A couple days ago, my wife and I visited the Yellowstone Art Museum for a day date. The YAM as it is more commonly referred to, holds art exhibits regularly and on this day, the YAM was showcasing local talent with the theme “I refuse to be invisible”. The exhibition explores invisibility through the lens of contemporary African American and Native art and had many interesting pieces. Many of the pieces also used a QR code next to it that took you to a YouTube video of the artists explaining what they were trying to express in their piece. There was mixed media, glass, essay, paintings, cloth and ink pieces. It was very cool to get an in-depth explanation from the artist and then see if that meaning came through the work for us.

We picked up a couple pieces that we found in the lobby that called out to us for one reason or another. I walked by the Healing Hands Shield by Kevin Redstar and had to have it. I’m glad I picked it up instead of waiting because it was the last one available. It is signed and numbered (155 of 250). I’m going to make a custom frame with interactive lights for a project coming up. I had an idea for a framing project when we visited a pop-up gallery recently, but I was unable to obtain the pieces I wanted from that showing. We enjoyed the gallery and they had some pieces that sparked conversation. I was not surprised to see a whole area which featured COVID related art, as that has been a mainstay in everyone’s lives. There was a piece that made me laugh out loud though; it was a tattered cargo net hanging from the ceiling, and by tattered I mean completely useless as a net in general, and it was named “Thoughts and Prayers”. I thought it was aptly named too. Anyone on social media understands how over-saturated that term has become, making the sentiment about as useful as that net. It was one of my favorite pieces, I should have snapped a picture of it, but I’m sure you get the idea. A Montana couple had a whole wing, and there was plenty of questions I have for the artists about their work. There was an obvious fascination with female nudity and horses. Like anything in life, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

Overall, we enjoyed out visit and will visit again. It’s good to get extra culture injected into your life now and then.