Metamorphosis Gala 2025 Live Auction Preview

Seth Roby: Seth Roby was born and raised in Montrose, Colorado, and moved to Montana after serving in the Peace Corps. He Received a B.A. K-12 Art Education and B.F.A. in Printmaking from Western Colorado University in 2006 and an M.F.A. in Printmaking from New Mexico State University in 2010. His works have been exhibited both nationally and internationally. Currently, Seth Roby lives in Helena, MT, with his wife and two boys, Sparks and Sam, and runs the art department at Helena College.

Jules Schoebel: Most good stories start somewhere in the middle. I would have to say mine does as well. Currently residing in the beautiful town of Helena, MT. I find, like most artists, I’m always looking for my next adventure and opportunity to see new things, meet new people, and experience growth.

Traditionally trained to paint at a very early age, I have had the good fortune to study media arts and animation at the Art Institute in Las Vegas, where I have contracted for NASA and the Thunderbirds. I have also journeyed across the pond for a spell for a residency and exhibition at AIR Vallauris. Most recently, I have been shown in Extraction: On the Edge of the Abyss, published in Art Impact International: Femme Champions, and shown in Across the Divide.

I continue to experiment with new and innovative ways of mixing pop culture and classic icons with both traditional and digital media.

Galen McAllister: Galen “Mac” McAllister was born in Wisconsin and grew up in Bozeman, Montana, where he was lucky enough to receive a solid foundation in the arts through what was then a very strong program at Bozeman Senior High School.  ‘Mac’ served in both the Navy and Army in various positions until retirement, a career which culminated in over a decade in international affairs. His passion for creating never stopped.  In 2022, ‘Mac’ “re-retired” after a grand total of 34 years serving our country.  He then rebooted his creative skills through the excellent arts program at Helena College. 

‘Mac’ often focuses on three genres: the landscapes of Yellowstone and Southwestern Montana, reflecting a strong sense of place; surrealistic representations of his internal longings and challenges; and expressing his sense of the whimsical, unique fantasy art featuring ‘Fat Happy Dragons’.  

In the early 1980s, ‘Mac’ was represented in art galleries as well as featured in solo exhibitions Maryland, Michigan, and Montana.  Today, he’s taking head-on the challenge of once again being an ‘emerging artist’ trying to build an art career.

Abigail Rausch: Abigail Rausch is a Helena-based artist who embraces the whimsy of working with reclaimed materials. Her mobiles, stained glass, and paintings bring together natural elements and found objects, creating playful and evocative works that capture light, movement, and narrative. Birds, bones, and vibrant stained glass are recurring motifs, reflecting her passion for the unexpected beauty found in nature and discarded treasures.

Abigail’s artistic journey has taken her through a variety of funny and eclectic art-related roles, including henna artist at fairs, paint-your-own pottery instructor, political campaign graphic designer, and marketing professional. These experiences, combined with her deep love of teaching and creating, infuse her work with a sense of humor and a connection to community.

A graduate with a BA in Studio Art and a BA in History and Political Science, Abigail serves on the board of the Holter Museum of Art and is the Director of Marketing & Communications at Helena College. She also teaches classes and takes on custom commissions through her family’s stained glass studio. When not creating or teaching, she enjoys playing piano, hanging out in downtown Helena, playing cards, and spending time with family and friends.

Helen Rietz: Helen Rietz explores the backroads and byways of the West, meeting people and getting access to places most artists would never find. She then paints the iconic images of A Disappearing West, in a style unusual for a watercolor artist— with deep, rich color and “you can feel it” texture.

Helen and her husband Richard married shortly after graduate school, lived for many years in Northern California, then followed their hearts to Montana. In addition to painting, Helen is a dedicated rider in the natural horsemanship style of Buck Brannaman.

Cort Walsh: Cort Walsh was born and raised on a ranch near Butte, Montana, and currently resides in Helena, Montana. She has always been influenced by Butte’s mining history and has sought a career in environmental remediation. Walsh uses rocks she’s collected to make her own watercolor paints to capture the landscape she collected them from. She currently works as a State Superfund Environmental Project Officer with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.

Christina Barbachano: Christina Barbachano has loved her wandering life on this planet, which has landed her in Montana with her husband and two children.  Montana is the closest thing to home she knows as her mother is a 4th generation Montanan. Christina lived most of her childhood abroad where her history-loving father helped her find beauty in the landscapes, cultures and art of western Europe.  

She earned her BFA in Sculpture from Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia in 1998.  She went straight to graduate school at Mills College in Oakland, CA, where she received her MFA in Studio Art with an emphasis in Sculpture. While in California, she met her husband, Alex Bolotsky, an artist and craftsman in his own right.  At Mills, she was embedded in all of the MFA programs and worked collaboratively with a diverse group of artists, including dancers, musicians, writers, and performers of many kinds.  She grew up writing, dancing, and playing many instruments. 

Christina is inspired by color and vibration, texture and tactile surfaces, the inner and outer landscapes, and memory and time. She has a love of birds, lichen, open prairies that meet the mountains, and sacred rivers. Her artwork has explored tiny things that grow where it’s unexpected or unnoticed, the wild entanglement of all living things, birds, reproductive issues, insects, spines and backs, wings, landscapes and topography, maps, the figure, political arenas in Latin America, and feminism.  She works in clay, paint, collage, mixed-media, textiles and out in the environment. Somehow, as divergent as all these concepts and media seem, her work is still highly personal and biographical. The exploration of process, space, materials, rhythm, and vibration are dominant in her studio practice.

She has exhibited, curated and performed in many venues and countries for 30 years.  She is always looking for other artistic spirits with whom she can collaborate, create, and support.

This wandering life has most recently brought her to Helena and she is the newest Executive Director of the Holter Museum of Art.

Katy Kirby: A contemporary artist from the Pacific Northwest, Katy embarked on a cross-country journey two years ago. Traveling with her man and their dog, she immerses herself in each location. Katy draws inspiration from the landscapes, history, and the vibrant communities she encounters. This nomadic lifestyle fuels her artistic practice, expanding her reach and deepening her connection to the diverse beauty of the American experience.

Kate Huston: Kate Huston was born in New Mexico in 1971 during her early childhood she has moved to Boston where she attended Museum School of Fine Arts in 1995 and graduated with a BFA in arts education and Studio Art in 1999 Kate was accepted into the art residency at the Ucross Foundation in 2000 and after her residency she moved to Montana has resided there since currently residing outside the Bozeman area she has attended the residency at Montana Artist Refuge in Basin, Montana for the past three years. Several shows of her work have been exhibited throughout the state of Montana, including Aunt Dofes Hall of Recent Memory, Montana Artist Refuge Gallery, Radius Gallery, Jailhouse Gallery at the Myrna Loy, DADI art museum, Kirks Grocery in Billings, and at the Emerson Cultural Center in Bozeman, Montana.  She continues to create tiny box worlds of her own musings, including walk-in shadow boxes at Omerta Arts Gallery in Helena this upcoming summer 2025 and the Holter Art Museum.