Downtown Riverside Art Walls (DRAW) Project

The Downtown Riverside Art Walls Project (DRAW) aims to beautify the NorthWestern Energy electrical substation in Downtown Missoula by enveloping it with artwork by living Native American artists from the cultures that first lived in this valley. It especially showcases Salish and Blackfoot drawings, paintings, and poetry.

This project will be completed in three phases, with Phase One completed in September 2025. Featuring Salish artists Frank Finley, Debra Magpie Earling, Vic and April Charlo, and Aspen Decker, the first phase of the project is located on the substation’s East facing wall along Pattee Street. When completed, the DRAW project will cover 4,700 square feet of concrete walls surrounding the recently updated substation with Montana Indigenous visual and language art murals. The south, west, and north walls will be installed in early 2026.

This project not only provides free, accessible art for everyone but also meets multiple goals in the Missoula Downtown Master Plan (MDMP). Art enhances public spaces and plays an important role in many communities throughout the country’s history. Art not only is representational of a community and its culture but also invokes placemaking. Big art celebrates a place’s culture and is iconic; it is unique and belongs solely to that community.

More information can be found on the Downtown Missoula Partnership’s website.