…following quote taken from the Missoula Art Museum website.  “The beginnings of the Missoula Art Museum Permanent Collection date back to 1973 when the Missoula Festival of the Arts purchased an artwork each from Montana masters Walter Hook, Gennie DeWeese and Jessie Wilber. The Festival of the Arts would also spearhead the community efforts to raise funds to establish the Missoula Museum of the Arts in Missoula’s Carnegie Library. The museum doors opened for the first time in 1975 as a Missoula County run organization…

The Missoula Museum of the Arts’ exhibition planning and art collection continued to expand and thrive over the next twenty years. In 1995 the museum converted to an independent non-profit called the Art Museum of Missoula, today’s Missoula Art Museum. The 192 artworks collected between 1973 and 1994 remain the property of Missoula County cared for and presented to the public by MAM.”

Visit the above Missoula Art Museum website link for more information.