Let your creative side run wild at the ZACC!
The Zootown Arts Community Center (ZACC) is a non-profit arts center that plays a vital role in the Missoula community. Not only does it support and provide space for local artists, performers, and musicians, but it also works to make these art forms available to a diverse range of community members.
“At the ZACC, we try to cultivate community through arts experiences,” says Jen Ryan Hickes, the ZACC’s Development and Marketing Director. “We have a big focus on making art accessible to all. The things we do here are arts related but really, it’s a community center. We want people to feel welcome and not intimidated by art.”
The ZACC is located in the historic Studebaker building in downtown Missoula. In 2019, the center moved from Missoula’s Northside neighborhood to the historic Studebaker building downtown thereby tripling their space to three floors of galleries, performance space, classrooms, artist studios, and a printshop.
An important part of the ZACC’s mission is to make sure that the center is a welcoming environment in terms of accessibility, diversity, and equity. “We serve so many different audiences,” says Jen. “Lots of families know us through our classes, other people know us through the pottery studio, and concert goers know us through the comedy shows and punk bands. It’s definitely diverse and multi-generational. We’re often the first gallery or first concert that a lot of people have been to, especially young people.”
Begin your art-filled experience at the ZACC the minute you walk through the front door. The first thing you’ll see is a delightful retail shop where you can purchase jewelry, cards, t-shirts, and much more made by talented local artists. Jen is proud to say that the majority of proceeds from all sales go back to the artist with the remainder being used to help fund the center.
The bright and welcoming entry space also holds an art lounge where kids and adults can spend time reveling in their creative side at little to no cost. Choose an item from the wall of unpainted pottery pieces waiting to be decorated, or a do-it-yourself art project put together by the staff. You’ll find all the materials you need in the free art supply closet filled with everything from paper to stickers to yarn to reference books. All these resources are especially great for parents looking for activities for the kids. “I love that my daughter—when looking for something to do with her friends—says, ‘Maybe we’ll go hang out at the ZACC for a bit,” says Jen.
Continue throughout the building to the Main, Blackfoot Communications, and Youth galleries, all of which are free and open to the public during regular hours. Just beyond the Blackfoot Gallery sits the 175-seat performance space where the ZACC hosts a diverse line-up of musicians and performance artists each month. Gallery and Venue Director Mikyla Veis works with a team to formulate the schedule which often results in more events than days in the month. Mikyla says, “We try to curate concerts and gallery shows based on accessibility and fulfilling our mission as it applies to all different types of art. We want to make sure there is a mixture of established and new artists covering a range of age groups and mediums.” One of the best things about the concerts and events is the affordability. Many will set you back less than $20 and some are even free.
To foster a love for the arts in the younger generations, the ZACC offers a variety of camps, classes, and gallery space to children throughout the year. Rock and rolling kids take over the basement during rock camps when children and teenagers have access to electric guitars and drum sets that would make most adult headbangers salivate. “Kids form a band, write a song, learn to play instruments and how to rock on stage. They even use our printshop to make T-shirts,” says Jen. “It’s as much of a confidence builder as anything, and it’s a way to go through this creative experience together as a band.”
Jen is especially excited about this fall’s 10th annual Missoula Monster Project. Kindergarteners throughout Missoula Public Schools will use their imagination to not only draw a monster, but also dream up what it likes to do and likes to eat. Each monster is then paired with an adult artist who recreates their own version, and both monsters are displayed side by side in the Main Gallery at the ZAAC so children can proudly show off their creations. The adult’s monsters will be donated by the artists for the ZACC to sell. “Last year we had 189 kids participate,” says Jen. “It’s a fundraiser for the center, but also it’s a great activity for all kids, especially those that may not have a dedicated art class in their school.”
Upstairs, a classroom reverberates with creative pandemonium as Youth Art Instructor Nikki Rossignol McCoy moves about a gaggle of excited little ones using their imaginations to create their own works of art from materials donated to the center. “Everybody knows to bring their junk to the ZACC,” says Nikki with a laugh. “One time we received a bunch of cigar boxes donated from a cigar club, so I cleaned them out and created a class around that. It’s fun to dream up projects using what we have.”
The ZACC also offers what Jens calls a “robust” scholarship program available to the entire family. “We get help from the Washington Foundation and other community partners so we can really make sure our classes are accessible. We don’t want to turn anyone away. If you want to make some art, we want you to be here,” she says. “I think people that live in Missoula cherish it as an arts town, but you really need an entry point to that. I think the ZAAC can be that for a lot of people.”
"We want people to feel welcome and not intimidated by art.” - Jen Ryan Hickes
“We try to curate concerts and gallery shows based on accessibility and fulfilling our mission as it applies to all different types of art." - Mikyla Veis