The Missoula Museum of the Arts, known now simply as the Missoula Art Museum (MAM), officially opened in 1975 on the corner of Pattee Street and Pine Avenue. The building has a long history in (and is itself) art. Designed in 1903 by architect A.J. Gibson, it was originally home to the Missoula Free Library. In 2006, an addition was added to expand the beautiful open concept exhibition space that you see today.
The museum’s golden anniversary is bittersweet as it also brings the retirement of Laura Millin, the museum’s long-time executive director. Her successor, Brandon Reintjes, served as senior curator for over a decade and credits much of the museum’s success over the last 35 years to Laura.
These long tenures are not an anomaly. Brandon says, “One of the amazing things about MAM is we tend to attract people who stick around. Finding a non-profit where everyone shares in the same vision and believes in the same values is really difficult. The people that work here want to work with artists, and they want to work in the community.”
MAM operates as a non-profit, but it maintains strong support from both the City of Missoula and Missoula County, which Brandon says is unusual for a community museum. “Securing and maintaining these vital community relationships was a big part of Laura’s vision. That support is essential and it’s a big reason why MAM excels,” says Brandon.
As its mission, MAM, “Serves the public by engaging audiences and artists in the exploration of contemporary art relevant to the community, state, and region.” While the concept of “contemporary” sounds simple, Brandon explains that the definition can be quite complex. “Overall, I would describe it as the art of our time, and art by living artists,” says Brandon. “We've always focused on working with and giving a voice to living artists. As soon as you give people access to those voices, amazing things happen.”
MAM has long-focused on giving a voice specifically to Native American artists. In addition to the extensive Contemporary American Indian Art Collection, there is also a gallery solely dedicated to showing work by contemporary indigenous artists.
Two current exhibitions that highlight this focus are the Alaina Buffalo Spirit, Through a Cheyenne Woman’s Eyes, which runs through September 27, and Good Relations: Contemporary Native Artists in the MAM Collection, which runs through December 19.
Brandon says, “I was talking with somebody who inferred we do political shows. Our shows may be political but only in the sense that they have a viewpoint. We want to make people think and react, but we do not want to exclude anybody or make anybody uncomfortable. We try to figure out a good balance of shows that offer a broad variety and a diversity of expressions.”
To achieve this balance, the staff works together to determine what hangs in MAM’s galleries. “In many museums, the curator makes the decision, and everybody has to fall in line,” says Brandon. “We don't like to do that. Instead, we have a team. We look at things collectively and evaluate potential exhibitions with the view of how it will engage or affect the community.”
Connection to the community is an essential component of MAM. Admission to the museum has been free to all visitors since its inception. In addition, they offer a range of programs that foster the appreciation of art and bring art education not only to Missoula, but to communities across the region.
“Fifty years for a small, community-based, regional museum is an incredible milestone,” says Brandon. He credits this accomplishment to the staff always thinking how MAM integrates into the fabric of the community. “If a museum is exclusive or disconnected, then they aren’t doing something right. You have to be really engaged and involved with the community. We want MAM to be a place where everyone feels a sense of identity and belonging.”