The first ArtsFest MONTANA kicks off in Great Falls on Aug. 23.

The event is hosted by the Great Falls Improvement District in partnership with Great Falls Montana Tourism and NeighborWorks Great Falls.

Mural festival idea developing for Great Falls

During the festival, artists will install a minimum of three large scale murals on buildings in downtown Great Falls and the BID is inviting property owners within the district to apply to have their buildings considered for the public art.

Cameron Moberg, an internationally known artist, is returning and will install one of the new murals during the festival.

Moberg was in Great Falls last fall painting murals on the side of the Hi-Line Climbing Center and Dragonfly Dry Goods.

Six Montana artists will be selected to work collaboratively with Moberg in two groups to install the other two new murals downtown.

Interested property owners can submit an application to the BID by 12:30 p.m. Aug. 2. Applications received after the deadline may not be considered.

The building application is available here, or by emailing info@greatfallsbid.com or call 727-5430 with any questions or go to http://www.greatfallsbid.com.

ArtsFest MONTANA will also include three walking tours downtown on Aug. 24. Tickets are now on sale for $25 and each tour is limited to 20 people.

All tours begin at the statue of Charlie Russell and his horse, Monte. Participants will be treated to some history of the arts in Great Falls. From there participants will walk from one location, to the next, viewing existing artwork and murals that are being installed during ArtsFest MONTANA 2019.

Tickets for the 11 a.m. tour are available here.

Tickets for the 1 p.m. tour are available here.

Tickets for the 3 p.m. tour are available here.

The festival includes an artists workshop to introduce Montana artists to the “how to” of installation of large scale projects and what an artist should be able to charge for mural work.

Moberg will lead the workshop from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 23.

Internationally known muralist adding art to downtown Great Falls

“Artists will leave this workshop with the tools they need to create large scale projects,” according to the BID. “Our goal is that these same artists will be involved in our future ArtsFest events.”

Lunch is included in the non-refundable registration fee of $20.

Space is limited for this workshop, so register early.

From the artists who apply to attend the Artist Workshop, the organizers will be select six individuals to work collaboratively with Moberg on the installation of two new murals.

Artists must participate in the workshop to be considered for mural installation.

The artist application is available here or info@greatfallsbid.com or call 727-5430 with any questions.

The application deadline is 12:30 p.m. July 31 and late applications may not be considered.