By TOM BENSEN
The 21st annual Germanfest, produced by the Missoula Cultural Council, occurs this Sunday, September 7 from 2:00-6:00 p.m. in Caras Park, and features brats, beer, an awesome raffle, and oom-pah music by Kalispell’s Bavarian Echoes. This annual event supports our sister-city partnership with Neckargemuend, and helps raise funds for the local high school exchange program with our sister-city. Commemorative steins will be available for sale at the event.
The City of Missoula Public Art Committee has extended the deadline for two art calls in Silver Park. The new deadline is October 6, 2014. Visit the website for all information and the application.
First Friday Gallery Night promises to be a busy one throughout Missoula on September 5, from 5:00-8:00 p.m. More than 35 venues are hosting an arts-related event this month. Caleb Meyer(right) opens a show at the Dana Gallery.
Current exhibits at the Missoula Art Museum include Blessingway: Prints by Melanie Yazzie through September 6; Bill Ohrmann: Tainted Revelations through October 11; The Art of Human Conflict Conflict through December 24; the Edgar Paxson Murals (pictured here) are on display through September 6, before returning to the Missoula County Courthouse; Pamela Caughey: Ubiquitous: Migration of Pathogens through December 24;
German Fest Sept 7, at Caras Park
Helen McAuslan: The Kent State Paintings, on loan from the Museum of the Rockies, through November 22. Plans for the new Art Park will be on display during First Friday on September 5.
The Montana Museum of Art & Culture at the University of Montana presents Sandra Dal Poggetto: Meditations on the Field, in the Paxson and Meloy Galleries. Now through September 27, Helena-based artist Sandra Dal Poggetto is featured in a solo exhibition of new and recent works. Dal Poggetto uses an abstract language and fragments of the western landscape-hide, feathers, wood and wire-to create evocative paintings and drawings. She draws on and deconstructs both Euro-American pictorial language and American Indian visual traditions.
The Missoula Children’s Theatre kicks off the 2014-15 school year with Tom Sawyer, the fall afterschool performing arts class. This American Literature classic has been a favorite for generations, and here’s a musical adaptation that will please audience and performers alike. Classes start this week on Wednesday, September 3 and Thursday the 4 with options of Monday/Wednesday class or Tuesday/Thursday class. Tom Sawyer is open to all K-12 school-aged children. The performances are October 11 and 12. All classes and performances will be held at the MCT Center for the Performing Arts. For more information and to register, visit the MCT Box office at 200 North Adams Street, call 728-7529 (728-PLAY), or the website above.
In honor of the 100th anniversary of woman suffrage in Montana, University of Montana History Professor and Co-Director of Women’s and Gender Studies Anya Jabour will make herself available to deliver a free local lecture titled “Montana Women Making History.” Her lecture offers biographical sketches of some of Montana’s most significant women reformers such as Jeannette Rankin, the Missoula pacifist who voted against U.S. entry into both world wars; Hazel Hunkins, a Billings woman who went to federal prison for picketing the White House on behalf of suffrage; Maggie Smith Hathaway, who pioneered child welfare legislation in the state; and Helen Piotopowaka Clarke, the first Native American woman elected to public office in the Montana Territory. A group of UM faculty, staff and students, together with Missoula community members, have formed an ad hoc centennial committee to coordinate a variety of local and statewide projects to commemorate the 100th anniversary year. The projects include a traveling historical exhibit, “Leading the Way: Montana Woman Suffrage and the Struggle for Equal Citizenship,” which will be displayed in more than 30 communities statewide. For more information or to schedule a lecture, email Jabour.
Shakespeare and Co. presents Reverberations of War: Finding Refuge in Poems, September 5 at 7:00 p.m. Join us for a reading of poetry written by veterans, community members, and international citizens who live shaken by war’s destruction.
Fact & Fiction presents Kate Cholewa reading and signing Shaking Out the Dead, 5:30 p.m. on September 5. On Friday, September 5 and Saturday, September 6, get ready for the Montana Festival of the Book, with Festival Posters, Schedules and maybe a few authors giving a preview of the October 10-11 event in Downtown Missoula. Proceeds of the two day sales will go to the Festival. Both events are at F&F Downtown.
Missoula Outdoor Cinema wraps up this season with James Welch’s Winter in the Blood (2013) September 6 at 8:06 p.m. at 1001 Worden Street on the North Side.
Tangled Tones Music Studio presents Playing With The Band this fall. For ages 12 and up: Play in a band, learn from professional musicians and instructors, write original songs, cove favorite songs, and record your music. Visit the website for the details.
Caleb Meyer opens a show at the Dana Gallery for First Friday Gallery Night Sept 5.
The Montana Repertory Theatre presents Once Upon a Time in Ancient Greece by Laramie Dean, Friday and Saturday, September 5 and 6 at 7:30pm at the Masquer Theatre, PARTV Center on the UM Campus. Adults $11.00 Children $6.00. call 243-4581.
The Gallery of Visual Arts and University of Montana School of Art will present the annual School of Art Faculty Exhibition and Lectures September 2-19. An opening reception will be held from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. Thursday, September 4, in the Gallery of Visual Arts on the first floor of the Social Science Building. Earlier that evening, Valerie Hedquist, UM professor of art history and criticism, will present a lecture titled “Spiritual Comfort and Charitable Healing in Ter Brugghen’s Saint Sebastian Tended by Irene.” It will be held from 5:10 to 6 p.m. in Social Science Building Room 356. Included in this year’s exhibition are faculty members Brad Allen, James Bailey, Kevin Bell, Mary Ann Bonjorni, H. Rafael Chacón, Jason Clark, Jennifer Combe, Elizabeth Dove, Julia Galloway, Matt Hamon, Trey Hill, Steven Krutek, Beth Lo, Elena Lourenco and Cathryn Mallory.
The Missoula Community Chorus is getting ready for another season. If interested in singing with this group, visit this website for the performing and rehearsal schedule.
The Montana Repertory Theatre presents the Rolling Premiere of Broomstick by John Biguenet, September 11-14, 16-20 at 7:30 p.m., with 2:00 p.m. matinees as well on September 13 and 20, and September 21 at 6:30 p.m. at the Masquer Theatre, PARTV Center on the UM Campus. $1 General Public, $14 Seniors/students, $10 Children under 12.
Snowbowl Mountain Music presents the David Grisman Sextet, September 14 at 5:00 p.m. Visit the website for more information.
The Missoula Children’s Theatre, in conjunction with Arts in Education Week, presents The Last of the Dragons, written by Kristin Walter and under the direction of Andy Meyers. The cast of this family-friendly show features 6 adult actors, and is guaranteed to delight audiences of all ages! Special matinee performances of 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. are scheduled on Thursday, September 11 and Friday, September 12, so all ages of school and homeschool groups can schedule a field trip to the theatre! On Saturday, September 13 there is one performance only at 10:00 a.m. The performances are at MCT Center for the Performing Arts, and approximately one hour in length.
Tangled Tones presents a new Kid’s Choir for the Missoula Community, directed by Joshua Farmer and Caleb Van Gelder. Fall Session runs on Wednesdays, September 10 – December 18, from 6:00-7:30 p.m. Audition date September 3 at Sussex School’s Music Room. For Children aged 8-13 years old who are interested in music and like to sing. Contact Kids Choir
Aikido Missoula presents a 4 Week Fall Intro for beginning adults starting Tuesday, September 16 at 5:30 p.m. at 208 E. Main, Located on the 2nd floor of the historic Union Hall Building. This class meets Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5:30-6:30 p.m., through October 9. Please visit the website or call 549-8387 for more information on getting started.
Registration is open for theFlamenco Montana Festival, featuring Teo Morca, Carlos Lomas, and Vicente Griego, is September 18-21. Visit the website for more information.
For more information about arts events in the Missoula area, visit our website
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Tom Bensen has lived in Missoula since 1986, and has been the executive director of the Missoula Cultural Council since June 2004. He has directed First Night Missoula each New Year’s Eve since 1997. He is a member of Missoula’s choral ensemble Dolce Canto, and enjoys being outdoors, whether it is hiking, biking, skiing, walking the dogs, or mowing the lawn. His wife Susan works for Montana Public Radio, and their son Peter attends Hellgate High School.