Tools

Local Artists Painting the Town

By Rachel Ousley

Story Created: Aug 22, 2011 at 7:59 PM MDT

Story Updated: Aug 22, 2011 at 7:59 PM MDT

Recently local artists painted a mural in front of the Rocky Mountain Building. Now they've moved on to sprucing up dull industrial boxes. Since Friday seven lucky chosen artists have been battling the heat to create an entryway of art to downtown.

If you see artists adding a splash of color to downtown, don't worry they're artists hired by the Business Improvement District to help beautify the area. Twenty-four artists submitted 3-D models of their proposed traffic box. Eight artists made it to the interview stage, but only seven have the honor of pioneering this project.

Allisa nelson is one of those lucky few. Thanks to BID she is getting a jump start on her career. She says, “this just means so much to the start of my career as an artist”. At just 16 years old, this is her first paid job as an artist. She says, “I thought it would be really cool experience to have a piece of my artwork permanently in the city”.

The dedication to their work is evident. They've been tinkering since Friday and temperatures have reached over 90 degrees which adds to the challenge. Allisa says, “its really crappy” working in such heat. She explains, “my friend kind of got a little bit of heat stroke sitting out here”. Despite extra hot conditions, she’s enjoying putting her mark on the city.

While artists get to express themselves and get their name out there, it's also a way for them to display hometown pride. Halley Gallagher says, “for me, being from Great Falls, this is a really awesome opportunity because it's a way for me to give a painting to everyone here”.

Having a more aesthetically pleasing downtown should make it more inviting. Gallagher says when visitors come to our town; I think it’s nice for them to see something more than just what you get on the street. There’s more here than what meets the eye.

Joan Redeen with B.I.D. has been trying to bring this project to Great Falls since Missoula did it in 2009. Redeen has been working closely with Missoula to get ideas. Reeden says Missoula told her, “don't reinvent the wheel”.

The boxes in Missoula still look new two years later. B.I.D. chose similar materials to ensure these masterpieces will withstand the test of time. Redeen explains the specific paints and U.V. protective clear coating put on at the end keep everything from fading.

So far the artists are receiving tons of positive feedback encouraging for future projects. Redeen says, “and this is just the beginning”. There are 21 traffic signal boxes in the Business Improvement District. These even will be completed Wednesday. B.I.D. hopes to do seven next summer and the last seven the following summer until all boxes in the district have a new look.

Add a comment

Name:

Comment: 1000 Characters Left

News, Sports, Weather for Great Falls, Helena, and all of Montana and its affiliated companies are not responsible for the content of comments posted or for anything arising out of use of the above comments or other interaction among the users. We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, remove or edit user-generated content at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without prior notice, although we have no duty to do so or to monitor any Public Forum.

Great Falls & Helena Weather

Icon
Great Falls Great Falls Intl Airport, MT
Current Temp 57.0 °F
Partly Cloudy
Wind : Southwest at 10.4 MPH (9 KT)
Pressure : 1013.9 mb
Humidity : 55 %
Icon
Helena Helena Regional, MT
Current Temp 56.0 °F
Fair
Wind : Calm
Pressure : 1017.1 mb
Humidity : 49 %
Click here for our video forecast
More Weather
This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.

AP Video