In July, we welcomed Big Sky’s first large-scale mural in the Little Coyote/Lone Peak Hwy Pedestrian Tunnel by Bozeman-born artist, Stella Nall. This mural was inspired by community feedback from the following prompt; “Think about the landscape/environment of Big Sky and the wonderful plants and wildlife that live here. If you could imagine a make-believe ‘Big Sky Being’, what would it be like?"
This colorful and joyous mural is a beautiful ode to the vibrancy of our community and the surrounding landscape. We’d like to give a HUGE thank you to Ace Hardware for donating the supplies to make it happen and the the Spanish Peaks Community Foundation for a seed grant that got this project started.
The Arts Council of Big Sky in collaboration with Crucible Design Studios has installed a new viewing bench for the Gibbous Kinetic sculpture titled STRATA along with a donor appreciation sign outside of the Franklin Residences. This bench consists of 350 pieces inspired by the mountains and culture of Big Sky. This collaboration is hopefully the first of many in making an 'adopt a bench' program.
We re-homed our very first sculpture, Menhir I, by Bozeman artist, Zak Zakovi. At 13 feet high and over 2000 pounds, Menhir is a formidable installation of steel and stone. Originally installed at the roundabout in 2006, Menhir has seen Big Sky literally grow around it. Now it has settled in its new home, in a pocket park equipped with benches and a stunning view of Lone Peak, outside of BASE Community Center on the NE corner of Simkins Drive and Aspen Leaf. We’d like to give a special thanks to Todd Rossier with Two Bear Construction and Caleb Holt with Armature LLC for their expertise in installation.
Last but certainly not least, we are FINALLY welcoming Wolfie home! To The Skyland is a playful bronze by Montana born artist Brad Rude that tells the tale of a wolf on her own quest. Landscaping is underway on the south end of Fire Pit Park for an end of September/early October installation. Stay tuned for a Ribbon Cutting announcement!
This fall we will be taking extra special care of our collection through routine maintenance projects before the snow falls. We also have plans to update our Public Art Map and create some additional programming such as our Public Art Passport, in which participants will have a task to complete at each sculpture like drawing a flower at the pollinator garden, playing I-spy at the bison, or writing a poem about Wolfie, and come in for a stamp once completed.