Winston Publishing

portfolio • 43 Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art A Cornerstone of Contemporary Western Art Culture paris gibson square museum of art March 18 Museum Open 10am-7:30pm Artist Reception 5:30-7:30pm March 19 Museum Open 10am-7pm March 20 Museum Open 10am-5pm March 21 Museum Open Noon-5pm 1400 1st Avenue North Free Admission - Donations Accepted Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art Event Schedule riginally established in 1896 by Great Falls founder Paris Gibson, the Paris Gibson Square has long been hailed as one of Great Falls' most revered landmarks. After serving as a school for nearly eight decades, the distinctive gray sandstone structure took on a new life as a museum and cultural center in 1977. The museum, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, maintains a permanent collection of over 800 pieces, including contemporary American Indian art, work by self-taught artists, and Northwest region contemporary artwork. It is open year-round, and is the only contemporary art museum within an 80-mile radius. The Square is known for its exceptional rotating exhibits showing local, regional and national contemporary artists, in addition to its outdoor sculpture garden and educational gallery programming. The energy at this cultural hub amps up even more during Western Art Week, beginning with an artist reception celebrating the work of exhibiting artists Angela Babby and Betsey Hurd at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The reception will include a public joint artist talk with Nicole Evans, curator of Art at The Square, which will occur midway through the reception in the museum cafe. Musical performers will also be on hand. In her exhibition, "We are all Wicahpi (Star) People," Babby has revived and combined traditional stained-glass techniques into a unique form of art known as enameled glass mosaic. Using ancient geometric designs borrowed from her Ogala Lakota ancestors, Babby creates master artworks to tell the stories of her people. The secret lives of animals are at the heart of Hurd's exhibition, "Where the Wild Things Are." Hurd, a widely-renowned ceramic sculptor and painter, is fascinated by animals' relationships and interactions with one another – to include their hierarchies, fears, and loves. She also combines human and animal forms to create gender-fluid, species-non-specific entities in a style she refers to as polymorphic fabulism. The "Boundaries…Barriers…Bridges" exhibition by Vickie Meguire will also be on display during Western Art Week. Many of Meguire's pieces are created using a frottage technique, which is a non-traditional printmaking process using graphite rubbings of relief plates she carves. Her work is intended to awaken viewers' perceptions through the use of repetitions, patterns, causing a shift in their initial visual interpretation of the space. The Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art is located at 1400 1st Avenue North. They will be open from 10 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, and noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday. Admissions is free and donations are welcome. O By Holly Matkin

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