Applications for 2027 will open in December, 2026. Check back then!
A partnership between the Flathead National Forest, Helena-Lewis & Clark National Forest, Glacier Art Museum and Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation.
Each summer this program places artists from various disciplines, media, and styles in remote backcountry cabins in the Great Bear or Bob Marshall Wilderness areas. During their one- to two-week stay, selected artists create work in a beautiful, remote setting. In return, the artists share a public presentation or workshop related to their residency experience with the community.
The residency provides the unique opportunity for artists to reside in historic cabins within designated Wilderness. Cabins are anywhere from five to 15 miles from the nearest trailhead, and offer a variety of experiences depending on the cabin chosen.
Wilderness values, natural processes and features, history, wildlife, resource management issues, and other topics related to Wilderness and wilderness management are used as themes around which artists' residencies are organized. All media of art work is encouraged. Since the program’s first summer in 2004, more than 50 artists have participated in this program.
Artists are invited to apply for the Artist Wilderness Connection program each winter. The program hosts three artists in cabins on the Flathead and Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest during the months of July, August, and September. For more information, please contact the BMWF at 406-387-3808 or trails@bmwf.org.
Meet our 2026 Artists
Ginny Lefler: Raised on the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers; Ginny is a quilter and textile artist now living in NW Montana. Ginny’s work seeks to explore our relationship with the land, the role textiles play in our lives, and where the two intersect. She is interested in the history evident in textile work, and how we carry that history forward into our own lives. Ginny’s works are inspired by stories, photographs, memories, inherited traditions, and places near and far; seeking to make works that are functional and will grow and change with time.
www.etsy.com/shop/ConfluenceQuilts
instagram.com/confluencequilts/
Emily Roach is a career Wildlife Biologist and Artist who uses her knowledge and experiences with wildlife to inspire her art, and vice versa. She explores themes of nature and wildlife, striving to convey a sense of whimsy with accurate portrayals of the natural world. One of her main goals is to ignite a sense of empathy and connection between her audience and the subjects in her pieces. Emily specializes in watercolors but enjoys incorporating other mediums into her work as well. Her mission is to get others engaged in nature and art and to foster easygoing and creative spaces for others.
In her free time she loves hiking or backpacking with her dog, painting (obviously), snowboarding, aerial silks, and crafting of any kind.
larksong-studios.squarespace.com
instagram.com/larksong_studios/
Karen Minton is an artist based in Whitefish, MT, whose current work explores the concepts and methods of the Tonalism movement of the late 1800s. Through a careful study of light, value, and mood, her oil paintings draw from familiar landscapes, transforming them into meditative spaces that invite viewers not just to observe, but to be immersed in a sense of peace and stillness.
Maddie Tucker is a visual artist and musician born and raised in Missoula, MT. She began creating art as a little girl, and from the beginning she’s been drawn to the natural world as her primary subject matter. In college she took an oil painting class on a whim and fell in love with the medium. Since graduating in 2020, she’s continued to hone her craft primarily as an oil painter, and began participating in local art markets in the summer of 2025.
As an avid trail runner, climber, and mountain biker, Maddie has always found peace in movement. She tries to infuse her artwork with the electricity that she feels when she's in motion, or observing the movements of the world around her.
Past Artists’ Projects
Filmed in August 2012 for the Artist Wilderness Connection. Artist Residency program through the Hockaday Museum of Art, U.S. Forest Service, Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation, and the Swan Ecosystem Center. This artistic collaboration was filmed at the Spruce Park U.S. Forest Service Cabin in the Great Bear Wilderness, MT.
Mandy Mohler. Director of Photography. www.MandyMohler.com
Bettreena Jaeger and Josh Harvey of Betty and the Boy. Vocals, Guitar, Mandolin. www.BettyAndTheBoy.com
Kati O'Toole. Vocals, Guitar. www.KatiOToole.com
Alex Hogle. Mandolin.
The film was edited by Jeri Rafter. www.jerirafter.com
2016 Artist in Residence - Artist-Wilderness-Connection: A Collaborative Project managed by Flathead National Forest, Hockaday Museum of Art, Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation and the Swan Valley Connections
This short recap video is from Kenneth Yarus' and Richie Carter's last 10 days of painting and adventuring in the Great Bear Wilderness as participants in the 2016 Artist-Wilderness-Connection program.