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Home My WebLink About10-10-25 Correspondence - MT Arts Council - ARTeries_ News from the Montana Arts Council for Early October 2025From:Montana Arts CouncilTo:Bozeman Public CommentSubject:[EXTERNAL]ARTeries: News from the Montana Arts Council for Early October 2025Date:Thursday, October 9, 2025 4:56:03 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 Lucy Haitz photo of barbed wire grown into a moss-covered tree Art is unstoppable, as is this tree growing right around a barbed wire fence. Photo by Lucy Horitz, “Grace + Truth” blog There are many ways to thrive, and sometimes making dramatic, painful cuts is one of them. When winter is coming, plants shift their energy to the roots to gain stability, strength, and protection. Sometimes the arts also endure the frigid winds of budget cuts and other pestilential attacks. Artists and arts leaders everywhere are skilled in growing through the challenges, like the Lucy Horitz photo of the tree growing around three strands of barbed wire. Circumstances change. Art is unstoppable. Like gardeners in fall, we also know how to trim almost back to the soil, to let go of some mighty beautiful structures and programs—and sometimes even compost flowers not yet in full bloom. When deep cuts happen, as Humanities Montana suffered this year, survival depends on nourishing the soil, banking nutrients and compost and attentive care, so the beauty can spring forth again. Feel free to use this metaphor as a reason to write a big fat check to your local arts organization right now, while everyone’s planning their giving season. Krys Holmes Executive Director krys.holmes@mt.gov It’s National Arts & Humanities Month! Creativity defines who we are as a nation and who we aspire to be. Protecting the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is more urgent than ever. These investments aren’t line items—they are lifelines that sustain local economies, safeguard heritage, and provide healing and education in every community. In honor of National Arts & Humanities Month, Americans for the Arts is launching 50 Stories, 50 States, a national storytelling campaign inviting Americans everywhere to share how the arts and humanities have shaped their life, community, or identity. Go share a story. Then: do our friends at Humanities Montana a good deed: Donate to Humanities Montana and see how great your October can be. Spotlight This weekend: Alpine Artisans holds its 2025 Tour of the Arts, a do-it-yourself cruise to visit 29 artists in 13 studios, galleries and museums from Swan Valley to Lincoln. Two fascinating historical museums—Upper Swan Valley Historical Museum (Condon) and Brand Bar Museum (Ovando) will host nine artists just in those two spots. Don’t miss any of the copper, photography, jewelry, paintings, and ceramic arts studios along Hwy 83. And save time in your weekend to stroll the Blackfoot Pathways Sculpture in the Wild (Lincoln). All studios open for browsing and demonstrations Sat. 10-5 and Sun. 12-5. Follow the map (available here) in either direction—local lodging and dining are also listed. Make a weekend of it! IMAGE: Jewelry maker Sally Bogaert (center) will be at the Annie Allen Art Studio on the Alpine Artisans Tour of the Arts And next weekend, head down to the Artists Along the Bitterroot Tour, Fri-Sun, Oct 17-19. Visit studios, see demonstrations, and view the art of 31 artists from Florence to Hamilton, working in a range of mediums: cast bronze, glasswork, photography, printmaking encaustic mixed media, leather art, concrete sculpting, collage, alcohol dyes, cold wax, oil, pastel acrylic and watercolor painting. They, too, have a downloadable map. IMAGE: Debra Kroger’s owl says, “We’d better see you at the Artists Along the Bitterroot Tour!” Find Debra at Burning Sage Studio & Gallery, Stevensville. Grantee Spotlight Befrienders group doing movement exercise with individuals in various poses “We’re having a blast!” reports Kate Britton and the Befrienders group, mid-way through their six-week improv class building joy and friendships in Bozeman. Relieve loneliness through improv! Togetherness in play is the focus of a 6-week improvisational theater workshop for older adults, conducted by MAC grantee Befrienders, a Bozeman organization building community relationships for older adults. The class, led by teaching artist Kate Britton, includes theater games, unscripted scenes, movement work and ensemble-building activities, all designed to create joy and build friendships. Befrienders is halfway through their 6-week program, and we’re eager to see how this simple, brilliant program impacts participants’ lives. Befrienders received an Artists in Schools and Community grant for this project. White Divider Resources For Artists Students perform as part of the International Young Musicians program Know a young playwright or musician who’s part of a disability community? The Kennedy Center offers creative career programs—some with financial stipends. The Playwright Discovery program is open to young writers aged 14-19, and the International Young Musicians program is open to musicians aged 14-25. All participants must have a disability. Deadline for both is Jan 7th. The Yellowstone Art Museum, along with the Billings International Airport, is accepting applications for an exhibition at the airport terminal entitled “Starlight on Snowdrifts.” They seek medium to large scale 2D or 3D works of art that comply with the airports display guidelines. Deadline: Oct 26. Info here: Starlight on Snowdrifts "Picture Frame" by Jaakko Pernu, 2014 at Sculpture In the Wild Residencies at Sculpture in the Wild applications are open. Set on 40 acres of forested land in Lincoln, MT, this program offers time, space, and community connection to create site-specific works inspired by the history, landscape, and culture of the Blackfoot Valley. Application deadline Nov 1. Apply here: Blackfoot Pathways Sculpture in the Wild Residency Public art about justice is the focus of a call for artists to propose a significant public artwork for the new Teton County Justice Center in Jackson, WY. Budget: up to $125,000 plus stipends. Open to all US artists, with preference given to Wyoming artists from nearby communities. Deadline: Oct 15. Info here: Teton County WY Justice Center Public Art Wyoming’s 45th Annual Western Spirit Juried Art Show & Sale (Cheyenne, WY) is the premier annual juried art show in the Rocky Mountain Region for emerging and established artists who create original works interpreting the American West. Deadline to apply for the April 2026 exhibit is Nov 1. $20 fee. Apply here: Western Spirit Juried Art Show & Sale For Arts Organizations Strengthen your organization for free: Creative West (formerly Westaf) is offering free capacity-building workshops for small organizations and individual artists. Weekly seminars begin October 14, and will focus on building a stronger board, grant writing, community outreach, arts program evaluation, and other useful topics pertinent to all arts nonprofits—and to artists as well. May as well learn something! And the community is great too. Get the full schedule here: Creative West Capacity Building Webinars th MNA survey on nonprofit wages is open till Nov. 14 , and your participation helps keep tabs on how nonprofit wages are keeping up with the rest of the world. MNA members who take the survey will get a free copy of the report once it’s published – and it’s consistently one of MNA’s most used. Make sure the survey-taker is the person at your organization with the most information about salary and benefits for your whole team. Go here to participate: 2025 Wage and Compensation Report Survey Speaking of MNA, have you looked into their 2025 Accelerator Program yet? Built to give nonprofit managers a leg up, it covers building a foundation of trust, planning and evaluation, and managing and supporting employee performance. Held entirely virtually, sessions take place during the first 3 weeks of November. If you’re not an MNA member, now’s a good time. A group of 20 children perform on stage at the Missoula Children's Theatre Montana’s nonprofits make our country better. Here, Missoula Children’s Theatre brings theater experiences to youngsters at Monroe Arts Center (WI), in 2022. Montana’s nonprofits (including in the arts!) employ 60,181 Montanans—that’s 11% of the workforce—and cover $3.6 billion in annual Montana-based wages. America’s 1.3 million charitable nonprofits feed, heal, shelter, educate, nurture, and inspire people of every age, location, and socioeconomic status. And 92% of nonprofits are smaller than $1 million in annual budget. Browse around this amazing website: Nonprofits Get It Done for helpful data. Then advocate for your nonprofit with your local leaders and lawmakers. Performing Arts Consortium this weekend: If you’re an arts presenter looking to book a high-quality, affordable season—or if you’re a tour-ready performer wanting to book shows— we hope to see you this weekend at the Montana Performing Arts Consortium conference in Great Falls. We’ll see some great showcases of classical, country, global and Americana music alongside physical comedy and a “singing zoologist.” Starts Fri. Register here: MPAC Registration MPAC is like speed-dating for presenters and touring performing artists, with 12- minute showcases and small-town conviviality. For Arts Educators Poetry Out Loud kicks off this month, the nationwide celebration of students’ voices and creativity. This meaningful program boosts students’ confidence, curiosity, and engagement with language and the power of poetry. Past participants say Poetry Out Loud can be a formative experience that helps young men and women grow as curious minds, as artists, and as citizens. It’s open to students grade 9-12, and this year is coordinated by the fabulous Great Falls poet, Kaisa Edy. Some details are delayed, due to the federal government shutdown, but teachers can still sign up now! Email Kaisa at poetryoutloud@mt.gov. IMAGE: Kaisa Edy, our new Poetry Out Loud Coordinator, is eager to sign up teachers and schools for this year’s Poetry Out Loud. It’s also open to home- schoolers, so wing her an email. Elaina Tenter holding candy dish at Montana Arts Council Come meet Elaina Tenter, MAC’s new business specialist, at next week’s Montana Educators Conference in Missoula. Elaina and our arts education director Monica Grable will be manning the candy jar and hoping to hear what you’re up to this school year. Illustrated banner of writer Ted Gioia Good Reads We like to read Ted Gioia’s Substack, “The Honest Broker,” especially when he writes thoughtful pieces like this one: David Foster Wallace Tried to Warn Us About these Eight Things. See how the postmodern novelist prophesied, in the 1990s, the social deconstruction that plagues us all in the screen-driven 21st Century, and named the two forces that will be tools of our reconstruction: compassion and art. It’s a good read. Do art and agritourism go together? Just a thought. If you’re an artist in the rural hinterlands, read about MT Dept. of Commerce’s Agritourism Grant Program, and see if there’s a new rural partnership in your future. Do you receive the State of the Arts newpaper? The Fall 2025 issue is out now! You can subscribe here – free to all Montanans! In the current issue we try to think differently, by discussing how the arts promote heath, how art addresses trauma, how art adapts to the needs of its audience, and how art can succeed even by failing. It's a look into the ways art suffuses and reflects our daily lives. Cool Quotes God is too big to see all at once, and when moving, looks different to everyone. Sheryl Noethe, “Too big to see," from The Science of Coincidence This email was sent to comments@bozeman.net using GovDelivery Communications Cloud on behalf of: MontanaArts Council Rectangular horizontal shape in red-purple color MAC Logo Teal Manage Subscriptions | Unsubscribe All | Help | Montana Arts Council | 830 N. Warren Street | Helena, MT 59601 | art.mt.gov