by Sarah Glass
Explore the ARTS, a nonprofit located at 701 W Main Street in Hamilton, is an organization whose mission is aptly reflected by its name. Started in 2017 by artist Barbara Liss (known in Hamilton for the concrete sculptures that give faces to trees throughout the town), the space has grown over the years to offer more services and a space in which people of all ages can engage with art.
Comprised of multiple art galleries, Makerspace, Liss’s concrete sculpting studio, and a meeting area available for public use, Explore the ARTS also includes a room with items sponsored by the Bitterroot Children’s Discovery Museum, where toddlers can play with color-changing mats, something akin to a giant Light Bright and more. These spaces are home to classes, art shows and a monthly Culture Crawl event that takes place every second Saturday of the month from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Culture Crawl, coordinated by Liss, typically invites the public to visit Chapter One, Art City, Clay Works!, and Explore the ARTS in downtown Hamilton to meet local artists, enjoy refreshments and enter for a chance to win a prize if all locations are visited.
For the January 10 Culture Crawl at Explore the ARTS, the Laird family came out to talk to visitors about how they have incorporated art into their homeschooling experience. Zander (13), Austin (19), Reagan (21) and their mother, Lindsay Laird, completed art pieces in a range of mediums to showcase at the event. The works resulted from working with Board Member and Explore the ARTS instructor Jean Driescher, while using the free-to-use studio space at the organization.
The Laird family has made use of Explore the ARTS studio space and the assistance of Board Director Jean Driescher to create artwork together in a range of mediums. Zander (13), Austin (19), Regan (21, not in attendance), and their mother, Lindsay, showcased this work during a reception at this month’s Culture Crawl event on January 10. Photo by Sarah Glass.
“I’ve always loved art. I think it is very good for kids, so I’ve always incorporated it into our school day. We would do it once a week, different mediums, different projects; it’s been one of our favorite memories doing it together,” said Lindsay.
Explore the ARTS hosts an Open Studio event from noon to 3 p.m. every Monday. Artists bring their own supplies while creating together and inspiring one another. The Makerspace is always free to use and open during the gallery’s operating hours from 1:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. “Sometimes it’s fun to paint on something other than paper,” said Liss, indicating the rocks and hearts cut out of wood in the Makerspace.
Director Barbara Liss (left) and Board Member Jean Driescher (right) support the creative community through their positions at Explore the ARTS. Photo by Sarah Glass.
Multiple other classes and workshops are hosted at Explore the ARTS. This includes the Nature Journaling group, which meets every Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The Writers Circle group meets every first and third Wednesday from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Liss explained, “It’s not a class; it’s about encouraging writers to write. There will be a prompt you can use if you want to use it. Sometimes that stirs our interest, and then we share what we have written.”
Liss invites local artists who would like to hold classes or offer workshops related to the arts to contact Explore the ARTS. The organization’s meeting space is free-to-use for nonprofits or available to the public to rent for a small fee. For a full list of events or to be considered for a gallery show, visit www.explorethearts.art.com.
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