Montana Arts Council Members

Angella Ahn, graduate of the Juilliard School, is Associate Professor of Violin and Viola at Montana State University. In her teaching, she leverages her background, having studied with foremost violin pedagogue Dorothy DeLay, and her decades-long performance career. With her sisters in the Ahn Trio, she has recorded nine albums, performed in over 35 countries and every state in the U.S., playing at diverse venues such as Buenos Aires’ Teatro Colon, Vienna’s Musikverein, New York’s Lincoln Center, and the White House. In her other collaborations, she has been featured with such musical luminaries as Phil Aaberg, Darol Anger, Emmylou Harris, and the late John Prine. 

Ms. Ahn is active in the community, serving her second term on the Montana Arts Council, an agency of state government. She is the Artistic Director of Montana Chamber Music and serves on the Advisory Board of Intermountain Opera. She can be seen in “Angella Ahn & Friends” on PBS 11th & Grant with Eric Funk, as well as in The Hive, a film produced by Tippet Rise Art Center. 

Sarah Calhoun is the owner of Red Ants Pants, the executive director of the Red Ants Pants Foundation and the producer the Red Ants Pants Music Festival. The festival is in its tenth year and draws tens of thousands to a cow pasture in Meagher County. It was named the Event of the Year by the Montana Office of Tourism. From her home in the small town of White Sulphur Springs, she has become an inspiration to entrepreneurs nationwide and is known for her dedication to supporting rural communities, the arts, and women’s leadership. In 2018 she was named to the Montana Business Hall of Fame. In 2012, named the National Women in Business Champion for the SBA. She has been invited to the White House twice, and honored when Governor Schweitzer named her the 2011 Entrepreneur of the Year for the State of Montana. She has given two TEDx talks, dozens of keynote addresses, and has gained national press such as CNBC, CNN, Bloomberg, Sunset, Entrepreneur, National Geographic, The New York Times and The Huffington Post.

Sean, an enrolled member of the Aaniinen (Gros Ventre Nation), is the President of Aaniiih Nakoda College (ANC) located on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. Since 2002, Sean has been employed with ANC, serving mostly as Director of American Indian Studies until 2017 when he began to fill the role of Academic Dean and later as President in 2020. In addition to his administration duties, he also instructs the Aaniiih (Gros Ventre) Language to grade school aged children in ANC’s White Clay Immersion School. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Art and a Master of Arts in Native American Studies from Montana State University-Bozeman. In 2014, he attained a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from The University of Montana with his dissertation entitled, “The Identity of Upholding Indigenous Lifeways.”

Corky is a celebrated contemporary artist, teacher, mentor, a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, and has recently retired as the art director at Salish Kootenai College. Corky’s work has been exhibited across the nation and around the world, and in addition to his many other honors, he was awarded the 2008 Montana Governor’s Arts Award for Visual Art.

As a nationally renowned western landscape impressionist, Troy Collins creates paintings with brilliant color, texture and insight from his studio nestled in the middle of the Bitterroot Mountain Range.

His paintings have graced the halls of the Montana and California State Capitols, the Pentagon, the U.S. Capitol, and are included in many corporate and private collections throughout the United States and Europe. Troy’s work has been featured in over 100 magazines and four books and he has also been chosen as one of the top 25 quick finish artists in the West. Troy is a proud member of the C.M. Russell Museum’s Russell Skull Society of Artists.

Fort Benton artist and gallery owner Todd Connor has lived and painted in Montana for most of his professional career. His love of the outdoors grew from a childhood spent camping, hunting and fishing, and at age twelve he started painting in pastels and oils. His subject matter ranged from landscapes to fish, wildlife and western themes.         

After high school, Todd joined the Navy where he served as a Navy SEAL in California and overseas. After the Navy he traveled the country visiting historical sites and national park,s where his love of history and the outdoors inspired his desire to pick up the paintbrush again. 

Todd holds a BFA in Illustration from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. In 1999, Todd made the move to Montana to paint full-time.

Sean specializes in the investigation of art and cultural property-related crime, to include theft of major art and items of cultural heritage, fraud in the art market, and trafficking in looted antiquities, archeological resources and Native American patrimony/funerary items. Born in Tucson, Arizona, Sean developed a love for Western American art and culture at an early age, and grew up in a family deeply rooted in the arts and humanities, the entertainment and news/sports journalism industry, and the ministry. Some of his most formative memories were made while sitting quietly with his grandfather—a retired Army Colonel, PhD, and WWII Veteran/POW—watching him paint landscapes and write; the consummate “soldier scholar" and "warrior poet.” Sean is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point where he studied International and Strategic history. He served on active duty in the United States Army and later transferred to the United States Navy where he served as a Naval Special Warfare officer leading combat operations during multiple tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He is a passable outdoorsman, amateur naturalist, and pastime painter who values the unifying influence of the arts in our society and believes in the resilience-building and healing power of art for both practitioners and patrons alike.

Charles was born and raised in Great Falls and graduated from Great Falls High School. After earning his BA in design from Montana State University, he became a Freelance Designer and Illustrator in Los Angeles, designing swimming pools. He returned to Montana to work with Wendt Advertising and Lodestone Advertising. Chuck has owned Lodestone since 1996. He is currently the Creative Director and CEO. In 2016, Chuck was awarded the “Silver Medal Award from the American Advertising Federation for his contributions to the advancement of advertising and marketing.

He is also the president and owner of The Great Western Show in Great Falls. This Art Show takes place during and in conjunction with the C.M. Russell Art Auction, the third week in March for the last 14 years. This show has grown to 250 booths in 51,000 square feet. This has launched many artists and artisans’ careers throughout the years.

Chuck is also an accomplished Fine Art Painter. In 2006 he was awarded the

Ralph “Tuffy “Berg Memorial Art Award for being a newly Accepted Artist in the C. M. Russell Art Auction. He has participated in The C.M. Russell Art Auction ever since.

Music is a huge part of Chuck’s life as well. He is muti-instrumentalist and singer with his western vocal group Pollo Loco.  Founded in 1990, Pollo Loco has traveled and performed across the country, including a cultural exchange between Montana and Tiawan.

Chuck has been volunteering on the Board of Directors of Russell Country Federal Credit for 8 years, he feels privileged to represent the members interests and protect their assets. He sits on 5 committees and is currently the Chairman of the Supervisory Committee.

In his leisure time, Chuck enjoys Fine Art painting, playing music and restoring classic cars.

Chuck and his wife Janice spend time at their cabin in Lincoln as much as possible.

Wylie Gustafson is an American Original. The singer, songwriter, rancher, horseman, and world-famous Yahoo! yodeler leads the musical outfit known as Wylie and the Wild West. The group is internationally known for their vibrant presentation of the music—both original and traditional—of America and its colorful West. They delight audiences around the world with their one of a kind brand of music, including elements of cowboy, traditional country, western swing, folk, and, of course yodeling. Wylie is a real life cowboy born into a 4th generation ranching family on the empty sprawl of Northern Montana. He is a member of the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame and the Montana Pro Rodeo Wall and Hall of Fame. He’s the real deal and, as one music writer quipped, “All old school without being a tired period piece.”

Julie Mac is a TV host and content producer who paints pictures with images, sound, and words. In her years of experience in the television and commercial industry, Julie has been blessed with production opportunities at Discovery, A&E, NBC, MTV, VH1, FOX, ESPN, HGTV, and others. She has covered star-studded events such as the Billboard Awards, the iHeart Radio Music Festival, and Sundance. When Julie is not producing you'll find her speaking at a youth event, emceeing a fashion show, or introducing artists on a concert stage.

Julie loves discovering fun things to do, and creating enjoyment for others has made her the perfect host for Montana's Best. Having grown up skiing the slopes, hiking trails with breathtaking views, and working with local businesses, she's a Montanan through and through. Dirt doesn't scare her, outdoor adventures thrill her, dressing to the nines excites her, and people fascinate her. All of which makes hosting Montana's Best a dream job.

Julie has an eye for detail and a passion to communicate. Her mission is to "motivate, educate, and influence people for the better by using media."

Cat is a visual artist working in multiple media, from traditional paint on canvas to paint on salvaged tin and wood, to large-scale murals. Living and working in Glasgow since 2010 after completing her MFA at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Cat has been a strong advocate in her community for the power of public art and the importance of the arts to her town's ongoing vitality.

John L. Moore is a third-generation rancher, award-winning novelist and award-winning journalist from Miles City. His writing career began at age 17 with the Miles City Star and in the past 52 years he has authored seven novels, several non-fiction books, over 1500 articles, and has published literary short stories and poetry. He has also appeared in four documentaries as an authority on the history of horses on the Great Plains. He is a 2019 inductee into the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame and a 2021 inductee into the Montana Pro Rodeo Hall and Wall of Fame.

 

Bridger is the Executive Vice President of Production at Warm Springs Productions, based in Missoula, MT. He's a full-service independent television producer who produces shows for multiple television networks including History Channel, Animal Planet, Fox Business, and Discovery Channel.  Bridger counts himself fortunate enough to work every day with amazingly creative people in Montana and across the US, to create incredible projects and tell unique stories.

Jay was the Artistic Director of the Montana Actors’ Theatre in Havre, Montana for 27 years before transitioning to the role of Executive Director. He also taught English and Theatre at Havre High School as well as Montana State University-Northern. Jay enjoys every aspect of theatrical production as well as playwriting. His drama The Dead of Winter was selected for production at the Union Theatre in London, UK for July of 2003 and his comedy Rugburns toured parts of Montana in 2008 and again in 2018.

Founder of Montana Trails Gallery in Bozeman, Steve Zabel grew up on a ranch in the Madison Valley and began his art career by publishing prints of work by his father Larry Zabel, the respected western wildlife painter. Montana Trails Gallery has operated from several locations on Bozeman’s Main Street and has long been a mainstay of Montana’s western art scene, earning a reputation for its strong historic collections which include work by Charles M. Russell, Frederic Remington, Joseph Henry Sharp, and others.