ArtSpot Grand Opening slated for October 11

ArtSpot’s Grand Opening is slated for Thursday, October 11, from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the Bohn’s Bones Art Gallery and Kathy Bagley, head of the program, is asking people to take the night and treat it with childlike curiosity.

“I often have people tell me ‘I’m not artistic’,” said Bagley. “You don’t have to be artistic to come and have fun and enjoy yourself. Children never hesitate if you put paint and a paintbrush in front of them; they don’t worry about being artistic, they just want to create and have fun. I am asking all the adults to come and have fun and forget they are adults for one night. Come be a child, get your hands dirty and explore the world of art.”

The ArtSpot program, targeted towards Arts Education, is opening to allow people of all ages to have a location, the materials, and guidance in creating and experimenting in the arts.

Attendees at the Grand Opening can learn from some of the Northeast’s great artists-- Judy Michael’s room will be acrylic painting, Todd Mandeville will demonstrate charcoal, Kevin Campbell will create with crayon art, Randy Domire will draw with colored pencil and Heather Cook will create mosaic masks and role playing. At the conclusion of the art classes, a “fun art auction” will be held in which people who have created their latest masterpieces will have the opportunity to auction them off, if they choose.

There will also be a silent auction that night in which the professional artists will sell their latest creations.

“The grand opening is a way to introduce the public to the types of projects the community could get involved in,” Bagley said. “The artists will be paid for their artwork because we want people to see that art is a money making business.”

Bagley said that one of the things she has noticed while living in Phillips County is the desire of many students from a wide range of ages to have art lessons but don’t have the necessary monies available to pay for them. One of the major parts of the ArtSpot mission is to provide community service to the people of Phillips County by offering scholarships to those students of any age who wish to receive training in the Arts but are unable to pay the regular fees for lessons and workshops because of limited income.

In 2015, Malta’s ArtSpot will be having two three-day watercolor workshops taught by an artist from Florida and a Montana watercolor artist. Bagley will be teaching a two-day acrylic workshop. Other workshops are also being planned. “All the workshops have a fee and a percentage of that fee is a donation to the ArtSpot Scholarship Fund.”

According to the Montana Arts Council’s vision statement, “Montana is known far and wide as “The Land of Creativity,” where the arts are essential to the creativity, imagination and entrepreneurship that make Big Sky Country the very best place on Earth to live, learn, work and play.” Their mission statement proclaims “The Montana Arts Council, an agency of state government, develops the creative potential of all Montanans, advances education, spurs economic vibrancy and revitalizes communities through involvement in the arts.” According to their 2014-2018 Framework of Operations report, “Arts Education Funding and programming remain a strong need.” The purpose of ArtSpot is to fulfill a portion of that need in the Northeastern Region of Montana by setting up individual ArtSpot HotSpots through fundraising in the individual communities which will be provided service and through grant writing to the Montana Arts organizations that provide funding for arts education. ArtSpot will be using the Montana Arts Council’s registry of Artists, national traveling artists who provide workshops as part of their business, and local artists to provide the workshops and education needed in each area.

“The Malta Public Schools have a wonderful music and arts program that can be enhanced and aided with the addition of a more targeted learning center which allows year round access to workshops and lessons for the students who are committed to pursuing a career in the arts,” Bagley said. “Our community already collaborates with the Northeastern Arts Network to allow us to see concerts, comedy and other types of arts performances from October through March.”

Bagley said that in the past she has worked with art programs that assist low-income people to gain access to art training. She said that she often hears, from students and seniors citizens alike, that there is “nothing to do here” in Malta. “This is an opportunity for me to contribute to the community by providing those kinds of scholarships that would allow them to come in and do a project,” she said.

Bagley is basing the ArtSpot scholarship-based program around the ArtiCulture program that originated in Minnesota. One Sunday a month, the public is invited to come create art and all the art supplies are provided. There is no fee and, at the end of the day, the artwork completed is put up for sale to the public in an art market. “Any money they make goes to funding of their art supplies, art inventory and goes into their scholarship fund to help pay for those types of classes,” she said. Additionally, the businesses around them take the opportunity to celebrate that day by offering specials in their stores and restaurants.

At the Grand Opening event on October 11, Gina Simanton of the Liquor Haven will be supplying the wine for the night’s function and Julia Johnson from Crossroads Coffee will be providing coffee, tea, turnovers and cookies.

“It will be a great night to let your artistic side out, even if you don’t think you have one,” Bagley said.