Artists aim to brighten downtown with new Miles City mural

MILES CITY — A Miles City artist is hoping a new downtown mural will be the first of many in an effort to bring more art to the area.

On the wall of the Bison Bar on Main Street sits the large mural of a bison and Montana. The project was completed on Aug. 12 by Miles City artist and teacher Keely Perkins and took eight days to complete.

Isabel Spartz/MTN News

Perkins has been painting for many years and wanted to design something that highlights the beauty of Montana. She was overjoyed with the positive reaction from the community.

“I thought people would be a little interested and excited, but it was completely overwhelming. Just speechless," said Perkins. "It's real personal to me because I grew up here and I would always, before this project, look at walls and be like, put (a mural) there, put one there, and just have ideas."

The artwork is the first step of the Miles City Downtown Art Walk, a project started by resident Kelsey Merritt to help bring more art to downtown.

“I think that you don't realize how big and empty some of these walls are in Miles City until you see one of them filled with something that is so beautiful and so bright," said Merritt. “The Miles City Downtown Art Walk is something that we're hoping will increase visitors to our downtown area and bring business to the businesses that exist on Main Street and increase pride for community members."

Merritt works for SDI Architects and Design and volunteers through her job where they are encouraged to engage in the community. She was inspired by muralists in Billings and Glendive and wanted to bring that kind of artistic touch to their downtown.

“I think as a community member in Miles City, you go to these places and you say, 'Well, wait a minute? Why can't we have that, and why can't we have murals?' And we can," said Merritt.

The idea for the project started two years ago. She began applying for grant funding through the Montana Community Foundation and donations from the community, and then recruited Perkins to paint it.

Both of the women wanted the piece to represent the state and Miles City, so lots of details went into the mural. They also wanted people to interact with the mural and stop and look at the details. The flowers on the left are Western native flowers and those on the right are Eastern native. Perkins even included little hidden pictures in the mural for people to find.

“I wanted to where people would want to come physically see it and and look for these little Easter eggs," said Perkins. “One of the main ones is a Hershey bar is hidden in there because ever since the bar started, if kids go in there, the bar keep gives them a Hershey bar.”

Isabel Spartz

While the first mural is complete, their mission is far from over. The group hopes to complete two murals a year, with the goal that they can complete more once the project gains traction in town.

"We're hoping that the completion of this initial mural helps those that are on the fence in terms of deciding whether or not they want to be a part of the art walk," said Merritt. “We're hoping to fill that gap in our funding and in our grant writing so that we can enable these business owners to have public art but not necessarily have to foot the bill for doing so."

Merritt says that Art Walk was made possible by a group of women who will help keep the project moving forward.

“We have a pretty awesome group of people at Miles City, and to see them so excited about something, it makes it all worth it,” said Merritt.

Art Walk is looking for donations for their next mural. If you want to donate, checks can be sent to the Miles City Area Chamber of Commerce with the memo, "Art Walk" or "mural," or money can be sent to their Venmo at mc_artwalk. The donations help go towards artist fees and supplies.