar, we will explore many of the ways in which artists respond through materials, to one another, and to current issues in the wider world. There will be a gallery tour and a hands-on artmaking experience.
FOR TEACHING ARTISTS
September 12, 4–6 pm
This training is for current MAM Teaching Artists or individuals interested in teaching classes or workshops at the museum.
FOR CLASSROOM TEACHERS
October 18, 2 PIR Credits, 1–3 pm Are you an MCPS or independent school teacher in Montana? Do you enjoy art and want to learn more about how artists think and work? Do you want to incorporate the creative process into your classroom? MAM can help! What might responding look like for you and your students?
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Bev Beck Glueckert Tuesdays, 3:45–5:15 pm ages 7–12 // $60/45 ASAA Series 1: September 11–October 16 ASAA Series 2: October 30–December 4 Create artwork inspired by the exhibitions at MAM. There will be a short tour and a series of projects related to what the students see. Projects will include drawing, painting, printmaking, and 3-D exploration. Receive a 20% discount if signing up for both series.
FOR TEENS
AFTER SCHOOL ART ADVENTURE: COMICS AREN’T ALWAYS FUNNY
Tony Gregori Thursdays, 3:45-5:15 pm // ages 12–15 // $60/45 ASAA-TEEN Series: September 13– October 18 Develop your own symbolic visual language and use it to tell an original comic story. Teaching artist Tony Gregori, creator of Porkchop Robot Killer and other titles, will share his work and process. There will be discussion around the painting Cigar by Philip Guston. You will look at how this influential artist used everyday objects as symbols in his later work. Please note: all prices are listed nonmember/member.
TEEN ARTIST WORKSHOPS
Monthly, 4–6 pm, Free! Teens work closely with professional artists in a fun and informal environment. This is a unique opportunity for teens to learn different techniques and methods from a professional artist and create artwork of their own. Special thanks to the LEAW Family Foundation and U104.5 for supporting teens and art at MAM. All materials and snacks are provided free for teens! DYNAMIC ABSTRACTION ON BOARD Stoney Sasser // September 19 Inspired by Harold Schlotzhauer’s edgeto-edge compositions on skateboards, surf boards, and kites, enjoy painting with acrylics and paying special attention to saturated color and flowing brushwork on kite or lozenge-shaped boards. Optional: bring your own board! EXQUISITE CORPSE Jay Schmidt // October 17 Artist Jay Schmidt lives to collaborate! He will lead us through creating a largescale “Exquisite Corpse.” This artists’ collaborative game was invented by the Surrealists and incorporates an element of surprise and encourages letting go of control, as all good collaborations do. HOW DO ARTISTS RESPOND? Melissa Madsen // November 14 What issues do you care about? What can you do about it? Explore the many
ways in which artists respond to their experiences, to one another, and to the wider world. In this workshop we will create art that can make a difference.
paint, create a place to tell your own story. Kathleen Herlihy-Paoli will share her artistic process and her exhibition Act Three.
TAKING FLIGHT Cathy Weber // December 12 Birds symbolize so many different things. Explore the exhibition Understory/Overstory with the artist who created it. Many different iterations of “bird” had to be worked through before Cathy Weber arrived at her current sculptural form. Mold your own personal bird using air dry clay. Carving tools will be used to create various textures and patterns on the birds.
WEARABLE WINGS Jennifer Ogden // October 13 As part of Missoula Public Library’s Big Read, pick up a copy of Catwings by Ursula K. Le Guin and create your own pair of wearable wings. MAM’s teaching artist Jennifer Ogden will explore how wings helped the cats escape from harm, and imagine ways in which the things that make us unique might empower us in unexpected ways.
FOR FAMILIES
SATURDAY FAMILY FREE WORKSHOPS
11:00 am–12:30 pm The whole family is invited to make art together in these artist-led, free workshops. Please arrive a few minutes early to ensure a spot. Children under age seven should be accompanied by an adult. All materials are provided— just bring an open and creative mind. Thanks to the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation for supporting MAM’s free family programs. TABLETOP THEATER Kathleen Herlihy-Paoli // September 22 Will the star of your show be an apple, a glass of water, or a starry night sky? Using boxes, fabric, found objects, and
ABSTRACT KITES Jennifer Ogden // November 17 Inspired by the exhibition Harold Schlotzhauer: Living in a Good Dream, learn to use bold lines, bright colors, and patterning to create edge-to-edge compositions on kites with acrylic paint. Kites have historically been used for many things including measuring, signaling, and ceremonial purposes. What kind of kite will you design? WISH TREE Jolena Ryan // December 8 Inspired by Yoko Ono’s on-going series Wish Tree, we will create simple prints of leaves and write our wishes—personal or global—on the back. One leaf will be added to the community project and others can be taken home to become a part of any seasonal celebration.
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ART CLASSES (CONTINUED)
FOR ADULTS
ART IN THE MOMENT
A Program for those with Dementia and their Caregivers Mondays: October 1, November 5, December 3, 10 am–12 pm This program at MAM provides a comforting art-viewing and art-making experience for those in the early stages of dementia and their caregivers. Based on the Museum of Modern Art’s MEET ME program, Art in the Moment creates a dementia-friendly learning community and provides an opportunity for caregivers and those with dementia to be together in a creative and relaxed environment. Led by MAM’s education staff, participants will view and discuss artwork on display in the galleries in small groups and create work of their own in the education classroom. Pre-registration is required by calling (406) 728-0447. Space is limited to 6 participants per session.
OPEN FIGURE DRAWING
Saturdays: September 1, October 6, November 3, December 1 2:00–4:00 pm, Ages 18+, noninstructed, $10/ 8 Draw from a live model in an independent drawing studio environment. Some supplies are available for use.
EVOLUTION OF THE BIRD
Cathy Weber // September 29 11:00 am–1:00 pm, $30/27 “I decide what I want to make and that informs what I have to learn to do,” says Cathy Weber. Join the artist as she models the problem-solving that is at the core of an artist’s creative process. Many different iterations of “bird” had to be worked through before Weber arrived at her current sculptural form. Weber will share these with us as we explore air dry clay and evolve our own ideas in this medium. Before the workshop, join the artist for a tour of her installation at 10:30 AM.
SPEAKING IN A COMMON TONGUE
Dani Turner // September 15 11:00 am–1:00 pm, $10 materials fee Dani Turner will introduce the Slow View method of looking at art through a facilitated discussion of John Buck’s A Common Tongue, a richly symbolic woodcut in the MAM Collection that she has researched extensively for a MAM Collections Internship. She will then lead a hands-on workshop to explore Buck’s signature puzzlepiece printing technique. Discover new ways to engage with art in this unique combination of participatory experiences.
HONORING THE DEAD MONOTYPES
Bev Beck Glueckert // October 27 11:00 am–1:30 pm, $30/27
Participants have the opportunity to commemorate a significant person or event by creating large- scale monotypes that can be carried in this year’s annual Festival of the Dead procession. Bring your own favorite sketches or images to inform your designs.
HOW DO ARTISTS RESPOND?
David J. Spear // November 10 11:00 am–1:00 pm, $30/27 Join photographer David J. Spear in an exploration of the ideas behind Philip Guston’s 1969 painting Cigar. Guston created this work shortly after he rejected the limitations of abstract expressionism and returned to figurative painting. This shift allowed him to comment more explicitly on the social and political climate of the time. In this workshop Spear will explore some of the ways in which artists respond—through materials, to one another, and to current issues in the wider world. Register online at missoulaartmuseum.org, or call (406)728-0447. Please ask about available scholarships.
All classes require pre-registration. Please register at least one week in advance to ensure sufficient attendance and avoid possible class cancellation. Your registration is confirmed only with full payment or a non-refundable $20 deposit. Registration fee (minus $20) is refundable only if cancellation is made seven days prior to the first class meeting.
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PUBLIC FIRST FRIDAYS
September 7 // October 5 // November 2 // December 7 Experience MAM’s engaging exhibitions for free on the First Friday of each month from 5 to 8 pm. Enjoy live music by KBGA, a no-host bar, and unique artviewing experiences. September’s First Friday will feature the work of Cathy Weber: Overstory/ Understory and a performance by special guest dancer Dreya Weber. October’s First Friday will be followed by the Wayne Horvitz Trio concert (tickets sold separately). First Fridays in November and December will offer opportunities to enjoy all of the museum’s exhibits and MAM’s bustling art community. Special thanks to the for more than a decade of support for First Friday at MAM.
SATURDAY + WITH CATHY WEBER
September 8 // 11 am – 12 pm Start off with a dance performance by special guest Dreya Weber, and then gain an in-depth understanding of Cathy Weber’s artistic practice through her exhibition Understory/Overstory while enjoying coffee generously provided by Black Coffee Roasting Co.
PROGRAMS WITCH DANCE BY DREYA WEBER
September 7, 5 pm and 7:30 pm // September 8, 11 am Dreya Weber performs a reimagined version of her celebrated, L.A. Dance Chronicle-reviewed “Witch Piece” in response to her sister Cathy Weber’s exhibition Understory/Overstory. This performance centers on reclaimed feminine power and her lineage to German witches, where 368 women were once burned at the stake. Dreya is an accomplished performer, choreographer, writer, and aerialist. She choreographed Pink’s performances at the 2010 and 2014 Grammy Awards, aerials for Michael Jackson’s This Is It, and performances for Cher’s current tour. She produced and starred in the award-winning films The Gymnast and A Marine Story.
MONTANA BOOK FESTIVAL
September 27–30 MAM is proud to once again partner with the Montana Book Festival. For a festival schedule and a list of readings and workshops taking place at MAM, please visit www.montanabookfestival.org. EXHIBITION TOUR WITH CATHY WEBER September 29, 10:30 AM Join Dillon-based artist Cathy Weber for an informal exhibition tour of Understory/ Overstory and some of the mythic elements that Weber incorporates in her artistic practice.
WAYNE HORVITZ TRIO: THE SNOWGHOST SESSIONS WITH GUEST NAOMI SIEGEL
October 5, 8:30 pm, $25/$15 for members Join us at MAM for an unforgettable evening of great sound. This is the inaugural concert funded by MAM’s Daniel & Sophia Lambros Fund for Live Art. Horvitz is a composer, pianist, and electronic musician who performed extensively throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America. He is the leader of the Gravitas Quartet, Sweeter Than the Day, Zony Mash, the Four Plus
One Ensemble, and co-founder of the New York Composers Orchestra. He is the music programmer for the Royal Room, a performance venue in Seattle, and a professor of composition at the Cornish College of the Arts. His album Some places are forever afternoon was inspired by Richard Hugo’s poems about the West. He is currently working on a composition of The Heartsong of Charging Elk based on the novel by James Welch. His album 55: Music and Dance in Concrete is a site-specific collaboration with dancer Yukio Suzuki and video artist Yohei Saito. Trombonist, composer, and educator Naomi Siegel is a member of Wayne Horvitz’s Royal Room Collective Music Ensemble. Since moving to Missoula in 2016 Siegel organized the Lakebottom Sound Series. She is half of the Syrinx Effect with Seattle saxophonist Kate Olson, who released A Sky You Could Strike a Match On LP in 2018. Siegel released her debut album Shoebox View in 2016 to widespread acclaim, and was awarded an Earshot Jazz Golden Ear Award for Emerging Artist of the Year for her expressive trombone playing that is changing the way the trombone is heard and viewed. Get your tickets before they sell out!
ARTISTS ON GUSTON SEPTEMBER 19: A conversation with John Buck and Jay Schmidt, 6 pm, FREE OCTOBER 25: A conversation with Adrian Arleo and Richard Notkin, 6 pm, FREE Throughout the fall, Adrian Arleo (Missoula), John Buck (Bozeman), Richard Notkin (Vaughn, WA), and Jay Schmidt (Bozeman) will visit MAM to reflect on Philip Guston’s Cigar and formulate artwork responses to the artist and artwork for the upcoming exhibition In Praise of Folly. During the visit, MAM will engage artists and the public in a moderated discussion that will investigate the artwork’s aesthetic and formal qualities and art historical context, along with Guston’s artistic practice and biographical information, followed by a dynamic Q & A.
MAM’S MISSION MAM serves the public by engaging audiences and artists in the exploration of contemporary art relevant to the community, state, and region.
HOURS: Closed Sundays & Mondays Tuesday – Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
MAM BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Leslie Ann Dallapiazza (President), Brian Sippy (Vice President), Sara Smith (Treasurer), Betsy Bach, Stephanie Christensen, Lara Dorman, Paul Filicetti, Matt Gibson, Josh Gimpelson, Becca Nasgovitz, Cathay Smith, Kate Sutherland, Taylor Valliant.
MAM STAFF: Laura J. Millin (Executive Director), John Calsbeek (Associate Curator), Tracy Cosgrove (Deputy Director for Finance and Advancement), Bethany O’Connell (Communications and Events Coordinator), Jennifer Reifsneider (Registrar), Brandon Reintjes (Senior Curator), Jenny Bevill (Educator Coordinator), Kay GrissomKiely (Education Curator), Cassidy Tucker (Advancement Assistant). MAM IS FUNDED IN PART by Missoula County and the City of Missoula. Additional support is generously provided by the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation, Montana Arts Council, Montana Cultural Trust, 21st Century Community Learning Center Grant, Art Associates of Missoula, the Missoula Business Community, MAM patrons and members. MAM is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). Missoula Art Museum is wheelchairaccessible from the building’s main entrance at Pattee Street. MAM staff is available to meet special needs.
Free Expression. Free Admission. 335 N. Pattee, Missoula, MT, 59802 missoulaartmuseum.org 406.728.0447 GRAPHIC DESIGN: Yogesh Simpson | yogeshsimpson.com
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free admission. free expression. // missoulaartmuseum.org // 406.728.0447
Art
Swing
@ MAM SAVE THE DATE!
January 4: Exhibition opening and reception of MAM’s 47th Benefit Art Auction February 2: MAM’s 47th Benefit Art Auction
OCTOBER 19, 5–8 pm $10 Adults/ $5 students/ free for members! MAM debuts a new way to celebrate the season’s exhibiting artists by bringing everyone together for a celebratory night of art, music, food, and good conversation. This season’s all-Montana, all-star lineup features Kathleen Herlihy-Paoli (Missoula), Stephen Hunt (St. Ignatius), Harold Schlotzhauer (Bozeman), and Cathy Weber (Dillon). Herlihy-Paoli, Hunt, and Schlotzhauer will lead exhibition tours beginning at 6 pm, in between live music sets at 5 and 7 pm. Mark your calendar for Art Swing @ MAM! Enjoy catered hors d’oeuvres, a no-host bar, live music, gallery tours, and one-on-one conversation with exhibiting artists. To RSVP, buy tickets, or to learn more about the benefits of becoming a new member, contact Cassidy Tucker, Advancement Assistant, cassidy@missoulaartmuseum.org or call (406)728-0447.
CALL TO ARTISTS!
Support MAM’s 47th Benefit Art Auction October 5: Deadline for art submissions Visit missoulaartmuseum.org for more information
MAM has many generous donors and supporters to thank for keeping our doors open and our museum free of charge. THANK YOU TO OUR BUSINESS PAR TNERS:
