Missoula Downtown News

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April Sommers New Membership & Events Director For Downtown Missoula Partnership

With a significant amount of non-profit and event planning experience, April Sommers is the new Membership & Events Director for the Downtown Missoula Partnership.

She will be responsible for the Out to Lunch Summer Series, portions of River City Roots Festival, the Festival of Trees and all membership events. She is also responsible for membership recruitment, retention, outreach and benefits for members of the Missoula Downtown Association.

For more information about April Sommers and to read the entire press release click here.

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DOWNTOWN MISSOULA’S WEEKLY FREE SUMMER CONCERTS CONTINUES WITH LAUNCH OF OUT TO LUNCH JUNE 7

Downtown employees have another option for lunch during the summer. The 32nd annual Out to Lunch Summer Series in Caras Park kicks off its 13-week schedule on Wednesday, June 7.  Out to Lunch was started in 1986 and is the longest-standing outdoor food and music event in Montana. Each Wednesday during lunchtime from 11 am to 2 pm, Missoula families, friends, and visitors enjoy Missoula’s best food trucks from local vendors, live music, and activities for kids. You Knew Me When takes the stage on June 7 and Childbloom Guitar will provide the kids’ activity.

Out to Lunch’s sister event, Downtown ToNight, which kicked off last week on Thursday, June 1, was launched in 2001 and is held every Thursday evening in Caras Park from 5:30 – 8:30pm.

For more information and to read the entire press release click here.

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Downtown on Tap

 

 

Tuesday, June 27 Families First Children’s Museum (225 W. Front St.) 5-7pm

June’s Downtown on Tap is at Families First Children’s Museum! Meet new Executive Director Nick Roberts  and tour the facility while enjoying drinks and appetizers. Learn about plans for the museum and parenting programs and get a glimpse of the organization’s future in the new Missoula Public Library. One lucky visitor will receive a free museum membership! It’s perfect for families with little ones or can be used as a gift.

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Imagine Nation Brewing Celebrates its 2 – Year Anniversary on April to Commemorate Hosting Over 1200 Community Events 

ImagineNationBrewingCo.

From its inception in 2015, the goal of Imagine Nation Brewing has been to be a community center with beer, not a brewery with an educational center. In 2 years of business, the brewery has hosted over 1200 community events, supported over 80 local organizations, and brewed 37 different styles of craft beer, including their signature series of unique New-England-style IPAs.

Co-founder and head brewer, Robert Rivers, comments: “We love craft beer, but we have always seen it more as a vehicle towards something bigger than itself rather than the final destination; through support from the Missoula community, by leveraging it as such, we have been able to create a space for connection that has then led to positive, socially-driven experiences that go beyond beer.” This “beyond beer,” in reality, has taken the form of taproom dialogues on critical issues, local groups discussing their work in Missoula, launching of community initiatives, voter registration, fundraisers, gap-bridging political discourses, community music nights, and many other events.

“We truly believe a better world is possible,” remarks co-founder, Fernanda Menna Barreto Krum, “but it takes practical steps made by communities every day in that direction. We feel very grateful for the many groups in Missoula that have taken these steps with us and look forward to expanding the brewery’s outreach with them in the years to come.”

Before opening Imagine Nation, Krum and Rivers worked for over 20 combined years in international humanitarian aid in 15 war zones around the world. As part of the anniversary, they will illustrate concretely what the brewery has accomplished with the local community and future visions for increasing impact, both in Missoula and beyond.

Full Schedule for Imagine Nation 2-Year Anniversary

10am-1:30pm: Kegs and Eggs with Ninja Mike’s Food Truck

10am-12:30pm: Family Event: MLK Reading for Peace with MT. Compact Project

1:30-3:30pm: Community Dialogue: Filmmaking for a Cause

4:00-5:30pm: Live Music: Red Onion Purple

5:30-6:00pm: Presentation from INBC Founders: 2 Years of Joint Successes

6:00-8:00pm: Live Music: Canta Brasil

 

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Missoula Art Park Opening to Celebrate the Arts and Earth Day

Missoula Art Museum

 

When: Friday, April 21, 2017, 4:30–7:30 PM

Where: Missoula Art Park (Downtown at Pattee and Pine Street)

Missoula, MT / April 3, 2017/ Missoula Art Museum (MAM) – Missoula Art Museum, the City of Missoula, and Adventure Cycling invite the public to the opening dedication of the Missoula Art Park with a ceremonial tree planting and an artist reception to follow. Meet the inaugural artists of the Missoula Art Park, explore the sculpture installation, and celebrate at the museum with live music, food, and refreshments. (more…)

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The Wizard of Oz

theater

Missoula, MT— Follow the yellow brick road to the Missoula Community Theatre because we’re off to see the Wizard! The Wizard of Oz will be presented April 27-May 14, 2017, at the MCT Center for the Performing Arts.

Directed by Heather Adams, this show is the familiar rendition that was adapted into the classic 1939 MGM movie. Adams, an experienced dancer, choreographer, and director, as well as owner of the Downtown Dance Collective, is excited to make Dorothy’s journey come alive on the MCT stage. Adams notes that her affinity for movement guides her directorial decisions. She enjoys “pulling the thread of movement all the way through a show” and believes that “something as simple as stillness or walking from one place to the next is choreography and enhances character development.” Adams was recently named “Best Choreographer” for her work on The King and I for the Arizona Broadway Theatre. (more…)

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MDA Membership Luncheon

 

Child Start Inc., Head Start (1001 Worden)

Tuesday, June 13, 11:30 am – 1 pm

Child Start Inc., Head Start is excited to host June’s Membership Luncheon! Come learn about their high quality FREE Preschool offered in Missoula and Deer Lodge. Enjoy lunch, tour the facility and have the opportunity to view a classroom! Hear from Patricia Croghan, Child Start Inc. Director and members of the management team about Head Start Programs, volunteer opportunities, and ways to get involved at Child Start Inc.

Please RSVP at MissoulaDowntown.com/RSVP

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40th International Wildlife Film Festival

IWFF-40-2017

MISSOULA, MT—The International Wildlife Film Festival celebrates a milestone forty years of exploring the natural world and honors its past while looking into the future.

This April, Missoula will play host to nearly 100 diverse, groundbreaking and inspirational films from around the world and some of the most talented wildlife filmmakers working today. From incredible broadcast programming to forward-thinking environmental work, this annual spring event draws industry, filmmakers, and audiences with a hunger for ethical and cutting-edge films.

The roots of the festival will be honored with a celebration of the life and work of Dr. Chuck Jonkel. A famed bear researcher and the inventor of bear spray, Dr. Jonkel founded IWFF in 1977 to be a film festival for accurate and ethical depictions of wildlife in films. A small ceremony and unveiling of a permanent memorial at the Roxy Theater will precede a screening Walking Bear Comes Home:The Life and Work of Chuck Jonkel on April 20. Dr. Jonkel’s legacy of work for wildlife in the state of Montana continues in perpetuity.

The annual WildWalk celebrates it’s own milestone this year, 2017 will mark the 25th year of the community parade. In the weeks leading up to WildWalk, Home Resource will host a series of community costume-building workshops every Saturday from March 18th – April 8th, 11:00am-3:00pm with mentors Craig Menteer, Courtney Blazon and Keith Erickson. Family-friendly programming at the festival also includes the ever-popular WildFest following the parade on April 15th and daily children’s matinees every weekday during the festival.

IWFF Labs brings the festival into its next decade. A first for the festival, IWFF Labs is an immersive, cross-disciplinary science filmmaking workshop that brings scientists and student media creators together to learn effective tools to communicate science, nature, and conservation with broad audiences. The results of the pairings will be presented in a program of mini-docs that will screen Monday April 17th as well as a series of nightly seminars by industry professionals open to the public April 12th -14th.

Programming highlights include all six episodes of Planet Earth 2 and the eye-opening animal rights film Unlocking the Cage. Film strands include retrospectives from Gorillas in the Mist cinematographer and producer Alan Root and screenwriter and documentarian John Heminway. IWFF and Montana Public Radio will present a special night focusing on former Missoula resident Amy Martin’s new bison-focused Threshold podcast. The winners of Fusion’s Project Earth Documentary Challenge will premiere at IWFF along with other dynamic shorts programs from the world’s most engaging wildlife film directors.

The vision of the IWFF will always be to foster an  engaged, enlightened community that finds itself through cinema, and helps the planet to heal. With plenty of opportunities for exploration, discussion, and insight, we will welcome filmmakers, industry executives, scientists, conservationists and enthusiasts from around the world to participate in screenings, Q&As, panel discussions, roundtables, workshops, and other free events at The Roxy and The University Of Montana.

(more…)