Related Events:

Exhibition Reception & Artist Talk: Friday, December 4, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. | Free to the public
Traditional Whisk Making Workshop: Saturday, December 5, 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Sign-ups open soon!

About this Exhibition:

Grace Brogan is an artist and broom maker practicing at the intersection of traditional craft and contemporary design. She graduated with a BA in Studio Art and English from the College of Saint Benedict in Minnesota, where she was raised, and went on to receive an MS in interdisciplinary Environmental Studies from the University of Montana in 2012, pursuing dual sustainable agriculture and writing tracks culminating in a thesis that combined social science research and stories of people who build livelihoods around ecological value and land-based practices, including farmers, builders, and artists. She went on to work with NGOs that supported such populations for a decade.

Simultaneously, she spent the last 15 years learning technique from craftspeople across the country in the mediums of fiber, ceramics, and wood. She prioritized study with broom makers particularly in 2009 and 2019 at North House and John C. Campbell Folk Schools, respectively. She participated in a winter residency at Penland School of Craft in 2020 to integrate more textile knowledge. In 2022, she participated in Montana’s Open AIR artist residency at Moon Randolph Homestead, integrating placed-based materials into her work. In 2023 she was selected to participate in John C. Campbell’s Broom Maker Mentorship to delve into advanced broom making techniques and explore the ins-and-outs of making a living as a broom maker with two of the nation’s most prestigious working broom makers.

Grace employs familiar household forms while also expanding into sculptural pieces that speak to those domestic items through the lens of texture and pattern found most frequently in wild places, contrasting the subdued earth tones of broomcorn (a variety of sorghum used in traditional broom making) and wood with subtle pops of color in her woodfired ceramics and woven cordage. The materials invite viewers to reflect on the items that surround our everyday lives as well as those that may be conspicuously absent and to consider the lines between labor and ritual, art and craft, home and nature, handmade and industrial.

Grace spends her time maintaining a studio practice, loving on her family, and trying - but usually failing - to prevent bindweed from overtaking her garden. In recent years, she was selected to participate in American Craft Council and Smithsonian Craft marketplaces, Penland’s Lucy Morgan Gallery, and two of her sculptural brooms were acquired by Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts for their permanent collection following the brooms’ inclusion in a group show highlighting young artists who are bridging the gap between the traditional and contemporary craft. When she’s not in her garage workshop, you can usually find her on the trails and rivers surrounding Missoula.

Acknowledgements:

This exhibition is sponsored by the Montana Art Gallery Directors Association (MAGDA), a state-wide service organization for non-profit museums & galleries, and supported in part by grants from the Montana Arts Council, a state agency funded by the State of Montana; coal severance taxes paid based upon coal mined in Montana and deposited in Montana's Cultural and Aesthetic Projects Trust Fund; and the National Endowment for the Arts.

This exhibition was organized at The Square by Nicole Maria Evans, Chief Curator/Director of Curatorial Affairs with assistance from Natalie Nicolson, Facilities Manager/ Preparator. Marketing designs by Sara Johnson, Culture & Engagement Manager. Exhibitions at the museum are supported in part by the Montana Arts Council, a state agency funded by the State of Montana, and the National Endowment for the Arts. We are funded in part by coal severance taxes paid based upon coal mined in Montana and deposited in Montana's cultural and aesthetic projects trust fund. Additional funding is provided by museum members and the citizens of Cascade County, Davidson Family Foundation, D.A. Davidson, Montana Credit Union, Hotel Arvon, First Interstate Bank, an anonymous donor, and Kelly’s Signs & Design.