This week’s Missoula Arts & Culture happenings are provided by the Missoula Cultural Council – Connecting Art, Culture and Community through Education, Advocacy and Celebration.
*****
Current exhibits at theMissoula Art Museum include Blessingway: Prints by Melanie Yazzie through September 6; Bill Ohrmann: Tainted Revelations through October 11; Crossing the River: Hmong Story Cloths through October 25; The Art of Human Conflict through December 24. Pictured above, the newly refurbished Edgar Paxson Murals will be exhibited through September 6, before returning to the Missoula County Courthouse.
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. Throughout the summer and early fall of 2014, Helena-based artist Sandra Dal Poggetto will be featured in a solo exhibition of new and recent works at the Montana Museum of Art & Culture at The University of Montana. 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 Downtown Association’s Out to Lunch and Downtown Tonight are now in full swing and continue throughout the summer. This week features John Floridis Trio Wednesday at lunch, and the Ian McFeron Band Thursday.
Missoula City Bandcontinues the summer season this Wednesday at Bonner Park. This week’s program features songs from The Titanic.
The Big Sky Film Series presents Free Summer Screenings at the Top Hat Lounge Monday Nights at 8:00 p.m. On July 28 – Charles Bradley: Soul of America, telling the incredible rise of the 62-year-old aspiring soul singer, whose debut album rocketed him from a hard life in the Brooklyn Housing Projects to Rolling Stone Magazine’s top 50 albums of 2011. Charles Bradley will perform at the Top Hat on July 31.
Shakespeare and Co. presents Carol Bradley and Jamie Ford reading from their latest books Last Chain on Billie: How One Extraordinary Elephant Escaped the Big Top and Songs of Willow Frost, 7:00 p.m. on August 4.
Fact & FictionDowntown presents Brian Krans, signing Assault Rifles and Pedophiles, 7:00 p.m. July 31; Malcolm Brooks reading and signing Painted Horses, 5:30 p.m. August 1; Dawn Luedeke signing To Tame a Montana Heart and Big Sky Brazen, 10:30 a.m. to Noon August 2. In addition, Fact & Fiction presents “Find Waldo Local in MISSOULA!”
from now through July 31. For more information about hunting for Waldo and Woof in Missoula, call Fact & Fiction at 721-2881.
Missoula Outdoor Cinema presents the following films: This is Spinal Tap (1984) 9:07 p.m. August 2; Sabrina (1954) NR 8:56 pm August 9 at 1001 Worden Street on the North Side.
The Wilma Theatre presents Nickel Creek Thursday, August 7 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets available at Rockin Rudy’s and online at TicketWeb.
The Clay Studio of Missoula presents a workshop by Sarah Jaeger – Form & Surface: Creating Unique Utilitarian Work, Saturday, August 2, 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. $95 for non-members, $85 for members, seniors, and students. Tuition includes lunch.
Summer Camps and Classes are offered at Missoula Writing Collaborative, The Clay Studio of Missoula, Zootown Arts Community Center ,The Missoula Art Museum ,Downtown Dance Collective, Montana Natural History Center, MCAT, and Tangled Tones Music Studio.
The Missoula Symphony Orchestra returns to Caras Park on Sunday, August 10 at 7 p.m. for its tenth annual “Symphony in the Park” concert, featuring a special appearance by country music star, Tyler Barham. Music Director Darko Butorac will also lead the orchestra through a lively program of movie scores, dance numbers and light classics. Food and beverage may be purchased from on-site vendors and lawn chairs are encouraged. The event is free and fun for the whole family.
The second Zootown Fringe Festival is August 13-17 throughout Missoula. Visit the website to learn more.
Registration is open for the Flamenco Montana Festival, featuring Teo Morca, Carlos Lomas, Vicente Griego, and occurs September 18, 19, 20 and 21. Early Registration discount through August 15.
For more information about arts events in the Missoula area, visit the Missoula Cultural Council’s website.
****************
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.