Missoula Downtown News

The “Go Fish” Exhibit grand opening and Valentine’s Free Admission Day at the Families First Children’s Museum is Tuesday, February 14th, 2012, 10am to 5pm. Come one, come all and enjoy FREE admission, snacks, and fun activities!

On February 14, 2012 the Families First Children’s Museum in downtown Missoula will open its new fishing exhibit Go Fish. At this local fishing spot, kids and their grownups will be able to grab a fishing pole, find a perfect spot on the bridge, and cast a line for a trout in a beautiful western Montana setting, painted by Local Artist Celeste Bickford.

The exhibit is brought to us by the combined efforts of many local folks. People working together can accomplish amazing things. Betsy Grimley and Wayne Chamberlain brought the idea from the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman. The trout images were provided by Joseph Tomelleri and Montana Trout Unlimited. The images were transferred to cloth by Allegra Printing and hand sewn by Martha’s Sewing Ministries. The fish are “swimming” in a “pond” made of flooring donated by Pierce Flooring and installed by volunteer Dave Kendall. Angler girls and boys will use fishing poles to catch the fish from a bridge, designed and built by artisan builder Tim Backus, using wood donated by Boyce Lumber. After catching a fish, the lucky kid or grownup can measure their catch, identify it using a poster and books, and release it back into the wild of the Children’s Museum. Come fish with us!

The Families First Children’s Museum is located at 225 West Front Street in downtown Missoula. For inquiries please contact Katie Ghen Simpson at 721-7690.

Missoula Bicycle Works is currently accepting resumes for full and part time sales positions.  We are looking for friendly motivated individuals who have a passion for cycling to staff our sales floor.  Bike shop experience is a plus but not mandatory.  If you are interested please drop off or send a resume to 708 So. Higgins Ave.  We will be accepting resumes and conducting interviews through January.

On Dec. 17, get inspired by community-supported art. Reserve & Green, a new musical by local musician and songwriter Amy Martin, debuts in workshop form at 8 p.m. at the Downtown Dance Collective. Tickets are $10 (cash or check only at the door).

The musical is a post-apocalyptic coming-of-age story set inside a big box store, which has been turned into a shelter from massive environmental destruction. Martin began working on the script and composing music for the project in 2009. Jillian Campana, professor of theatre at the University of Montana, agreed to direct the project in the summer of 2010, and after some initial read-throughs, she and Amy held auditions and assembled a cast of 25 singers/actors to be in the workshop performance. Four local musicians are serving as the band for the project.

An audience talk-back will immediately follow the performance, where audience members will be given the opportunity to give feedback on the work in its unfinished state and make a financial contribution to the project.  “I want people to have a chance to not only get an insider’s look at the creative process, but to be a part of it,” Martin said. “It’s a chance to do something fun, be a part of something unformed and developing – we can all be artists together!”

Martin has launched an online fundraising campaign with a goal of raising $25,000 for the project by February 29, 2012. She hopes to hold another workshop performance in the spring of 2012, and after that, have the finished work staged in a professional or semi-professional setting and attract the attention of national publishers and producers.

Montana History Foundation Announces First Ever Preserve Montana Grants

$50,000 in Funds Available for Montana Community-Based History Projects

The Montana History Foundation (MHF) a statewide nonprofit committed to the preservation ofMontana’s past is proud to offer grants from our Preserve Montana Fund to protect the historic legacy of communities across the state. 

“We are pleased to be able to offer this funding and hope Montanans will take full advantage of the Preserve Montana Fund Grants.  So much of who we are depends on where we come from and preserving that legacy is of major importance to the Montana History Foundation,” MHF President Bruce Parker said.

The grants are available to organizations and individuals who want to preserve historical assets of importance toMontana’s history.  These projects include buildings, particularly one-room school houses; oral histories; and collection/archival preservation.  MHF has $50,000 available during this grant cycle for projects in 2012.

Grant criteria and guidelines are available from MHF online at mthistory.org or by contacting MHF at (406) 449-3770 or gena@mthistory.orgThe grants will be awarded for projects ranging in scale from $500.00 to $5,000.00.  Applications will be accepted between December 1, 2011 and January 11, 2012.

MHF is able to offer this funding thanks to a generous grant from the Steele Reese Foundation and individual donors who recognize the urgency and importance of preservingMontana’s way of life.