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Arts missoula 2026 GRANT WINNERS
CONGRATULATIONS
2026 Arts Missoula Grants
The Arts Missoula Grants are designed to support artists in Missoula County by investing in the many needs that make art possible—whether that’s time, materials, professional development, or project costs.
Art-Making/Professional Development Grant - $2,500
Project-Based Award for Individual Artists - $2,500
Jesse blumenthal
Jesse intends to use the Professional Development/ Art Making grant to attend Wild Iron: The Alchemy and Art of Bloomery Smelting, a two-week immersive workshop in Montana focused on traditional ironmaking techniques. During the program, he will learn the full process of producing iron from raw materials, including creating charcoal, constructing a bloomery furnace from natural materials, sourcing and preparing iron ore, and ultimately forging bloom iron into functional or sculptural objects. This intensive experience represents advanced professional development that directly supports his established practice in blacksmithing, iron casting, and community-based education.
Building on this experience, Jesse plans to bring the knowledge back to Missoula through public-facing programming, including demonstrations, workshops, and at least one community lecture. His work emphasizes material history, collective labor, and accessibility, and he aims to use bloomery smelting as a powerful tool to connect participants with the origins of industrial materials while exploring themes of labor, environment, and shared making. By integrating these skills into his artistic and educational practice, Jesse will expand opportunities for hands-on, place-based arts engagement and deepen the community’s connection to both craft and cultural history.
To learn more about Jesse’s work we encourage you to visit his website.
Lauren Norby
Lauren plans to use the Project Based Arts Missoula grant to support the production of Winkup, a 15-minute original short film set in Montana. The story follows a young woman navigating grief and identity after a surreal encounter on her way to her grandfather’s funeral, exploring themes of rural versus urban life, nature versus technology, and aging and death.
Lauren’s work is deeply informed by his personal history and artistic journey. He grew up in the woods of Potomac, Montana, in a straw bale tiny home powered by solar energy without running water, raised by artisan parents who valued a return to nature. He later earned his MFA from the University of California, Santa Barbara and spent time in Los Angeles before choosing to return to Missoula, drawn by its sense of community and quality of life. Since returning, he has transitioned into video production and filmmaking, building on his background in digital media as an artist. Following the success of his first short film, $55 Private Room in a Safe Quiet Neighborhood, which screened at the Roxy Theater during the Montana Film Festival, Lauren sees Winkup as a critical step in developing his voice as a director, with the long-term goal of creating a feature film.
To learn more about Lauren’s work we encourage you to visit his website.
Congratulations To Our 2025 Grant Award Winners!
Craig Menteer
Craig holds an MFA from UM in Acting, and has been involved in local theater in Missoula for over 40 years. Craig has taken part in 20+ performing and directing roles, as well as commissioned several original pieces. Craig says, “My art and pedagogy move toward civic engagement. I seek to grasp issues with wit, beauty, magnanimity & charm. I remain open to the gifts the artistic process yields.”
How Craig plans to utilize the Arts Missoula Grant:
Craig plans to use the grant money to produce and direct The Thanksgiving Play by Larissa Fasthorse in Missoula, MT, in fall 2025. He will stage the play at Missoula Free Cycles, a grassroots community space, to reach new audiences and support local organizations. The funds will help employ four main actors, a chorus of high school students, a stage manager, a designer/technician, and himself as producer/director. The production aims to be both educational and entertaining, bringing theater to a non-traditional venue while involving youth and promoting community engagement. The goal of the play is to spark dialogue about cultural representation and challenge assumptions through humor and satire.
Kaitlynn Radloff
Kaitlynn Radloff (she/they) owns Sabertooth Studios here in Missoula. Kaitlynn is a queer artist, educator, and musician. Sabertooth Studio started in 2020 as a community-focused print shop fundraising for local organizations that support Queer and BIPOC youth in Milwaukee Wisconsin. Over the years, it has grown into a studio focused on activating people and spaces, educating communities about social and environmental issues, and creating work that celebrates the natural world.
How Kaitlynn plans to utilize the Arts Missoula Grant:
Kaitlynn will use the grant money to purchase key art-making equipment for her business, Sabertooth Studio, which focuses on community engagement and education through printmaking. The funds will support the development of a mobile art studio by helping her acquire a lightweight etching press, a mobile screen printing press, and a high-quality printer and scanner for stencil creation. She will also buy essential accessories like a heat gun and components for the etching press. This mobile setup will allow her to bring accessible, educational art experiences to rural schools, libraries, and community events. Kaitlynn’s goal is to create inclusive, creative spaces that celebrate the natural world while continuing to support organizations serving Queer and BIPOC youth.
Learn more about Kaitlynn HERE
Taylor Stein
Taylor Stein is a Freelance Editor and Creative Coach who earned her MFA from UM. For the past 8 years, she’s taught creative writing workshops through local organizations such as the Free Verse Writing Project, Open AIR (where she was also an Artist-in-Residence at the Moon-Randolph Homestead), MOLLI, and Word Dog. To dive into Taylor’s published fiction and poetry, self-published zines and art books, or sign up for her monthly mailing, The Wonder-Gizmos: A Snail Mail Creative Writing Club and Whimsy Machine, please visit steintaylor.com
How Taylor plans to utilize the Arts Missoula Grant:
Taylor will use the grant money to invest in essential equipment and tools that support her art-making and professional growth. A 3D printer and filament will allow her to meet the growing demand for her unique “shoe-book” designs, which she currently struggles to keep up with using only the public library’s resources. By owning her own equipment, Taylor can better manage production, maintain quality, and retain creative ownership of her 3D designs. A scanner will ensure accurate digital reproductions of her watercolor artwork, and Canva Pro will continue to support her zine-making and community-based collaborations. Overall, the grant will significantly increase her efficiency, reduce costs, and give her more time to focus on creating.
Dre Castillo
Dre’s paintings, drawings and photography are a collage/collections of their dreams and memories of tribal and ceremonial experiences in the Navajo traditions combined with their contemporary life’s experience. The mediums they use in their paintings are acrylic, watercolor and charcoal. Aside from painting they also do customized pencil, pen &ink, portrait sketches. In addition to their painting and sketches, they have been experimenting with wood burn and Dremel tool carving mixed with watercolor and ink. The products they have available to sell are original miniature paintings with easel to large paintings of various sizes, greeting cards, stickers and professional (paper & canvas) prints of various sizes, wood ornaments coasters and wall plates available.
How Dre plans to utilize the Arts Missoula Grant:
Dre will use the grant money to enhance their art-making practice and support their professional development by purchasing specialized equipment and covering part of their studio space costs. They plan to invest in the Best European Easel, a large, adjustable easel that supports oversized canvases and is ideal for creating impactful, large-scale community art projects focused on Indigenous issues. The easel’s flexibility and stability make it perfect for limited spaces like their apartment studio, while also allowing them to take on more ambitious and visible public works. They will also purchase the Mabel Revolving Painting Accessory to improve accessibility and reduce physical strain during detailed painting sessions, benefiting both them and community participants with limited mobility. In addition, Dre is requesting funds to cover 3.5 months of rent for their designated in-home studio space, which is essential for storing supplies, creating work, and managing their art business. This support will provide the time and resources needed to focus on meaningful community-based projects and expand their creative reach.
Abby French
Abby French is an artist and an Early Childhood Educator located in Missoula, Montana. Abbystract is her first published book. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree of Fine Arts from the University of Montana. Through the years she has discovered a passion for early childhood education, a sense of community, and has formed heartfelt relationships with Missoula families. Her wish is to expand on her artistic contributions to the community.
How Abby plans to utilize the Arts Missoula Grant:
Abby intends to use the grant money to create, publish, and market a children’s book about Iris the Osprey, a beloved local bird. The funds will support the cost of illustration materials, such as watercolor, marker, oil pastel, and paper collage, as well as the publishing and marketing process. Abby will conduct research on Iris through online resources and local organizations like the University of Montana’s Montana Osprey Project. The grant will allow Abby to pursue her dream of becoming a professional children’s book author and illustrator, building on her experience with her first book, Abbystract, which she self-funded. As a preschool teacher, Abby understands the importance of children’s literature and is passionate about using Iris’ story to teach young readers about nature and wildlife. The book will serve as a tool for community engagement, with events like public readings and story times to help inspire respect for animals and the environment.
Leonardo Calle
Leonardo Calle is a Missoula-based artist whose work explores perception, memory, and shared human experience through immersive visual narratives. Working under the name CalleArte, he creates ballpoint pen drawings, murals, dioramas, and interactive installations that challenge how we see and interpret the world. Using everyday materials—like a blue Bic pen, which fades over time—Leonardo Calle embraces imperfection and the transient nature of experience. His art, designed to be accessible and engaging, invites viewers to step outside the familiar, question assumptions, and discover new ways of seeing.
How Leonardo plans to utilize the Arts Missoula Grant:
This grant funding will directly support the production, presentation, and accessibility of CalleArte’s ballpoint pen drawing reproductions. Funds will be allocated toward printing high-quality display reproductions, purchasing exhibition materials, and setting up sales channels to reach a wider audience.
Das Canales–Brownkidleather
Das is a transmasculine, multidisciplinary artist specializing in leatherwork, garment construction, creative direction, and event planning. He integrates these disciplines through leather costume design, performance, and photography, creating work that is both deeply personal and culturally relevant. Over the past five years, Das has developed his creative practice with a focus on community building through the arts, cultivating spaces for collaboration, imagination, and collective expression.
His work is rooted in LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities, whose stories and perspectives inspire much of what he creates. Whether through empowering leather garments or inclusive performance spaces, Das aims to uplift marginalized voices and challenge societal norms, promoting authenticity, empathy, and cultural pride.
How Das plans to utilize the Arts Missoula Grant:
Das intends to utilize the grant money to bring to life an immersive leather fashion show called Fallen Angels: DiETY EMERGES that blends performance, fashion, and storytelling. The show will feature 10–15 performers wearing leather garments designed by Das, each piece reflecting the central theme of “emergence.” Set up so that the audience forms the stage, the performance will take viewers on a journey of self-becoming through the lens of a trans individual shedding societal expectations and embracing authenticity. The funds will support costume creation, performer compensation, and production needs for the event, which is expected to draw 150–300 attendees. Das envisions the show as a space for connection, empathy, and solidarity, where the Missoula community can gather to celebrate identity and transformation. Through movement, fashion, and narrative, the event aims to give voice to the trans experience while resonating with the universal human desire for self-expression and belonging.
