HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-21-25 Correspondence - MT Arts Council - ARTeries_ News from the Montana Arts Council for Late November 2025From:Montana Arts CouncilTo:Bozeman Public CommentSubject:[EXTERNAL]ARTeries: News from the Montana Arts Council for Late November 2025Date:Thursday, November 20, 2025 3:37:51 PM
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The latest from Montana's state arts agency
ARTeries - The Lifeblood of Arts In Montana
White Divider
Wheatfield with Crows, By Vincent Van Gogh (1890). We each navigate blessing and torment in our own ways. Carry
on.
Every artist, sooner or later, feels “a terrible discouragement gnawing at your psychic
energy,” as Vincent Van Gogh wrote of in a letter to his brother, Theo, in June of
1880. The struggling artist asked, “Does what goes on inside show on the outside?
Someone has a great fire in his soul and nobody ever comes to warm themselves at
it, and passers-by see nothing but a little smoke at the top of the chimney and then go
on their way. So now what are we to do, keep this fire alive inside, have salt in
ourselves?”
What keeps the great fire in your soul burning? In many ways, it’s artists whose
furnace must burn brightest, because the light of art guides us through the confusions
of the world. This week we ask two things in service to this light:
1. Tell us about your light in the darkness. A time a work of art helped you,
healed you, strengthened or inspired you. Just a 100-word anecdote, a photo, a
work of art. Send it here.
2. If you’re an artist, consider joining our Art Works program (below). Part of your
engine runs on revenue, and we want to help you build yours.
Have faith in the salt in yourself.
Krys Holmes
Executive Director
krys.holmes@mt.gov
COME MEET THE ARTS COUNCIL!
MAC invites you to a reception to meet our three new Arts Council members, and
enjoy some time with staff in the stunning spaces of the C.M. Russell Museum in
Great Falls. Join us Thursday, Dec. 4, 5:30-7:30 pm for light snacks, a cash bar, and
time for conviviality. No agenda but to greet one another and be inspired. See you
there!
Spotlight
A hand drawing a portrait with charcoal
Figure drawing just for seniors: boosting the creative potential of Montana’s 60-and-betters at the Missoula Art
Museum. Interested in learning more? Attend MAC’s virtual Creative Aging conference.
Arts learning expressly for adults over 60 is widely recognized as a critical part of
a fulfilling life. Creative Aging programs center on providing robust professionally-led
arts workshops that initiate or deepen participants’ learning in an artform, support
their own daily practice, and help build community among peers. Creative aging
programs also provide helpful revenue streams for teaching artists trained in this work
and the organizations that sponsor them. With support from Lifetime Arts, MAC has
collaborated with Montana State Library to fund creative aging programs in numerous
Montana towns. One great example that's been underway for a month: the Missoula
Art Museum’s Figure Drawing class, led by artist Bev Beck Glueckert.
Interested in learning more about creative aging workshops, or how to find training as
a teaching artist for this kind of work? MAC will be hosting a virtual Creative Aging
conference over two mornings, December 10 and 11, from 9 AM to noon to showcase
recent work, provide professional development on Creative Aging-related topics, and
connect those interested with professional teaching artists trained in leading
workshops for older adults. The mini-conference is free. Email Monica Grable at
Monica.Grable@mt.gov for details and the link.
For Artists
Build your business, boost your revenue: MAC
introduces its revamped professional development
for artists program—previously called the Montana
Artrepreneur Program, now called simply: Art
Works. Open to all disciplines, from musicians to
beadworkers, Art Works will help creative
professionals develop entrepreneurial skills to
sustain their practice. Using both virtual and in-
person sessions, the program provides accurate
and up-to-date information tailored to the needs of
participants. More importantly, each cohort in the
Art Works program is a group of collaborators, workshopping key elements like artist
statements, presentations, and goalsetting together. No more laboring alone.
The program runs March-May 2026 and includes four in-person intensive workshops
(specific dates/locations determined by the hometown & needs of participants) and
four virtual meetings focusing on class content and prep work—plus homework and
readings on your own. We’ll be rolling out information, so stay tuned.
Program guidelines are available here. Ready to apply? Click here.
Deadline: Jan 5. Questions? Email Brian: Brian.Moody2@mt.gov.
Boost your success as an artist—in any discipline—in the new Art Works program at
MAC. All artists are entrepreneurs. The goal of the Art Works program is to boost
your entrepreneurial skills.
Call for art: MSU Bozeman seeks proposals for
five original artworks to be installed on the
campus Caring For Our Own Program (CO-OP)
spaces in five different nursing buildings on
campus. The CO-OP program supports
Indigenous nursing students in their work to
improve healthcare in Native communities.
Proposals should honor Suzie Walking Bear
Yellowtail, first Indigenous registered nurse in the
U.S. (Pryor, MT), as well as broader themes of
community, empowerment, and belonging.
Proposals due Jan 5th. Learn more here.
Susie Walking Bear Yellowtail (Apsaalooke) is known as the first Indigenous
registered nurse in the U.S. MSU Bozeman now seeks 5 artworks honoring her
legacy.
Creative West Artist Fund offers $5,000 grants to individual artists in the West, plus
a four-month coaching and community care series to help artists strengthen their
practice, deepen networks, and nurture abundance. Artists must be engaged in
creative or cultural work that contributes to community connection, cultural
preservation, or creative innovation. Learn more here. Deadline Nov. 30th.
For Arts Organizations
Creative Forces/NEA Military Healing Arts Network grant program is now open,
accepting proposals for community-based arts engagement projects that support the
health, well-being and quality of life for military and veteran populations, including
family members and caregivers. Grants of $10,000-$25,000 can go a long way to
addressing the needs of Montana’s veterans and their communities. Deadline Jan
15th. Click here for the link to learn & apply.
Meanwhile, here are additional resources:
Sign up for office hours [calendly.com]
Five Helpful Hints for Applicants [youtube.com] (video)
Military and Family Needs Assessment and Literature Review: Considerations
for Arts Providers and Creative Arts Therapists [arts.gov] (report)
Creative Forces dancers perform in front of vintage airplanes
New York-based dance company Exit12, founded by a former marine, uses their NEA Creative Forces grant to
provide 8-week dance courses for veterans to learn how to express the inexpressible through movement. What can
your arts organization do for Montana’s veterans? Photo by Alberto Vasari
White Divider
Last call for arts education grants: MAC closes out
2025 with the final round of applications for the AISC
Experiences grant program, providing up to $2,500 (no
match required) for a range of artist-led experiences,
tools and supplies, or travel support to connect learners
with hands-on arts experiences. (AISC: Artists in
Schools & Communities. Sometimes acronyms are your
friend.) For more than 50 years, MAC has distributed
arts education funds from the National Endowment for
the Arts to schools and communities across Montana to provide access to amazing
arts learning opportunities for people of all ages.
The application deadline is December 11th. Find guidelines at the link above, or
email Monica Grable: Monica.Grable@mt.gov.
With AISC support, students from the A VOICE at Two Eagle River School in Pablo
worked with a variety of film camera formats including large format 4x5" and 8x10"
view cameras, and medium- and small-format twin lens reflex cameras. In this picture
students Josie Usher (left) and Allyah Seaton are setting up a still life image with a
4"x5" view camera. Photo by David J. Spear.
Good To Know
“An abundance of shows…” In its fall
review of “must-see” art museum and
gallery shows across the US, The New
York Times featured the Montana-made
exhibition of textile art called “Threads,”
now on exhibit at the Yellowstone Art
Museum and touring statewide through
Montana Art Gallery Directors Association
(MAGDA). Cool that in the NYT’s
hopscotch across America, they included
this exhibit, created by Montana women
who are artists, mothers and art teachers.
Click here to see MAGDA’s current
and upcoming Montana touring
exhibits.
“Fertile Ground,” by Crystal McCallie, is just one stunning piece in the “Threads”
exhibit, recently celebrated by The New York Times.
Graphic with arts and health statistics
You should know: Participating in arts activities of any kind helps make kids more
likely to graduate, young adults more likely to vote, and all adults 20% less likely to be
depressed. And older adults have a higher mortality risk if they do not engage in
active arts. Don’t believe us: These stats are collected from multiple studies from the
World Health Organization. Spread the word.
What just happened? The National League of Cities posted a really brief rundown of
how the government shutdown has affected local communities (hospitals, small
businesses, children.…) including 11,353 Montanans who work in federal civil
service. Read about it here.
State of the Arts Banner
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It’s free, statewide, and fun to read. You can subscribe here to get one in your
mailbox.
Cool Quotes
“To keep on, to keep on, that’s what is needed.”
Vincent Van Gogh
Rectangular horizontal shape in red-purple color
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