March 2024

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What's Happening at The Holter

Save the Date for our Annual Gala & Art Auction

Gala planning is in full bloom over here at The Holter. Just a quick reminder to mark your calendars the Holter in Bloom Gala 2024 is May 18th! Join us for an evening of fun filled activities, dinner, drinks, and a silent & live art auction.

More Information

From The Director's Corner


Holter In Bloom Gala and Live Auction: Blossoming Together on May 18th!


Dear Holter Friends and Family,


Spring is just around the corner, and what better way to welcome its arrival that with our annual extravaganza, the Holter In Bloom Gala and Live Auction! As the flowers begin to bloom (well, maybe south of us), so does our creativity and passion for the arts, and we invite you to join us in celebrating the vibrant spirit that is the Holter.


A Garden of Artistic Delights:


This year’s live auction artwork will sure to delight you. From a Paul Harris original lithograph to Peter Lik’s “Tree of Life” photograph, and some wonderful experience packages, there’s something to enchant every art aficionado.


Cultivating Creativity:


Just like a gardener tends to their plants, nurturing them to reach their full potential, your support helps cultivate creativity with our community and beyond. This year we will showcase our innovative (and expanding) art education programs. Our youth will be there to help you “Get Painted!” and a youth-centered video will be premiered the night of the Gala. The teens will also have created all of the table top centerpieces that will be up for raffle. Our new Art Internships for Youth project will have spent a month making the colorful paper flower bouquets and vases. By sponsoring the Holter In Bloom Gala, you become an essential part of the nurturing process, enabling artists of all levels to thrive and flourish. With budget cuts in schools predicted across the state of Montana, the arts are unfortunately often the first to go. Your support of our education programs help children and teens continue to create and engage in the powerful transformation that the arts can inspire.


The Buzz of Excitement:

Picture the scene: the hum of lively conversation, the clinking of glasses, and the excitement in the air as the auctioneer takes the stage. Our live auction promises to be a hive of activity, buzzing with anticipation as bidders vie for coveted artworks and exclusive experiences. From breathtaking landscapes to a strong theme of florals and blooming as subject matters, each item holds the promise of adding a touch of magic to any business or home space. And who knows? Maybe you will network and connect with others at our Gala that can help your business grow and thrive as well! Your support of artwork in the live and silent auctions could be the bright highlight for a local and regional artist this spring. 


Bloom Where You’re Planted:


Just as a flower blooms where it’s planted, your support allows the Holter Museum of Art to thrive. By attending as an individual or sponsoring the Holter In Bloom Gala through your business, you become an essential part of our garden, helping us blossom and grow. Together, we can ensure that the arts continue to flourish in Helena and across Montana, enriching the lives of all who encounter them. The arts can be a hard sell sometimes. But ask any artist or creative person and they will tell you that there is power and beauty and learning and understanding that can happen when creating. And most of us in some way or another have had that same transformative experience through an artform – be it a painting or music or play. 


Join Us in Full Bloom:


So, dear supporters, won’t you join us in full bloom? Your seat at the table and or sponsorship of the Holter In Bloom Gala is not just an investment in the arts and the Holter – it’s a celebration of creativity, community, and the joy of discovery – especially for our youth. Together, let’s make this year’s Gala the most spectacular yet! 


To sponsor the Holter In Bloom Gala and Live Auction, or for more information, please visit our website or contact our dedicated team. Thank you for your continued support- we couldn’t do it without you!


With much love,


Christina Barbachano

Executive Director of the Holter Museum of Art

PS Don’t forget to mark your calendars for May 18th starting at 6pm. The Civic Center will be transformed into a garden of artistic delights that you don’t want to miss!

Current Exhibitions:

The One Defined to Be No One

Sean Chandler

On View January 19 - April 5, 2024

Baucus Gallery


“Chaotic and unanswered as a painting may seem, it confirms the disorder and grim questions created by complicated relationships between two worldviews—Indigenous and non-Indigenous. Maybe it’s peace that is sought out for balance.”


Sean Chandler (Aaniiih), grew up in Glendive, Montana, and his family was among the only Native family in the community. He received his BA in Art and MA in Native Studies at Montana State University in Bozeman. He later earned an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of Montana while employed as Director of American Indian Studies at Aaniiih Nakoda College on Fort Belknap Agency in Harlem, Montana. Recently, he was promoted to President of the College in August 2020. After a long hiatus, Chandler returned to creating art in 2014 and later joined the artist collective Paintallica. His pieces range from oil, acrylic, paint stick, and charcoal on large canvases to drypoint prints and drawings. He cites Blackfeet artist Ernie Pepion (1943–2005), Salish Kootenai artist Corwin Clairmont, and Bozeman-based artist Jay Schmidt as mentors. He has received awards and exhibited

at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, and the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis, Indiana, with work collected by the Museum of Natural History in Paris and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts Museum, Minnesota.

This exhibition is sponsored by the Montana Art Gallery Directors Association (MAGDA), a state-wide service organization for non-profit museums & galleries, and supported in part by grants from the Montana Arts Council, a state agency funded by the State of Montana; coal severance taxes paid based upon coal mined in Montana and deposited in Montana’s Cultural and Aesthetic Projects Trust Fund; and the National Endowment for the Arts.


“Once in the mode to create, I just let the work take me where I’m supposed to go… But very often, parts of the painting that seemed to be the best expressions turn out to be better by covering them up. Maybe that is partly due to me covering myself, layer by layer. More likely, however, it is a line formed by my own contemporary experiences in mainstream society connected to the years endured by ancestral experiences of dehumanization, racism, and cultural genocide.”

Learn More

Acknowledgments:

This exhibition is sponsored by the Montana Art Gallery Directors Association (MAGDA), a statewide service organization for non-profit museums and galleries, and supported in part by grants from the Montana Arts Council, a state agency funded by the State of Montana; coal severance taxes paid based upon coal mined in Montana and deposited in Montana's Cultural and Aesthetic Projects Trust Fund; and the National Endowment for the Arts.


Thank you so much to our sponsors and partners in this exhibit!

Co-Flourish

Over 30 artists from Montana & beyond, offered by Open AIR Montana

On View January 19 - March 24, 2024

Bair Gallery


In the year 2020, humanity faced great challenges – from the COVID-19 pandemic to worldwide protests against racialized violence, environmental vulnerabilities, and growing disparities between the wealthy and the poor. 2020 upended ‘business as usual’ and prompted important considerations and questions – about the nature and importance of communication, contact, technology, the growing importance of local communities the impact of global actions, the ramifications of institutional narratives, and beyond.


CoFlourish was born from the challenges of 2020. Featuring over 30 artists from Montana and beyond, this exhibition is a wedding of two initiatives: place-based artist-in-residency sessions and an inter-artist collaborative project. The initiatives focused on opportunities for artists to connect, examine, and ultimately create with one another and place during a disorienting time.

Learn More

Acknowledgments:

This exhibition is sponsored by the Montana Art Gallery Directors Association (MAGDA), a statewide service organization for non-profit museums and galleries, and supported in part by grants from the Montana Arts Council, a state agency funded by the State of Montana; coal severance taxes paid based upon coal mined in Montana and deposited in Montana's Cultural and Aesthetic Projects Trust Fund; and the National Endowment for the Arts.


Special Thanks, to our sponsor Peter Sullivan.

Thank you so much to our sponsors and partners in this exhibit!

Peter Sullivan

Carol Montgomery: A Snail's Journey



On View February 23 - March 24, 2024

Millikan



Helena-based printmaker Carol Montgomery’s body of work titled “A Snails Journey” is a collection of linocut prints documenting mythical aspects of snails, mermaids, birds, and horses. Originally from Santa Ana, California, Carol has spent much of her art career in Helena and is beloved by the community.



“I have found that I don't know things until they happen. For instance, since my husband died, I have heard many stories from people who have seen feelings, dreams, or visions about those who have gone. My prints Ghosts, Spirits, and Dreams are about those things, but on paper. Some of my prints are from the Bannock Ghost Town in Montana - a State Park in Beaverhead County. Another is about a tree in the forest of a friend's ghost.

Another group of my prints is a story about a couple of snails who are going on a journey. The snails began to have more and more to see in their life. The mermaid, the bird, the monster, the egg, and the town they're there to see.”

Learn More

Special Thanks, to our sponsor Peter Sullivan.

Thank you so much to our sponsors and partners in this exhibit!

Peter Sullivan

Visions & Voices


Nicholson & Held Galleries, February 23 - March 24


A group show featuring artists from Helena and beyond!


This exhibit explores uplifting the role of the model in a figure drawing practice, the impact it can hold on individuals to model, and the value of observation to artists. Through the practice of figure drawing in a creative space built with consent, diversity, and representation, it is hoped that all bodies can be celebrated in their intricacies.


This exhibit was created in partnership with Jonathan Stewart and the nonprofit EverGreen Adventures. EverGreen aims to connect people with chronic illnesses and their caregivers with each other, the outdoors, and other forms of expression to foster a sense of community and self-acceptance.

Thank you so much to our sponsors and partners in this exhibit!

Barb Harris

Upcoming Exhibitions

Youth Electrum

&

Helena College Capstone Exhibition 2024


Opening Reception: April 5 from 4:30-6:30 pm

Free and open to the public


The annual Helena College Capstone Exhibition features the second – year art students at Helena College, unveiling their capstone art projects. Join us in congratulating these accomplished students as they launch their careers as artists and creatives.

This annual exhibit is part of a museum-wide expo celebrating Arts in Education alongside Youth Electrum – a district-wide exhibition showcasing work from grades K-12.

 

Thank you so much to our sponsors and partners in this exhibit!

Special Thanks, to our sponsor Barb Harris.

Barb Harris

More info

Holter floors are having a makeover!


We are so excited that the Bair & Nicholson galleries, the Held Hallway, Museum shop, Bathrooms & Kitchen will be getting new flooring.

In preparation for our new floors we are moving the museum shop to the "W." Museum admission will be free for the entire month of March starting March 10- April 5, & we are always free on Friday!


We couldn't do this without our generous sponsors:

Treacy Foundation & The Nicholsons


Link to sign up for volunteering during our flooring project

Membership Levels & Benefits

Memberships are a great way to support us and now we're delighted to offer even more perks for members! We offer 4 standard levels of membership based off your annual level of giving. With the introduction of museum admissions fees, membership is the way to go if you want to show your support as well as avoid admissions fees.

All Members Receive—

-At least 1 Holter membership card

-10% off in Holter Museum Store and on Classes

-10% off your purchase at MT Book Company

-10% off All Art Supplies at Queen City Framing & Art Supplies

-10% off your purchase at Fire Tower Coffee House

-$1 from your first drink at The Hawthorn goes to the Holter

-1 free beer every month at Ten Mile Creek Brewery

-$1 off your first beer every Tuesday at Blackfoot Brewery

-$1 off your first drink at Gulch Distillers

-$5 off any $15 purchase at Café Zydeco

-Free sprinkles with single cone purchase at Big Dipper


Members at the Trailblazer Level ($60-$119) Receive—

-Free admission to the museum for one adult for one year

-Enrollment in the North American Reciprocal Membership program (NARM) and the Modern & Contemporary Reciprocal Membership program (Mod/Co), granting access to participating museums across the US, Canada, and Mexico


Members at the Holter Friend Level ($120-$499) Receive—

-Free admission to the museum for two adults for one year

-Enrollment in NARM and Mod/Co


Members at the Meadowlark Level ($500-$1,119) Receive—

-All benefits at the Holter Friend Level

-Invitation to annual luncheon with the Executive Director


Members at the Holter Ambassador Level ($1,200+) Receive—

-All benefits at the Meadowlark Level

-2 Complimentary tickets to the annual Holter Gala and Art Auction

-Listed Donor Acknowledgement


Become a Member 

Holter Museum Shop Featured Artist of the Month:

Christa Gabriel

Christa Gabriel — Pottery

Christa lives in Helena and works as a potter, using stoneware and a wheel to create beautiful thrown pieces. According to the artist, “my family and I relocated to Helena, MT and as I was looking to build my community, I enrolled in a Pottery for a Beginners community class at the famous Archie Bray Foundation. Needless to say, I was quickly hooked. I found my passion. Then COVID came and the community learning stopped. Since then, I have been teaching myself how to make pottery in the small corner of our garage. I love to create pieces that are beautiful, simple, and functional pieces of art that can be used every day.”

These simple yet meticulously crafted pieces would fit perfectly into any tableware collection.

Come see Christa’s work and a variety of other amazing pieces here at the Holter! Although we charge admission, looking at the store is always free!

From The Holter Vault:

Featured Work from our Permanent Collection

Kathleen Mollohan, March Afternoon in Helena, hand-woven wool tapestry, 1993, Permanent Collection, Gift of IBM Corporation

Happy March!


There’s no better way to celebrate the coming spring season than with this tapestry titled March Afternoon in Helena by local artist Kathleen Mollohan (1937-2022). Mollohan, a Montana artist who specialized in weaving, painting, and basketry, was recognized throughout the state for both her geometric and representational tapestries. This piece, dated 1993, was originally owned by Helena’s IBM headquarters and was generously donated to the Holter’s permanent collection in 1998.


As the snow melts, the birds return, and the residents of Helena feel Vitamin C and Serotonin re-enter our systems, we enjoy the view that Mollohan has depicted here—foliage transitioning back to green, thawing blue mountains, and our cloudy yet hopeful “Big Sky.” The bright spires of the St. Helena Cathedral stand as proudly as ever in this scene, and the surrounding downtown buildings nestle into the greenery.


The art of tapestry weaving, which has spanned from Indigenous cultures to the Renaissance to contemporary times, requires an almost meditative level of patience. This piece is a testament to Mollohan’s skill in depicting depth and light through subtle variations in color. In this new season, I encourage you, dear reader, to spend some time focusing on the changes in your environment, both large and small. What elements would your tapestry of a March afternoon include?

Holter Education

Classes & Workshops


Throughout February, the Holter hosts a number of workshops where you can create your own handmade gifts, enjoy a date night, and come home with beautiful objects and beautiful experiences.

See Full Calendar

Classes This Month:

Introduction to Figure Drawing

March 20 | 5:00- 6:30 pm

$45/nonmember | $35/member

Capped at 16 participants


Join for an introductory figure drawing class. Learn the basics of drawing hands, feet, faces, and body proportions. Take what you’ve gained and practice it by staying for the free Figure Drawing Open Studio afterwards. Open to all ages


Join us for the month of March for no cost attendance to Wednesday night Studio sessions as part of museum programming related to Visions and Voices Figural Show!

Register Now!

Image: Iguana, drawing by Elise Perpignano, one of our featured artists in the exhibit Visions & Voices

Stained Glass Resin Art from a Galaxy Far Far Away


March 23 | 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Price: $60

Members: $50



Looking to learn more about resin art? This is the class you are looking for…. Learn how to work with resin and colorful mica powder to create unique stained “glass” pieces.

Register Now!

Diagonal Folded Pouch:

Taught by Contemporary Basket Weaver Anetta Kraayeveld


March 14 | 4:00 - 8:00 pm


$53/nonmember | $45/member


Students will create a flat weaving to then be folded and assembled into a diagonal folded pouch using washable paper. Watch as the woven paper takes on form and subsequently function to become a pouch. Students have the option to leave their pouch as is or add cord to create a strap. Each piece will be unique.

About your instructor: Annetta has taught basketry for over 20 years, traveling across America to teach her basketry designs at fiber and basket conventions and for guilds, schools and private groups.


To learn more about Annetta and her work, visit :

https://annettakraayeveld.com/


.

Register Now!

Early Childhood ArtStart


Every 3rd Saturday of the month

Saturday March 16, | 10:00 - 12:00 pm

Ages 3 - 7

$15/nonmember | $11/member


Have a child between the ages of 3 -7? This class engages and entertains these young artists with a story-time session and hands-on activity led by a friendly Holter arts instructor!

Register Now!

Wet and Wild

Thursdays February 1 - March 7

6:00 - 8:00 pm


$100/nonmember | $85/member


Wet and Wild is an exploration of water based paint and wet media with artist Christina Barbachano. Each week we will explore a different wet media, different papers, and different surfaces to paint on. This class is for all levels of artists who are curious about fun and expressive mediums and who want a supportive and creative environment to explore in. Be prepared to have interactive conversations, get a little messy, and experience the freedom of painting!

Register Now!

Artwork shown is held in the Holter Collection, “Reverse” by Kelly Wong.

Figure Drawing Open Studio: Extended Pose


Every 3rd Saturday of the month

Saturday, February 17 | 10:00 am - 1:00 pm

$25/nonmembers | $20/members


Join us for this special edition of Figure Drawing Open Studio in which our model will hold 2 long poses over a long period of time. This is perfect for practicing different approaches to capturing form, shades, and colors.


Open to all levels! Bring your own medium and join a community of artists in practicing figure drawing with a live model!

Register Now!

Cabs & Slabs


March 23 | 6:30 - 8:30 pm

$45/nonmembers | $35/members


Date Night Deal: Bring yourself and a +1

Price for 2: $75/nonmembers | $60/members


Join the Holter for a happy hour with clay! With a drink in one hand and some mud in the other, create a masterpiece while getting messy with friends, family, and new acquittances!

An artist-instructor will walk participants through slab building techniques and decorative embellishments to create your own cup! Cups will be available for pick-up two weeks after the event. Our artist-instructor will dry, glaze, and fire the cups for participants to pick up two weeks after the event.

Beer, wine, and n/a drinks available for purchase.

Register Now!

Teaching Artists in the News


Holter teaching artists have started teaching at Central Elementary School and Broadwater Elementary School. They finished up teaching at Warren Elementary School and Kessler Elementary School in the fall. Students receive a bag of art supplies and 8 weeks of introductory art lessons exploring social emotional expression. So far, the museum has been able to meet with and provide arts education to 1000 elementary students!


Thank you to MT Arts Council, participating Schools, school parent-council, and community supporters for making this experience possible!

Weekly Classes:

Open Art Studio

Mondays | 2:30 - 5:30 PM 

Ages 8 - 16

Pay for a Month: $130/nonmember | $98/member

Pro-rated rates also available


Come to this open art studio to experiment with new mediums in an open-art studio that lets you choose what to draw! This class encourages exploration and observation while learning the same techniques and mediums used by professional artists. An experienced artist is on hand to advise and guide.

Register Now!

Art Smart

Wednesdays | 3:30-5:30pm

ages 8-12


Monthly & semester based registration options


An after-school art class! Join teaching artist Abby Ouellette to learn about a different artist each week, exploring their artistic style and medium before breaking out to create your own piece of art! Each session will begin with a “Meet and Greet” to meet the artist! Students will learn the artist’s name and a short history of their life before then exploring notable work.

Register now!

Open Studio Figure Drawing Sessions - ADULT

Wednesdays | 6:30 - 8:30 pm 

18+

Free for the month of March


The Holter provides a model and the space for participants to come study as artists new and experiences engage in their own artistic practice. All levels are welcome! Bring your own media.


Join us for the month of March for no cost attendance to Wednesday night Studio sessions as part of museum programming related to Visions and Voices Figural Show!

Register Now!

Adventures in Cardboard: Armory & Games


Tuesdays & Thursdays |

3:30 - 5:30 pm 


Ages 8 - 15

Capped at 6 participants

$120/nonmember | $108/member


Ages 8-15 can build and create structures and props with cardboard AND THEN act out with what they have made! An arts learning class that encourages structural form and creative exploration, open-ended play, and fantastical roleplay. Come find out why cardboard camp is so beloved. With Adventures in Cardboard Montana.


Register now!

Nia is a sensory-based movement practice that draws from martial arts, dance arts and healing arts. It empowers people of all shapes and sizes by connecting the body, mind, emotions and spirit. Every experience is adapted to individual needs and abilities. Step into your own joyful journey with Nia and positively shape the way you feel, look, think, and live.

Register Now! 

Thank you to our Donors!

Donor Thank You List

Thanks to a grant from our friends at the Treacy Foundation, the Holter Museum will be renovating our floors this March 2024. This thoughtful gift allows us to complete much-needed maintenance. We look forward to showcasing our beautiful new floors this April 2024. We are so grateful and know it will be enjoyed by patrons of the Holter for years to come.


The McBride Foundation recently granted $5,000 to the Holter’s education programs and everyday operating costs. This high-impact contribution allows us to focus on what we do best – providing enriching education programs and transforming lives through exposure to art. Thank you for helping us live out our mission!


We are sincerely appreciative of the Montana Arts Council’s enduring support of the Holter Museum of Art. Over the next two years, our community will benefit from over $30,000 of investments in the confluence of our museum and community. Many of these dollars will be spent bringing professional artists into our public schools for residencies, inspiring and training the next generation of Helena creatives and allowing children to grow both socially and emotionally through these experiences. On behalf of the Holter, and the many lives these grants will touch, thank you.




CONNECTING THE 101 DOTS FROM A LIFETIME'S PURSUIT OF LADY WISDOM 


by David Spencer



By Way of emphasizing the seriousness of our task & that life is quite the reVerse of a trivial pursuit, let us begin with the contemporary poet Ada Limon's provocative InSight that "You can't sum it up: A life. / I see the Tree {of Life & Death} above the grave, & think, 'I'm wearing my HeArt on my leaVes' . . . / Love ends. / But what if it doesn't?" (From Ms. Limon's aptly titled "The Hurting Kind;" MilkWeed, Minneapolis, MN, 2022). And, Mirabile Dictu{!}, Enheduana, the daughter of Sargon of Akkad, & the first writer we know by name (ThInk ca. 2,300 BCE, ca. 1,500 years before Homer & 1,700 years prior to Sappho!), was preoccupied with the same Eternal Verities . . . Curiously enough, although she predates the early Greek poetess Sappho by more than a millennium & a half, we actually have a good deal more poetry eXtant from Enheduana thanks to the cuneiform tablets eXcavated in Mesopotamia by Leonard & Katherine Woolley in the 1920s. When eXiled from her native Akkad in her 70s, Enheduana (from 'En' = High Priestess, 'hedu' = Ornament, & 'ana' = Heaven) writes that other deities & gods "Flee from her / like bats / fluttering through ruins." Invoking such seeming opposites as "Laughter, Fame, Insignificance, / Evil, Gloom, Grief, Glory, / Light & Darkness, Trembling, Terror, / Anguish, Splendor, & Triumph, / Shivers & Sleeplessness," our poet's primary concern remains "To gather the eXiled / & bring them h☼Me." What abides in Enhedhuana's testimony is her conViction about "the desolation of war." I dare say we can relate, especially in the Dark Light that the proportion of buildings desTROYed in Gaza is rapidly approaching the wartime devastation visited upon Guernica, Hamburg, &/or Hiroshima. Enheduana reiterates again & again the Centrality of Calamity. 


It has been suggested by several normally sensible folks that I share a bit of my own story, so here's a necessarily brief attempt to do so in the form of a pRose haiku of sorts, focusing on the would-be highlights ::


My maternal grandmother Lucy read to me pretty much nonstop as I was growing up in Twin Falls, Idaho; Having been a good student in High School resulted in a scholarship to the U of O in Eugene; A couple of years later, a friend & I decided to apply for a junior year abroad with The Institute of European Studies in Vienna, Austria, & were both accepted, arriving in Vienna the very day{Aug. 20th, 1968} the Russian tanks rolled over the Czech border & into Prague; caught Jimi HendriX liVe in Vienna siX months before Woodstock; Dep'art'ed Vienna for Istanbul shortly thereafter in order to c☼Mmemorate my 21st B-Day under the d☼Me of Hagia Sophia; realizing that ancient Byzantium/Constantinople was a Bridge between East & West, I set out oVerland for the HImalayas a year & a half later, paYin' my respects to Kashmir, Kathmandu, Benares/Varanasi, & the Taj; Subsequently decided to make pilgrimages to the cave in which John of Patmos received The Book of ReVelation, Pythagoras's h☼Me isle of Samos, Ephesus, Troy, etc.; Followed by AleXandria, ...cont.

Image: David Spencer, Holter Historian

...the Great Pyramid, the Temple of Karnak{the world's largest!} in LuXor, Upper Egypt, which left an impression only to c☼Mpare with my eXperience traVeling along the Silk Road; Then it was via Crete, Italy & France to the Bard-haunted WestCountry of Britain for 2 1/2 years{Wiltshire & N. Devon in p'art'icular, but also including Ireland, the Lake District {aka 'Cumbria'}, Scotland, & Wales(where I ascended Cader Idris, which has a chair carVed out of stone on its summit that according to local lore anyone Fool eNuf to spend the night sitting in will greet the morn Dead, Mad, or a Poet{!}; Also made an Eastertide pilgrimage to St. David's Cathedral in Pembrokeshire).


These Eurocentric adVentures included summiting not only Parnassos, the h☼Me of the Muses in Greece, the Matterhorn, & DachStein, Austria's 3rd highest; I LikeWise made pilgrimages to Montsegur -- of Cathar & Holy Grail fame -- in the Languedoc, the Black Madonna of Rocamadour & Ch'art'res in France, & Glastonbury in the UK, not to mention many a BookStore & Museum along the Way; Finally returning back Stateside in 1977, after the better pArt of a decade mostly in Europe, the ActiVated Imagination being my primary form of travel these days.


Having heard me reiterate numerous times over recent months the importance of focusing one's Attention, it seems fitting to end on this core-curricular note from Saul Bellow, our 1976 Nobel Laureate for Literature :: "Art has s☼Mething to do with the achievement of Stillness in the midst of Chaos. A Stillness which characterizes Prayer, too, the eYe of the Storm. Art has s☼Mething to do with an Arrest of Attention in the midst of Distraction" (From 1966, in other words two years before me own Inner Pilgrim lit out for Central Europe & points beyond. Should anyone reading this curiouser-'n'-curiouser screed be interested in the effects that Deep Reading has on the brain, I would rec☼Mmend Maryanne Wolf's "Reader, c☼Me h☼Me: The Reading Brain in a Digital World" (Harper, NYC, 2018), in order to staVe off succumbing to the all-too-human c☼Mpulsion to incarcerate ourselves in what EinStein's faVorite philosopher, Spinoza, terms 'the Asylum of Ignorance." For the Deep Looking c☼Mponent, there's always AleXandra Horowitz's "On Looking: A Walker's Guide to the Art of ObserVation" (Scribner, NYC, etc., 2013). Ms. Horowitz teaches Cognition & CreatiVe Nonfiction at BerNard College, NYC, which constitutes about as much 'Deep Stuff' as I'm able to pack into 3 paragraphs . . .  


Events

Floor Remodeling! in the Bair Gallery, Nicholson/Gift Shop, Held Hallway & Bathrooms

March 10- April 1

Youth Electrum & Helena College Capstone

April 5, 4:30pm-6:30pm

Spring Mead & Read

in the "W"

April 5, 7pm-11pm

Get Tickets

Spring Mead and Read is April 5th!

Holter Members get $5 off admission when you present your membership card at the door!


Event & Holiday Party Rentals


Looking for a creative and versatile space to host your holiday party? Look no further than the W here at the Holter! Renting our space provides you and your guests a unique opportunity to privately view our contemporary art exhibitions featured in our galleries while congregating in a creative, community space made for arts and entertainment. Call us with any inquiries or to explore availability! With room to accommodate up to 100 guests, the Holter is the perfect place to celebrate your staff, family gathering, or event.


The "W" will be transformed into our temporary Museum Shop during March 11-April 1 & resume operations as a venue for private rentals & events in April!


If you are interested in scheduling an event, please contact our Events Coordinator Amanda Jacquez at amandaj@holtermuseum.org or (406) 442-6400 x 109 for more information. Or submit an Event Rental Application through our website!

Event Application

Volunteer Opportunity


We're looking for Store volunteers who are able to dedicate a few hours a week to helping us welcome patrons to the museum and process store sales.

If interested, please email Hannah at hannah@holtermuseum.org.


We are also currently looking for volunteers to help us move the gift shop into the "W" as part of our new flooring project!


Docent Opportunity


We're looking for docents who are able to dedicate a few hours a week to running museum tours for kids as well as coordinating hands on art activities.


If interested, please email Anna at alund@holtermuseum.org.

Visit our Website

Museum Hours


Tuesday - Saturday 10:00 am - 5:30 pm

Sunday 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Museum Closed Sundays in March for floor repair these dates:

3/10, 3/17, 3/24, 3/31

Closed Mondays


Contact

Facebook  Instagram

Executive Director: Christina Barbachano

Education Director: Anna Lund

Curator: Gianna Sherman

Dev. & Education Assistant: Maggie Bornstein

Marketing & Events Coordinator: Amanda Jacquez

Store & Member Manager: Hannah Harvey

Weekend Store Associate: David Spencer

Facilities & Custodial: Trent Emmart

Finance Director: Jolene Grieve


Give us a call! (406) 442-6400


Museum Closed: Sundays in March for floor repair



Regular Hours:

Tuesday - Saturday 10:00 AM - 5:30 PM

Sunday 12 PM - 4 PM

Mondays: closed