Holiday ArtWalk teams up with the annual Christmas Stroll and Santa for a festive night in downtown Billings on Friday, Dec. 7, from 5-9 p.m.
Holiday ArtWalk is the fifth of six events in ArtWalk’s 24th season. It features over 40 galleries, art studios, businesses, museums and other “art-worthy” locations in the downtown core, all featuring original art and fine crafts.
Free Spirit Rock School Band, featuring musicians 16-60 plays popular blues and classic rock selections at Hooligan’s. Santa will be at the Northern Hotel for pictures, and several downtown locations will host special events for holiday shoppers as part of the Christmas Stroll. Downtown Billings Alliance will sponsor a bus to transport visitors across downtown throughout the evening.
Among ArtWalk participants:
- Art 2905: SUMUS Art Collective offers “Transitions,” an exhibit that explores how transitions affect us personally and environmentally, and how change is the only constant.
- Barjon’s: Karyne Dunbar, of Shell, WY, is a retired public school art teacher, whose work is collected internationally.
- Billings First Congregational Church UCC: Writer Nancy Widdicombe and artist Lavonne Rice-Gordon share their story, “Courtland DuRand and the Big Elk Ranch,” the tale of Martinsdale’s wild game water rodeo in art and prose (gallery talk at 7 p.m.).
- Bishops Cuts/Color: Nick White works with acrylic on canvas and strives to evoke a sense of adventure in each painting.
- Clark Marten Photography: Multi-media artist Jamie Walters and her husband, Clint, present “Art With a Purpose,” an exhibit that combines Clint’s wood-working skills with Jamie’s photography to create functional objects ranging from coat hangers to kitchen tools and utility carts.
- CTA Architects: Artistic trio includes abstract pour painter Bunny K., watercolorist Erikka Hagstrom and acrylic painter Juliet Parks.
- Downtown Billings Alliance: George Kelting presents his first pottery exhibition in Billings.
- Fieldhouse Annex Bakery and Café: Photographer Cory Young, who “captures Billings like no one else really does,” focuses on color, design and precision.
- Gallery Interiors: Original Christmas art pieces by Joseph Booth and Dick Reich are on display.
- Gallery Nine – Connie Dillon Fine Art: Special exhibit, “We are Family,” features works by members of the Dillon and Sanders family from Billings, Missoula and Portland.
- Global Village: Local artist and retired educator Sue Schuld works with watercolors, pens and pencil and is writing a book series on famous women in art and science. Re
- Liberty and Vine Country Store: Tiffany Miller shares her latest project, “Color MT,” an interactive activity allowing artists of all ages and abilities to create their own Montana-themed merchandise ( $10 materials fee).
- Montana Gallery: Tyler Murphy and his contemporaries explore new ways to express western landscapes and iconic images (live music by Kassidy Casterline).
- North Acre Real Estate: Self-taught Montana artist and world traveller Katie Luse works in oil and watercolor.
- Real Deals-Billings: John Pugrud repurposes old fence posts and uses cedar, spruce and Russian olive wood in his creations and Hallie Schram hunts agates and creates jewelry with her found treasures.
- Rebels and Razors: abstract artist Justin Dowler, a newcomer to the Billings art scene, shares a bold barnyard of expressive paintings that includes horses, cows, bulls and pigs.
- Sandstone Gallery: Gallery manager Jennifer Baretta, joins member artists Nyd Kraashaur and Sue Hammersmark and guest artists Ron and Sarah Marshall in this multi-media exhibit.
- Stapleton Gallery: Join gallery artists as they navigate the personal and contemporary definition of “trophy” – “Is it the art of the hunt? Or the hunt for art?”
- Terakedis Fine Art and Jewelry Gallery: “12Squared” showcases 30 local and regional artists who have submitted work using the 12×12 form.
- This House of Books: Marian Lyman Kirst, an entomologist, photographer and writer based in Billings, celebrates the invertebrate world’s beauty, ingenuity, and diversity.
- Toucan Gallery: The nnual “Little Art Show” includes small, affordable original paintings by a variety of artists.
-
“Sad Bunny” by Renee Audette, whose work is on display at Underground Culture Krew. Underground Culture Krew: Renee Audette creates emotional, narrative sculptures and paintings that explore the human condition and personal experiences; Nicholas Rogers shows abstract paintings and collages with spray paint on repurposed materials.
- Yellowstone Art Museum: Three new exhibits and WinterFair are featured.
- 504 Square Feet: Cassie Crafton Kramer’s popular and functional Montana-themed pottery is on display in her vintage Shasta trailer, parked on the southeast corner of Skypoint.
Holiday ArtWalk events are free; many locations offer artist gallery talks, music and refreshments. Maps and more information can be found on Facebook and www.artwalkbillings.com. Printed maps are at all participating sites on ArtWalk night. On-street parking is free after 5 p.m.; parking garage rates vary.