Parker Beckley’s artistic medium is goofiness. His large format murals appear around town at places like Bridge Pizza, where a pie soaring into a disc golf basket gets a second look and a grin from patrons. He sells stickers and t-shirts on his website (ParkerBeckley.com) and creates outlandish, whimsical content on Instagram (@ParkerBeckley). So of anyone in Missoula, of course it was him that recently won a men’s high heel race in Washington, DC.
Tell me about the race.
It was just going to be a funny thing, and how it panned out I was on the news in Germany. Now it’s a real accolade here, people you wouldn’t expect. I was at a brewery and this 70-year-old bearded man came up to me and was like, I’m so proud of you. I think it’s good to break the classic Montana man thing. Maybe a Montana man is about freedom, and I’m just expressing it.
What else makes a Montana man?
By definition I am a Montana man—I was born here and raised here. I split logs with an axe. And I have a box of dresses downstairs. I’m pretty comfortable and open with who I am at this point. The ins and outs of trying to make it creatively take an incredibly stubborn, determined mindset that fits into the classic ideals of masculinity. But there’s a core Montana thing that’s more important—there’s just tough people here who are really inspiring, honestly.
How would you describe yourself as an artist?
I wanted to be an artist because of the breadth of what that allows you to do. You can paint murals or win a high heel race, and for some reason people don’t question it. At the end of it I’m just incredibly grateful to be finding any opportunities as an artist.
What role does humor play in your art?
I lean toward goofiness, toward low brow. I was raised on Sunday funnies, Mad Magazine, a good pun. As I get older I want to make things that are unifying versus more potentially divisive. It seems aloof but it’s a conscious choice not to feed into that. It’s not good to burn bridges in a town famous for its river. Something I’ve learned. I think maybe humor is, some people follow me from that standpoint and then they learn more about me and might not like that. That’s the goal. You realize that people are multifaceted and everyone has more in common.
Would you say being from Missoula influences your art?
I mean it must, it has to. It forces creativity out of you because you run into the same scene over and over. There’s days where I’m paddleboarding and just hit all the stereotypical things, some indie show, I gotta bike somewhere. Certainly, sometimes I feel like I’m too much of a Missoulian.
What headline would you give this article?
I’m more of a rambler. I don’t know how to explain anything, I’m just being a weirdo.
"As I get older I want to make things that are unifying versus more potentially divisive. It seems aloof but it’s a conscious choice not to feed into that."