*You must register to participate in this event!
We are offering 20 community members a chance to fabricate pedal powered machines in a 5 day session (for 5 Saturdays over 5 weeks) at Free Cycles, starting October 19th and ending on November 16th.
This in depth workshop will be offered on a donation income-based sliding scale of $95-$500. This workshop is funded in part by The Montana Arts Council. Your donation will help cover the costs of subsidized instructor time, supplies, and utilities.
Registration is open to all ages and abilities (though those under 15 will have to be accompanied by an adult). Participants will be introduced to the industrial processes that go into fabricating their bicycles at the commercial level. They will have an opportunity to learn how to use the tools of metal working to suit their individual creative needs.
Participant learners will be guided by expert instructors through the design of their pedal powered machines. Tool stations will be set up to accommodate many people working at once, with each monitored by skilled volunteers to ensure the participants safety and assist in any tool use questions which may arise.
In order to participate in this workshop, you must register below. We are offering 20 participant slots for this workshop on a first come first serve basis. Payment will be required on the day of the workshop. We will contact you via email in advance to let you know your spot is secured and any other important details.
MEET THE INSTRUCTORS:
Jesse Blumenthal was raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He attended UMass Amherst earning a BFA in Sculpture in 2007, and completed his graduate work at The University of Montana earning an MFA in 2019. Jesse made the high mountains of Southwestern Colorado his home base for both studio and community based art practices, rooted in the industrial arts, for almost a decade before moving to Montana in 2016. Jesse's work explores the Anthropocene by reflecting on the strains of the spaces between man and his environment. As an artist living in the west for the majority of his adult life, his recent work explores industrial materials and consumer technology in interdisciplinary arrangements that reflect on the natural environment. The clash of the natural represented within the inherently processed human material creates an ironic tension in the work. Embracing opportunity for community engagement, through the opportunities working in industrial material offers, has broadened the reach and accessibility of Blumenthal's practice. The open inclusion of participants into Blumenthal's artistic practice references contemporary political, social, and artistic movements.
James Walter has over a decade of experience in industrial and ornamental metal fabrication. He is an avid local bicycle advocate, serving on the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Board andthe nonprofit Pedal Missoula board. He is also an active participant in Missoula's frequent iron pour art events.
“The names Garrett Kelly, I've Lived in Missoula County 29 of my 30 years. I have been art oriented the whole while. I was educated through the University of Montana's Art Program with an emphasis in sculpture. My interests have directed me toward the intersection of form and utility, and how these two aspects seem to build the framework of how we interact with an object. I was introduced to Free Cycles, M.I.S.T., and the Missoula Urban Development Project, at a very early age. I believe the interactions I had with these organizations built the ground work for the way that i make art. My artistic practice is focused around utilizing and repurposing discarded materials or "rusty gold", as i like to refer to it, using what has been tossed aside to create useful goods and tools for my kith and kin.”