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Home My WebLink About03-06-26 Correspondence - Montana Arts Council - ARTeries_ News from the Montana Arts Council for Early March 2026From:Montana Arts CouncilTo:Bozeman Public CommentSubject:[EXTERNAL]ARTeries: News from the Montana Arts Council for Early March 2026Date:Thursday, March 5, 2026 4:18:24 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. The latest from Montana's state arts agency ARTeries - The Lifeblood of Arts In Montana White Divider Artists Thrive Logo Text with March 24-26 in moving colors March 19 is Charlie Russell’s birthday. What made him the most famous Western artist—and for a short time the highest-paid artist in America? Thriving as an artist in Montana takes more than great art, as his promoter-wife Nancy Russell would tell you. It takes planning, financial savvy, connecting with people, strategizing a career, and adapting what others are already doing. (Sometimes stealing their great strategies.) Registration closes soon for the Artists Thrive Summit in Billings (and five other cities), March 24-26. Artists Thrive is presented by the Tremaine Foundation, in partnership with the Montana Arts Council and MSU Billings. Join the Artists Thrive Summit, March 24-26 in Billings, where you can do all that and more. Learn new skills, gain new resources, network with peers across the nation, happen upon transformative conversations. It’s a one-of-a-kind event, occurring both on the ground in Billings and in select virtual sessions in 5 other cities —but you have access to it all, including ongoing online resources that can help you shift from struggling to thriving. Registration closes March 13. Don’t miss this great opportunity. I hope to see you there. Register here. Krys Holmes Executive Director krys.holmes@mt.gov Spotlight Art inspires, enlivens, boosts creative thinking, builds social connections, and—as more and more research confirms—helps our bodies heal. Music can lower blood pressure and mute chronic pain. Theater can help heal PTSD. Painting reduces anxiety. In some states—not Montana, yet—doctor-prescribed arts experiences, tailored to the patient, are covered by insurance. Medicaid is now paying for arts experiences in four states. Here in Montana, MAC has launched a small Art in Health Lab, creating demonstration projects to explore ways healthcare organizations can partner with artists to address their most pressing challenges. So far two projects have emerged in Helena, at Lewis & Clark Public Health and St. Peter’s Hospital. Their stated goal: To explore how art engagement can reduce pain and burnout among stressed-out healthcare providers. Check out this quick read from Arts Midwest: “Arts Rx: How Creativity Helps us in Tough Times.” Then think about how artists can team up with healthcare providers in your town, as MAC builds targeted Arts in Health teams in more towns in coming weeks. For more information email krys.holmes@mt.gov. Indie group LADAMA hosts a kids’ music workshop at a museum in Michigan, just one part of a nationwide surge in using arts experiences to improve health and well- being. Photo by Cassidy Porter, courtesy of Arts Midwest. For Artists Grants for Missoula County artists, from Arts Missoula, can support art making, professional development, or a specific project. Two grants of $2,500 will be awarded. Deadline: March 20. $15 application fee, waived for Arts Missoula members (contact them for the discount code.) Learn more & apply here. The Rocky Mountain Regional Juried Exhibition at the beautiful Carbon County Arts Guild & Depot Gallery in Red Lodge is inviting submissions from around the region for an exhibit juried by Wyoming artist/curator Barbara McNab. Deadline: March 14. Entry fee: $35. More info here. Sculpture Missoula seeks five new sculptures for installation in the 15-acre riverside park. Budget is $2,000 plus $250 for shipping/travel, plus accommodation for up to 4 nights during the Sept 2026 installation. Deadline: May 22. Learn more & apply here. Extinction Juried Exhibition at the AVA Community Art Center in Gillette, WY, invites artists to submit up to 3 artworks exploring the disappearance of species, the quiet vanishing of life forms that once shaped our planet. Up to $500 prize. Deadline: June 16. Entry fee: $15. Learn more & apply here. For Arts Organizations Bill Bowers leads Grandstreet Theatre School students in the art of illusion, an opportunity provided by The Myrna Loy and supported by the Montana Arts Council. Reminder: MAC Arts Education Residency grants are open now, supporting hands-on arts learning activities in schools and communities. It’s an updated version of our Artists in Schools & Communities (AISC) grants—with a new name and streamlined process. Deadline: March 19th. Learn more & apply here. Successful grantees know the benefit of talking to Arts Education Director Monica Grable first, to discuss your proposal: monica.grable@mt.gov. Nonprofits face two interlinked challenges currently: uncertainties in federal spending and increased demand for services. Even arts organizations whose audiences are becoming more unpredictable are being asked to serve their communities in new and challenging ways. The Center for Effective Philanthropy has produced a new report, “A Sector in Crisis: How US Nonprofits and Foundations are Responding to Threats,” providing insights into how nonprofits are responding. Key findings: 1) Nonprofits everywhere are facing existential threats, and many are surviving on sheer creativity and staff savvy. 2) Foundations need to step up, give greater percentages of their wealth, and invest in organizations—not just initiatives. What does that mean for deeply rural Montana, where funding options are thin? It means focusing more on survival, sometimes at the expense of programming. (Small staffs can only do so much.) It means celebrating and supporting the arts centers, theaters, dance companies, ceramics studios, and rural museums that make our lives so much richer. Best news out of this nonprofit sector report: If your arts nonprofit is thriving and your community supports you, you have much to celebrate! Building outward with new partnerships and collaborations helps build strength. You need operating support. It’s easy to raise funds to teach kids or purchase new stage lighting. Much harder to raise the money to pay for heat, insurance, and the janitor’s salary. Most arts organizations in Montana struggle to raise operating support, but here’s help: The Chronicle of Philanthropy is hosting a webinar, “How to Secure General Operating Support Amid Tight Competition,” on April 23. Early-bird registration ($69) ends March 26th. More info here. Nonprofit alternatives are attracting attention, too: Cooperatives, fiscal sponsorships, and other models. Consider the 501(c)7 Social Club, a new approach to delivering the arts in the US. Here’s a helpful article from Small Town Big Arts that looks at the Social Club model and gives a brief how-to. Rural and Tribal communities working to strengthen local support systems should check out Building Common Ground’s new program, “Fieldwork.” It’s a new rural design program offering free design and planning support, alongside project grants. Their goal: to help communities turn bold ideas into locally owned, culturally grounded projects. Deadline to apply is March 27. Learn more & apply here. Art, so flickering, so brief, yet it is the most sustainable force in the world. Deadlines and Opportunities Come work with MAC! The Montana Arts Council, located in Helena, is hiring a full-time accounting tech and office manager, responsible for making all our operations and grants run smoothly. Have some fun in a full-time job, with state benefits. Job description and link to apply here. Good Idea! White Divider IN THIS TIME A gathering of Poets Laureate From the West A poet laureate roundup is happening in Carson City, Nevada on Sunday March 29, hosting state poets laureate and writers from cities and rural communities across the West. Montana’s poet laureate, Allen Morris Jones, will be there. Hitch up the team and head south for the weekend to hear a diversity of voices, see some scenery, and immerse yourself in language used well. The Nevada Arts Council welcomes all Montanans. It’s free. Learn more here. The Preserve Montana Trades Corps, a hands-on training experience that prepares young adults for careers in the preservation trades, is launching a pre- apprenticeship program for 18-29 year-olds. Get hands-on training in the traditional building trades, learn historic preservation skills, and lay the groundwork for a fulfilling career. Learn more and apply here. Deadline is March 30. There’s an art to historic preservation—and a good career in the trades, too. Check out Preserve Montana’s Trades Corps pre-apprenticeship program for young Montanans who want to make a difference. Photo courtesy of Preserve Montana. Subscribe to our free newspaper? Yes, you should. The Montana Arts Council's statewide quarterly publication is free and available in print and digital formats. Learn more about Montana's arts and the people who make them, check the calendar of events for what's happening soon, and stay up to date on all the Arts Council's grants and program news. Subscribe today to get the next issue in your mailbox. Subscribe Now! Cool Quotes This is a “builder’s moment.” Indeed, it demands radical imagination from all of us. The work ahead requires us to think long-term, partner differently, and reimagine what bold, coordinated action can look like. — Melissa DeShields, Keecha Harris and Carmen JM Simon Rectangular horizontal shape in red-purple color Manage Subscriptions | Unsubscribe All | Help Montana Arts Council | 830 N. Warren Street | Helena, MT 59601 | art.mt.gov This email was sent to comments@bozeman.net using GovDelivery Communications Cloud on behalf of: MontanaArts Council