Art with a heart

Steve Miller’s new project comes from the intersection of his passions — art and helping others.

At the new MudMan Gallery, Miller sells the work of local artists with the gallery’s proceeds going toward helping children around the world.

“It’s art with a meaning,” he said.

The gallery shares space with Fifty Seven Boutique on Central Avenue. The MudMan Gallery is associated with the MudMan coffee and burger shops in Happy Valley, Columbia Falls and Kalispell. MudMan was started by pastor Michael Rozell of Potter’s Field Ministries.

Prior to moving to Montana three years ago, Miller worked for the Art Institute of Chicago and also owned a gallery in Joliet, Illinois.

At the new gallery, Miller aims to offer some unique pieces of art that stand out from everything else that’s available in the Flathead Valley.

“The region kind of impresses on us,” he said. “There tends to be a lot of the bear and moose and Native American art. We didn’t want to have what other galleries had. We wanted to be a little unique, with maybe more of a contemporary feel.”

When Miller, an artist, moved to Whitefish and began collaborating with Rozell, a potter, the idea for a gallery was a no-brainer.

“We just really connected on an art level and always wanted to have these projects where we could work together. Both being involved in ministry and wanting to reach out to children this way, it’s like the perfect combination for being able to exercise our art,” he said.

The gallery is primarily a small room toward the back of Fifty Seven Boutique, where original drawings, paintings and photography hang along the well-lit walls. The gallery also features sculptures and other works in addition to the framed pieces.

Larger works also hang along Fifty Seven Boutique’s walls.

MudMan features local artists as well as those from elsewhere in the Northwest.

The gallery uses a 60-40 percent split on its sales, with the larger share of the profit going to the artist.

MudMan’s share then goes into helping further Potter’s Field’s outreach mission of helping to feed and educate kids in impoverished areas around the globe.

Potter’s Field works abroad, in countries like Uganda, Kenya and Guatemala, as well as closer to home, like on the Blackfeet Reservation in Browning and in the Yakima Reservation in Washington. In addition, 100 percent of pottery sales go toward the outreach programs.

“There’s a lot of different ways we’re trying to reach out to help kids, secure kids in their education and future,” Miller said.

While the gallery is just finishing its first month, Miller said the mission behind selling the art has resonated with visitors.

“So far we’ve had a really good reaction, especially because we are art with a mission behind it,” he said. “They know they’re buying a piece of art and their money is going toward helping kids in third world countries.”

Potter’s Field is also working on getting a new ranch retreat up and running at the Whitefish Equestrian Center site on Twin Bridges Road.

The ranch will be open to foster care and special need kids from around the country, as well as to those just wanting to get on a horse and be outside.

The ministry also hosts interns at the Ignite Mission Training School, where interns train for three months before spending six months at one of Potter’s Field’s locations around the world.

“We send them out and then they come back to Montana for a one-month debrief, decompression. And then they go home to their home churches and basically get to share those mission experiences and what their life is like now,” Miller said. “And hopefully it inspires the rest of the church to get out and help.”

Miller said he hopes the gallery, like the burger shops, raises awareness about what MudMan does and opens the door for anyone interested in helping.

“I would encourage everybody to get involved — if you want to reach out beyond yourself, this is the way to do it,” he said. “This is not about flies on a kid’s face, this is really about going in and changing a community.”