More than 100 artists featured at annual event
<p>Glass bonsai ornaments on display at the tent of Kalispell artist George Bland and the Montana House of Glass at a previous Arts in the Park in Kalispell. This year's event takes place in Depot Park from July 17-19.</p>
The Hockaday Museum of Art presents the 47th Arts in the Park festival, to be held Friday, July 17, through Sunday, July 19, in historic downtown Kalispell’s Depot Park at Main and Center streets.
The Arts in the Park festival is the Hockaday’s primary annual fundraiser and features more than 110 juried local and visiting artists and craftsmen. Daily admission to the festival is $3 and children age 6 and younger are admitted free with their family. Purchase of a $5 Weekend Pass button gives the bearer unlimited admission to the festival all three days, as well as unlimited admission to the Hockaday Museum of Art during the festival.
Festival hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Musical entertainment begins at 11 a.m. each day with a lengthy list of performers taking the stage for an hour each. The full schedule of performers and times is listed at www.hockadaymuseum.org. A new premium wine garden hosted by Glacier Sun Winery will open at noon each day and offer an array of fine local wines.
A tantalizing lineup of food choices this year includes Amazing Crepes, Big Bear Chocolates, Carl’s Hand-dipped Corn Dogs, Glacier Shave Ice, Montana Dogies, Polebridge Bakery, Sinful Pleasures Expresso, Slick’s Smokehouse and BBQ, Sweet Peaks Ice Cream, Sweet Pickins Kettle Corn, Tres Hermanas Mexican Grill and the Whitefish Figure Skating Club with their famous fresh-squeezed lemonade.
Park Side Credit Union is hosting “Arts in the Park Side” on Saturday this year for children, offering a range of fun children’s activities including kid’s scenic mural painting, mini kite making, fly tying, para-cord bracelet, key chain making and badge making.
The art experience doesn’t end in Depot Park as the $5 Weekend Pass button also includes unlimited admission to the Hockaday Museum of Art during the festival. During Arts in the Park, the Hockaday’s current exhibitions include “A Timeless Legacy — Women Artists of Glacier National Park,” as well as works for fixed price sale by numerous artists who participated in the “Plein Air Glacier — Exploring Glacier’s Timeless Legacy” event.
Museum visitors may also enjoy the Crown of the Continent permanent exhibition, featuring the art and artists of Montana and Glacier National Park. Four fully restored murals are on display in the Museum, rescued from Glacier National Park lodges that were updated in the 1950s.
For more information, visit www.hockadaymuseum.org or call 406-755-5268.
Arts in the Park is sponsored by the Daily Inter Lake, Kalispell Toyota, Park Side Credit Union and Kalispell Parks and Recreation.
The Hockaday Museum of Art is located in the cultural district of downtown Kalispell, at 302 Second Ave. E. It is housed in a 1904 Carnegie Library building that appears on the National Register of Historic Places. The Museum is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, open year-round from Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. 5 p.m. A wheelchair accessible entry and elevator are available.