Is Montana a good place for an artist? (Missoula, Bozeman: house, to buy)

[MontanaGuy]

Western Art Capital of the World - Great Falls, Montana

Yes, Charles M. Russell was one of the greatest western artists ever. I hope I won't be reprimanded for mentioning another great center for western art that's not in Montana. If any of you happen to be visiting Cody, Wyoming you've got to see the Buffalo Bill Historical Center which is made up of several great museums including the Whitney Gallery of Western Art. It also has paintings by Charles M. Russell, Frederic Remington and other well known artists and it's housed in a world class facility. Cody, Wyoming is also very close to Montana so I don't feel quite as guilty in mentioning it.
Sorry I was ignorant about Helena's up and coming art scene. I go to Montana all the time but I haven't been to Helena is years so I guess I'm not up to speed on what's happening there.
I've dabbled in oil painting and I've always loved art but I wouldn't call myself an artist. For what it's worth my concept of an artist's community would be a loosely knit group of like minded artists who associate in order to give each other support, inspiration and help promote their art in various ways. Many groups of artists will share expenses in order to provide a large amount of studio space in the same building. It might also just be an effort to share common creative ideas and offer encouragement in a very competitive occupation. It's an extremely tough business to actually make a living as an artist and creative people often have a difficult time.

[grannymontanny]

http://www.fcvb.org/bigfork.php

Originally Posted by pivatic1

MY wife is a 28 yr old oil on canvas artist. She paints landscapes and classic automobiles and is just amazingly talented. Curious as to what she paints?
www.mensingfineart.com . My question is, are there good towns in MT for artists? We have been to Missoula and are curious about Bozeman, Helena, Livingston, the western part of MT. We will be going back to Missoula here shortly. I talk to everybody and their grandpa and most MT residents seem polite and educated. Me? I am a maintenance technician, a tech guy that would like to give up the fast paced "life" and maybe try some farming. We don't make a lot of money here in SC and I don't plan on making as much money in MT. But peace and quiet seems to exist in MT. Any input is helpful. Thanks in advance.

[jjojobean]

Pivatic1, Montana is a great place to live and get inspired. I come from an artistic family and one thing I learned is you have to get out and promote yourself and your work. It won't sell if it doesn't get seen. Make some contacts. Bozeman and Livingston are great locations and are located close to Big Sky (big money) and Yellowstone. Whitefish and Kalispell are close to Glacier. Missoula is close to Couer d' Alene (sp?) and Spokane. How much travel time do you want to put in? The winter weather is different is all of those places also. Do you want just tourists to look at what you've got? Montana has a short tourist season. There are also a ton of small town cute art galleries. You might want to get some limited edition prints made and sell those and hang on to the originals. I'm just trying to give you some information to think about. There's a lot of money to be made in art and I wish you the best of luck in all your ventures. ;o)

[grizzfan]

I wonder if, having read all of this, Pivatic1 lost interest, or moved to Taos!!

[Songdog Ranch]

Yep, Helena not only has the Bray, but was voted "Best Small Art Town in America" by Qwest or some such ... there are banners proclaiming that on the streets downtown. We have the Art Walk each year, and do have some delightful galleries and resident Artists; I'm sure other towns do as well, but I can only vouch for Helena (as a resident).

[AQHA]

I have a question for those of you who know art. Can one still buy a Charles M. Russell painting? What would an original cost these days?

[MontanaGuy]

Can one still buy a Charles M. Russell painting?

If there were any for sale you'd have to be pretty wealthy to afford one. I've seen a number of them in museums. I used to always get calendars with prints of his paintings because they were so realistic and he also had an interesting life. If you just had an average income there are alot of good artists out there. It sounded like Grizzfan knew alot and collected paintings so he'd be a good one to ask, especially about living Montana artists.

[grizzfan]

It sounded like Grizzfan knew alot and collected paintings so he'd be a good one to ask, especially about living Montana artists.

Obviously Charlie Russell is long passed. His originals are still available, but at 5-6 figure cost. Usually the Charlie Russell event in March of every year in Great Falls has one. Their are some private dealers in Russells and Paxsons and such. One is John Howard in Missoula. I was able to purchase some block prints (not originals) by Jon DeYoung, Charlie's protege, a couple of years ago from him. They are really neat pieces and from that era in the 1920's, PM me if you are seriously interested and I'll tell you how to contact John Howard.

As for living artists, they abound in Montana, but no one has ventured to emulate Charlie Russell's vision of the old West. Wish I could, but I don't own a Charlie Russell original. About as close as I could come was a piece by George Gogas from his Judith Basin Encounter series - mythical encounters by Charles Russell and Pablo Picasso. My original acrylic, about 3'x4', is entitled "When Charlie and Pablo Talked about the Effect of Biochemical Engineering"!! It's all Picasso cubist and Gogas' rendition of Russell's piece entitled "Wound Up". I wouldn't trade it for the world. (BTW Montana Guy, George Gogas has one of his Judith Basin Encounter series in the Cody Museum!)

AQHA, I hope that helps.

[AQHA]

It sure does, thank you.
I am not a collector of art but I sure do appreciate the time and skill that goes into it. I've had the pleasure of seeing a few of Russell's painting, he truly was an original.

[MontanaGuy]

Grizzfan, I was just wondering if you have any photos of your art collection. Please post them if you do, I think it would be interesting. It sounds like you're really into Montana artists and alot of us would enjoy seeing it.