Arts council unveils new public art map

CLICK HERE FOR A FULL SIZE MAP

EBS STAFF

BIG SKY – For the everyday citizen, it’s easy to understand when the significance of its presence slips the mind—but make no mistake: public art serves an essential function in any healthy community.

Simply, public art serves to inspire, to illustrate that creativity is alive and encouraged within the boundaries of a township.

So whether it’s a hulking metal statue or a utility box wrap, each piece adorns the town with a sense of culture that can have a rippling effect, building a populous not just hungry for access to quality art but expectant of it.

On the heels of its unveiling two new statues in Big Sky Town Center—Robert Winslow’s “Continuity,” the town’s first-ever public abstract piece, and Jim Dolan’s “Ram,” which has found a new home on the north side of Montana Supply—the Arts Council of Big Sky proudly presents a new offering, a detailed and robust public arts map.

Complete with 44 individual pieces laid on a map connecting every item between Ousel Falls Trailhead and Big Sky’s Meadow Village, Big Sky art junkies or fledgling aficionados can now navigate the town’s public art offerings with direction as never before.

According to ACBS Education and Outreach Director Megan Buecking, the inspiration for the map came from similar items offered in cities and towns around the country.

“A lot of places you go, like a city or culturally rich town, there will be a lot of public art and a really great way to find and understand it is through a map,” Buecking said. “One primary example we drew from was the Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle. … We’ve also been inspired by Bozeman’s Gallatin Art Crossing.”

Don’t let this valuable and novel resource go to waste—get out there and get to know the visible art and artists that form the backbone of Big Sky’s public offerings.