Spontaneous Art in Missoula Montana

Last week I wrote about appropriating Missoula’s public spaces for a renegade art show in the alley. As I was still setting up the show, a young mother walked into the alley with her two young sons. I stopped setting up and grabbed a roll of newsprint that I had and tore off a generous sized piece. I duct taped it to the ground and set out two pint glasses of colored Sharpies.

“Are you guys artists?” I asked , inviting them to draw on the paper as I continued setting up. I wanted to keep their mother in the alley so that she could see all of the work, and also so that her presence might attract other people into the alley to look at the art.

The kids colored away busily as I finished setting up. Their mother looked at all of the art, and she was the one who said, “I’m so glad you’re doing this!” Over the course of the evening, many other kids would attack the Sharpies and fill the newsprint with their own spontaneous art. And when I say that they attacked the Sharpies, I’m serious. I’ve never seen such dented Sharpies as I did after those kids used them.



But it wasn’t just the kids that were busy coloring away. I caught at least three adults over the course of the evening gripping the colorful markers and losing themselves for a few minutes.