Butch Damberger said a new set of Native American paintings that line the hallway to meeting rooms in the Montana State University Strand Union Building often have an unexpected and powerful effect on people.
 
“A couple of months ago I came across a young man who was moved to tears by the art,” said Damberger, director of the SUB. “That was our goal – to create something (all people) can be proud of.”
 
The Indigenous Art in Time Gallery is a set of large-scale pieces of art by Native American artists saluting Montana’s tribes. The multimedia gallery was installed on Indigenous Peoples Day in October and still catches people expecting a plain hallway by surprise.
 
The gallery features mural-sized pieces by five artists. They include: Ben Pease, a member of the Apsaalooke (Crow) and Tsitsistas (Northern Cheyenne) nations and former MSU art student who is now successfully selling his multimedia pieces around the world; John Isaiah Pepion, Piikani (Blackfeet), who is also a prominent artist known for his ledger-style art; Carlin Bear Don’t Walk, a member of the Tsitsistas sand Apsaalooke nations who now lives in Billings and whose painting also graces this year’s American Indian Council powwow poster; Casey Figueroa, a Flathead-area artist and educator of Apache, Tohono O'Odham, Yaqui, Mexican and Irish heritage who is pursuing dual master’s degrees in Native American studies and an MFA from MSU; and Alisha Fisher, Tsitsistas and Apsaalooke, a graduating senior art student at MSU. The gallery was coordinated by Marsha Small, Tsitsistas, an earth science doctoral student and Native American studies lecturer who is passionate about seeing a collection of gallery-quality art by Native American artists installed on the MSU campus.

“This is a salute to our Homelands, because this is what this place here is – Homeland for many Montana tribes,” Small said.
 
Damberger said while he had the idea of hanging Native American art in the formerly empty hallway for some time, the project didn’t get off the ground for a couple of  years until efforts by Small and Pease located artists. The resulting paintings exceeded all of his expectations.

“I had thought for the longest time that we should do something with these walls and I thought I’d like to have a few pieces of Native art in that hallway, but didn’t know how to make it happen,” Damberger said.
 
Small calls the creation of the gallery over several months last year “one of the greatest family efforts that I have ever been a part of.”

“We all got together and decided the progression on the walls and who would be where,” she said. “All of the artists are really busy, but they made it happen.”
 
Small said the progression begins on the northwestern wall with a large painting by Fisher of Pretty Woman, a Cheyenne woman. The painting is called “Respect” because “we are a matriarchal society and this is where life begins for us,” Small said. A mural full of Native American symbols and two multimedia pieces by Figueroa follow. The mural merges into Bear Don’t Walk’s neon-colored scene of a white buffalo, called “The Journey Continues.” The art rounds a corner to Pease and Pepion’s “Stories of Our Peoples.” The Pease-Pepion piece, which extends across most of the southern wall, is a vinyl wrap created by SCS Wraps, and it includes symbols from all of Montana’s tribes. The gallery ends with two paintings by Fisher called “Resilience” – one of the historic male Northern Cheyenne leader Red Armed Panther. The last painting is of Fisher’s baby girl.

“It’s the circle of life for us,” Small said of the full presentation.
 
Two motion-activated monitors in front of the Pease-Pepion piece loop short videos about Montana’s tribes created by Montana’s Office of Tourism. Damberger said the tourism office allowed MSU to download the videos, and Jonathan Dove, the SUB’s technical director, figured out how to make them work with the motion detectors.

Small said the pieces of art are so detailed, and so rich in Native American symbolism “that every time I look at them I see something new.”

Damberger said in addition to the gallery, the SUB also purchased two original paintings from Pease -- one is the original used for last year’s American Indian Council’s powwow poster  -- that now hang outside the SUB ballrooms. While those paintings are beautiful and also add much to the building, he’s grateful for the impact of the larger gallery.

“What I love about (the gallery), what I think is cool, is I now see classes coming up and walking through and looking at it,” Damberger said.  “We’re really proud of how it turned out. It really is pretty special.”

The 12th annual High Plains Book Awards will take place on October 19-20, 2018 in Billings, MT.  This event recognizes writers and their work from the states of MT, CO, ND, SD,WY, NE and KA  as well as the provinces of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan in Canada.  A total of 207 nominations have been received, twenty-two more than in 2017.  Of these entries, an amazing 42% come from Canadian authors.

The twelve book award categories range from Indigenous Writer to Arts and Photography.  This year’s entries include: 9 entries in Arts and Photography, 19 in Children’s Books, 25 Creative non-fiction, 33 fiction, 14 First Book, 9 Indigenous Writer, 10 Medicine/Science, 27 nonfiction, 22 Poetry, 6 Short Stories, 20 Woman Author and 13 Young Adult.

Each of the 207 entries will be read and evaluated by four different community volunteers.  Based on the evaluations, the top three books in each category will become finalists.  At that point, the finalists are forwarded to judges who will choose the winner in each category.  The judges include past winners and published writers with a connection to the High Plains in the US and Canada.

All of the High Plains Book Awards are sponsored by local organization and individuals.  Winners will be announced at the High Plains Book Awards Banquet scheduled for Saturday October 20, 2018 at the Yellowstone Art Museum.
 
For more information about the High Plains Book Awards visit the web-site www.highplainsbookawards.org or contact Shari Nault, High Plains Book Awards President at 406-672-6223 or via email at shari2redlodge@gmail.com.

When Bridget Trimble Simonson and her husband Ryan Simonson started TRIM & TAILOR in 2016, Bridget realized a lifelong goal of designing and owning her own fashion line. TRIM & TAILOR’s classic, contemporary apparel has since gained a following through its Gallatin Valley store, as well as its wholesale and online sales. Having outgrown their current location, the Simonsons are moving to a new storefront in Bozeman that will allow them to increase wholesale operations and maintain a storefront for local shoppers. TRIM & TAILOR will open at 875 Bridger Drive – just north of the Cannery District, across the street from Story Mill Park – in mid-May.

At a young age, Bridget had dreams of owning and designing her own clothing line. She studied fashion design at the Art Institute of Colorado and has worked in the industry since 2009. Her professional experience includes work in retail buying, styling, pattern making, fabric and trim sourcing, overseas purchasing and apparel product development for companies such as Von Maur Department Store and Allen Co. She also helped Bozeman-based Simms Fishing relaunch its women’s collection.

The Simonsons started TRIM & TAILOR after moving to the Gallatin Valley in 2016, with Bridget running the design side of the business and Ryan managing the financial side. Less than a year after they opened a retail storefront in Belgrade, TRIM & TAILOR’s operations outgrew the space. The Simonsons decided to move to a new location in Bozeman, where they could maintain a retail storefront and more efficiently meet wholesale demand. The new location will feature TRIM & TAILOR’s contemporary apparel and jewelry, with every clothing item priced below $100.

“We are so excited to open our doors in Bozeman and become part of this vibrant and creative retail community,” said Bridget. “We’re also grateful the Montana & Idaho Community Development Corporation was there to help when we decided we needed to move and expand.”
 
Like many startups, TRIM & TAILOR was challenged to obtain traditional bank financing despite its strong initial growth. Bridget and Ryan turned to the Montana & Idaho Community Development Corporation, a financing company that specializes in helping businesses at a key moment when they aren’t able to qualify for a bank loan. Montana & Idaho CDC provided nearly 100 loans to small businesses in 2017, almost 40% of them startups.

“It’s amazing to see all that Bridget and Ryan have accomplished in less than two years,” said Montana & Idaho CDC President Dave Glaser.  “It’s a testament to the high-quality designs, but also the way they’ve built their business to be successful across retail, online and wholesale channels. We’re thrilled to provide the financing they need to take their business even further.”

Montana & Idaho CDC loans range from $1,000 to $2,000,000 and can be used for purposes such as purchase of real estate, equipment, inventory, business purchase, remodeling or working capital. Loan clients also receive one-on-one technical assistance in financial management, marketing, sales and other areas of business management.

For more information about Trim & Tailor, visit https://www.trimandtailor.com. 

The Montana State University Library has acquired a collection of letters written to and from one of the university’s most famous employees, the author Robert Pirsig.

Pirsig was an author and former Montana State English instructor who inspired a generation to look inward to the "high country of the mind" with his book "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance." Published in 1974 to wide acclaim, “Zen” was inspired in part by events that started between 1959 and 1961, when Pirsig was an English professor at what was then Montana State College.

The collection, which is available to the public to view in MSU Library’s Special Collection and Archives, includes correspondence between Pirsig and a graduate student with whom Pirsig corresponded for more than a year. The collection also includes two signed and inscribed copies of “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,” monographs, audio cassettes and CD-ROMs.

The student, Anthony M. McWatt, began to correspond with Pirsig in 1993 after sending Pirsig a copy of his master’s thesis, which drew heavily on Pirsig’s work. McWatt earned a master’s degree from the University of Sheffield in 1990 and a doctorate from the University of Liverpool in 2005.

The letters between Pirsig and McWatt provide insight into the philosophy Pirsig wrote about in “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,” including how he developed that philosophy, according to Heather Hultman, curator in MSU Library’s Special Collections.

“Dr. McWatt would ask about something from the book, and then (McWatt and Pirsig) would have a lengthy discussion about it,” Hultman said. “It gives a unique insight into Pirsig’s creative process.”

Individuals interested in Pirsig and late 20th century American thought will likely find the collection interesting, said MSU University Archivist Kim Scott.

“Pirsig’s book appears on (many lists) of the most influential books of the 20th century,” Scott said. “Anyone interested in pursuing what goes into that philosophy and how he explained those ideas to others will be interested in this collection.”

The book is, on the simplest level, a narration of a father and son's summer motorcycle trip across America's Northwest, including a stop in Bozeman and Cottonwood Canyon outside the city to visit Pirsig’s friends, the late MSU art professor Bob DeWeese and his wife, Gennie.

On another level, however, "Zen" is a blend of philosophy, literature and religion that is still taught in classes throughout the world. More than 5 million copies have been sold since it was published.

Scott also noted that visitors from throughout the world – informally nicknamed “Pirsig’s Pilgrims” – still come to MSU every summer to see the office Pirsig once occupied in Montana Hall as well as other places Pirsig mentions in the book.

The new collection complements a collection of correspondence the MSU Library holds between Pirsig and Bob and Gennie DeWeese, Scott said. Both were close friends with Pirsig and mentioned often in “Zen.”

“The DeWeese collection shows a friendship developed here in Bozeman,” Scott said. “The (McWatt) collection then shows a friendship based on a correspondence that came years afterwards. In other words, you see Pirsig grow. He was writing to the DeWeeses because they were old friends. With Dr. McWatt, he was essentially making friends with somebody who was studying him. It’s a different perspective to understanding who he was.”

A proposal written by researchers at Montana State University’s Western Transportation Institute has resulted in a $10.3 million federal grant for improving safety and traffic flow on the road leading to the Big Sky community.
 
The funding comes from one of the most highly coveted and competitive sources of federal transportation dollars: the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery program, known as TIGER.
 
“I think everyone in Big Sky is thrilled, because everyone knows the issues on that road and the need for improvements,” said David Kack, a program manager at WTI who played a leading role in drafting the grant proposal.
 
The TIGER grant will be used for a variety of roadway improvements as well as expanded public transportation, all with an aim to alleviate the stresses that have been placed on Montana Highway 64 — also called Lone Mountain Trail — as Big Sky has grown around the major mountain resort, Kack said. The funding, which will be awarded to Gallatin County, lasts until 2025 but it is anticipated that the project will be completed as quickly as possible, he said.

 
The project will install seven left-turn lanes, expand the existing pedestrian trail system, build a pedestrian underpass and add four buses and six vans to the existing Skyline public transportation system that runs within Big Sky and between Big Sky and the greater Bozeman area.
 
Without the grant, Kack said, it would be difficult to fund such an ambitious package of improvements because the 9-mile-long stretch of Highway 64 straddles two counties and primarily serves Big Sky, which is an unincorporated community that can’t levy taxes.

“This is a great way to get all these things done and not have to figure out which county or other entity is going to pony up the money,” Kack said.
 
Fewer than 6 percent of applicants receive TIGER funding, Kack noted. He said WTI’s proposal was an outgrowth of a long partnership with the Big Sky community.
 
In 2002, the Big Sky Transportation District asked Kack and other WTI researchers to provide guidance about operating and expanding public transportation. That grew into regular consultations. In 2015, the Big Sky Chamber of Commerce hired WTI to conduct a series of listening sessions about the community’s transportation needs and draft a report, which outlined some of the improvements in the TIGER project.

 
That report became the basis for a more detailed study conducted by Sanderson Stewart, a major engineering firm founded by MSU alumnus Robert Sanderson. Kack collaborated with Sanderson Stewart and had hard numbers to back up his recommendations in the grant proposal, which Gallatin County submitted on behalf of the Big Sky community, he said.

 
“It was kind of a perfect timing, getting these things done in succession and ultimately getting the funding,” Kack said.
 
There is no direct gain to WTI or himself for getting the grant, Kack said. When he read the call for grant applications, his and WTI’s longtime work with Big Sky seemed like a natural fit, he said.
 
“We think this really highlights that part of the land-grant mission at MSU — to improve the community and the state that we work in,” Kack said.

Three Park County men were sentenced Tuesday in Justice Court for the illegal hunting and wasting of three bull bison in the Gardiner area on February 28.

Jesse Darr, Ryley Heidt, and Peyton Simmons pled guilty to unlawful possession, waste, and hunting during a closed season.
The dead bison were discovered March 2 by agency personnel in Beattie Gulch, an area of U.S. Forest Service land near the border of Yellowstone National Park. All three bison had their heads removed and all usable meat was left to waste. The bison skulls had been skinned and hidden nearby.

Solving the case was a matter of a collaborative enforcement effort. U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and National Park Service (NPS) officers aided FWP game wardens in the identification of the suspects.

“We’re thankful for the help of our enforcement partners,” said Warden Sgt. Coy Kline. “The value of extra sets of eyes and ears on the ground can’t be overstated.”

Also significant in this case, was the use of FWP canine, Kikka, who was integral in the discovery of evidence linking the men responsible to the case.

The FWP enforcement division is currently engaged in a research and trial period using trained canines in very limited applications. FWP currently only has two canine teams as part of this statewide trial program.

Enforcement Chief Dave Loewen said using canines to detect critical evidence at wildlife crime scenes is an incredible tool that can greatly reduce staff time and increase the chances of locating evidence.

“It is doubtful the evidence in this case would have been detected and located without the canine.”

The judge in this case ordered each of the men to pay $2,605 in fines and restitution with a 18-month suspended jail sentence. The men also lost their fishing, hunting and trapping privileges for 54 months with the added restriction of not being able to apply for permits for an additional five years after their privileges are reinstated. Remedial hunter education was also ordered.   

Today, the Montana Mint announced the 2018 Montana Brewery Championship Bracket.

The Bracket features 60 breweries from 44 Montana cities and towns (and unincorporated areas!).  The bracket also features a write-in spot for the first round of voting. The brewery with the most write-in votes will secure a spot in the Sweet 16. 

The first round of voting will take place March 12-18.  Voting for the the Sweet 16 round will take place March 19-25.  And the voting for the Final Four will take place March 26-April 1.  We will crown Montana’s favorite brewery on Monday, April 2.

As in year’s past, there will be three ways for Montanans to vote: (1) via www.montana-mint.com; (2) via twitter poll; and (3) and on the Montana Mint’s Facebook Page. That means you can vote THREE times for your favorite spot.  Voting ends at 8pm Sunday.

“We all agree that Montana brewers make great beer.  But which brewery makes the greatest beer and provides the best atmosphere?  That’s what we are trying to determine. Success in this tournament will require a loyal fan base and some darn good beer” said Bear Tycoon, the editor of the Montana Mint.

The Montana Mint hosted brackets in 2015 and 2016 to name the best pizza place in the state.  After tens of thousands of votes were cast, Eugene’s Pizza in Glasgow won both competitions. 

The full list of breweries in the bracket can be found below.