Summer Teen Art Project 2025

Summer Teen Art Project (TAP) 2025: 

Exploring Montana's Keystone Species Through Art

June 17-August 7, 2025

Create a Public Mural Celebrating Montana's Ecosystem Heroes!

Join us for an immersive summer art experience where you'll collaborate with professional artists to design and create a stunning 14'x10' public mural for downtown Missoula! The Summer Teen Art Project (TAP) 2025 invites high school students to explore the vital role of Montana's keystone species—bison, beavers, and prairie dogs—through art, research, and community engagement.

What You'll Experience:

Work with professional artists including Joanna Laporte and public art specialist Janaína Vieira-Marques

Learn from experts including wildlife biologists and ecologists

Develop artistic skills in various media

Build leadership abilities and connect with other creative teens

Create meaningful public art that will be displayed at Adventure Cycling Association

Have your work distributed as 500 posters throughout the Missoula community

Celebrate with a public unveiling at the end of summer

This Year's Theme:

Explore how bison, prairie dogs, and beavers create healthy landscapes in Montana. Drawing inspiration from artists Jason Elliott Clark and Stephen Hunt (whose work will be on display at MAM), you'll investigate the interconnectedness of these species and their importance to Montana's ecosystem.

Why Join TAP?

"Summer TAP creates a space at MAM where high school students feel valued, heard, and empowered to contribute to cultural and civic discourse. This public art program is happening in downtown Missoula and is free to all teens." — Kay Grissom-Kiely, Curator of Education

Who Can Participate?

Up to 20 high school students (ages 13-18) will participate in this first-come, first-served program. Teens will be recruited from MAM’s Teen Artist Project and Teen Open Studio, local high schools, surrounding towns, the Flathead Nation, and UM’s TRIO Upward Bound program. To ensure commitment and engagement, applicants will complete a short form answering: “Why do you want to do TAP?”

Community Celebration & Unveiling

At the end of the summer, the community will come together for the public unveiling of the TAP mural. This celebration will feature food, drinks, and an opportunity to hear from TAP participants, project funders, and City of Missoula representatives, reinforcing the impact of youth-driven public art.

Register Today!

Spaces are limited to 20 participants and fill quickly. Sign up now to secure your spot in this transformative summer art experience!

Made possible with generous support from Adventure Cycling, Front Street Pizza, Missoula Downtown Foundation, and the Montana Arts Council. 

Artists & Learning Professionals Involved

Join us in making art that sparks dialogue, inspires change, and strengthens our connection to the land and its history.