Library plans artist receptions, talks and live paint demonstrations

The Flathead County Library invites the public to view three new art exhibits at its Kalispell, Bigfork and Columbia Falls locations.  

The Kalispell library will host an artist reception and live painting demo by Jane Latus Emmert from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Oct. 9. Refreshments will be served. Latus Emmert paints the outdoor life she lives and loves near Glacier National Park with a spontaneous style that captures the freedom of the wilderness.  Her oil paintings capture “when the West was wild and life moved at a gentler pace," according to a press release.   

The Bigfork library welcomes artist and mountaineer, Jonathan Marquis, for a reception and talk about his current work, The Glacier Drawing Project, from noon to 2 p.m. Oct. 18. The Glacier Drawing Project is reportedly the only on-site, hand-drawn visual record of the 59 named glacial features in the Crown of the Continent and Greater Yellowstone ecosystems of Montana. The drawings explore a personal connection with glaciers through color, mark-making, and careful attentiveness. The exhibit is sponsored by the Flathead Library Foundation.  

The Columbia Falls library will display the work of local artist and art educator, Tom Roberts, whose paintings focus on big game, wildlife and the Montana landscape. Roberts earned a degree in art education from the University of Northern Iowa in 1978 and has taught art for 40 years in Iowa, Virginia, Austria, Japan and Kalispell. His love for Montana was inspired in part by the 20 years that he and his wife, Cindy, spent as seasonal park rangers in Yellowstone National Park. Roberts worked as an interpretive guide, an experience that continues to influence his art.  

All exhibits will be on display through November.  

The Flathead County Library invites local artists to apply to have their artwork displayed at flatheadcountylibrary.org/programs/art-exhibits/.