Local troubadour John Dunnigan has been making music in Whitefish since he moved to the Flathead Valley in 1978. Last month, the Montana Arts Council recognized his contribution to the state’s arts culture with the Governor’s Arts Award. 

Dunnigan was aware of the nomination but had forgotten about it for a couple months, when he received word from the Arts Council.  

“I've been playing around here for a hundred billion years. Sooner or later, I was bound to get nominated,” he said laughing. “Then, I got this email that said, ‘You won.’ So, that’s really cool.” 

Montana’s Governor’s Arts Awards recognize the careers of accomplished Montanans and Montana organizations working in the visual, performing, literary and traditional arts. 

Dunnigan plays the acoustic guitar, electric guitar, banjo, various slide guitars and harmonica. He said he has yet to announce the award on his social media. 

“Blowing my own horn is not something I like to do that much,” Dunnigan said.  

Lucky for him, artists must be nominated to be considered for a Governor's Arts Award. Dunnigan’s friend and neighbor, Amy Ridgeway, was one of a handful of people who wrote to the Arts Council on his behalf. 

“John’s original music might be described as country folk,” Ridgeway wrote. “His lyrical writing is thought-provoking and emotional, depicting the realities of loving and living throughout life, but it also has so much humor. He’s a laugh-while-you-cry kind of guy to listen to.”  

Nominees are evaluated on four major criteria: achievement and artistic excellence, dedication to Montana, ongoing contributions to the cultural community and worthiness of recognition. 

Dunnigan’s work ethic is one factor that allows him to meet those criteria. He lugged his equipment up Big Mountain for 37 years to play in the building that now houses Ed and Mully’s, an average of five nights a week. 

“I remember doing the après ski thing from 4-7 p.m. at [Moguls] then running across the street to the Bierstube and filling in, playing guitar in the band,” he recalled. “Man, it was fun.” 

Ridgeway said Dunnigan’s “ongoing contributions to the cultural community” speak to the award’s ‘dedication to Montana’ requirement.  

“John has devoted his life in this small-town community to making a living by sharing his music and talent,” Ridgeway wrote. “The people of this town adore him. He mingles with his crowds and seems to know everyone by name.  

“He is genuinely invested in his followers and fans, is so appreciative of them all, and always shows up to give his best which is pretty fabulous,” she added. 

While Dunnigan doesn’t know everyone’s name, he does make an effort to remember them. 

“I do focus on people’s names,” he said. “I have a little system. I write it down in a little journal – not only some people, but the owner, the waiter and the bartender.” 

The second phase of the award determination involves a committee of artists who evaluate the finalists’ merits and choose the awardees every two years. In early December, medals are presented to the winners at the state Capitol. 

The fame Dunnigan enjoys is sometimes boosted and sometimes tempered by comments from audience members. He says he can’t play a gig in Whitefish without someone telling him, “We saw you back in the 80s on Big Mountain.” 

Lately, he’s been getting a response that stings a little. 

“They’ll come to me and say, ‘Oh, my grandparents love you.’” he said. “That hurts.” 

Other 2024 Governor's Arts Awards honorees include Jackie Larson Bread, an innovative bead artist, Jim Dolan, a metal sculptor, musician John Lowell, and Mary Gayle Shanahan, a portrait painter.