2021 Missoula Public Art Guide
Note from Former Mayor engen
"At the City of Missoula, we work every day to ensure that our place remains a “place” – unique, interesting, comfortable and filled with character. Our public art is one of the ways we keep Missoula a great place. From turning gray traffic-signal boxes into community canvases to dedicating a portion of every new municipal building’s budget to an art element, our actions reflect our dedication to the visual arts as an important part of Missoula’s environment.
This guide is designed to help you explore that dedication and confirm our commitment to public art. Missoula’s Public Art Committee deserves credit and recognition for commissioning many of these works and serving as stewards to these community assets.
Please enjoy these works of art and our unique place."
Public Art in Missoula
Dana Boussard:
Dana Boussard is a nationally renowned artist with artwork in the collections of numerous private, corporate and public buildings around the country. Her studio pieces have been hung in museum & gallery exhibitions throughout the U.S.A. and abroad. Boussard received the Montana Governor’s Award for the Arts and she is a recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and The Western States Arts Federation. A vocal supporter of the arts, Dana has lobbied in Washington D.C. for the NEA, was recently given the Distinguished Fine Arts Alumni Award from the University of Montana, and was chosen to represent her state in an exhibition at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington DC. Dana Boussard’s work balances the personal and political, as evidenced by her subject matter, which broaches topics of women’s issues and the environment through a deeply intimate lens; and her method of working, which ranges from solitary studio time to large public artworks installed in capitals and federal buildings throughout the country. The artist’s most recent public work, a ten year stained glass project from conception to completion, was comprised of more than 15,000 cut glass pieces, with some panels rising over 40 feet through the skylight. It is installed in Holy Spirit Catholic Parish, Great Falls, MT. As much as public art has been her artistic passion, she remains committed to living life sparingly amid nature on her ranch north of Missoula.