01 Aug Round Up: Dana Boussard’s Triptych Installed in Montana State University’s Romney Hall Intimately Explores Gallatin Valley’s Past, Present, and Future

Montana-based artist Dana Boussard’s Earth to Hand, Hand to Earth, a visual narrative of Gallatin Valley’s history, was recently installed in Montana State University’s (MSU’s) historic Romney Hall as a part of a $32-million renovation of the 1920s structure, which added 1,000 classroom seats and created dedicated space for a number of student programs. Boussard’s three-panel work, commissioned by MSU and the Montana Arts Council, explores the past, present, and future of Gallatin Valley. 

“Dana’s works focus on images of home, memory, and meaning, and this triptych is an important part of her lifelong work,” says Montana Arts Council Executive Director Krys Holmes. “All public art projects are momentary encounters — however brief or enduring — that deepen our experience of the world. Even passing by an evocative artwork in a hallway can lower your blood pressure, enliven your brain cells, and spark some kind of new ideas, whether you even realize it or not. It’s important to have art in public spaces, where creative exploration and innovation can hunt us down in our daily lives and spark something new.”

With each panel measuring 44 by 55 inches, Boussard uses an intimate expression of symbols to engage her audience and depict the relationships people have with the greater Bozeman area, from the gold rush that precipitated the development of the Bozeman Trail that extended into the shared hunting grounds of the Lakota Sioux, Cheyenne, and Northern Arapaho; to the development of the town of Bozeman, creation of MSU, and construction of Romney Hall; to the artist’s imagined future of Gallatin Valley as a premier location for recreation, environmental preservation, and thoughtful land development. 

“History, whether crystallized in books or written by today’s actions, becomes the bedrock upon which we build our communities,” Boussard says. “While each of us makes our own history, we are fortunate to have the Big Sky of Montana arching overhead to guide us. Like anything symbolic, the truth reaches clarity only through the eyes of the viewer.”

With over 50 public works installed throughout the U.S., Boussard explores the ways people live within the natural world in an effort to inspire thoughtful reflection in her viewers. Each of her drawings, paintings, fiberworks, and glass installations is completed in her studio located on the Flathead Indian Reservation north of Missoula. 

“In my work, I try to address the stewardship that we need to exercise in order to maintain our quality of life,” Boussard says. “The universities play a major role in helping us understand our part in protecting this special place for everyone. Romney Hall, a beacon of history, has been renovated, not just in brick and mortar, but spiritually, to accept the next 100 years of educating Montanans and our core values that make this state great.”