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Save the date: Art opening Friday, June 9, for Kathleen Frank

Painter, printmaker and woodcarver Kathleen Frank hiked Montana for weeks last summer and then holed up in her studio making paintings of what she saw.

Her colorful large-scale works depict historic sites of western Montana, from St. Mary Lake to the Bitterroot Valley. The works will hang in one of the museum’s two temporary galleries starting next month (June), following on Jeff Corwin’s landscape photography.

Frank’s introduction to Montana was about 20 years ago on a trip to a horse ranch, where she and others spent time setting up teepees, sleeping outside and hiking. She recalls sitting around the campfire in the evening listening to stories told by the Blackfeet.

Between her first trip to Montana and her more recent one, Frank has ventured widely, usually in the great outdoors. Her landscapes tend to focus on the American Southwest, where she travels multiple times throughout the year to hike and take photos of the views for her artwork.

Details:
Opening reception 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, June 9, 2023, free admission
Show runs through October 2023
Northwest Montana History Museum, 124 2nd Ave. E., Kalispell, MT 59901; 406-756-8381; nwmthistory.org

Movie Night founder makes a cameo appearance

“Touch of Evil,” Orson Welles’ classic 1958 film starring Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, and Welles himself, screens for this month’s edition of Movie Night at the Museum at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 25.

Former museum executive director Gil Jordan steps in to host movie night in Jacob Thomas’s absence this month. Jordan founded the Movie Night at the Museum series years ago.

Other than that, it’s Movie Night as usual! Free admission and popcorn, fun people, drinks for purchase, and a classic movie — all a great reason to get out of the house and get into the museum.

“Tenacious Beasts” have much to teach

That’s the gist of environmental philosopher Christopher Preston’s new book, which takes a look at resurgent wildlife populations and their effect on humans and our thinking.

Learn more at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 4, when Preston visits from Missoula, where he teaches at the University of Montana, for a free talk about his book and answers to questions such as “What is environmental philosophy anyway?”

See you here.

Speakers wrap up the John White Series

Thanks to our talented lineup (from left), Kyren Zimmerman, Randy & Jim Mohn, Amy Grisak, and John Fraley, we know a lot more about our corner of the world, from the depths of Flathead Lake to moviegoing, fire lookouts to wilderness reflection. Thank you to our presenters, all who came and listened, and the volunteers and staff who make it all possible!

We’re already looking forward to the 22nd annual edition. In the meantime, send us your nominations for next year and consider joining our John White Series committee, which will roll up its sleeves and get to planning this fall.

Chinese came to cook, clean, and lay tracks, but their stories were seldom told

From the Northwest Montana History Museum archives: a Certificate of Residence for Mar You required by the Geary Act of 1892.

Until now, that is.

Mark T. Johnson, a University of Notre Dame professor who lives in Helena, started delving into the stories of some of the Chinese who made the leap to the West when he came across untranslated archives of material at the Montana Historical Society dating from the 1880s to the 1950s.

At the time, Johnson was teaching at a school in Shanghai and had connections to many eager language learners and bilingual readers. Assembling a transnational, multigenerational team, Johnson undertook the supervision of deciphering hundreds of mostly primary documents—typically letters—for English-language audiences.

His book, The Middle Kingdom under the Big Sky: A History of the Chinese Experience in Montana (University of Nebraska Press), details the difficult and sometimes rewarding life of one of our state’s largest classes of immigrants. At one point, Chinese residents accounted for more than a tenth of the state’s population.

Many Montanans know that Chinese labor was instrumental in laying tracks for the railroads on which much of frontier life depended, as well as laundries, restaurants, and other essential services.

Johnson

On Monday, April 10, Johnson visits the Northwest Montana History Museum to detail his findings and process. He will illuminate the pressures Chinese Montanans felt in their new digs and from their families back home.

Navigating government bureaucracy, frequent racism, and an ever-changing political landscape, Chinese Montanans often advocated for themselves and contributed more than just labor to their communities.

Mark your calendars for a rare glimpse into the lives of many who arrived early in Montana and aided our region’s development.

Come on out to Northwest Montana History Museum’s open house

The Northwest Montana History Museum will open its doors to the community for the museum’s annual holiday open house 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1. Admission is free.

“This event is the perfect way for everyone to start the holiday season,” museum executive director Margaret Davis said. “We’ve got a lot of fun planned for the evening, and we expect a great turnout.”

Highlights of the evening include a kids’ reading soon after the doors open of Jo Parry’s ’Twas the Night Before Christmas in Montana, followed by a presentation at 6:15 p.m. by Ferndale author Leslie Budewitz, who has written more than a dozen books, including the Spice Shop and Food Lovers’ Village mysteries. This will be the first Kalispell book signing for her latest title, Blind Faith.

In addition, Flathead Valley favorite John Fraley returns to the museum book and gift shop to sign copies of his books, including his newly published My Wilderness Life. A history writer and wildlife biologist, this is Fraley’s first account of his personal experiences in the wild.

Of course, the open house is an opportunity for guests to explore the main event: the museum’s exhibits themselves, which cover many aspects of Kalispell and Northwest Montana history and life in the Flathead Valley and beyond.

“Our open house is a wonderful example of community collaboration and our ongoing commitment to education and preserving history,” Davis said. “We will have new holiday displays for which nearly a hundred kids from scouting groups, Bigfork ACES after-school program, and Kalispell Middle School are creating ornaments and other decorative elements, many based on their own class research.

“It is exciting to see this all come together,” she said. “I can’t wait to see the community response to the great work these kids, their leaders, and our volunteers are doing together.”

Refreshments will be served, including fun treats drawn from the recipes in Budewitz’s holiday mysteries Peppermint Barked and As the Christmas Cookie Crumbles.

“Kalispell: Montana’s Eden” Grand Opening

About 3,500 people came down to the freshly laid railroad tracks in the center of Kalispell on New Year’s Day, 1892, to celebrate the completion of the Great Northern line to St. Paul. Kalispell was officially incorporated as a city a short time later, in April. The earliest occupations in Kalispell related to agriculture, flour milling, and the lumber industry. Traffic in town slowly shifted toward tourism as Kalispell became the Gateway to Glacier National Park.

The railroad brought Northwest Montana into the larger world; now, for the first time ever, the Northwest Montana History Museum tells the story of Kalispell in a permanent exhibit that brings the early town to life. “Kalispell: Montana’s Eden” details the story of this thriving city, from the railroad’s arrival up to the present day. Highlights of the display include a 20-foot-long model of Kalispell’s 1892 Great Northern railroad depot, a movie projector from the old Orpheum theatre, the first printing press of the Daily Inter Lake, THE OLDEST BALD EAGLES IN THE WORLD, and hundreds more historic artifacts!

As the largest exhibition curated in the past 12 years at the Northwest Montana History Museum, “Kalispell: Montana’s Eden” is a project more than three years in the making and the museum’s most ambitious undertaking in decades.

Everyone is invited to attend the free opening reception for “Kalispell: Montana’s Eden” from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, June 30.  We will serve the same period-appropriate snacks that the revelers would have enjoyed in 1892. To add extra pomp and circumstance to this occasion, the fine folks at Portal Spirits Distillery have come up with historically inspired drink recipes that they will pour for guests at the reception.

“We Burn Like This”: A Flathead Valley Film Premiere plus Q&A with Director Alana Waksman

Filmed in Billings, Butte, and Missoula in 2019 and following its world premiere at the 2021 Santa Barbara International Film Festival, international premiere at Deauville American Film Festival, and year-long film festival tour, “We Burn Like This” comes home to Montana audiences at the Northwest Montana History Museum on June 12.

The “We Burn Like This” Montana tour kicks off on June 9 in Billings at the historic Babcock Theatre, with stops in Livingston, Bozeman, Anaconda, Kalispell, Helena, and Missoula. Writer/director/producer Alana Waksman will be in attendance for a Q&A following the screenings with cast and crew joining her for select showings.

“We Burn Like This” is a coming-of-age story of Rae (Madeleine Coghlan), a young Jewish woman living in Billings, Montana and is written, directed, and produced by Alana Waksman in her feature debut. The film stars Madeleine Coghlan (THE ROOKIE) and Gotham Award and Indie Spirit Award winner Devery Jacobs (RESERVATION DOGS). Also featured are Montana-based actors Kendra Mylnechuk, Casidee Riley, Angelo Rizzo, and Megan Folsom. The film is produced and edited by Billings native Marshall Granger, produced by Montana native Jeri Rafter, and executive produced by Peabody and Emmy award winning producer Neda Armian (RACHEL GETTING MARRIED, THE BALLAD OF LEFTY BROWN) and Eleanor Nett.

When 22 year-old Rae, a descendant of Holocaust survivors, is targeted by Neo-Nazis in Billings, Montana, her ancestors’ trauma becomes real. Inspired by true events, this coming-of-age story shows the inherited effects of historical trauma and the strength of survival and healing.
Waksman’s own family history, as well as the spread of antisemitism in Montana, is what inspired her to write this story.

“We Burn Like This” is a recipient of the Big Sky Film Grant, Montana Arts Council Strategic Investment Grant, State Trade Expansion Program Grant from Montana Department of Commerce, Visit Billings Association Grant, and is now sponsored by Montana Film Office and Humanities Montana for its Montana Tour. “We Burn Like This” received the Audience Choice Award at the 2021 Montana International Film Festival among other noteworthy awards this past year.
“We Burn Like This” writer/director/producer Alana Waksman will be in attendance for the screening on June 12th and will host a special Q & A after the film.
Alana Waksman is an Ashkenazi writer, director, producer, and first generation descendant of Holocaust survivors from Poland. She is an alum of the USC School of Cinematic Arts MFA in Film & Television Production, and Connecticut College BA in Theater and English. As an actor, she trained at Shakespeare & Company, Berkshire Theater Festival, St. Petersburg Dramatic Arts Academy in Russia, and The O’Neill National Theater Institute where she studied under Colman Domingo. While at USC, Alana was chosen as one of ten top directors to co-direct USC’s first feature film, DON QUIXOTE: THE INGENIOUS GENTLEMAN OF LA MANCHA (Palm Springs International Film Festival) with the guidance of James Franco. Her short film BLACKOUT, written by David Haskell, received the Audience Award at the LA Shorts Fest, and Best Actor and Best Cinematography at the Women’s Independent Film Festival.

Tickets to “We Burn Like This” are $15 for the general public and $10 for Museum members. They are available by phone or in person at the Northwest Montana History Museum and online at Eventbrite – https://www.eventbrite.com/e/northwest-montana-film-premier-we-burn-like-this-qa-with-director-tickets-342420618287

The Northwest Montana History Museum is at 124 2nd Avenue East in downtown Kalispell. Call 406-756-8381.

Ukrainian Refugee Benefit Day

The Northwest Montana History Museum will add hours 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 14. For the entire day, museum admission revenue will go towards humanitarian aide to the refugees fleeing the crisis in the country of Ukraine.

Every dollar raised from admission on May 14 will go to the United Way Worldwide’s United for Ukraine Fund.

The fund addresses immediate needs such as transportation, accommodation, food, medicine, infant formula and diapers, and hygiene kits, as well as longer-term needs of those fleeing the conflict.

The Northwest Montana History Museum is at 124 2nd Ave. E. in downtown Kalispell. Regular hours are 10 to 5 Monday through Friday.

“The Lens of Ed Gilliland” Large Format Slide Show

After a six-month delay, the Northwest Montana History Museum is proud to present a much anticipated, can’t-miss showing of the E.B. Gilliland Photography Collection. The Museum will be offering a glace through The Lens of Ed Gilliland on Wednesday, May 11th, from 7 to 9 pm at the Northwest Montana History Museum.

Photography historian and NWMTHS board member Arne Boveng will present a “analog film night” of Ed s photography as the main event of the evening and an unofficial public unveiling of this remarkable collection. This will not be your typical digital or Kodak Carousel slide show – all the slides that Arne will present are larger format, at least two or three times larger than the typical 35 mm. The brilliance, clarity, and precision of these slides (which are mounted between glass plates) is far greater than nearly any other photography format.

Every negative that will be presented is an Ed-Gilliland-original taken in the 1980s or 1990s. Besides his beloved Glacier Park, Ed’s photography from the American Southwest and the Pacific Coast will also be highlighted. Ed had a real gift of capturing light just perfectly, and he worked hard at his craft, often returning to the same location day after day or at multiple times through the year to reveal changes to the landscape. Photography aficionados will be able to spot the subtle yet remarkable differences in the different slide formats that will be on display.

The event is free and open to the public. The Museum hopes you can join us on May 11th to share this special presentation of works from one of the Flathead’s finest photographers.

Before and after the slideshow, attendees will be able to view and purchase some of Ed’s printed work and historic photographs, including some images professional mounted on foamboard and ready for framing.

The Slideshow starts at 7 PM, but the doors to the Museum will open at 6 to give everyone a chance to view the prints for themselves. Beer, wine, and pop will be available for purchase before and during the presentation.

This is a good chance to own a piece of history, from the Flathead Valley, Glacier Park, or the American Southwest. Proceeds support the Northwest Montana Historical Society