Winter Festival & Winter Art Walk
We will kick off the Winterfest on Friday, February 10, 2023, with the Winter Art Walk from 4-8pm. Read on for more information about the “SOUP-er Bowl Challenge,” the Cocktail Challenge, a Display from Race to the Sky, Irish Dancers, Galentine’s Day Activities, and a Pet Adoption Event. Plus: Super Bowl Festivities!
“SOUP-er Bowl Challenge” and the Cocktail Challenge print off: 2023 Bingo Cards
Race to the Sky Display
- The 2023 Race to the Sky takes place from February 10-14. To celebrate, organizers have set up a full display in the Downtown Helena Inc. office at 330 N. Jackson St. Stop by to check it out!
- Plus, if you post a selfie at the display to your Instagram feed and tag @downtown_helena you’ll be entered to win a giveaway consisting of prizes from various Downtown Helena businesses, including ExplorationWorks! and Lasso the Moon! Limit is 1 entry per day. Unlimited bonus entries available if you post a selfie at the actual event in Lincoln!
SOUP-er Bowl Restaurant Challenge (February 9-13)
- Bingo Cards can be downloaded here. Paper copies are also available at the DHI office.
- Soup Descriptions:
- The Hopper: (Vegan) Cauliflower Cashew Bisque with Chili Garlic Oil, Toasted Sesame Cashews and Tendril Peas Microgreens or Pollo Enchilada with Guajillo, Ancho, Tomato, Spices, Tortilla Chips, and Cilantro
- Nosh Cafe: Cheeseburger Macaroni Soup with Deep-Fried Pickles
- Rockstarr BBQ: Smoked Brisket Chili with Chipotle Sour Cream and Cilantro
- Southpaw Tacos @ Mt. Ascension Brewing: Roasted Pumpkin Curry Southern Comfort Menudo
- Silver Star Steak Company: French Onion Soup (It’s a classic for a reason!)
- You are encouraged to try as many soups as possible over the course of the WinterFest. Just have your server initial the relevant bingo box.
- At the end of the challenge, return your card in person to the office, or email us a photo. Each soup tried will earn you one entry into a giveaway for a pair of gorgeous soup/chili mugs from Downtown’s own JMACs Pottery! You’ll also be able to vote on your favorite soup, and the winning establishment will receive a certificate plus all the glory.
Cocktail Challenge (February 9-13)
- Bingo Cards can be downloaded here. Paper copies are also available at the DHI office.
- Drink Descriptions:
- The Hawthorn: Balloons over Montana–A Slushie made with White Irish Cream, White Cocoa, and Cream served with an icy rim
- Rialto: Rialto Barrel-Aged Negroni (Gin, Campari, & Bitters) Served in a Rocks Glass over a Boulder, with a Freshly-cut Orange Wheel
- The Gold Bar & The Western: Fireside Old Fashioned–A classic old-fashioned sweetened with cranberry simple syrup, flavored with orange bitters, and muddled orange and Bordeaux cherries. The cocktail will be served in a smoked cinnamon glass–sure to warm you during these cold winter days.
- Silver Star Steak Company: Silver Star Winter Blues–A twist on the classic Side Car, using apricot brandy, Courvoisier VSOP, and Contreau + Silver Star Spring Fever (Mocktail), featuring basil, agave syrup, Lyres N/A Agave Blanco, and strawberry puree
- Gulch Distillers: Café Burroné –A Gulch take on the Espresso Martini, with Burrone Fernet, Montago Cold Brew, and House Crème De Cacao
- At the end of the challenge, return your card in person to the office, or email us a photo. Each drink tried earns you an entry into a giveaway for a prize basket!
- Remember to drink responsibly
Drink Local Social Media Challenge: Choose Your Brew (February 9-13)
- COFFEE: Post a photo of your drink from a local coffee shop on Instagram (to your feed!) and tag both the shop and @downtown_helena. Participants are limed to one entry per establishment per day (multiple entries per day are fine if spread across establishments).
- Participating Coffee Shops:
- BEER: Post a photo of your drink from a local coffee shop on Instagram (to your feed!) and tag both the shop and @downtown_helena. Participants are limed to one entry per establishment per day (multiple entries per day are fine if spread across establishments). Remember to drink responsibly
- Participating Breweries:
- Randomly chosen winners will receive a $50 gift card to the establishment of their choosing (1 winner for each)
First Annual Winter Art Walk (Friday, February 10 from 4-8pm)
- Map can be downloaded here: Winter Art Walk Map_2023
- Food truck and an ice sculpture on the walking mall!
- For the first time, attendees will be able to vote on their Favorite Host and Favorite Artist of the evening. Prizes will be awarded, and anyone who votes will be entered into a giveaway for Downtown Helena Nuggets!
- Check out the Soft Opening of Helena’s newest Art Space, Omerta Arts!
- The Confluence Taproom will be holding its Grand Opening the night of the Art Walk!
MORE
- At Stonetree Climbing Center: $10 Day Passes for WinterFest (February 9-13)
- ExplorationWorks! TinkerLab Heart Dissection on Saturday, February 11 from 12:30-2:30pm
- Pet Adoption Event with the Lewis & Clark Humane Society at Downtown Helena Inc. Office on Saturday, February 11 from 12:30-2:30pm.
- Come check out some sweet furry friends (and maybe take one home!)
- Bring donations for the shelter to be entered into a giveaway for $50 in Nuggets. See the wish list here.
- Carroll College: Women’s Basketball vs. Rocky Mountain College at 2pm and Men’s Basketball vs. Rocky Mountain College at 4pm on Saturday, February 11t
- Irish Dancers during both Intermissions!
- Opportunities for Prizes!
- Downdogs & Draughts Galentine’s Edition on Sunday, February 12 with Loft Yoga at Ten Mile Creek Brewery
- Yoga at 11am
- Pop-up Market with A Blue Macaron, Dear Potato, and Becky Schreiner with Green Compass
Art Walk Digital Map
Art Walk Registration - Host
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Register By February 4, 2023
Art Walk Registration - Artist
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Register By February 4, 2023
Art Walk - Participating Businesses
Live music by Queso Libre!

Artist: Kevin League
Kevin is a Helena, Montana based award-winning professional landscape, lifestyle and wildlife photographer capturing Montana and the western United States’ most beautiful, fleeting and fascinating moments.

Artist: Monster Maud
Monster Maud creates magical plush monsters, love bugs, and monster valentines. Snag a hand-sewn Monster heart for your sweetie!

Artist: G.V. Kelley
G.V. Kelley is a nonbinary artist making figurative ceramic work that explores ideas about non-binary gender through the hybridized animal/human as metaphor, with references to fantasy and science fiction.

Artist: Cory Krings
Cory Krings is a Jack-of-All-Trades and paper artist with a reputation for personalized and detailed small and large-scale paper cut snowflakes.

Artist: Samara Lynde
My name is Samara Lynde and I hand sew each Woolster from upcycled felted wool and cashmere. As they are created, their personalities come out, so each Woolster comes with his or her own backstory. I also take special orders for custom Wooolsters, so please drop me a note at samaral[email protected] if you would like a new Woolster made just for you.

Artist: Joy Kelso
Introducing Gulch Distiller’s Winter Walk Artist, Joy Kelso. Living in Helena, she began her self-taught art career after inheriting her candle business in 2019, and learning pottery during 2020. After finding her voice in minimal, Montanan art, she became a full-time ceramicist and starting her own Chandlery, Pottery, and Fiber Art studio: Modern Montana Makerie. She is most well known for her bison sculptures, named Montoya. She frequently can be found at home, where her fiber art studio resides.
United Way of Lewis and Clark Area is partnering up with Signs Now to host 2 artists!

Artist: Angelina Chase
Creating has always been a part of my life and I grew up with a love for crafts. Fast forward a few years as I’m scrolling pinterest and see a fabalous pair of leather earrings. I had to try making them because buying them would have been to easy! That ignited a flame and I now have a passion for working and creating with leather & feathers. My hope is that you will love our earrings and feel empowered and beautiful while wearing them!

Artist: Ruby Trench
An aspiring young artist / painter. A fifth grader with big dreams! She has actually sold paintings along with lemonade and cookies from her home in Unionville and also in East Helena. Come see Ruby’s work!

Artist: Abby Normal
Abby will be showing some framed originals and have an assortment of merch for vending. Shirts, prints, stickers, and resin/clay accessories etc.

Artist: Alexia Duncan
Colorful oil and acrylic painting created on reclaimed windows or wood. Subjects include wildlife, autos/tractors, and landscapes.

Artist: Barry Ferst
The gallery shows three-dimensional, interactive collages made from common, everyday objects.
Artist: Edwin Glass
Birds & Beasleys will be celebrating all of its artists!
Featuring all the artists in the store.

Artist: Absolute Zero Ice Design
Head to the Bullwhacker Block to witness the creation of a custom ice sculpture!
Artist: Neil Sauter
62 N Last Chance Gulch Valentine’s day specials up to 25% off.

Artist: Windy Valley Studio
Beguiling characters, colors and scenes grace this stoneware. Invoked from earth, fire and a dash of pluckiness.

Artist: Rebecca Wells Fine Art
Original acrylic and oil paintings plus prints, mugs, cards & coasters.

Artist: Just Claire Pottery
Local artist creating colorful, functional pottery featuring decals, glaze resists and a few buttocks.

Artist: Bob & Rachel Krug
Local jewelers and designers and the owners of Imagine Designs, Jewelry Studio.
800 Front St
The basement of the New York Building has a large open space where the entrances to Birdseye, Jay Crider’s new studio, Seth Roby’s printmaking studio all face. For the art walk, Birdseye will be open, Jay Crider is having a grand opening of his space, and the Helena College art students will be set up in the atrium with a table. Birdseye will have special Valentine’s Day designs for sale!
Proof will also feature the live music of local singer/songwriter David Burke of Bouquet of Treasons. He will be performing many covers and originals.
318 N Last Chance Gulch

Artist: Leah Cupino
“I hunt for a rapid instinctual affair of building on a surface. In ritual, I melt, mix, smear, scratch, drip, and drive into what I can touch right now. Vibrant pigments made from the earth are mixed with ash, snow, egg and oil. I watch my brush and fingers advance; my interior landscapes are impulsively revealed in layers. The inviolable space I create is wholly my own yet lives on well without me.”

Artist: Seth Roby
What is the totality of a single event or experience?. My images attempt to answer this by unpacking the influences of society, culture and environment using pieces or fragments of printed materials. I appropriate image structures and formats to create new dialogues between past and present events trying to find a common ground, understanding or truth. My work relies on pieces and fragments put together to attempt to define all that is going on at a moment. Pieces are a way of describing a singular event that adds up to a much larger whole. When using a “piece” juxtaposed with another, a new relationship or understanding is revealed; small moments add up to a bigger meaning.

Artist: Mackenzie Petersen
Ceramic pieces that play with biological forms to celebrate the beauty of flowers.
Stop by to see the Race to the Sky display!
Race to the Sky takes place from February 10-14. To celebrate, organizers have set up a full display in the Downtown Helena Inc office at 330 N. Jackson St.
Take a selfie of yourself at the display and post it to your Instagram feed and tag @downtown_helena to be entered into a giveaway consisting of prizes from various Downtown Helena businesses! Limit is 1 entry per day. Unlimited bonus entries available if you post a selfie at the actual Race to the Sky in Lincoln!
111 N. Last Chance Gulch
Artist: Megan Malkin
Texture Art
Artist: Dolce Flower Co.
Watercolor Prints

Artist: Rae Senarighi: Transcend
Montana born artist, Rae Senarighi brings his large scale portraits to the Holter’s largest gallery in Transcend, portraying and celebrating accurate representation of Transgender and Nonbinary individuals. With vivid and bold colors these portraits radiate the brilliance of the individuals and celebrate accepting and loving one’s self.
Artist: Transilience
TransVisible Montana and the Holter have partnered with Transgender, Nonbinary, and Two Spirit Artists for the grand re-opening of the Museum from January through March of 2023! This partnership was formed with the mission of bringing artists from within and around Montana to promote visibility, to honor and celebrate the work, impact, and contributions of Transgender, Nonbinary, and Two Spirit Artists from in and around Montana.

Artist: JoDav
As a teen, Joe fell in love with graffiti but growing up in the country there were no abandoned buildings or empty trains to practice this art form. So, he did the next best thing by sketching his work. He started to find a passion of taking ordinary letters and making them colorfully vivid works of art.
After a trip to Europe, he was inspired by numerous art galleries and the quaint town of Brugge to attempt oil painting- thus JoDav Art was born.
Joe is modest about his art, refusing to sign anything- he feels his art belongs to those who own it. He hopes his art allows you to get lost in the beauty of bright colors and brings joy or any form of emotion, just as it does for him.
320 N Last Chance Gulch

Artist: Jeff Camplese
Jeff Camplese is a finish carpenter and woodworker who has been creating and crafting for over 35 years. He specializes in building stand-alone and built-in cabinetry, custom furniture, and trim work.Throughout the years some projects he has been involved with are detailed libraries, fireplace mantels, beamed ceilings, curved staircases as well as numerous bathroom and kitchen renovations.
Originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, he attended Montana State University in Bozeman. He completed his studies and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in 1981. It was during these years that his love for and desire to live in Montana became ingrained, he knew that he would always want to return someday. After graduating, he returned to Indiana and got his first job in the building business. He spent the next following years learning about the woodworking trade, acquiring valuable experience and tools, and gaining an understanding of the process of designing and completing various building projects.
In 1994, he relocated to Helena, Montana, where he continues to live with his wife Deborah and their 2 black Labs. He owns his own business now, Rising Sun Woodworking and while passionate about his work, he is also appreciative of the many outdoor recreational opportunities and subtle characteristics that make Montana what it is. The fishing, hunting, hiking, rivers, snow, mountains, hard blue skies and wide-open spaces that provide many opportunities for special time away from work. He takes full advantage of these as his schedule allows. He has become totally addicted to what may quite possibly be the most fulfilling and enjoyable pastime there is: fly fishing. Recently, he has been building wooden shadowbox fly displays as a way to enjoy and show appreciation for the lifelong pursuit of a sport we can all take part in.

Artist: Michael Tommerup
Helena, Montana is my home and we are surrounded by incredible beauty! However, the most beautiful treasure of this state is the unique wood. Each piece I work with is unique and there will never be another like it. The best part of working with wood is see the grain develop as it is carefully finished. Making wooden items is my passion and it shows in my work.
Artist: Kara Campell
Jewelry!

Artist: Jacob McEachern
Photography
The Confluence Tapworks
40 S Last Chance Gulch
GRAND OPENING!!!
Live Music with Chad Okrush
Artist: Chad Okrush
Live music!
