Stumptown Art Studio Gears Up for Silent Auction to Fundraise for New Accessible Classroom

Last month, more than 25 artists set up easels at various locations around Whitefish, each putting brush to canvas to create their own unique spin on the mountain town’s classic landscapes and views. The professional painters worked in various styles, capturing diverse subject matter from traditional still lives to more expressive pieces in recognizable locations throughout the Whitefish community, like the summit at Big Mountain and the Lodge at Whitefish Lake.

Hosted by the nonprofit Stumptown Art Studio, the Whitefish Paint Out and Art Auction was as an all-day affair on Saturday, July 13, stretching from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. over the same weekend as Under the Big Sky Music Festival in the scorching heat. Still, artists were eager to show up and show out, some even going above and beyond to paint multiple pieces. The organization’s executive director, Melanie Drown, and its studio manager and event coordinator, Jessica Inez, drove the studio’s painted art-mobile around town and handed out goody bags to participants, each filled with sunscreen and water donations from business sponsors to keep the artists comfortable as they endured the heat outdoors.

Following the Paint Out, the artists completed their work in their own homes or studios to prepare for their final unveiling at an Aug. 9 silent auction at the O’Shaughnessy Cultural Arts Center in downtown Whitefish. Each piece will be available for bidding during the silent auction and fundraising event, and bidders can take pieces home by the end of the night. The proceeds will support the development of a new ADA-compliant, accessible classroom space on the studio’s ground floor in downtown Whitefish.

Stumptown Art Studio programming is expanding far beyond the walls of the cozy, underground classroom space on Central Avenue in Whitefish. Currently, the only available classroom is down a flight of stairs into a basement space, home also to the clay studio.

On a yearly basis, Stumptown Art Studio serves approximately 2,500 to 3,000 students via direct arts education, over 75 artists through gallery and retail commission sales, and an average of 10,000 people with the clay studio, drop-in pottery painting, and fused glass offerings. Events like public art installations also bring the arts to approximately 100,000 community residents annually.

Despite that reach, physical space remains scarce and scheduling conflicts are frequent. The organization’s leaders say it is crucial for the studio to expand and grow their art education programming.

On a rainy July Tuesday, Inez, the studio manager and event coordinator, said the classroom was “packed with people from all ages,” painting pottery and fusing glass. There was a waitlist for a table.

Despite the large catalog of classes, workshops and open-art opportunities offered, there are no life-drawing classes or traditional oil painting classes taking place during the day. Instead, they occur after hours.

“But if we have an expansive classroom, they could do it at any time of day,” Charity Flowers, Stumptown Art education coordinator and paint-out participant, said.

The new ADA-accessible classroom would be on the ground floor, providing the studio with additional space for larger gatherings like birthday parties and galleries, storage for art supply retail and necessary extra space for drop-in-art opportunities.

“The more space we have, the more we can offer back to the community that has supported us for 29 years and counting,” Inez said.

Stumptown Art has always prioritized inclusivity and accessibility in their nonprofit mission to bring art to everyone, regardless of age and background. Their outreach initiative, “Art from the Heart,” brings the Stumptown experience to underserved populations. Staffers travel to various locations in Whitefish in a painted van, endearingly dubbed “Van Gogh,” to serve people who cannot come to the studio’s classroom for economic or mobility reasons. Some places “Art from the Heart” visits include public and private schools, special needs organizations, youth enrichment programs, and senior centers.

The collective efforts of participants and volunteers, as well as a passion for the community, is what made the paint-out event so successful, organizers said, adding that the enthusiastic turnout from the artists and the board members reflect Stumptown Art’s mission to create limitless art opportunities for all ages and abilities.

Flowers mentioned how appreciative she is that professional artists are passionate about the notion of new classroom space, so much so that they volunteered their time and talent by participating in the paint-out and the auction to give back to the community.

The auction will be a culmination of the studio’s growing legacy over the past three decades, and a reflection of the Stumptown community’s willingness to give back. Planning a large-scale event like the paint-out and the auction is no easy feat. Flowers joked that it feels like planning a wedding, in which many moving parts come together.

“I am so excited to see all the artwork come together and have a lovely evening,” she said.

Tickets to the auction are $25 each and are available here. Doors open at 6 p.m., bidding begins at 6:30 p.m., and closing bids are at 8 p.m. Beverages, nonalcoholic and alcoholic, will be served in tandem with catered appetizers from Montana Butterfly Chef. Guests can expect live music from local musician Todd Cowart as they peruse the completed works.

Donations are also welcome through this link. For a preview of all the artists who participated in the paint-out and their bios, click here. To stay up to date with Stumptown Art Studio, follow their Instagram, @stumptown_art_studio.

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