Housed in a 1904 Carnegie Library Building

The Hockaday Museum of Art is focused on the art, artists and authors of Glacier National Park. Housed in a 1904 Carnegie Library Building in historic downtown Kalispell, the Hockaday Museum began 40 years ago as an arts center for the Flathead Valley. Today, the collection has grown to over 800 works and is one of the largest public collections focused on the art and culture of Glacier National Park.

The Hockaday Museum of Art maintains a permanent collection on the art, artists and authors of Glacier National Park. A permanent exhibition in the Crown of the Continent Gallery, features the artists of Glacier National Park and unfolds the history of art in Glacier as it was used to promote the Great Northern Railroad's interest in bringing people to the northwest to experience America's Alps, Glacier National Park. Beginning in 1910, when Glacier became a National Park, the Great Northern Railroad began hiring artists, authors and photographers to come to Glacier and capture its beauty through paint, pen and camera lens.

Featured in the permanent collection are authors such as George Bird Grinnell (1849-1938) who coined the term "Crown of the Continent" and pressed the government to preserve this precious area as a National Park; James Willard Schultz (1867-1969) who wrote several books on the life and lore of the Blackfeet Indians, and Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876-1957) who authored many a great book on early travels through Glacier Park before roads made travel so much easier and, who wrote the famous "Call of the Mountains" poem that so captured the spirit of Glacier in its early heydays!

Artists such as Winold Reiss (1886-1953) who captured the Blackfeet Indians in vivid pastel and tempura and who's images were then used by the Great Northern to promote the "See America First" but printing them on calendars, playing cards, menus for the trains and other memorabilia to capture the attention of travelers and bring them to the Northwest. John Fery (1859-1934) painted large landscapes in oil for the Great Northern that were then hung in railroad depots across the country to promote the "Alps of America." Some of these landscapes still hang in Glaciers famous lodges today. Other artists including Charles M. Russell (1864-1926) most noted as the great cowboy artist, is today numbered high among the artists of Glacier National Park. Russell painted many a painting in his log home on Lake McDonald and through his influence, many other great artists came to visit Russell during the summer and paint in Glacier Park including: Philip R. Goodwin, Edward Borein, Kathryn Leighton, Ralph Earl DeCamp and many more.

Glacier National Park has a rich cultural history that the Hockaday Museum preserves through its exhibition programs.

The Hockaday also maintains a wonderful Children's Discovery Gallery where our young audience has the opportunity to be hands on with art and culture disguised as fun!

You will enjoy the works of Ace Powell (1912-1978), native to Browning, Hungry Horse and Kalispell, a great admirer of the work of Charles Russell, Ace went on to become a legend in his own right painting the west. The Hockaday features over 50 of Ace's works in a permanent exhibition.

2008 marks the 75th Anniversary of the Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park's Highway to the Sky. The Hockaday Museum will celebrate this architectural masterpiece through an exhibition: Rails, Trails and a Road June 26 through October 18, 2008.

Open all year round

Summer Hours June through August: Tues - Fri 10 am to 6 pm/Sat 10 am to 5 pm and Sun noon to 4 pm Winter Hours September through May: Tues - Sat 10 am to 5 pm

Located in historic downtown Kalispell, two blocks on Main Street at 2nd Ave East and 3rd Street. The Flathead County Library is just across the street.