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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 23, 2011 Contact: Darcy Minter 775.340.4240 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it |
| Expressing Montana Features State's Artists Who Are Speaking Out Through Their Work |
Missoula, Montana - Expressing Montana highlights poets, songwriters, visual artists and other performing artists from all over the state, and focuses on how their creations make social, political, spiritual and environmental commentary. Produced by the Western Folklife Center, Expressing Montana includes an exhibit at the Missoula Art Museum, which runs June 10 through August 28 with a free gallery talk and live concert event on July 7; an hour-long public radio special that airs at 7:30 pm June 27 on Montana Public Radio, and at 7:00 pm July 6 on Yellowstone Public Radio; and a web presence that includes audio, videos, photographs and profiles of the 27 artists interviewed for the program.
Humans have always looked to poets, writers, visual artists and singers to take the pulse of the world. Co-producer Hal Cannon commented that “artists are like canaries in a coal mine—the first to taste the poison, the first to fly to freedom.” Art generally reflects the artist’s ideas about beauty and truth. Artists are compelled to express their lives—the place they live, the times, the traditions they cherish. Montana is a place where artists are not afraid to use their work to speak out about the state of things; the depth, humor and diversity of their commentary speaks to the independent streak that runs through the veins of the people who make this place their home.
The artists and cultural observers that were interviewed for the Expressing Montana project are listed below. Click here for profiles, videos and audio of these artists.
Kier Atherton and Jessica Kilroy (Pterodactyl Plains), Trego - Singers/Songwriters
Wally Badgett, Miles City - Western Cartoonist
Michael Beers, Missoula - Stand-Up Comedian, Disability Activist
Dave Boggess, Butte - Carver, Painter, Sculptor
Mark Browning, Miles City - Arts Administrator, Visual Artist
Victor Charlo, Dixon - Salish Tribal Chief, Poet
Kate Davis, Florence - Sculptor, Artist, Raptor Activist
Stephanie Davis, Columbus - Western Singer/Songwriter, Writer
Richard Dillof (Dobro Dick), Livingston - Musician, Antiquarian
Kristi Hager, Missoula - Visual and Performance Artist
Ray & Shirley Jacobs, Eureka - Musicians and Luthier
Sandy James, Dillon - Rancher, Songwriter, Fiddle Teacher
Greg Keeler, Bozeman - Poet, Singer/Songwriter, Teacher
Tom Malloy, Butte - Reclamation Expert
Wallace McRae, Forsyth - Rancher, Poet
William Ohrmann, Drummond - Sculptor, Painter, Retired Rancher
Henry Real Bird, Garryowen - Crow Poet & Poet Laureate of Montana
William Rossiter, Kalispell - Musician, Humanities Scholar
Christian Parrish Takes the Gun (Supaman), Crow Agency - Crow Hip-Hop Artist
Martha Scanlan, Birney - Singer/Songwriter, Ranch Hand
Toni Seccomb, Butte - Sculptor, Artist
Nicholas Vrooman, Helena - Folklorist, Historian, Scholar
Monte Yellow Bird, Sr. (Black Pinto Horse), Great Falls - Painter, Artist, Educator
Paul Zarzyski, Great Falls - Rodeo Poet
The Expressing Montana exhibition in the upstairs gallery at the Missoula Art Museum features the art of Kristi Hager, Monte Yellowbird, Bill Ohrmann, Kate Davis, Wally Badgett, Dave Boggess, Toni Seccomb and Ray Jacobs. The opening celebration on for the exhibition on July 7 is free and open to the public. From 5:00 to 6:00 pm there will be a gallery talk with guest curators Hal Cannon and Taki Telonidis and exhibition artists. >From 6:00 to 7:30 pm there will be a concert in the Frost Gallery featuring Henry Real Bird, Ray Jacobs, Sandy James and Martha Scanlan.
The Expressing Montana one-hour radio special features Michael Beers, Martha Scanlan, Ray and Shirley Jacobs, Sandy James, Kristi Hager, Kier Atherton and Jessica Kilroy, Wally McRae, Paul Zarzyski, Henry Real Bird, Dave Boggess and Christian Parrish Takes the Gun (Supaman).
Expressing Montana is produced by the Western Folklife Center, a regional, nonprofit organization whose mission is to “expand our understanding of ourselves and our neighbors by celebrating the everyday traditions of people who live and work in the American West.” Curated and produced by Hal Cannon and Taki Telondis, the project is generously supported by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation with assistance from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Missoula Art Museum, Montana Public Radio, Yellowstone Public Radio, the R. Harold Burton Foundation and the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation.
The mission of the Western Folklife Center is to enhance the vitality of American life through the experience, understanding, and appreciation of the diverse cultural heritage of the American West. The Western Folklife Center is based in Elko, Nevada, and is the producer of the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering and other cultural programs in Elko and throughout the West.
