Glendive, Montana’s art community offers opportunity for local tourism

Art is something people do every day in their lives.

So says local potter Christy Wert, who has been a part of Glendive’s art community for 14 years.

“When people think of art, they think of big cities and museums, but it can be in as common a place as Glendive,” she said. “It’s right here.”

By Melissa Smith
Ranger-Review Staff Writer

Between local galleries and museums, along with the town’s historic buildings and places, local art lovers say it would be easy to spend a day or more enjoying art right here in town.

“It would easily be a full day,” said Gayle Lapp, who helps operate The Gallery downtown.

And for someone on a budget, art appreciation can be one way to fill a relaxing day away from home, even finding affordable pieces to keep.

Some of Glendive’s must-see venues are the obvious: The Gallery, located on Merrill Avenue, features work by local artists and those from other areas; and the Dawson Community College Gallery, located on the DCC campus, features student artists.

“We have some very talented artists who contribute to us,” Lapp said.

The Frontier Gateway Museum also has art on display.

The Bridger Bronze gallery, formerly located downtown, is just a short drive on the Sidney highway at the home of Harvey Rattey and Pamela Harr, a husband-and-wife team whose pieces elicit emotions from laughter to tears.

Wert also has a gallery in her home featuring her pottery work, which is also sold at The Mane, a popular salon on Merrill Avenue.

Some of the less obvious opportunities to enjoy art come in the form of Glendive’s multiple historic buildings and places.

There are 13 local listings on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Bell Street Bridge, the post office, Sacred Heart Catholic Church and the Merrill Avenue historic district.

Lapp said some of her favorite places are churches, like Sacred Heart and Our Savior Lutheran.

“The stained glass is just beautiful,” she said.

The Glendive Chamber of Commerce has compiled a brochure on the historic district, including information on each building and its architectural and historical significance.

“There are some very neat features on some of these buildings,” Lapp said.

Wert said even people who have lived in Glendive for years would be surprised at the amount of art there is to be seen in town.

“It’s amazing for a town of this size, people don’t know I’m here,” she said, adding that the more people explore art, the more they are likely to learn about their community.

“It’s a way of finding interesting links in your community to the creativity that’s always there,” she said.

“It’s a part of life you don’t always give attention to, but it’s such an important part of life.”

A list of Glendive’s historical places can be found online at http://www.nps.gov/nr.

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