A unique art program, A VOICE, celebrates 20 years as a nonprofit serving youth on the Flathead Indian Reservation.  

A VOICE is a photography program that stands for art vision and outreach in community education. Passionate teacher and photographer David Spear co-founded this organization with his wife, Jill Erickson, to reach underserved communities. The program operates out of Two Eagle River School. 

Spear found his passion for photography right out of high school and flew across the country to study it in Santa Barbara, Calif., at what was then known as Brooks Institute. He describes the program as technical and business-oriented, and before graduating, he knew commercial photography was not the path he wanted to pursue.  

Coincidentally, at the same time, he had a friend who had visited Missoula and described it to him as “an incredibly visual place.” After graduation, he headed to Montana in search of a photo-focused job, but no one had room to hire him.  

With student loans requiring repayment, he returned to the East Coast and accepted a commercial photography job and spent his summers in Montana. After he repaid the loans, he moved to Columbia Falls, where he lived for a few years, selling his images of Glacier National Park to local art galleries and publishing work in local newspapers.  

But then he saw an advertisement for a museum studies program at the International Center of Photography in New York City. This was an internship that would allow him to focus on his own work.  

He applied and was accepted into the program. At the museum, he learned the history of photography and documentary photography. After completing his second year in the program, he was offered a full-time position.  

He served as the darkroom coordinator, and after some time, he was invited to live in the mansion where the museum was housed. It was in the city's rich, old neighborhood on the Upper East Side, and Spear served as night security.  

“I was living in New York for rent-free. I wasn't making a huge salary, necessarily, but I wasn't paying other expenses,” Spear said. “Within about a year or so, (Cornell Capa, the museum founder) asked me to quit the darkroom job and become the house photographer.”  

Spear explained that the job sounds romantic, but essentially, he was photographing art openings and copying photographs. There were new exhibits every six weeks, during which renowned photographers shared their work.  

Using the camera to tell stories 

Two blocks away from the museum was East Harlem, one of the city's poorest neighborhoods. While he was standing in the old wealthy neighborhood looking onto East Harlem, he had the idea of starting a program to reach people who might not normally be able to access what the museum had.  

He launched a program that allowed students to photograph themselves and their own communities and process their film at the museum. It taught them to be photographers just like everyone else at the museum.  

“I realized that the programs that we were building and the things we were doing was allowing photography to get into the hands of people who might not have access to it,” Spear said. “I care about photography and the bigger picture of it. I was excited about that idea.” 

Spear spent 11 years teaching this storytelling program, serving underserved communities across New York City. When he wasn’t teaching classes, he spent the evening with the museum's collection, learning about the different types of photography documenting different cultures.  

Eventually, in the early 2000s, he and Jill purchased land in Polson and moved to the Mission Valley shortly after.  

“I was a little nervous leaving, because I didn't know what I was walking into, what was coming next,” he said.  

Jill told him to bring the idea to Mission Valley. So, Spear pitched the idea to Two Eagle River School. In 2006, they established the nonprofit known as A VOICE, which is primarily grant-funded.  

Spear explained that the 20 years of teaching photography and visual storytelling at Two Eagle went by quickly.  

Showing up “is the most important thing” 

Through A VOICE, Spear works with his high school students to document their own communities and experiences. They have produced multiple visual story projects over the years.  

Josey Trahan Usher, one of Spear's students, explained that she has always enjoyed photography, and his class has let her explore how to use a camera, which she was "totally hyped about." Trahan Usher said she enjoys documenting the community because it helps her get to know her community better.

During one of Spear's classes on Feb. 5, students had the opportunity to meet Stacy Revere, an Indigenous Getty Images sports photographer, via Zoom. Revere will continue to meet with the class throughout the semester and is one of the many opportunities students have to connect with photography professionals. 

Trahan Usher, who is a senior this year, said Spear is a great teacher who teaches many skills. She also plans to continue pursuing photography as a hobby after she graduates. 

Ten years into the organization's existence, he attempted to publish the students' work in a book, but a printing issue prevented its distribution. Now 20 years in, Spear is designing another book with black-and-white film and digital images, which he plans to make bigger and better.  

“I want to be able to print about 10,000 copies. I want to be able to give a free copy to every tribal member,” he said. “We would also like to have a free copy given to every public school library in the state of Montana, so that the work of our students in this particular place can be seen by young people from throughout the state.”  

He hopes to raise $30,000 to $40,000 to print and distribute this book.  

Spear has also been an adjunct professor at Salish Kootenai College for the past few years, where he has developed a photography certificate program. Here, he has prepared students for further education opportunities in photography and connected them with his previous students in New York City.  

Spear said the biggest thing he’s learned teaching these programs is consistency. There are years where funding is a struggle and grants don’t work out, but showing up where he says he will be is the most important thing.  

One winter, he learned that grant funding wasn’t coming through for the semester, so he took his own work and shipped it off in hopes of making some money. He took portraits of his father and sent them to a United Kingdom magazine, and sent baseball photos from New York City to the New York Times.  

The Times wasn’t interested, but the magazine purchased the rights to his work and that paid for a year of A VOICE. Spear said that consistency is not only key in operating the program but also in all the projects they do.  

“Each process is unique, and each program plays out in its own way,” Spear said. “So, we've been there for that, and that's the thing I take as the most important thing, whether we're talking photography every day, or we're talking about what people are doing in their lives.”  

To learn more about A VOICE or view their work, visit www.avoice-outreach.org. 

    David Spear talks with his student, Dezalynn Lindquist, about the pictures she took at Salish Kootenai College. (Emily Messer/Leader)