Art Events & Exhibits:


"Bent West"
June 26 - July 18, Art Walk opening reception on June 26, 5:30 - 8:00 PM.

The exhibit will feature seven artists including local photographer and curator of “Bent West”, Audrey Hall. Hall’s portraits and photo essays about architecture, cuisine, style and travel are featured in numerous magazines and books. Her photographs from the documentary “Frontier House” were critically acclaimed by 13WNET in New York and “Wall to Wall” television in London. Working also as a fine artist, writer and producer, she has completed over thirty features as well as commercial and editorial projects including the independent film “Steal Me”, selected to premiere at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.

Additional featured artists will include Harriet “Rox” Corbett, Lori Ryker, Debra Chase, Jerry Iverson, Buff Brown and Kevin Showell.

Corbett received a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts with honors from Concordia University, Montreal in 1983. While in Montreal, Harriet began work on a series of large charcoal drawings of cafes and diners, in which she explored the versatility of the medium. In the early nineties, she was an artist-in-residence at the Ucross Foundation in Northern Wyoming, where she continued her charcoal drawings of local cafes, diners, and bars. She became acquainted with local ranchers and was invited to participate in ranching activities such as gathering and branding. “Brandings epitomize the lifestyle and ethic of springtime in the west; a time when neighbors gather to help each other”, says Corbett. She uses charcoal with precision, realistically depicting hair and hide, denim and leather. “Charcoal has a warmth and richness that I have not found in other black and white media”. First Interstate Bank in Sheridan, Wyoming owns a collection of her branding pictures. Corbett lives with her husband on a ranch on the Clark’s Fork River north of Cody Wyoming.

Lori Ryker has been living in Livingston, Montana for over a decade. She is the founder and director of Artemis Institute, a local not for profit that encourages our understanding of the relationship of nature to culture. She is also an author of several books and founder of the multi-disciplinary studio: Studioryker. She was educated as an architect and took the opportunity while in graduate school at Harvard to take studio courses in fine arts. A long-lived fascination with small artifacts and jewelry has led to the development of PERIAPT, wearable artifacts that are inspired by her experiences in the natural world. A concern for the health of the environment has lead her to incorporate new, found, damaged and reclaimed materials along with metals and semi-precious stones into simple assemblies of jewelry. Each one-of-a-kind piece is intended to inspire the wearer to discover the artifact’s value and meaning through their own personal histories or memories.

Debra Chase resides in Livingston, Montana and has recently finished “Tiarra and the Moon”, an original children’s book. Chase grew up in rural western Maine and remembers her love of horses started when she was a very young girl. She and her sister spent countless hours drawing their imaginary herds and stables of horses. As she grew, she would attempt to emulate the satiny sheen of C. W. Anderson and Sam Savitt’s horses and capture the accurate body language and expression in Paul Brown’s illustrations. The books where the illustrators, in their young opinions, “got the horses right” were the ones they cherished over and over. To this day they collect old copies of their childhood favorites. With “Tiara and the Moon,” Debra creates the kind of book she and her sister would have loved when they were young.

Jerry Iverson was raised on a farm in South Dakota but now calls Big Timber, MT home. Iverson works in black and white and the abstract. Many layers of sumi ink and paper scraps build a reckless and messy surface. Shattered and broken black lines create a tense and awkward balance. He is currently working on two series: “Nerve Blocks” refer to the cracked and severed nerves that happen in life. “Line Bombs” reminds him of America at war and how we’ve taught the powerless and dispossessed that anything can become a weapon.

Buff Brown is a functional artist, using salvaged woods and the endless resources junk materials provide to construct one-of-a-kind boxes for personal use. Two lines from Conrad Aiken’s poem “South End” best explain why I have enjoyed working with found-object materials: "Dignity shines in old brick and old dirt, in elms and houses hurt beyond hurt." "It’s fair to assume a small box can be used to store intimate objects that may be connected to intimate memories", says Brown "almost all of the materials I used when I first started were taken directly from abandoned or demolished dwellings. I was able to sense the history - the stories - in these left-behind places. Using such memory-soaked materials to house small-but-important items is, for me, a satisfying connection." Applying clear paste wax gives these highly polished surfaces a soft, lustrous finish. "In the end, it’s all about surface exploration and design - getting those two forces to work together successfully", Brown added.

Kevin Showell grew up in Cody Wyoming, loved the outdoors and was very connected to the western lifestyle. Studying theology with the intention of being in the ministry brought him to Minnesota. While still in Minneapolis working with various churches and missions he met an elderly master woodcarver from Athens, Greece. Showell followed his passion for art and became an apprentice. He spent five years in Chrisostomos Effrem’s shop and was under his tutelage for another ten during his journeyman years. Today Showell works and teaches out of his own shop in the arts district of N.E. Minneapolis. “My homeland will forever be the west, but I love to explore different styles, eras, and artistic disciplines whether it’s Western or European, classic or contemporary my experiences and my curiosity keep me on the move.”

There will be an artist reception on the evening of Friday June 26th from 5:30-8:00 p.m.. A special “members only” preview will be held from 5:00-5:30 for current PCFA members. The Danforth Gallery is located at 106 N. Main Street. For more information contact the Traci Isaly at 406-222-6510.

Thanks to these local businesses for
sponsoring our ArtAttack series:
• Livingston Current
• WMC Photography
• Sparkling Dawg Design
• Kirk Michels Architects
• The Gourmet Cellar
• Livingston Bar & Grille
• Spirits
• Grace Studios
• Pine Creek Cafe
• Tall Pony Productions
• Crown Creations