This program takes place via Zoom. Space is limited; to register, click here.

Until it’s safe to travel together for our popular Art Travels day, overnight, national, and international trips, we’re thrilled to continue virtual trips for armchair travelers each first Thursday evening! This month, we travel to the Missoula Art Museum in Missoula, MT.

The Art Museum of Missoula opened its doors in 1975. Just over a decade later, with the growth of the museum’s collection, MAM was awarded accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums. From its Carnegie Library roots to a $5.3M capital campaign that allowed it to seamlessly fuse its 100-year-old building with a contemporary addition, MAM has created the ideal environment for exhibiting, celebrating, and preserving the museum’s growing contemporary art collection. MAM is emerging as the leading contemporary art museum in the Intermountain West and is an exceptional attraction in the heart of Missoula’s historic downtown—a fully accessible, free, public museum that boasts eight exhibition spaces, a library, an education center, and an inviting information lounge. The museum recently expanded its footprint outdoors with the dedication of the newly constructed Art Park in 2017. Situated on the traditional, ancestral territories of the Séliš (Salish or “Flathead”) and Qlispé (upper Kalispel or Pend d’Oreille) peoples, MAM is committed to respecting the indigenous stewards of the land it occupies. These rich cultures are fundamental to artistic life in Montana and to the work of MAM.

For this virtual visit Kay Grissom-Kiely, curator of education, introduces the Missoula Art Museum’s history and building in downtown Missoula. Then, Brandon Reintjes, senior curator and John Knight, registrar, help us explore MAM’s Contemporary American Indian Art Collection (CAIAC) and take us on a virtual tour of MAM’s Lynda M. Frost Contemporary American Indian Gallery, featuring the exhibition Sean Chandler: New Works and the work of Indigenous artists displayed in galleries throughout the museum. Today, the CAIAC features almost 250 objects by the nation’s most recognizable and powerful Indigenous artists and is the most sought-after part of the collection with frequent requests for loans. Currently, MAM holds the largest collection of contemporary American Indian art in the state of Montana and the largest collection of Jaune Quick-to-See Smith’s work of any museum.