The reading will take place at F&F downtown (220 N. Higgins) on Tuesday, April 12, at 7 PM.

Innovators, change makers and thought leaders will gather at the University of Montana on Wednesday, April 13, for " innovateUM," a day of dialogue about issues and ideas that shape our lives and our communities.

 

"We're excited for this opportunity to share the innovation, creativity and research happening at UM with the people of Montana," said Scott Whittenburg, UM vice president for research and creative scholarship.  "InnovateUM celebrates the many ways that University of Montana research, creative scholarship and entrepreneurship enhance Montana's economy and promote educational and career opportunities in our state."

 

Two alumni of the  University of Montana's Creative Writing Program will bring their poetry to UM at 7 PM on Friday, April 15, at UM's  Payne Family Native American Center, Room 105.  This month's event will feature readings by UM alumni  Sarah Gridley  and  Joshua Corey  and is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by the Creative Writing Program at UM and the Programs of National Distinction.

Join Radius Gallery for a supremely fun event in conjunction with Radius Gallery's show, Last Best Dream: Surrealism, Here & Now. Theo Ellsworth and Daniel Scott Morris will be entertaining us with their unique and highly crafted puppets in a puppet show for the closing reception -- talk about going out in Surreal fashion!  It will be an evening of handmade, otherworldly monster costumes presented as living installation pieces, so art in action if you will. 

The festivities take place Friday, April 15 at 5 PM. Call Radius Gallery at 541-7070 or send an email for more information.

Join NCBI Missoula for the 7th Annual Diversity Day at the Missoula Senior Center on Saturday, April 16 from 6 - 10 PM. Members of our Youth Advisory Council are planning a highly anticipated event showcasing local youth talent in the arts, including song, dance, and spoken word focused around the theme "Diverse City".  We're excited to announce that this year's headliners will be hip-hop artists MC Rhetorik and Yaz Like Jaws.

Respectively representing the Pueblo of Kewa and Blackfeet Nation, these MCs use their music to bring the struggle for social and environmental justice to the forefront of our consciousness.  This is a free and family-friendly event.  For more information, visit www.ncbimissoula.org.

The University of Montana Native American Law Students Association will host its annual Indian Law Week, Monday through Friday, April 11 - 15. This year's theme is "Economic Development in Indian Country."

During the week NALSA will host lunchtime presentations with speakers who will discuss a variety of topics impacting tribal communities. These sessions will be held from 12 - 1 PM, April 11 - 14, on the UM campus. The Monday and Wednesday presentations will be held in Law Building Room 201, and the Tuesday and Thursday lunch sessions will be held in Law Building Room 101. The discussions are free and open to the public.  Click here for more info.

Missoula's urban forest needs you!  Celebrate National Arbor Month with a fun walk or run along the Riverfront trail system.  The 24th annual  Run for The Trees  is Saturday, April 16, at 10 AM at Silver Park.

Enter the 1-mile fun run, 5k run/walk or the 10k race. Proceeds help plant new trees in parks, boulevards and schools.  In honor of Missoula's 28th consecutive Tree City USA award, all racers receive a free tree seedling to plant and a race t-shirt. Participants are also eligible for race awards and exciting door prizes. Youth 10 and under may run the 1-mile race for free.

Register online at  runwildmissoula.org. Late registration, April 2 through April 15, is $25. The race is sponsored by Run Wild Missoula, Parks and Recreation, Republic Services, The Good Food Store and Trees for Missoula.

The  Art Associates of Missoula monthly meeting will be held Wednesday, April 20, 10 AM in the Education Center of the Missoula Art Museum, (335 N. Pattee St.)

Pam Caughey, encaustic and mixed media 'experimental' artist will be sharing her art and process!  Art Associates meetings are free and open to the public. For more information, please call Susie at 544-0891.

The Folger Shakespeare Library, in association with the Cincinnati Museum Center and the American Library Association, is touring the exhibition to all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico in 2016. UM was selected as the only location in Montana to feature the exhibit. The First Folio will be on display at UM May 9-31, at the Montana Museum of Art & Culture. It is cosponsored by the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library and MMAC.

The production condenses the great works of Shakespeare into irreverent and hilarious micro-performances at breakneck speed. The cast improvises throughout the show, invoking modern pop culture and involving the audience. 

The Missoula Symphony Orchestra presents the season finale, " Pictures of Power,"  featuring Music Director Darko Butorac and pianist Katherine Chi. The concert will take place April 23 at 7:30 PM and April 24 at 3 PM in the Dennison Theatre.

 

The 61st Season Finale features a concert full of life and color as we're joined by world-renowned pianist Katherine Chi. The raw energy of the opener will be balanced with the jazzy spirit of Ravel's Piano Concerto, before we close with the cheer-inducing and powerful "Pictures at an Exhibition."

For tickets and more information visit their website, call 721-3194, or stop by the symphony office at 320 E. Main Street.

The Missoula Children's Theatre is ready for summer day camp fun with your Grades 1-12 kids!  Convenient, online registration is now available for Blackbeard The Pirate (June 20-26), The Pied Piper (July 5-10) and The Wiz of The West (July 18-24).  To learn more and enjoy early registration discounts, visit  MCTinc.org today!

 

The Missoula Community Theatre is taking you and your family to new heights with Mary Poppins.  Bring the whole family to enjoy this musical favorite which runs April 28 - May 1, May 4 - 8 and 11 - 15.  (Thursday, April 28 is MCT Premiere Night).  Tickets to see your favorite flying nanny are flying out of the box office, so get yours today at MCTinc.org.  Call 728-7529 for more information.

The  City of Missoula Public Art Committee invites artists residing in Missoula County to apply for a public art project to create art on traffic signal boxes (TSB) located throughout Missoula. The goal of the project is to use local traffic signal boxes as "canvases," greatly enhancing Missoula's visual surroundings.

Proposals are due June 3. Previously painted TSB's can be viewed at  the city's website. Past TSB models are on view at Berkshire Hathaway MT Properties through the month of April.

View the application online or email  Grace Stopher or  Kathi Olson with questions.

The  Jeannette Rankin Peace Center is hosting its annual  Search for Peace Student Art Contest. The theme this year is: welcoming others as a way of finding and promoting peace within our community.  Students are encouraged to express what they feel it means to be welcoming toward others and how that is expressed both daily and in times of crisis and discrimination. Accepted entries may include any form of artwork, essays, poetry, and photography.

The contest is open to all ages from kindergarten to university students and there will be cash prizes for the winners in each category: Elementary School, Middle School, High School, College, and Collaborative (two or more students). Submissions are due Friday, April 22, to the Jeannette Rankin Peace Center (519 S. Higgins.)  Submissions must be accompanied by an entry form which can be picked up at the Peace Center.  T he art will be displayed on First Friday, May 6.  More information is available by email or  call 543-3955.

The  Montana Book Festival is now receiving submissions for this year's festival in Missoula, September 21 - 25.  Visit their website to apply to the festival.

The Montana Book Festival is a celebration of literary arts held each fall in downtown Missoula that seeks to provide a dynamic, evolving forum for literary engagement, as well as to foster literary community and enthusiasm for the written word by among readers of all ages.

SPARK! Arts Ignite Learning, Missoula's chapter of the Kennedy Center's Any Given Child initiative, is seeking a Director to lead the initiative. SPARK! is a community wide partnership working to expand arts programming in Missoula County Public Schools. We facilitate and foster connections between district schools, local arts organizations, and teaching artists helping to ensure access to the arts for all MCPS students.  For more information and the application, visit SPARK!'s website.

Humanities Montana, a vibrant statewide nonprofit organization, seeks a program officer to begin June 13 in their Missoula office. The position description and required skills are provided here.  Please submit a resume and a detailed letter of application indicating how your training, experience, and talents fit the position description.

Include the names and contact information for at least three references who can speak to your effectiveness in a work place setting.

As an adjunct to the Yellowstone Art Museum's exhibition Harold Schlotzhauer: The Shape of Motion, the museum announces an open call to all area skateboarders living in south-central Montana to compete in 360°,a skateboard design competition and exhibition.

Weaver Room:  March 11 - April 22

Works by MSU Graduate Students

The  Crown of the Continent Guitar Foundation (COCGF) scholarship applications are due on Tuesday, May 31 to attend the seventh annual  Crown Guitar Workshop held on August 28 - Sept. 4.  Students, teachers and performers of all ages who reside in Flathead, Lake, Sanders, Missoula, and Ravalli counties are eligible to apply for the scholarship. The workshop will be held at Flathead Lake Lodge in Bigfork, MT. Please call 855-855-5900 for more information, or click here to visit online.

Just in time for the global commemoration of the 400th anniversary of  Shakespeare's death, a stately home on a small Scottish island is announcing a surprise party gift: the unveiling of a previously unknown First Folio.  The book, owned by the seventh Marquess of Bute, Johnny Dumfries, had been shelved in the library at  Mount Stuart House , an enormous Gothic revival pile and tourist attraction on the Isle of Bute, in the Firth of Clyde, about 60 miles west of Glasgow. Read the rest of this article at The New York Times...

Text on reverse reads: Closeup of the new head to be inserted in gas pump - this one will record four digits instead of the old three

Photograph: David Campany/courtesy MACK

When you become a member of the Missoula Cultural Council, you support all of our wonderful events and our creative community. As a member, you demonstrate a shared commitment to our mission. Most importantly, your contribution helps to ensure the future of the arts in our community.  Whether you share a passion for the performing arts, visual arts, or the humanities, the Missoula Cultural Council has it all. But we can't do it without your help. Join us today!