Our Story

About The Holter

The Holter Museum inspires, connects, and heals our community through contemporary exhibitions and innovative arts programming.

The Holter is dedicated to bringing the healing powers of art to all communities. Through our unique and progressive arts programming, exhibitions, and events, the Holter includes all youth, adults, and the health community to bring creativity and accepting spaces for those in the community to come together to make innovative and unique relationships and experiences.

History of the Holter

The Holter opened in 1987, providing a space for the Helena community to experience contemporary art in central Montana. The museum has grown tremendously since that time, thanks to a successful capital campaign in 2002, adding 6,500 square ft. to create a dynamic 17,000 square ft. facility. Our museum is considered one of the finest in the state, consisting of five exhibition galleries, an education center, and a collections & research center. Offering over twenty rotating exhibitions each year, art education for all art lovers, artist residencies, lectures, receptions, and more – the Holter is among the premier cultural centers in the region.

Land Recognition

Please note that this recognition is actively being worked on.

The hope is that this verbal/written acknowledgement of indigenous lands goes beyond the intent of recognition and holds the Holter to actively working with Helena’s tribal communities to listen and respond to expressed needs and wants, and to have programming designed with and for native voices and for the greater Helena community.

The Holter Museum of Art recognizes the land in and around Helena, Montana and the space upon which the museum stands as traditional Blackfoot and Salish Kootenai territories, and at one point in time, Shoshone territory as well. This recognition is meant as an acknowledgement of the space the museum holds within colonized lands and the significance, as a cultural and educational space, the museum must place on Indian Education for All and on the representation of Native voices within the contemporary arts world.

For more information and resources, look to:

Eastern Shoshone Tribe – http://www.easternshoshone.org/about.html
Blackfeet Nation – https://blackfeetnation.com/
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes – https://csktribes.org/
Montana’s Indian Education for All – https://opi.mt.gov/Educators/Teaching-Learning/Indian-Education-for-All
Institute of American Indian Arts (AIAI) for contemporary Native artists, Native art world news, and resources for up and coming Native artists – https://iaia.edu/
Native Lands, a website mapping Indigenous nations by territories, languages, and treaties. Native Lands has a thorough explanation of the need for and problems presented by Land Acknowledgements without equal action – https://native-land.ca/