by KELLY PACKER
With poems by Adrian Kien
SPONSORED BY THE CLARK CHATEAU
Tour Schedule
- CARLE GALLERY at the BUTTE SILVER-BOW PUBLIC LIBRARY July 15 – August 31, 2026
- ROBERT & GENNIE DEWEESE GALLERY – BOZEMAN HIGH SCHOOL October 26 – December 4, 2026
- CARBON COUNTY ARTS GUILD & DEPOT GALLERY February 1 – February 27, 2027
- DANFORTH MUSEUM OF ART March 3 – April 10, 2027
- MONTANA MUSEUM OF ART & CULTURE – UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA September 1 – December 18, 2027
Exhibit Details
- 15 acrylic paintings on wood, paired with a poem
- 18″ x 12″ – 48″ x 24″
- 2 crates
- Available January 2026 – December 2028
- Up to 6-weeks: $300/ 7 – 12-weeks: $600
- Integrative Resources: A take-home pamphlet featuring images and poetry will be included. This work would lend itself well to a drawing and writing workshop. Kelly and Adrian have both taught workshops to various ages and would be available for presentations.
This project consists of paintings inspired by houses in Centerville, a neighborhood on the slopes of the Butte Hill. The work goes house by house through this historical, dense neighborhood. And into the missing teeth between. Each house is an archetypal Butte house, meaning they are all distinct and yet similar – square, modest cottages that have been expanded in whatever direction a weekend carpenter with an expanding family might see fit. While the houses in this neighborhood were originally constructed by Cornish miners, the Anaconda Company kept ownership of the land upon which they were built, ensuring they could yank it back at any time. The nearby neighborhood of Meaderville fell to the bulldozers and was absorbed into the Berkley Pit. What survives the implied impermanence? This work leans into the recognizable, but it is as imperfect as a memory. I am not attempting to capture things exactly as they are, but rather the lived experience of the landscape. Dramatic color heightens emotion and provides places to wander. I used a variety of sources: my own repeated visits over 10 years, archival photos from the Butte-Silver Bow archives, and other historical references. The paintings are not from a specific time, but from many different times. Their perspectives are not solid. They are 120 years of additions and changes. And the changes keep coming in the form of grey plastic siding replacing pink asbestos. The push and pull of preservation and progress continues. The paintings are paired with poetry by my husband, Adrian Kien. We’ve been collaborating for 20 years. His words bring a dimension to the work that I cannot anticipate. And finish the started sentence.
The seasons stopped
A few blocks after the wild raspberries
A few months after the fence splintered
And you turned to see the green
Bones of a tired yard
~ Adrian Kien
MAGDA 