Sculpture in the Wild

 Judy.  If one of you is the person who suggested we visit the Blackfoot Pathways Sculpture in the Wild, we want to send you a huge THANK YOU! 

 

On a gorgeous just-starting-to-turn cool Sunday morning, we headed up the Blackfoot Valley to Lincoln, where we were told there is an outdoor sculpture park. Ted and I, as you have surmised, love museums, but right now are a little picky about being inside, so the opportunity to see a collection of sculpture in an outdoor setting sounded perfect.

 

The drive up any of the valleys surrounding Missoula is breathtakingly beautiful, and Blackfoot was no different, with vast ranches surrounded by majestic mountains, and sparkling rivers running beside the highway. Once you reach Lincoln, though, the ponderosa pines take over. The little town reminded me of Talkeetna, Alaska.

 

Just out of Lincoln, a turn to the left takes you into the park. We were surprised to see the number of cars in the lot, virtually all of them with Montana license plates. Several families were there, toddlers to grandparents, dashing down the many paths to various artworks.

 

With so many visitors, we were concerned about social distancing, but the park is vast, with multiple trails to the site-specific works. Some, like the Montana Memory, which utilized an actual Tee Pee Burner that had been part of a sawmill where leftovers were burned, were historical. Others celebrated the topography of the land surrounding it.  Sculptors from all over the world came to the park, then submitted their designs, which were often constructed with the help of locals. For more information, and to see more sculptures, you can go to www.sculptureinthewild.com.  

 

As Ted noted in his last post, a picture is worth 1,000 words, so I’ll leave you with these: