The entire family got out this past weekend and visited three of 8 locations that were open for free admission day. This I found out is a local promotion to residents of Great Falls, Montana to help promote our sights and attractions. When we have friends and families from out of town come, then being more aware of what our town has to offer is helpful.
One of the places my husband and I had wanted to visit was the Charlie Russell Museum. He is one of the claim to fame people of our town. The inside of the museum is beautiful and filled with his western and indian art. There are wonderful artifacts from his life in a glass case to view and read about. My husband and oldest son love the gun and rifle display room. The statutes pictured are on the outside of the museum.
We also went to the Paris Gibson Museum of Modern Art. I think my daughter and I will be visiting more this year to see some upcoming exhibits. We are fortunate also in that this museum has a sponsor this year and all admissions are free. Savannah Rose (my daughter) fell in love with a featured artist and I have included some of her artwork and information here.
Rachel Kaiser: Giving Way
Dufresne & Cobb Foundations Gallery
March 3-April 16, 2011
Giving Way will include new work created by Rachel Kaiser during her tenure as the Great Falls Public Schools Artist-in Residence, a joint program between the schools and The Square. The exhibition title is taken from the artist’s work that conveys a positive message about the value of generosity and it’s literal, emotional and spiritual impact.
Rachel’s diverse background and interest in the spiritual nature of art is evident in her work, which includes paintings, woodcarvings, drawings and shrines as well as murals and custom-made ceramic tile. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art at Viterbo University in LaCross, Wisconsin, and studied at the Vermont Studio Center. She is a co-founder of On The River, a multi-media art gallery and Juxtapoz magazine credits her and her partner, Jonathan Heraux, for initiating the underground art movement in downtown Honolulu. She has received several national and local commissions including a 4-foot tall hand carved wood relief, The Spirit of Healing, in the surgery wing of St. Francis Hospital in Honolulu and a 17-foot-tall mural spanning seven walls and totaling 1800 square feet at The Peak Health and Wellness Center in Great Falls, which depicts children playing in a natural mountain landscape.
Our final destination was The History Museum. Two our of kids were tired and stayed in the van, but my husband, oldest son, and I had fun exploring/talking about different items displayed there. My husband said this was the highlight of the day for him and he thoroughly enjoy everything about the place. One item of interest was a podium that was made for sole purpose of John F Kennedy to use on a trip he made to Great Falls, Montana back in the 1960's. I fell in love with all the information displayed about a jazz club that was big in the town in the 1950's. It is going to be another blog here real soon.
I posted an update on Facebook about our trip and a cousin in the Kalispell area said she wished she had known about the free admission day and her family would have probably come to visit for the day. Now that I know this is an annual event in early April, I will have to listen for the next one in 2012 and let her know so she can make plans to come.
We still have a few places we have not explored here in town, but I know we will get around to it hopefully some time soon!
What was it like? I can remember asking that question to what I considered "elderly" people when I was growing up. Granny would tell of how hard day-to-day farm life was. Mom (my foster mom, in her 60's then) would tell of her daily chores, of walking more than a mile to the one room school house. My foster dad would tell of the first radio coming to the "mountain", of moving to the "big city" of running water in the house, of the first cars, of working for the CCC's and making park trails as part of his work with them.
I got to visit the one room school house often as it was the community center years later on the mountain and we would have dinner socials there to then travel around to the small cemeteries to decorate the grave stones on Memorial Day.
What was it like? I didn't want to ask Junior of his time in Vietnam. His life and health was changed forever there. He wouldn't apply or accept diability even though he was stricken with the worst form of Psoriasis over 98% of his body. This only from his time overseas during the war.
History wasn't my favorite subject in school. I found reading about it in a book to be somewhat boring. Now I find that viewing pieces of history and talking with those that love it (my husband and son) can be very interesting. It amazes me how much my 14 year old knows. He has always loved the history channel. My husband reads constantly about past wars and can tell you time periods on most things of history.
So I am going to plug again about a wonderful museum for you to venture to if you are ever in the area of Polson, Montana. It is called Miracle of America Museum and they boast a person can spend anywhere from 2 to 6 hours there. We spent 2 hours but plan on going back some time soon to explore more. There are 5 acres and I don't think we got past 2 acres. My cameras were flashing as well as my daughters. Click here to see more pictures Miracle of America.
