A group of local artists dubbed “A Six Women Collective” are collaborating for a one-night-only pop-up art show during Whitefish Gallery Nights, on Thursday, Aug. 7 from 5 - 8 p.m.  

The show will be at Stark Gallery, located at 244 Spokane Ave. Suite 3, above Bookworks.  

In the 2025 Collective is Olivia Stark, Heidi Marie Faessel, Kage Harp, Jessy Hanson, Alisha Shilling and Raina Pratt.  

The group meets every month to encourage and support each other in both art and life and are showing their work together for the first time.  

“The commonality within our group is the shared experience of being mothers, creating art,” Hanson said. “It helps to have that common ground, and to encourage each other as we’re navigating the art world and motherhood in the valley.” 

The women collectively span the timeline of motherhood. Among the six of them, they have young children, teens, college students and grandchildren.  

“We span the generations of being of a mother, which is beautiful,” Hanson said. “Even for those of us who have children who have left the home, you never quit mothering.” 

Hanson said her artwork is rooted in story and home, and “motherhood is a buildup of stories.” 

“And I know for us, it’s hard to separate one path from the other. It is an extension of that care and intention that we put into creating and living.”  

Collectively, the group’s works span several mediums of art, from painting and sculpture to photography and poetry. 

Alisha Shilling is the photographer in the group. She has advocated for the arts across the valley, contributing to several murals and works on traffic signal boxes through the nonprofit KALICO.  

Kalispell based Raina Pratt is a multitalented lyricist and songwriter, painting in moody color and sweeping movement. 

Olivia Stark leans toward abstract expression as a mixed media painter and emerging ceramist. Her art often centers on childhood memories, dreamy themes and wishful thinking.  

Heidi Marie Faessel is a multidisciplinary artist who creates abstract paintings and sculptures made from salvaged materials, exploring themes of impermanence and interconnection.  

Kage Harp is a mixed media painter, using primarily acrylic, charcoal, chalk, graphite and oil pastel. Splitting her time between Montana and the Gulf Coast, she looks to the rhythms and open spaces of big skies and coastal waters for inspiration.  

While it’s the first time the women’s artwork will be on display together, the group says they expect their commonalities to surface in the details, as shared emotions and their colors physically align within the pop-up.

A group of local artists dubbed "A Six Women Collective" pause for a picture while hanging their artworks at the Whitefish office space turned gallery on Tuesday, July 5, in preparation for their pop-up art show. From left to right is Jessy Hanson, Alisha Shilling, Heidi Marie Faessel, Olivia Stark and Kage Harp, with Raina Pratt not pictured. (Kelsey Evans/Whitefish Pilot)