The Great Northern Historical Trail offers some pretty spectacular vistas along the paved path system that connects Kalispell, Somers and Kila. But recreators will soon get a glimpse of even more lovely views, thanks to a collaborative art project debuting next year on the three tunnels on the 24-mile trail.

“Tunnel Vision 2021” is an initiative to bring in artists from the local community to paint murals on the entrances to the three tunnels along the Great Northern Historical Trail. The idea first came from Kip Smith with Rails-to-Trails of Northwest Montana, but the execution will require cooperation from the KALICO Art Center, the city of Kalispell, the Montana Department of Transportation and members of the surrounding community.

“We just kind of built this idea together,” Smith said. It’s taken about a year and a half to get the pieces together for the project, and he said the first two tunnels — near Flathead Valley Community College and Glacier High School — are expected to be completed in summer 2021. The third tunnel, which goes under the U.S. 93 Bypass to Lone Pine State Park, likely won’t be finished for about a year because of construction taking place to widen the highway.

“From our standpoint it’s just a way to make the trails more enjoyable, provide some beautiful public art and enhance the experience of being out there,” Smith said.

The idea originated in cities like Helena, Missoula and Spokane, Washington, where public art displays have been successfully used to deter graffiti. Since there have been some instances of vandalism in the tunnels on the Kalispell trail, Smith decided, “maybe that’s a solution we ought to pursue.”

Since Smith is a cyclist, not an artist, he sought out the help of Alicia Shilling with the recently formed KALICO Art Center. “They’ve been awesome,” Smith said.

KALICO will assist with free community art workshops and the selection of the artwork that will eventually adorn the tunnel entrances.

The three tunnels are located within the public right of way, so Rails-to-Trails also had to work with the city of Kalispell and the Montana Department of Transportation to get all of the approvals to put the artwork in place. The tunnel near FVCC also has a maintenance agreement with the city of Kalispell, which added an extra step in the approval process, especially when the COVID-19 pandemic halted talks between the government and Rails-to-Trails.

But Smith said all of the project partners have been supportive of the idea, and it's finally ready to get underway.

The first step will be community art workshops, scheduled for January and February 2021. Then the project team will start accepting art proposals from local artists, and the winners can be expected to be selected by March.

The proposals will be subject to some general guidelines, like requirements that the art be family-friendly and avoid promoting any individual business or organization. The city of Kalispell and MDT will have final say in the selections.

Smith said the leaders of the project are leaving the doors open for the artists to express their creativity. There is no set vision in place for the kind of submissions they expect to receive, he said.

“We’ll wait and see what the artists come up with, and let their creativity based on the location drive what they might propose,” Smith said.

“I just think it’s going to be so much fun to bring this to the community,” he added.

The budget for the project is $500 per workshop and $2,500 per tunnel entrance.

Rails-to-Trails is actively seeking donations for the project, and checks can be sent to: Rails-to-Trails of NW Montana, Attn: Kip Smith, P.O. Box 1103, Kalispell, MT 59901.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at 758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.