Montana Arts Council Brainstorming
Over the years Montana Arts Council (MAC), the state arts agency which provides support in numerous ways including grants, has been extremely helpful to the Tobacco Valley. Their staff is great at helping local organizations such as the Sunburst Community Service Foundation and the Creative Arts Center grow. The Montana Arts Council has also helped many local artists. So it is thrilling to hear that MAC staff are hitting the road this spring to visit Montana towns and Eureka is on the list. Arni Fishbaugh (Executive Director), Kristin Han Burgoyne (Grants Director), Cinda Holt (Business Development Specialist) and Sheri Jarvis (Montana Artrepreneur Program Director) will be in the Tobacco Valley April 12-13 to meet with community members, listen to ideas, explain all MAC has to offer and see how creative people in this valley truly are.
Their visit begins with an open community meeting on April 12 at Glacier Bank meeting room (in Eureka) beginning at 6:30pm. This will include a presentation by MAC staff followed by a question and answer period. On Wednesday, April 13th, the staff will meet with smaller groups to brainstorm ideas as to how the arts can be further nurtured in north Lincoln County. There will also be times that morning for MAC staff to meet with anyone who wants more individualized information about specific MAC programs such as Montana Artrpreneur, a workforce development program designed to help artists map a sustainable future by preparing the tools they need for a wider market place. That afternoon there will be a public exhibit to showcase the work of local artists, and will include a small reception with live music.
There is no doubt that the Tobacco Valley has an amazing percentage of talented people who make art, perform music, write books and in other ways create beautiful things. The April visit by Montana Arts Council staff will be an excellent opportunity to show what we have and hear about ways to do more with it.
About the Author: Rita Collins. I am a believer in the power of community and for now I call the Tobacco Valley home. I have lived in nine states and three counties and this community here amazes me - how people reach out to neighbors and even travelers. I've never lived in a place that demonstrates people caring for each other so well. And I've never lived in a place that has such a high percentage of talented musicians and artists. I work with the the Sunburst Community Service Foundation, a nonprofit that began in Eureka twenty years ago and now serves numerous communities in western Montana. And I just started a new business, St. Rita's Amazing Traveling Bookstore and Textual Apothecary. I never could have imagined life being this exciting in my sixth decade.
