There are certain moments in Missoula when everything just clicks. When the air, the people, the pace, and the purpose all align. This past First Friday was one of those nights. And for me, it started with something simple and joyful: taking my Vespa, Gigi, out for her first ride of the season.
There is truly nothing better than that first glide through a Missoula spring. The first thing I always notice is the smell. Fresh earth, budding trees and a city waking back up. Gigi hummed beneath me as we cruised around, and right away, I could tell this First Friday was going to be something special.
Arts Missoula staff were out and about all over town, soaking it in and connecting with the community. We made our way through the Frame of Mind Juried Art Expo, with a food truck and supporters and artists. To the Missoula Symphony, Montana Museum of Art and Culture, the Missoula Art Museum, and the historic Florence Building for artist talks, exhibitions and beverages.
We hit the Artist Shop, Radius Gallery, and Dana Gallery, each space offering its own flavor, its own perspective, its own invitation to pause and take something in.
But what struck me most wasn’t just the art, it was the people.
Missoula came out.
We saw folks chatting and smiling and and kids wandering wide-eyed. Adults moved more slowly, more deliberately seeming to linger in conversations, taking their time, letting curiosity lead the way. It felt like collective calm.
I spied the Missoula Downtown Association’s alley activation; such a beautiful use of space and the City Band playing in the Senior Center parking lot, complete with a food truck and tables that invited people to sit, stay, and enjoy. There was music happening near the X’s, and again on the corner of 1889. Everywhere I turned, something was unfolding.
And yet, despite all of that, it didn’t feel chaotic.
That’s the magic of First Friday.
With so much happening on nearly every corner and behind every doorway, you might expect it to feel frenetic. But it wasn’t. It was easy. It was joyful. It was human. The weather certainly did its part. Thank you!! Sunny and generous and smiling on us.
It got me thinking about the organic nature of First Friday. This isn’t a top-down, super programmed event. It’s a living, breathing expression of a community choosing to show up. It’s artists opening their doors. It’s organizations offering space. It’s musicians stepping onto corners. It’s neighbors deciding to take a walk and see what they might discover.
It is, at its core, a shared experience of togetherness held together by the thread of artistic expression.
Maybe not everyone walking around clocked that they were participating in an arts celebration. But I think they felt it. They knew they were part of something larger than any one organization or venue. And there was no pressure, no strict schedule, no “must-see” list, no urgency about where to be at any given moment.
For a few hours on a sunny evening, Missoula gave itself permission to wander.
To explore.
To be curious.
Oh, what a night, Missoula.
So I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t say this: please support the organizations that contribute to these nights. Even more, buy art when you can. Throw a few bucks into a musician’s case. Take note of where your curiosity led you and follow that thread a little further.
The artists in our community want and deserve to be seen. And when you show up, when you engage, when you support, you validate that work in a way that truly matters.
As for me, Gigi and I are already looking ahead to June’s First Friday. I might give her a little shine, maybe add an Arts Missoula sticker to her bumper for some extra flair. We’ll be back out there, cruising from corner to corner, soaking it all in.
Until then, thank you, Missoula.
Keep showing up. We appreciate you more than you know.
Heather and Gigi
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