by JONATHAN MARQUIS
SPONSORED BY MISSOULA ART MUSEUM
Tour Schedule
- HELEN E COPELAND GALLERY – MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY BOZEMAN January 4 – February 26, 2027
- GLACIER ART MUSEUM June 4 – September 11, 2027
- THE ART MUSEUM OF EASTERN IDAHO November 11, 2027 – January 15, 2028
Exhibit Details
- 57 framed drawings
- 17″ x 14″ – 28″ x 21″
- 2 – 3 crates, 25″ X 25″ X 16″, 24″ X 34″ X 12″ 75 – 100 LBS
- Available September 2026 – December 2028
- Up to 6-weeks: $600/ 7 – 12-weeks: $1000
- Integrative Resources: Artist talk and workshop available
The Glacier Drawing Project began in the summer of 2014. That season, Marquis reached eight glaciers and sat down alongside the ice, on mountain summits, and exposed ridges to draw them. There are 59 named glacial features in Montana, according to USGS Survey Maps, but many have receded enough that they are no longer considered active glaciers. In the early 2010’s, there was a prevalence of news stories concerning the significant melting of glaciers in Glacier National Park due to climate change. Marquis knew that many more glaciers dotted the remote, high-country of Montana outside of the park, and set out to bear witness to the ice, thus began The Glacier Drawing Project.
In August, Marquis completed the 11-year quest to experience, in person, every named glacier in Montana and make a drawing of each. He moved to Missoula in 2003 to study art, and earned his BFA, at the University of Montana. Marquis began hiking and backpacking, as many young people do upon arriving in Montana, and started using his walks in the mountains to find places to draw. He eventually gained the comfort for solo backpacking that only time and experience in the backcountry can afford, and with it, the affinity for wilderness and wild places that can only be known through such commitment.
The 57 colored-pencil drawings that comprise the exhibition, titled Something to Hold, is Marquis’ unique visual record of Montana’s glaciers. Marquis is rendering epic landscapes and immense expanses of geography in relatively small compositions (the drawings range in scale from 5×7 inches up to 18×24 inches) so even the larger works feel intensely intimate. Consider the passion for these places that drives Marquis to reach them and one can see in the work, the deep affection he holds for vast, wild places. Since the drawings span an 11-year period, it is interesting to note the evolution of Marquis’ style but also the different ways he may have felt encountering different glaciers. No other such record exists, this on-site, hand drawn record of every named glacier in Montana is honestly unique.
What Marquis has accomplished is a remarkable feat and truly notable body of work. MAM is proud to mount this exhibition and share this project that Marquis hopes will “remind us that glaciers are still here, and like paper and pencil, we hold glaciers in our hands. I am often asked, ‘Is the project over when you visit every glacier?’ No, I will keep drawing glaciers until I can’t get there. We need to think and act on a glacier’s time, and like a glacier, the work is slow and never complete.”
MAGDA 