06/24/2024
“Helena This Week” is reported and written By JoVonne Wagner. Send your Helena news and tips to [email protected].
Members of the Holter Museum’s Afterschool Teen Arts Council work on the United Way’s mural that represents the nonprofit’s efforts to address housing needs in Helena on Thursday, June 20, 2024. Credit: JoVonne Wagner / MTFP
Those passing by a building on a busy street near Centennial Park last week may have seen a group of teenagers sitting on scaffolding with paint buckets and brushes in hand.
The teenagers, a part of the Holter Museum’s Afterschool Teen Arts Council, or ATAC, were completing the last steps of a nearly year-long project to give new life to the mural on the north side of the United Way of the Lewis and Clark Area headquarters.
The original artwork, which depicted several diverse faces on a white background, was painted in 2015 by teens in the same Holter afterschool program. Nine years later, the council has a new generation of young artists working on the mural, but now with a new message behind it — accessibility to housing.
Emily McVey, the executive director for United Way, first reached out to the ATAC last summer after deciding that the mural needed updating to better reflect United Way’s work in the community.
“They came up with the mural based on all of that information that I shared with them, and they did a bunch of different renderings of art and this is what they came up with,” McVey told Montana Free Press. “They sent it over and everybody on the board and the staff loved it.”
The new mural uses vibrant blues, reds, oranges and yellows of the United Way logo. It shows a pair of hands holding houses in front of a mountain and the sun. The artwork faces Lyndale Avenue, one of Helena’s busier roads, which played a role in the mural’s theme.
“People will hopefully better see that this is the United Way building. This is what we do here,” McVey said.
High school sophomores Eli Jacobson and Ray Everett said the project was a great opportunity to support the nonprofit and the community.
“I’m hoping that this new mural can help better show the community what they do rather than just being like, it’s there,” Jacobson said. “Because a lot of people in our community don’t know what this building is for, and therefore don’t know what United Way is, and hopefully a new mural that better depicts what they do will hopefully spread that awareness.”
“I think it’s more of an appreciation thing of saying, ‘I appreciate what you’re doing, and I want everybody to know that you’re doing this amazing thing,’ because it’s amazing,” Everett said.
Anna Lund is the Holter Museum’s education director and has helped facilitate the project along with mural artist Dallis Ryder. She said the project gives local teens an opportunity to share their art skills publicly.
“It’s still a teen voice. It’s still a teen design. It’s with the United Way mission in mind and oriented towards just getting to see yourself emboldened as an artist, the skills, the accessibility, your name on it,” Lund told Montana Free Press. “It’s a launching pad. It’s a really wonderful space to feel empowered in the moment and to continue from there.”
5 Things to Know in Helena
Maintenance bond: During last week’s city commission meeting, commissioners approved a resolution allowing city staff to seek a general obligation bond of about $1.03 million. The bond would pay for the replacements of the city vehicle maintenance shop’s boiler and roof. A bond resolution will be presented to commissioners during the administrative meeting on July 24.
Book club: Kristin Hannah, a New York Times best-selling author of the historical fiction novel, “The Woman,” will speak at the Helena Civic Center on Wednesday, June 26. Accompanying Hannah will be local author Diane Carlson Evans, who is a former veteran combat nurse and founder of the Vietnam Woman’s Memorial Foundation. Ticket prices start at $10 for general admission. The event begins at 7 p.m. and doors open at 6 p.m. For additional information and to purchase tickets, visit the civic center’s website.
Hosts for exchange students: World Link, a student placement organization, is looking for host families for five international exchange students for the upcoming school year, according to a Facebook post from local coordinator Jennifer Howard. Hosts would need to provide the students with food and shelter while the exchange program provides students with a medical plan, school expenses and monthly allowances. Those interested in hosting or more information about the program can email Howard at [email protected].
Alive at Five: Lewis and Clark Brewing Co. will host the second concert of the summertime series Alive at Five on Wednesday, June 26. The show will feature bands El Wencho and Cody Canada & The Departed. The show begins at 5 p.m. at the brewery, 1535 Dodge Ave. For more information on future shows and bands on the summer schedule, visit the Alive at Five website.
Blast from the past: The 19th annual Blast from the Past Car Show, hosted by the local nonprofit Helena Valley Timing, will be on Saturday, June 29. On Friday, participants can register their cars at Steffano’s Pizza & Sub Shoppe, 2100 N. Last Chance Gulch, at 3 p.m., with a $40 fee. The actual show, also at Steffano’s, will be on Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information about the car show, visit its Facebook event page.
Comings and Goings
Comings: The Unionville Outdoor School, 2055 Oro Fino Gulch, a new independent elementary school for K-5 students, is open for registration. The school will focus on outdoor education and is modeled after a traditional one-room schoolhouse with mixed-aged kids in one class. Unionville’s tuition for each student is about $4,600 per trimester. For more information about the school, visit its website.
Might Be Fun
The Copper Furrow Brewing Brewery, 2801 N. Roberts St., will host a beer and craft night on Thursday, June 27, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Participants will learn to make a leather wallet. There is a $60 registration fee that covers materials and a drink. For more information, contact the brewery at (406) 422-5975.
Helena History
