Downtown Riverside Arts Walls (DRAW) Project

The Draw Project Phase 1 has officially launched!

Learn more below about this ambitious project, over five years in the making, its intended impact, and the artists and donors who helped bring it to life.

What Is the Draw Project?

The Downtown Riverside Art Walls Project (DRAW) aims to beautify the NorthWestern Energy electrical substation in Downtown Missoula by enveloping it with artwork by living Native American artists from the cultures that first lived in this valley. It especially showcases Salish and Blackfoot drawings, paintings, and poetry.

This project not only provides free, accessible art for everyone but also meets multiple goals in the Missoula Downtown Master Plan (MDMP). Art enhances public spaces and plays an important role in many communities throughout the country’s history. Art not only is representational of a community and its culture but also invokes placemaking. Big art celebrates a place’s culture and is iconic; it is unique and belongs solely to that community.

What Is the Scope of the DRAW Project?

The Downtown North Riverside Art Walls project will cover 4,700sqft of concrete walls surrounding the recently upgraded electrical substation on S. Pattee St. – within the North Riverside Parks & Trails Plan area – with Montana Indigenous visual and language art murals.

The west, south, and east-facing portions of the walls will showcase different enlarged linocut prints by Salish artist Frank Finley titled “Bison Charge” and “Magpie Trails”. The bison print will run along the S. Pattee St./east-facing wall with original text by Debra Magpie Earling; original poem in English by Vic Charlo, and its Salish translation by April Charlo.

The north/Bank St Parking wall will have a series of Ledger Art pieces showcasing its historical significance. Curation of art for the space is yet to be finalized. The images below are for demonstration purposes only.

The magpie and fish prints will complete the south- and west-facing walls.

Phase 1 – East Wall

Featuring Salish Artists, Frank Finley, Debra Magpie Earling, Vic and April Charlo, the first phase of the project will be located on the substation’s East face wall along Pattee Street.

Phase 2 – South, Southwest, West Walls

Phase 2 covers the remaining South, Southwest, and West-facing walls. These are the most visible walls from the Bear Tracks Bridge, the Riverside Parking Lot where the Clark Fork River Market will return this season, and from Ron’s River Trail.

Phase 3 – North Wall

The third phase of the DRAW Project will feature historical Native American ledger art. The location spans over 150ft in length and 11ft in height.

What Is the Impact of This Project?

Celebrating Indigenous Culture

The significance of highlighting the diversity of Indigenous people has long been a goal of Missoula’s cultural institutions and this project will enhance and add to initiatives underway at the University, our art galleries and art museums (MAM & MMAC), Fort Missoula, Arts Missoula, our new public library, the Indian Education for All program and ongoing initiatives in Missoula’s Public Art Committee.

This project addresses goals to highlight, celebrate, and preserve Indigenous culture and heritage in both the MDMP and the Missoula Downtown Heritage Interpretive Plan (MDHIP).

Graffiti Prevention

This project adheres to Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles by serving as a graffiti prevention/deterrent. Blank concrete surfaces get tagged and graffitied, while walls covered with mural art rarely do. A destination such as a major public art mural will attract positive activity that enhances the vitality of the city center.

The Beartracks Underbridge Playspace, adjacent to the D.R.A.W. Project installation site, is a prime example of how stunning, meaningful art helps deter graffiti and provides a new charge of vitality in an underutilized space.

Improving a Key Downtown Destination

Downtown Missoula’s riverfront parks, like Bess Reed Park and Caras Park, attract nearly one million residents and visitors each year. Downtown hotels, the riverfront promenade, a brand-new bridge, a vibrant farmers’ market, and nearly 100 community events and festivals, as well as parking for nearly 1,200 vehicles, make the area around the substation a major destination for all. The opportunity to improve the safety, cleanliness, and aesthetics around the substation is critical and timely.

How Can I Support This Project

As of May 2025, $116,200 has been raised for this project through public and private donations. Please consider a donation today to help make this plan a reality!

All funds raised will be directly spent on the DRAW project to pay the participating artists, authors, and poets, pay for all mural materials, printing costs, and cover all expenses related to mural installation.

Donations can be made to the Missoula Downtown Foundation online or by mail to 218 E. Main St, Suite C, Missoula, MT 59802