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Home My WebLink About07-18-25 Correspondence - MT Arts Council - ARTeries_ News from the Montana Arts Council for Late July 2025From:Montana Arts CouncilTo:Bozeman Public CommentSubject:[EXTERNAL]ARTeries: News from the Montana Arts Council for Late July 2025Date:Thursday, July 17, 2025 4:02:02 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. ARTeries - The Lifeblood of Arts In Montana White Divider Kintsugi bowl of white porcelain, rebuilt with gold seams Art is the gold. We live in a fractured nation, in many ways a union in pieces. What once held together—mostly through the “soft bonds” created by walkable neighborhoods, service clubs, barbershop chats, and church potlucks—has devolved into social division, mutual disdain, and fear of the “other.” Sometimes we look at our country with the anguish of a ceramic artist whose porcelain teapot has shattered on the floor. It’s a hopeless heartbreak indeed. But it is not the end of the story. Ceramic artists also know about the 15th-Century Japanese art of Kintsugi, or “golden repair,” where broken pots were repaired with gold, silver, or platinum. In the hands of an artist, Kintsugi can make a repaired piece even more beautiful. Instead of hiding its flaws, Kintsugi creates a map of healing, a piece more highly valued because it was once shattered. Violence can’t do the “golden repair.” The stock market can’t either, nor can budget cuts or ICE raids. Kintsugi is an art form. To repair our shattered nation will require creativity, innovation, culture-sharing, storytelling, thinking and moving in new ways. Kintsugi is what artists do in the world. Let’s not fear the fractures. Let’s create the rest of the story. Krys Holmes Executive Director krys.holmes@mt.gov Arts In the News Time to make phone calls: The House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee released its FY2026 budget markup, which cuts both the NEA and the NEH by nearly 34% from current funding levels (from $207 million to $135 million). Congressman Ryan Zinke (202- 225-5628) is a senior member of the subcommittee. Through the federal-state partnership, 40% of NEA grant funding flows directly to state and regional arts agencies. Here at MAC, our NEA funds flow directly to projects that engage all ages across the state. The consequences of this cut will be significant and deeply felt. At 0.003% of the federal budget (at current levels) public funding of the arts yields a greater return on investment than any other sector: it boosts education, economic vitality, health and wellness, community well-being, and preserves our cultural assets. Please call now. Activate your board members, mayors, local leaders. Express gratitude for not zero-funding the NEA and NEH, and then let them know how important level funding is to Montana—a tiny cost for an immense return. Need inspiration? Check out this 16-min. video - Creative Forces—The Art of Recovery - about how the NEA-funded Creative Forces initiative, partnering wounded veterans at VA hospitals with arts-based therapies, is healing and transforming people in unexpected ways. (Montana’s Sen. Tim Sheehy told us he benefitted from arts therapy in his own recovery at the VA.) Then check out the other Creative Forces videos on that Youtube page. This is some of the work that gets capsized with cuts to the NEA. “Music is a whole-brain activity. The entire brain is activated when music is engaged. When we’re trying to retrain the brain, we can use new networks to retrain the brain to do the same type of task. When you lose the ability to speak, the ability to sing is still there.” Natalie Quintana, music therapist at the James A. Haley Veteran’s Hospital in Tampa, FL. Work for the Arts Council! White Divider Great job with good people: The team at the Montana Arts council is looking for a smart, capable business specialist with a head for details, a capacity for complex projects, a heart for serving the public, and a soul that appreciates the arts. The job listing is here: Job Description - Business Specialist (25141579) If you’d like the complete job description, email JeniferAlger@mt.gov. Resources For Artists Grant for visual artists: The Pollock-Krasner Foundation welcomes applications from visual artists in all genres for their individual artist grant program. Offers grants up to $50,000 depending on artist’s circumstances and professional history. Rolling deadline. Info here: PollockKrasnerFoundation For Arts Organizations Arts education grants: Don’t forget the August 14 deadline for Artists in Schools and Communities (AISC) Experiences grants. These small grants (up to $2,500) support arts learning experiences by helping cover costs for: 1) direct engagement with guest teaching artists; 2) purchasing tools, supplies or small equipment for arts learning experiences; or 3) transportation to first-hand experiences with art or artists. Check the guidelines and preview the application here: AISCExperiencesFY26Guidelines and please email Monica.Grable@mt.gov with questions. Glacier Art Museum used their AISC Experiences grant to bring Blackfeet artists to Superior High School to teach traditional and contemporary arts, as part of their Traveling Medicine Show. Good To Know Paris Gibson Square Welcomes Tracy Cosgrove Congrats to Paris Gibson Square in Great Falls for landing a keeper: Tracy Cosgrove, with more than 25 years of non-profit leadership in arts, philanthropy, finance, and social justice, is the Square’s new executive director. She lands in Great Falls following former ED Sarah Justice’s move to Zootown Arts Center, where she is already doing great things. Tracy Cosgrove. Photo by Eric Heidle Brandon Reintjes Takes Helm of Missoula Art Museum Brandon Reintjes, longtime senior curator of the Missoula Art Museum, has been unanimously named executive director there following Laura Millin's retirement following her more than three-decade tenure. Brandon brings a wealth of expertise and familiarity to the Museum, and we're excited to see where he takes it in the coming years. Congratulations, Brandon! Brandon Reintjes, on one knee in front of colorful mural Brandon Reintjes photo courtesy of the Missoulian Statewide Mural Catalog Takes Shape Montana Main Street is creating an inventory of murals across the state—particularly those in downtown areas. If you have one in your town, they ask you to email Micky.Zurcher@mt.gov with some info: Specific location of the mural Title of the mural Name of artist and date it was painted. Include dates it was restored if it’s historic. Cost of mural and funding source Any story behind the mural—its image, the location, the artist, etc. Photo of the mural, with name of photographer, date of photograph, and whether Dept. of Commerce has permission to use the image If no photograph is available, please include a brief description of the mural (size, subject, condition, etc.) Mural painting underway at Helena's Rodney Street neighborhood Mural painting underway at Helena's Rodney Street neighborhood in 2022. Montana Reads: The Montana Historical Society and the Montana 250th Commission have launched the Treasure State’s Book Club, with book discussions on zoom each second Thursday of the month, 6:30-7:30 pm. First book: Rush: Revolution, Madness & the Visionary Doctor Who Became a Founding Father, by Stephen Fried. Info and the zoom link here: Montana Reads: The Treasure State's Book Club In Memory Banner Godspeed, Patty Bergquist: Dedication, quick wit, and passion for the arts are a small portion of the legacy left behind with the passing last month of Patricia Jean Bergquist, former executive director of the Montana Art Gallery Directors Association (MAGDA) and a 2020 recipient of the Governor’s Arts Award. “She truly is the heart of the organization, and her legacy will live on in all of us,” writes MAGDA director Alissa Kost. Likewise, Montana mourns the loss of Cheryl Hutchinson, also in June. Cheryl was a tireless advocate for the arts across Montana and a force behind the creation of Tower Rock State Park, near Cascade. We may never get to see all the gifts we leave behind us. Get to work, and have faith. Cheryl Hutchinson seated at easel at Tower Rock State Park Cheryl Hutchinson at Tower Rock State Park (photo by Cascade Courier) ARTeries is produced by the Montana Arts Council. 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