Exhibits & Events

https://youtu.be/JK7xhbe60XI?si=7Z-Ich8fsPvWdAtf Welcome to the First Annual Bigfork Village Gingerbread contest and auction.  All profits go towards scholarships for highschool students going into the construction industry.  Click below for details!

Nov. 18th, Feel the warmth of small town holidays!  Traditionally, all of Bigfork celebrates the holidays by decorating downtown, and evening Art/stroll on Electric avenue and then the tree lighting at 7:00 pm

The Board of Directors and staff wish to invite our community to celebrate the season—and our local youth—with a night of great treats from Buckaroo Catering, spirits & good cheer.  Enjoy the creative gingerbread designs and support our local you as we auction these amazing works of edible art & support local youth.  All profits from the auction will go towards these scholarships.

Admission is free and any donations are greatly appreciated!

Meet our local aritsans as they create holiday gifts for you!

Select from unique jewelry, woodwork, hand-painted cards, ornaments & MORE!

We are launching our new memberships Dec 5th. Become a member and all shop items 20% off Dec 16th only.

This year we will decorate downtown Bigfork with your creative scarecrow ideas. All members of the public are invited to participate in this scarecrow competition. Your scarecrow may be chosen to line the streets of Bigfork during the Month of October: The deadline for notice of entries October 3rd. Your scarecrow must be delivered to the BACC on October 12th. They will be staged downtown on October 13th. In time for Tamarack Times festival on October 14th.

The creators of the winning scarecrows receive prizes!

• Scarecrows in the Bigfork is a family-friendly show of scarecrow creations. Please keep your creations family friendly!
• All entries must have a body, arms, legs and don’t forget to include some straw!
• Your scarecrow must be weather-resistant.
• Send your intent (name, or names, ages, concept ideas) to participate to director@baccbigfork.org by October 3rd.
• Scarecrows must be finished and delivered to BACC on October 12th between 10am-4pm.

Montana Watercolor Society 

at Bigfork Art & Cultural Center:
WATERMEDIA 2023 

50 watercolor paintings from around the country juried by  renowned watercolorist Iain Stewart 

Opening Reception Oct. 6, 5-7 pm  

Artist talk by Iain at 6 pm 

This year, BACC will be providing the kids activities.

Closes Sept 27th.

The BACC's 2023 fundraising goal is 75k. This helps us staff our center, run creative programs, educational lectures, homeschool & public school outreach, & continue to build our popular living history project. We are grateful to be able to serve our community!

Join us for this once in a lifetime exhibit of the rare David Shaner Ceramics ( some can be seen in the Smithsonian catalogue).  You will also see brand new blown glass art by our Nationally renown local artist Lee Proctor!

Thank you!  We raised $20,000!  We are grateful for all of your support!

Due to the popularity of the current exhibit, "The Nature of Montana" will be extended through August! New artwork is being added weekly! Come check out this show and find your favorite part of Montana while supporting our LOCAL artists!

Limited tickets available for this wonderful event supporting the ARTS of Bigfork!

The SKC Art Department, embedded in an ­indigenous worldview, provides a solid foundation for students desiring to pursue a career in Fine Arts. The diversity of this unique program, with its rich cultural foundation and nationally and internationally recognized faculty, provides one of the most dynamic Native American and Studio Arts facilities in Montana. 

5:30pm Monday May 15th:     you are welcome to join us for a special BACC history project presentation exploring what reminders of our ancesters activities lies beneath our Flathead Waters.

April 4th, 5:30-7pm. "Young at Art".   Local youth exhibit their amazing work!

May 9th, 5:30-7pm. "Art as Therapy" w Annie Allen.

June 13th, 5:30-7pm. Art Collaboration w SKC (Salish Kootenai College). Student and Staff art exhibit.

July 11th, 5:30-7pm. "Our Flathead area wildlife -Artist Perspectives"
Month-long exhibit activities include Bibler Gardens tour and Plein Air outings.

Sept 1st  "Then & Now" Harry Endsley shares his families collection of David Shaner's ceramics work alongside new work by our local glass artist Lee Proctor.

During this unique exhibit opening reception, artist Annie Allen will
take us through her journey of expressing and teaching through art.
Through innovative methods, Annie gently guides her audience and
students through the creative process which engages the mind,
body, and spirit in ways that are distinct from verbal articulation
alone.Her unique approach explores the interfaces of kinesthetic
sensory, perceptual, and symbolic opportunities.
Through her incredible play with color, figures, and even mystical characters,
Annie's audiences and students explore their visual and symbolic
expression. This journey could be considered art as therapy as it gives voice
to personal experience and empowers individual communal, and even for some art expressions; cultural or societal transformation.

BACC invites you to share your 2D, 3D and digital art expressing the beauty of our Montana wildlife and landscapes.

Applications due by May 22nd.

Support our amazing Bigfork area youth art!

About Bruce:

Bruce Miller is a native Montanan now Idaho-based professional photographer and owner of Naturally Wild Photography®. He travels extensively throughout Africa, Asia and Arctic regions in pursuit of compelling images. His photos have been published and used by wildlife conservation organizations, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), such as the Economic Institute for the Empowerment of Women (Kigali, Rwanda), and Bwindi Orphanage & Watoto School in Uganda.

Bruce has traveled on assignment for Photographers Without Borders® and his human-elephant conflict project work is featured on the Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society website (www.SLWCS.org) and Photographers Without Borders® publications.

He has donated images for publication in African Wildlife Federation as well as supported Elephants Without Borders (Botswana), Borneo Orangutan Conservation, India Tiger Conservation, and Gorongosa Restoration Project (Greg Carr Foundation). Three of Bruce’s Africa images were selected and published in the Africa Geographic 2017 Yearbook and was an Africa Geographic Photographer of the Year finalist for 2019. Numerous other images have been published by various wildlife organizations and other media outlets.

Opening reception and lecture: November 8th

Kyren is currently developing an ROV program here in the valley. Teaming up with the Bigfork Art & Cultural Center and Julie Bottum, funding was awarded for an introductory archeological study of Flathead Lake.  Kyren and a specialized group of local historians are collaborating to survey submerged indigenous historic sites.  His ROV program includes partnering with Sea Scouts, a program sponsored by Boy Scouts of America. This program educates youth about our local shipwrecks and how they too can contribute to documenting Flathead history. 

So, what historical treasures is Flathead Lake hiding?  Pursuing marine archaeology and science communications will always be what drives Kyren to explore what is below the surface.  Should you share these interests, you do not need to travel far.  The thrill of finding lost history could be right outside your backdoor.  

Pam grew up as a creative personality coming from a life that demanded more of a focus on survival than the expression of her creativity.

Each feeling of excitement, burst of pleasure, or dreams of laughter were squelched by the need to navigate through the challenges of being raised rural and poor along with the challenges stemming from that environment.

Through sheer determination and a long career in technology, she finally burst onto the art scene in 2013 with a renewed spirit to make things that brought joy and completeness, not only for herself but to bring uplifting moments to others.

Each work takes many weeks to complete and begins with several layers of an oil paint and cold wax mixture applied with squeegees onto wood cradled panels. More layering and subsequent colors are applied with soft brayers for an effect that is simultaneously bold and subtle.

Her designs often begin chaotic and stormy only to end up in a very joyful dance that emanates from each work.

Life creates her work and she makes whatever resinates in the current.

J.P.’s bronze sculptures