RECENT EXHIBITIONS

Artist Slide Talk: Wanxin Zhang

TONIGHT!

Fri, January 27, 6:30 p.m.

Please join us for a slide presentation by the Holter Museum’s current Cultural Crossroads Artist-in-Residence, Wanxin Zhang! If you missed Wanxin’s gallery talk last weekend or even if you were there, this presentation is not to be missed. Wanxin will show images of his work beyond the pieces presented in his current exhibition at the Holter, ” A Ten Year Survey” (on view through March 18, 2012) This will be Helena’s last chance to meet and learn more about one of today’s most talented contemporary ceramic artists.

Free for all!

Call 442-6400 ext. 115 with any questions.

Grand Reopening Reception

Friday, January 20, 2012

Lecture: 5:30-6:45pm, St. Paul’s United Methodist Church: Trudy S. Kawami, PhD, Director of Research, Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, New York

Reception: 7-8:30pm, Holter Museum of Art

Please join us to celebrate a new set of exhibitions to kick off our 25th Anniversary on Friday, January 20th.

Call 442-6400 for more information.

Elizabeth Bass: Views Into Space

Nicholson-Artworks Gallery
Nov 10 – Dec 31, 2011
Artist Reception: Fri Nov 11, 5:30-8pm

Elizabeth Bass is interested in the way light strikes the subjects she paints, even more than the subjects themselves. Known for her rich paintings of cityscapes, figures, and plein air landscapes that range from Namibia to Natchez, she conveys a sense of presence and immediacy of place in her work. Her ink and watercolor illustrations have appeared in numerous books and magazines. Elizabeth lives in Missoula and Yaak, Montana with her husband and two daughters.

2011 Ho Ho Holter

Museum Store & Sherman Gallery
Nov 10 – Dec 31, 2011

Visit the Holter Museum throughout the Holiday Season to shop for unique, handmade gifts!

Member-Only Preview Party: Thurs Nov 10, 5:30-9pm
* Members receive 10% off all purchases!
Downtown Helena Fall Art Walk: Fri Nov 11, 5:30-9pm
* Register to win a $50 gift certificate to the Holter Museum Store

Glitz and Groove: Runway Fashion Show:
Thurs Dec 15, 5:30-8pm

Elizabeth Bass: Views Into Space
Nicholson-Artworks Gallery
Nov 10-Dec 31, 2011
Artists’ Reception: Fri Nov 11, 5:30-8pm

Holiday Shopping and Lunch: Wednesdays Nov 16 – Dec 21, 11:30am-1:30pm
*reservations encouraged, call 442-6400
Wed Nov 16: Green Iguana
Wed Nov 23: Bert and Ernie’s
Wed Nov 30: Benny’s
Wed Dec 7: Great Harvest Bread Co.
Wed Dec 14: On Broadway
Wed Dec 21: Café Zydeco
- At each Wednesday Lunch, register to win a $50 gift certificate from the Holter Museum Store
- Gift Registry available!

Holiday Hours:
Tuesday – Saturday: 10am-5:30pm
Sunday: 12noon-4pm
* Open Sat Dec 24, 10am-2pm
* Open for exchanges and returns Dec 26-31

Special Thanks to: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana

BOOK READING AND RECEPTION

FRIDAY OCT 28, 5:30– 7:30 pm

The Holter Museum of Art & the Montana Book and Toy Company proudly present AUTHORS MAILE AND COLIN MELOY with ILLUSTRATOR CARSON ELLIS

Books available at the event & Montana Book and Toy Co. 443-0260

DAVID SWANSON: SWEAT & STEEL

Sherman Gallery Sept 1-Oct 30, 2011

Reception: Friday, Sept 9. 5:30 – 8:00 pm — Special performance of railroad music and poetry by David Swanson on acoustical guitar and Bill Devine on dobro: 6:30 pm

Artist talk: Saturday, Sept 10. 10:00 am

When Livingston artist David Swanson looks at the Montana landscape, he sees powerful machinery and men sweating for a living. He hears the chink of line being laid and songs that keep a man going on a killer winter morning. Railroad workers on Montana’s MRL and BNSF rail lines steal the thunder in Sweat and Steel from the blue sky and open landscape. The exhibition includes 18 oversize paintings, artifacts, poetry and music that underscore the current and historic importance of Montana’s railroads.

SEE OUR Narratives of the Land SERIES FOR SPECIAL RAILROAD-RELATED EVENTS. Here’s a sampling:

Saturday . September 10 . 10am | 11am Gallery Talk | Historic Photographs

10am . Join David Swanson for a gallery talk on Sweat & Steel and the unique influences on his work.

11am . Steve Jackson, Curator of Photography at the Museum of the Rockies, illuminates the museum’s photographic collection of Ron V. Nixon, a nationally recognized railroad photographer, telegrapher and dispatcher for Northern Pacific and Burlington Northern.

Friday . September 23 . 6pm Night at the {silent} Movies: The Railroad Men (1923)

Experience the silent movies the way they were meant to be! Cheer the hero as he rescues the boss’s daughter and boo and hiss at the villain. Alex Swaney will improvise the music! Come in historic costume if you like. Popcorn provided!

Friday . September 30 . 6pm Night at the Movies: Danger Lights (1930)

Danger Lights was a Hollywood hit and largely filmed along Montana’s railroad lines. Two railroaders fall in love with the same girl, but when the chips are down everyone joins together to save the day. Popcorn provided!

Saturday, October 1 – 10:30 am Rails to Gold and Silver: Montana’s Historic Railroads

Bill and Jan Taylor are the authors of several books and articles on Montana, mining and railroad history. They have walked and photographed al most every railroad line (including the abandoned ones) in western Montana and have served as on-board host-lecturers for the American Orient Express and the Montana Daylight train between Livingston and Sandpoint.

Saturday, October 8 – 10:00 am – 2:00 pm Family Day!

A railroad-themed day for the entire family. Arts projects. Food. Films. Music. Model trains take over the Sherman Gallery against a backdrop of David Swanson’s railroad paintings. Georgia Stinson (and other members of the Helena Rail Modeling Club) will give tips on model making. Ken Matthews from “Imagination Station” will delight old and young alike with his gallery-sized modular railroad.

Saturday, October 22 – time to be determined Walking Tour of Helena’s Sixth Ward

Learn about the importance of Helena’s Sixth Ward to Montana’s railroad history and about plans for its revitalization. Join historian Ellen Baumler of the Montana Historical Society for a spirited walking tour — weather permitting. Call 442-6400 for time and meeting place.

The Holter’s Speaker’s Series is made possible by grants from Humanities Montana, BNSF Railway, Montana Rail Link and MT AFL-CIO. Thank you!

Kris Snider: Make Believe

Nicholson-Artworks Gallery

August 30-October 2, 2011
Reception: Thurs, September 9, 5:30-8pm

Helena artist Kris Snider presents her latest figurative work. Her colorful portraits present moments depicting the use of imagination. “Growing up, in order to understand the world around me, I studied life by pretending and playing. I still do this even today. “ Her images originate from her friends and family, a nostalgic childhood, and present life as a new mother, Kris’ paintings encourge playfulness and challenging your imagination all throughout life.

In 2004, Kris received her BFA from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. Her artwork has been in galleries across the nation and overseas. She has served on the Holter Museum of Art’s Third Thursday committee and has donated creativity and time to local organizations including the Turman Larison Contemporary, The Lewis & Clark Humane Society, Spirit of Service, The Gravity Guild, Pennies for Progress, The Prickly Pear Land trust and Head Start. She lives in Helena with her husband Will and daughter Hazel.

Michael deMeng

Nicholson-Artworks Gallery
October 4 – November 6, 2011
Artist Reception: Friday, October 21, 5:30-8pm

Michael deMeng is an artist who travels the world teaching and creating mixed media shrines and “deMented” toys. He has exhibited throughout the world with his unique style of assemblage. His book, “Secrets of Rusty Things,” published by North Light Books was released in May of 2007. His second book, “Dusty Diablos,” focuses on his love affair with Mexico and the art it inspires.

“My work is about transformations. It is about the transformation of the common into the sacred. Discarded materials find new and unexpected uses in my work; they are reassembled and conjoined with unlikely components, a form of rebirth from the ashes into new life and new meaning. These assemblages are metaphors for the evolutions and revolutions of existence: from life to death to rebirth, from new to old to renewed, from construction to destruction to reconstruction. These forms are examinations of the world in perpetual flux, where meaning and function are ever changing.”

BRAY 60TH CELEBRATION: “BIG CLAY”

High Gallery
June 17-Dec 31, 2011
Reception: Thurs, June 23, 5:30-8pm
Downtown Ceramic Stroll: Thurs, June 23,
7-10pm

A dramatic exhibition of “Big Works” – large sculptural, architectural and installation pieces – by outstanding Bray artists, including Nathan Craven, Jeremy Hatch, John Balistreri, Alanna DeRocchi and Kensuke Yamada. In collaboration with The Bray Foundation and their 60^th anniversary celebration.

Images listed by artist clockwise from top left: Jeremy Hatch; Kensuke Yamada; Alanna DeRocchi; Nathan Craven; John Balistreri.

BRAY COLLABORATION: THEN AND NOW

Sherman Gallery
June 17-Aug 28, 2011
Reception: Thurs, June 23, 5:30-8pm
Downtown Ceramic Stroll: Thurs, June 23,
7-10pm

The exhibtion highlights work of established Bray artists from their early stages to their most recent. Follow their creative direction over time, discover the new directions their work has taken, explore the early experiments and their later maturity. Co-curated with Emily Free Wilson of the Bray, using works from the permanent collection of the Holter and the Bray and artists’ most recent work.

The participating artists are:
*JOSH DEWEESE *CARY ESSER * CHRIS GUSTIN * ROBERT HARRISON * WAYNE HIGBY * EVA KWONG * STEVEN YOUNG LEE * BETH LO* KIRK MANGUS * MATTHEW METZ * RICHARD NOTKIN * DON REITZ* LINDA SIKORA * BOBBY SILVERMAN * CHRIS STALEY * RICHARD SWANSON * TED VOGEL
* ROSALIE WYNKOOP

Images listed by artist clockwise from top left: Ted Vogel; Linda Sikora; Kirk Mangus; Cary Esser;
Matthew Metz.