News

Featured artist Valentina LaPier appears Nov. 20

The artist’s reception for Valentina LaPier, whose work is currently displayed in the museum’s north changing gallery, runs 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20. Come meet the artist, see her work, and gather with us!

Click here for more on her work.

Details: Free artist’s reception runs 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20; regular museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.

Northwest Montana History Museum, 124 Second Ave. E., Kalispell; 406-756-8381; nwmthistory.org

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Appraisers make a high-value Saturday

So far about 150 people have signed up to have up to four treasures each verbally appraised by experts as part of the Foundation for Montana History’s Montana Antiques Appraisal Fair. This is Kalispell’s turn to host this popular, unique event.

The museum has submitted a couple of items for public appraisal during the day, such as this arrow quiver from the Edo period in Japan that one of the museum’s board members found in the shed of her place in Somers.

This fundraiser for the foundation draws a range of items and people for a day of education and entertainment. There are a few afternoon slots left; sign up at https://thefoundationformontanahistory.thundertix.com/events/232678 (no firearms, chemicals, or jewelry). Otherwise, it’s free to spectate and soak in the atmosphere from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26.

See you Saturday at the fair!

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Here comes a party for the pages

Just in time for reading season, the Northwest Montana History Museum welcomes book writers and lovers from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 17, for a program of speakers and exhibitors focused on Northwest Montana.

Featured speakers include Debra Magpie Earling, Jonathan Fetter-Vorm, Melissa Barker & Stewart Wilson, and Leslie Budewitz.

We also welcome writers and publishers to exhibit and sell their books; please submit interest to participate at nwmthistory.org/programs/northwest-montana-book-festival/. Help us present a wide range of subjects and genres by spreading the word!

Festival mission: Gather Northwest Montana readers and authors to promote, celebrate, and inspire regional writing and writers.

Thank you to Humanities Montana for the support.

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Come meet the new “Lumberjacks, Tie Hacks & River Pigs”

Join us for the grand reopening of the oldest exhibit at the Northwest Montana History Museum.

Months in the making, the wholesale renovation of the Northwest Montana History Museum’s “timber room” will be unveiled 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18. In one of the biggest undertakings since the opening of the Kalispell: Montana’s Eden exhibit, the museum began the redo in spring of its first and oldest permanent exhibit, which had opened in 2003.

Volunteers and vendors from all over the valley, along with students from Kalispell Public Schools, worked to install a model train layout featuring the Somers tie plant and other past and present Flathead Valley landmarks. Renowned Columbia Falls muralist Clark Heyler painted the backdrop.

A new timeline of events in the history of the Northwest Montana timber industry brings our understanding up to date and includes innovative wood products made here.

Volunteers also took a deep dive into the museum’s collection to create displays of historic tools, clothing, and even what grub got served in a logging camp. Learn what it meant to have hot cakes nailed to your door if you were a camp cook.

The museum’s rich photographic archive yielded dozens of images showing the various methods of logging over 150 years, in places that many Flathead Valley residents know well. These were enlarged, printed, and mounted in the windows and along the walls.

For the Oct. 18 open house, adults in flannel will receive a free pint glass while supplies last. Kids can enter a drawing to win a wooden toy train.

We look forward to seeing you soon among Lumberjacks, Tie Hacks & River Pigs!

Details:
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18, 2024
Northwest Montana History Museum, 124 2nd Ave. E., 406-756-8381; nwmthistory.org

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Nov. 17 event is one for the books

We’ve got some big events in store this fall, starting with a new exhibit of paintings by Valentina LaPier, the grand reopening of Lumberjacks, Tie Hacks & River Pigs, the Montana Antiques Appraisal Fair, and then the first-ever Northwest Montana Book Festival, set for Nov. 17!

Check back here for more details to post soon. In the meantime, enjoy a last look at Ray Weaver’s photography (above), which comes down this week in our north changing gallery.

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Kalispell’s culture core celebrates the community it serves

The Conrad Mansion Museum, Hockaday Museum of Art, and Northwest Montana History Museum will offer discounted admission to all three institutions 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14, to celebrate Locals Day.

Visitors who show their Montana driver’s licenses can buy a “passport” to the Conrad, Hockaday, and the Northwest Montana History Museum—all located within a nine-minute walk of one another in downtown Kalispell. The passports are available for purchase at all three locations.

The passport costs $10 for adults; kids 18 and under are free.

Locals Day is a chance for community institutions to extend their reach, introduce missions and offerings, and gather residents to celebrate Kalispell’s culture core.

Details:
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14
Conrad Mansion, 330 Woodland Ave., 406-755-2166; conradmansion.com
Hockaday Museum of Art, 302 2nd Ave. E., 406-755-5268; hockadaymuseum.com
Northwest Montana History Museum, 124 2nd Ave. E., 406-756-8381; nwmthistory.org

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Submariner’s son checks out exhibit based on dad’s adventure

In honor of the museum’s newest exhibit, The Silent Service: A WWII Diving Denizen of the Deep, Martin Anderson (second from left) — son of submariner and Kalispell native Harry Anderson — paid a visit last week and met with museum volunteers and staff.

Read the full writeup here, thanks to Taylor Inman of the Daily Inter Lake.

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The Great Fish Community Challenge is off and swimming

The Northwest Montana History Museum is honored to be selected to participate in the Whitefish Community Foundation’s five-week fundraising blitz that benefits 80 nonprofits doing great work in the Flathead.

Thank you to the organizers and all the past donors! We hope to make this year our must successful run yet, netting the match that kicks in once we reach the $10,000 mark and raising funds that help us present and preserve more Northwest Montana history.

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Walking tours get inky

Reporter Maggie Doherty recently joined one of our Downtown Kalispell Walking Tours, and her extensive writeup is now online.

It’s also featured in a tactile version in the current issue of Flathead Living. Pick one up for fun stories, great pics, and a long look at our town full of interesting architecture and characters.

Aside from the 10 a.m. Monday tours through September (except Sept. 9), we just added two tours at 4 p.m. Fridays, Sept. 20 and 27. After September, the walks roll up for the winter. Get out and dig this history while you can.

Here’s more info, then contact the museum to reserve a space or click here.

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Train project keeps rolling

The Daily Inter Lake recently profiled Brec Gibson, the student who created 3-D models for the train layout to be featured in our renovated “timber room.”

Read all about it here — thanks to reporter Hilary Matheson’s thorough story. Above, Matheson interviews (from left) Gibson, Kalispell Public Schools’ Mike Kelly, and museum board member Bill Dakin, who all made the partnership happen.

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