Bigfork Art and History Museum celebrates 35 years of local art

The Bigfork Art and History Museum will celebrate its 35th birthday with 35 artists in their July show. Each decade of artwork since the museum opened in 1977 will be represented in “Celebrate! 35 years of Montana Art.”

Artists who have participated in shows from each decade will have an art piece on display—artists like Hall of Fame cowboy artist Fred Fellows and painter Elmer Sprunger, known for his depiction of Montana wildlife and landscapes.

Fellows helped start the museum by donating 1,000 prints of one of his pieces. The sales grossed $150,000 and the Art and Cultural Center that now houses the museum was renovated, said museum director Marnie Forbis.

Sprunger was a strong believer in the value of the art and history museum and what it brought to Bigfork’s artist community.

“Elmer was real pivotal in this place,” Forbis said. “He served on the board for a long time and was instrumental in keeping this place going.”

Panels in the museum were rented out by artists who wanted to display their work in the beginnings of the museum’s life. Now the museum holds shows to display an individual’s artwork or a collaborative effort of pieces.

Just as the museum has changed over the years, so has the artwork that’s been displayed. Forbis has directed the museum for the last 15 years and she said she has seen many changes with both the museum and Montana Art.

“The quality of art is getting better and the variety of art is getting better,” Forbis said. “You used to be able to pinpoint a-typical western art and you can’t do that anymore.”

It’s no longer about just cowboys and bucking broncos. It’s about landscapes and impressionist visions. It’s about wildlife and charcoal portraits.

Each artist is donating one piece to the show and providing a comment on how showing in the Bigfork Art and History Museum affected their careers.

The pieces are arriving this week, just in time for the July 5 show. Forbis said while the art museum didn’t affect everybody the same it did change some artists’ career paths.

She gives Shelley Lindhome as an example. Lindhome put a piece in the 1999 members show and won the people’s choice award. At the time Lindhome was thinking about giving up on art all together, but instead the award gave Lindhome the confidence she needed to pursue her craft with renewed interest.

“I think that speaks,” Forbis said. “That one little thing could catapult someone to want to do more, because that’s what this place is here for.”

“Celebrate! 35 years of Montana Art” is open from July 5 to August 5. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The opening reception for the show is July 6 from 5-7 p.m.