Art in Montana: Why We Rank Higher Than Most for Creativity

Montana has had its share of famous artists that have called our state home. Whether it is working with paint, clay, metal, a musical instrument, or acting, we appreciate the arts in this state more than most.

One of Montana's most famous artists, the painter and sculptor Charles M. Russell, has a museum and multiple schools named after him in Montana. Even though he wasn't born here, we have adopted him as our own.

There have been some amazing actors and actresses who have been born in Montana, like Gary Cooper, Michelle Williams, and Lily Gladstone.

Montana has also been home to great musicians like Jeff Ament, Colin Meloy, and Nicolette Larson.

I have always known that Montana appreciates the arts. If you've ever been to a concert, a craft fair, or a farmers market. you will see the appreciation of the arts.

Now we have some numbers to back up what we have known for some time.

SmileHub.org has ranked the best states in the country for the arts and Montana ranks high. We just missed the top five coming in at sixth place. The best state for the arts is New York followed by California, Washington, Vermont and Oregon.

The states with the lowest rankings are Kentucky, Arkansas, West Virginia, Alabama and coming in last is Mississippi.

I spoke with Luke Powers of SmileHub.org about some of their findings and there is a lot of positivity about Montana's appreciation of the arts.

There are a few places where we can improve, for example we don't have many people who are studying the arts in school. We rank thirty-second for degrees in visual arts, and twenty-second in art education.

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But we excel in other categories. Because Montana doesn't have a sales-tax, artists have an opportunity to make more money here than other states. We also have a high percentage of population creating some form of art. Montana ranks third for the percentage of adults who create art at 70%. Whether it is creating pottery, designing t-shirts, photography, dancing, or music, Montana is full of artists and appreciation for the arts.