Celebrating 50 Years of the Missoula Art Museum

From its roots as a county agency to leading cutting-edge educational programs, the Missoula Art Museum has grown a lot since its inception in 1975. This week, the commissioners sat down with Laura Millin who has been at the helm of the free contemporary art museum since 1990. As she prepares to retire this year, they look back on the history and unique character of this beloved nonprofit. 

Thank you to Missoula's Community Media Resource for podcast recording support!

Transcript

Dave Strohmaier: [00:00:10] Well, welcome back to the agenda with your Missoula County Commissioners. I'm Commissioner Dave Strohmaier. I am joined by fellow commissioner and friend Josh Slotnick. Commissioner Evaro is out of town today attending a training session, but we are delighted today to have with us Laura Millin, the director of the Missoula Art Museum, which, by the way, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Welcome to the podcast.

Laura Millin: [00:00:36] Thank you, Dave.

Josh Slotnick: [00:00:37] It's great to have you.

Laura Millin: [00:00:38] Thank you. Josh.

Josh Slotnick: [00:00:38] Yeah. You bet. So when I was thinking about prepping for this, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind starting by telling us the story of how we ended up with the MAM when if persons walking by, it's obvious there's this glorious old building of Carnegie Library and now this equally glorious addition. How did we go from having a Carnegie library to having a MAM?

Laura Millin: [00:00:59] It kind of started with a festival, the Missoula Festival of the Arts, which began in 1973 and was a massive, interdisciplinary, cooperative, collaborative effort of the whole entire town and ran for several days featuring the literary arts, music, dance, visual art, all together, all together now. And it was so successful that it ran for four years. I believe the last year was 1975 and by then. So the library moved out in 1971 to the, at that time, new building on Main Street.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:01:36] So it was Missoula's public library. Oh, yeah. Up until.

Laura Millin: [00:01:39] 1903. Okay. It was built.

Josh Slotnick: [00:01:41] 1903 to 1975.

Laura Millin: [00:01:43] It's a single story. And then in 1913, just, you know, a few years later, they added the second story because it was bursting at the seams. And, yeah, Free Public library served Missoula until 1971, at which time the city built the new building on main, which has now been replaced. Of course, on Front Street. And so it sat empty. One of the things that happened during that time was three artists, enterprising women artists, of course, who couldn't get the attention or respect of the curator up at the university, decided to mount their own exhibit in the empty Carnegie Library building.

Josh Slotnick: [00:02:20] Did they seek permission or did they just do it?

Laura Millin: [00:02:22] You know, I have the feeling they kind of just did it. And that was Lila Audio, Nancy Erickson and Dana Buzzard.

Josh Slotnick: [00:02:30] Yeah, just no names. Like.

Laura Millin: [00:02:32] And they were all working in soft sculpture. Wow. And they had presented their show, their idea of showing together to the university and were roundly rejected. And so we have a show up right now called Women's Work. And it's work from that exhibit by the three of them on view at MAM now. Really fun. So showing what a beautiful space it would be for a museum. And it really was a grassroots movement that grew out of that festival at the time, George Turman was mayor and Kay Turman was one of those advocating for a museum, so she secured the permission to use the building as a museum, and then the county commissioners were lobbied by the same group, which included Kay Turman. But also, interestingly, Julia Gregory, former mayor of Missoula.

Josh Slotnick: [00:03:18] Interesting.

Laura Millin: [00:03:18] First and only until now. Okay. And she served just one term, but she was a real art lover, a real Western art lover, actually. I interviewed Kay Turman once about these early, you know, this whole advocacy effort to start the museum. And Kay said, yeah, I worked the Democrats and Juliet worked the Republicans. Perfect.

Josh Slotnick: [00:03:38] So at the time this happened, was the building in good shape?

Laura Millin: [00:03:41] You know, it was the building just sat empty and waited. And there was a, I think, a minor movement to, like, tear it down and build a parking lot, believe it or not. But Lila Audio was on hand to debate that with the city council.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:03:56] So did the city own the building at the time?

Laura Millin: [00:03:58] Yes. Then and now.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:03:59] And so how did Missoula County get involved in the museum?

Laura Millin: [00:04:03] Through the mill levy.

Josh Slotnick: [00:04:05] So tell us the mill levy story. And the museum went from that small, beautiful Carnegie building to what it is now. Yeah.

Laura Millin: [00:04:11] So back in the day, I mean, back when this lobbying effort was underway, the commissioners were lobbied to support the museum fiscally. And as I understand it, the first mill levy was split because the fort was trying to get off the ground to the historic museum at Fort Missoula. And so I think the first mill levy for museums in Missoula was split between mam and the fort, and then it went from there. We've enjoyed that funding, that bedrock of funding ever since.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:04:39] So so there's we want to come back to how the building got to its current size and footprint, besides just Missoula County playing a role with the mill levy, was it just the commission itself unilaterally peeling off tax dollars for the museum back then? Did it actually go to the voters?

Laura Millin: [00:04:56] It never did.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:04:57] It never did.

Laura Millin: [00:04:58] Permissive mill. Okay. Right. It always has been a permissive mill. But it did mean that it was the lion's share of our funding for a very long time. And we were county employees. We were an outside agency of Missoula County.

Josh Slotnick: [00:05:11] Wow.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:05:11] Ah. So this is an important fact.

Josh Slotnick: [00:05:13] Yeah. When did when did this shift?

Laura Millin: [00:05:15] So I became the director in 1990, and we started looking at development, how to develop the museum in various ways, develop the collection, importantly develop the building and develop our infrastructure of support. And it just seemed that, quite frankly, being a government agency was not a recipe for success in terms of attracting revenues, donations and donations to collections. I remember when one individual said, I will not leave my art to you as long as you're a government agency.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:05:47] Interesting.

Josh Slotnick: [00:05:47] We thought we would use the art as paving materials.

Laura Millin: [00:05:50] Right? Yeah, exactly. So. But it was kind of an aha moment for me. I thought, okay, so I started talking with the commissioners at the time about Segwaying and becoming an independent 501 C3, which we weren't. We didn't have a 501.

Josh Slotnick: [00:06:05] Do you guys have a friends group then?

Laura Millin: [00:06:07] We did have a friends group that operated underneath the rubric of the Missoula Museum of the Arts Foundation. Okay, so in 1995, this became a reality. We parted from the county with an agreement that we would continue to be the caretaker of the county collection, because up to that point, everything we collected was Missoula County property.

Josh Slotnick: [00:06:27] If I understand it right, the art that's at the museum that's in total part of it is owned by the county, but part of it isn't. That's right. So there's one collection, but there's two collections.

Laura Millin: [00:06:36] There's two collections. So within one collection.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:06:39] Is it the case that everything pre 1995 is, is and is today the Missoula County collection.

Josh Slotnick: [00:06:47] And is everything post 1995 not the county?

Laura Millin: [00:06:50] Correct.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:06:51] Describe to us what what is in the pre 1995 or 1995 and earlier collection that is the Missoula County collection is part of it. What is being displayed in the courthouse right now?

Laura Millin: [00:07:04] Yes. Although when we started that Art in Public Places program with our collection, we used to just bring objects over here that were in the county collection. And then we thought, oh heck, why draw that line, you know? And because, of course, now we've grown quite a ways beyond the county collection. And so we don't make that distinction.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:07:24] How about the Edward Paxton murals? Are those separate.

Laura Millin: [00:07:27] Are not part of the collection?

Dave Strohmaier: [00:07:28] They are not part of the.

Josh Slotnick: [00:07:29] Collection to the courthouse.

Laura Millin: [00:07:30] They are, yes, in the ownership of Missoula County.

Josh Slotnick: [00:07:34] So at this point, is the county's collection much smaller than the general collection? Yeah. So big transition, big transformation in mam was going from the old Carnegie building to the glorious building you have right now. When did when did that happen and how did it happen?

Laura Millin: [00:07:49] Okay, so in 1995, as I say, when we essentially left the county and became an independent nonprofit. We started building steps toward the expansion that we were envisioning and took quite a bit of time to, you know, one of the things we did right away, actually, was bring in a preservation architect to study the building, and they found that it was so solid. Oh, yeah, so well built and worth keeping. So we approached the city, first of all for support because the city is, remember, still the owner of the building and asked the city to come up with the first million dollars of support for the expansion. And that way we could we figured we could raise it from there. And by the way, the county commissioners gave us that early phase $75,000 to help us with an initial architectural may have paid for that preservation architect and an initial sketch that we could just be using to promote the the concept. Very helpful. Anyway, long story short, we thought we could do it for about $2.5 million and it became about $5.5 million.

Josh Slotnick: [00:08:48] This was in 95.

Laura Millin: [00:08:49] We completed it in 2006. So.

Josh Slotnick: [00:08:52] Wow. So it was phased?

Laura Millin: [00:08:53] Yeah. Yeah, it was a long process. By about 2000 we were actively working on it, you know, in terms of building support. And it took a while.

Josh Slotnick: [00:09:02] Wow. And so recently you just had your latest annual auction. And if I heard right, you guys raised a record amount of money.

Laura Millin: [00:09:10] We did.

Josh Slotnick: [00:09:11] Congratulations.

Laura Millin: [00:09:12] We netted $235,000.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:09:15] It was. I was at the event. It was pretty amazing.

Josh Slotnick: [00:09:19] I went the year before. I wasn't able to go this year, but I'm thinking about if they had known. What would those three women who did the guerilla art exhibit and later became immortal artists in their own right, I imagine. What would they have thought if someone had told them, just wait a few decades and the mam's going to bring in more than 200 grand in a night, and people as illustrious as my friend Dave Strohmaier will be in the audience dressed for the evening.

Laura Millin: [00:09:43] Well, what was fun about it, and Dave can attest, we made a mam 50 hat. Every attendee got a hat. There was a hat at each place setting.

Josh Slotnick: [00:09:51] Like a baseball cap? Yes.

Laura Millin: [00:09:52] Yeah. Trucker's cap.

Josh Slotnick: [00:09:53] Great.

Laura Millin: [00:09:54] Great. Black with gold letters. MAM. 50. Nice. And so my speech was really apropos of this conversation, talking about our founders and the wisdom of our founders to involve the county and the city and our community in the founding of this institution, and that we still have the support of all of those and more today. So I made a series of toasts, taking my hat off each time, including one to the county commissioners. And Dave Strohmaier is with us tonight. Hats off to Dave and the county Commission.

Josh Slotnick: [00:10:28] That's super great. Thank you.

Laura Millin: [00:10:29] So and all 500 people in the room.

Josh Slotnick: [00:10:32] Are.

Laura Millin: [00:10:32] Taking their hats off with me. It was so much fun.

Josh Slotnick: [00:10:35] Well done. Well done. So now, MAM is on the cusp of another really, really big transition. You were the person that shepherded this organization from being a small project of the county to being this beloved and established nonprofit that's literally part of the cultural fabric of our community, which is a fantastic legacy. Laura, congratulations. So looking back and looking forward, what are you thinking these days? I mean, you're right on this, on this edge, and you're going to leave this organization that really has has never existed in a robust way without you, right? Yes. I can hear the trepidation. You're a baby.

Laura Millin: [00:11:12] My baby?

Josh Slotnick: [00:11:12] Yeah. So what's what's what's going on in your head these days?

Dave Strohmaier: [00:11:15] Well, and just to add to that, when folks think of the mam, they might gravitate towards a bricks and mortar footprint here, just within spitting distance of our office. But it's more than that. There's programing involved. And so that's part of what you have helped build. And this transition also.

Laura Millin: [00:11:37] Yes. Yeah. And that's why I take so much inspiration from the Festival of the Arts in the early 70s, because I like to think that we're still that community based, multidisciplinary culinary institution. We do poetry. We do music, we occasionally do dance. And we have a really robust educational program that serves all ages and is free.

Josh Slotnick: [00:11:57] So what are you thinking these days? What's in your head, in your heart on this, in this moment?

Laura Millin: [00:12:00] You know, my feeling is that there's a point where new leadership is needed.

Josh Slotnick: [00:12:04] For sure.

Laura Millin: [00:12:05] For sure. And that's the main reason I'm moving on, quite honestly.

Josh Slotnick: [00:12:08] What do you want to make sure continues, and what sorts of things are you okay with letting evolution do what it does?

Laura Millin: [00:12:15] Well, I hope that Mam stays free and embracing of our community, really responsive to our community's needs, and I hope that we maintain excellent relations with indigenous artists and indigenous people, because that's been a big, important focus.

Josh Slotnick: [00:12:31] Yeah. What are areas you feel like are ripe for evolution?

Laura Millin: [00:12:34] You know, I think that the hallmark of Mam has been to bring in new art. We're a contemporary art museum and we have been from the very get go. And I think that's another important part of our roots, because when you think about what was happening in 1975, in Art in Montana, and the biggest show, absolutely, in Montana would be the Charlie Russell Museum and their annual auction and the sensational sales and popularity of Western art, contemporary Art Museum was an outlier. And I think has built its audience and support slowly but surely. But you know, what's exciting is that we're always presenting fresh new ideas and challenging art. And, you know, I think that I can't ever pick a favorite because basically my favorite is the next one.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:13:23] That's a good segue to another question I had, because we're talking a lot about the Mam, and its history has been where it might go as an institution in the future, but I'd like to step back, just for a moment to talk about the arts in general. This is a point in our nation's history and history globally where it seems like if ever there was a need for the arts and cultural engagement, it's now. And so oftentimes, I hear apologists for the arts focus on its economic benefits, while without a doubt there are great, and some might be amazed at how much economic benefit the arts bring to a community such as Missoula. But when we're. When you were just talking about challenging understandings of of our world and such that that's going to something very deep and visceral in the human experience. So maybe talk a little bit about just your thoughts about the role of arts in our current moment in time.

Laura Millin: [00:14:22] Yeah, it is going to be a challenging time. I think we're all in going to be in the business of defending civic society, not just the arts. And I did bring a quote that I wanted to share. It's from 1941, and this came from a resolution of the Association of Art Museum Directors, of which I'm a member. If in times of peace, our museums and art galleries are important to the community in times of war or turbulence. They are doubly valuable for when the petty and the trivial fall away, and we are face to face with the final and lasting values we as Americans must summon to our defense all our intellectual and spiritual resources. We must guard jealously all we have inherited from the long past, all we are capable of creating in a trying present, and all we are determined to preserve in an unseeable future. 1941.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:15:16] I like that.

Josh Slotnick: [00:15:16] I like that. Yeah. Just think about arts and history. Just for a moment. Yeah. Think about the 1930s when our federal government paid artists to really do storytelling, maybe inspire general empathy. And we're in this together feeling between people in rural and urban areas in an era of super scarce resources. So I'm just thinking of a time when our federal government was paying artists to tell stories, writing plays, doing ceramics, teaching art to where we are right now, where it feels like our federal government is in retrenchment from all things, the urge to grow smaller. Where does an art museum fit into this?

Laura Millin: [00:15:51] You know, MAM has stayed really true to its roots in, you know, in a lot of ways, including the fact that we're mostly supported by our community and the larger community of philanthropy in America, which I hope will continue to come to our rescue in this moment. But we don't have a great dependency on federal funds. It's staying relevant, which is in our mission, actually, is to present work that is relevant to our community. I mean, as long as we are relevant to our audience and can earn the support through our educational programing and our exhibits, hopefully the support will continue. Yeah.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:16:28] And even though your experience at the MAM your involvement spans decades, are there any particular vignettes or stories or encounters with individuals, artists or otherwise that have stuck with you over the years?

Josh Slotnick: [00:16:43] Maybe some things that feel really emblematic of the MAM.

Laura Millin: [00:16:46] My relationship and our relationship with Jaune Quick-to-see Smith.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:16:50] Whose artwork we have displayed over in the courthouse.

Laura Millin: [00:16:55] And who passed away in January at the age of 85. But before she died, she designed a sculpture for MAM and for Missoula that is being fabricated and will be installed in front of the Carnegie Library this summer.

Josh Slotnick: [00:17:10] Outside.

Laura Millin: [00:17:10] Pretty exciting.

Josh Slotnick: [00:17:11] An outdoor outdoor.

Laura Millin: [00:17:12] An outdoor sculpture.

Josh Slotnick: [00:17:13] Oh, fantastic.

Laura Millin: [00:17:14] It's a stack of coyote figures.

Josh Slotnick: [00:17:17] All.

Laura Millin: [00:17:17] Very colorful. And the title is basically coyote sees in all directions.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:17:22] Oh, wow.

Laura Millin: [00:17:23] So she and I got to know each other in the mid or early 90s and became good friends. And she was very excited when she found me here as the museum director. And we started plotting and scheming to start a collection of native art. And then eventually, about ten years later, that translated into the devoted gallery space when we did the addition and has continued. You know, she she considers this home. And so it's been very important to her to have her work preserved here. But more than that, to have all native artists feel welcomed and embraced here and be given a voice here is fantastic. So it's pretty. I think it is a fabulous legacy.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:18:06] Absolutely.

Josh Slotnick: [00:18:07] So what piece of advice would you give to the new director who has yet to be hired? We don't know who this person is.

Laura Millin: [00:18:12] But the billion dollar question.

Josh Slotnick: [00:18:14] Yeah, yeah. What would you, uh what would.

Laura Millin: [00:18:15] You ask that question?

Dave Strohmaier: [00:18:17] Yeah, I'm sure, I'm sure. Yeah.

Laura Millin: [00:18:19] I think maintaining our values, which I do think have served us well and have served Missoula well and embracing artists and really supporting artists, giving artists a lot of latitude to make new work and, and express themselves. And I think what's important, too, is for mam to be active and using its own, its voice as a as a real community player, partnering with other organizations, caring about really the whole state of arts infrastructure.

Josh Slotnick: [00:18:49] So MAM needs to continue to look out, not just in.

Laura Millin: [00:18:53] We've been very active with our statewide membership organization, and I think that's really important. And here in town, same thing, really important to maintain a collaborative relationship with the museum on campus and all of the arts in Missoula be a community player and concerned with the well-being of our whole town.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:19:11] Are there ways in which members of the community and our listening public can get involved with the MAM, if they so feel like they are inclined?

Laura Millin: [00:19:20] Yes, of course they need to visit, and it's really easy to do that.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:19:25] And it's free, free, free, free.

Laura Millin: [00:19:26] Admission every day. But I would also really encourage membership. Even though membership isn't required for entry, it certainly supports the bottom line membership.

Josh Slotnick: [00:19:35] Look like what? What do you get for being a member?

Laura Millin: [00:19:37] One of the best things you get is reciprocal Membership to other museums. We belong to about 4 or 5 different reciprocal organizations nationally, and so depending on your level of membership, you get one or maybe multiple other membership groups that your card will.

Josh Slotnick: [00:19:54] What are some get you to museums?

Laura Millin: [00:19:56] Oh, gosh. I mean, there's.

Josh Slotnick: [00:19:57] There's a big.

Laura Millin: [00:19:58] List. I'd say about a thousand of them.

Josh Slotnick: [00:20:00] Oh, thousands.

Laura Millin: [00:20:01] Altogether. Like the biggest. The biggest group is called the North American Museum Reciprocal Organization. And there's just 650. And that one alone.

Josh Slotnick: [00:20:10] Wow.

Laura Millin: [00:20:10] And then there's another one called Rome and the.

Josh Slotnick: [00:20:14] So if you join, MAM, you get to go to lots of museums when you, when you travel.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:20:18] Are there any in New York City?

Laura Millin: [00:20:19] Yes.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:20:20] Oh, geez.

Josh Slotnick: [00:20:21] I was there is the is the Nelson part of this in in Kansas City?

Laura Millin: [00:20:25] I'd have to look, but probably between one and another. One of the most exclusive is is just modern and contemporary museums. There's only about 50 of them in the country. And you do have to be a member, I think, at the $500 level, maybe something like that, but.

Josh Slotnick: [00:20:41] So there's levels of membership.

Laura Millin: [00:20:43] There's levels of membership.

Josh Slotnick: [00:20:44] Everybody.

Laura Millin: [00:20:44] Definitely. I might just give a little plug to a campaign that is underway at Mam this year. In my last year as director, we're calling Laura's Legacy, and we're raising funds to really finish this year strong and also lay an important welcome mat to the new director with some operating funds so that things will go smoothly.

Josh Slotnick: [00:21:06] Great. Yeah, great.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:21:07] You know, one other question that came to mind when we were talking about free admission.

Laura Millin: [00:21:12] Yeah.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:21:12] When did that happen? When did that transition happen here?

Laura Millin: [00:21:16] Always been free.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:21:17] It's always been free.

Laura Millin: [00:21:19] Always love it.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:21:20] Excellent. Because I think we've experienced this with, say, our bus service in town. Where or the fairgrounds where there was a fee charge at one point, and then a great deal of anxiety in terms of how are we going to make this transition? But it's been always, always been free.

Laura Millin: [00:21:34] And, you know, I think that even the library must have had the problem or, you know, like a public relations challenge, because I've seen a sign that was once over the Carnegie door that said Free Public Library. You know, you wouldn't even think you would need to advertise that. But but think about it. They were kind of still introducing the concept of library to the town.

Josh Slotnick: [00:21:57] Sure.

Laura Millin: [00:21:57] And to encourage people to try it, they had to put free up there on the masthead.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:22:03] So are you telling me in 1997, when I visited the MAM, the person who took my money pocketed it?

Laura Millin: [00:22:09] Right. Exactly.

Josh Slotnick: [00:22:12] Exactly. So, yes.

Laura Millin: [00:22:14] I'm sure they got. What do you think they got for that?

Laura Millin: [00:22:16] Yeah, maybe.

Josh Slotnick: [00:22:19] So here's a long winded history question for you. So I came to Missoula in the 80s as a teenager to go to college. I was 18, and Missoula was a radically different place then, as anybody who was here then could attest. I mean, pretty foul smelling air. The Clark Fork had this coppery green glow to it. We were a lunch bucket. Workaday mill town, not a place with soaring real estate values. And we weren't on anybody's vacation list, and at that same place was absolutely in love with art. It felt like I was in as a kid, just in a hotbed, a little nest of art. Everything from, you know, fiction writing and poetry to music. Avant garde music and punk rock and cool music of all types. And sculpture and ceramics. All of it. It was all right here and it was so well supported. And now here we are, a completely different kind of place. Yeah, a boom town full of new investment and soaring real estate values and high rents and all the ills that come with prosperity and all the wonderful things that come with prosperity too. And we haven't changed in terms of our infatuation with art or putting art at the center. What do you make of that?

Laura Millin: [00:23:30] Yeah, well, I think the university has a lot to do with it.

Josh Slotnick: [00:23:33] Okay.

Laura Millin: [00:23:33] Right.

Josh Slotnick: [00:23:34] Yeah, that would be for sure.

Laura Millin: [00:23:35] Feeder ground, you know.

Josh Slotnick: [00:23:38] Great observation.

Josh Slotnick: [00:23:39] Yeah.

Laura Millin: [00:23:39] And I know that we look at the history, for instance, of the art community or the growth of the art community. And we see, for instance, when the MFA program was added, and I think Nancy Erickson might have been the first woman to graduate with an MFA. She and her husband decided to stay. And that's what, you know, started to really change. I think the art community here. When artists who came to school here decided to make it their home.

Josh Slotnick: [00:24:07] Yeah.

Laura Millin: [00:24:07] So I think particularly in the visual arts, that's kind of pretty direct effect. But, you know, I think the same goes for, you know, music because the symphony, you know, originally was actually its home was the University of Montana before it became an independent nonprofit. And so, you know, you just see over and over again how the university really.

Josh Slotnick: [00:24:27] Oh, for sure. So many people Came here to go to college, fell in love with the place and stayed.

Laura Millin: [00:24:32] Yeah, I think it certainly has something to do with it's a wonderful place to live. It's a charming place. It's. I remember Hal Frazier, who was such a supporter of our nonprofits and helping us build our infrastructure and get stronger, and certainly stood behind me with that, with that expansion at First Security Bank. He had fallen in love with San Francisco and then came to Missoula and said, oh, it just felt like a little San Francisco, and we're going to grow it, you know, into a bigger and better community that loves the arts.

Josh Slotnick: [00:25:03] And it worked.

Laura Millin: [00:25:05] Has great hotels and lighted bridges and, you know.

Josh Slotnick: [00:25:10] Yeah, yeah. Well, congratulations for being part of all that. Absolutely.

Laura Millin: [00:25:14] Thank you so much. It's been an honor.

Josh Slotnick: [00:25:16] Great. So we ask all our guests this same last question. So in the recent past, is there any tidbit of culture you came across that really stuck with you? I'm thinking of a podcast or a book or a play or a song. Anything you've run into.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:25:30] Or a piece of art!

Josh Slotnick: [00:25:31] Of  piece of art. Yeah. There you go. Thanks, Dave. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Josh Slotnick: [00:25:36] A chunk of culture you thought. Well, that was worth remembering. And now talking about.

Laura Millin: [00:25:41] Well, you're kind of getting into the territory of my least favorite question.

Josh Slotnick: [00:25:46] Oh, no.

Laura Millin: [00:25:47] Which is what is my favorite?

Josh Slotnick: [00:25:49] Oh, this is just the most compelling in the last ten days.

Josh Slotnick: [00:25:52] So that's easy.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:25:53] Or this morning.

Josh Slotnick: [00:25:54] Or this morning, yeah.

Laura Millin: [00:25:55] Deborah Ehrling's book, which has taken me forever to get through. 

Josh Slotnick: [00:25:59] Which one?

Laura Millin: [00:25:59] The most recent book, The Lost Journals of Sacajawea.

Josh Slotnick: [00:26:03] Yeah, yeah. Great book.

Laura Millin: [00:26:05] Incredible. Well, not for sissies.

Josh Slotnick: [00:26:07] No, no, it's...Talk about challenging.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:26:10] Well, Laura, thanks so much for joining us. Thanks for all of your 35 years of service with the Mam, and probably many years before that, uh, as a lover of the arts, also.

Josh Slotnick: [00:26:22] Thanks for all you've done for our community.

Laura Millin: [00:26:24] And thank you for the support. The county's been a big part of it.

Josh Slotnick: [00:26:28] We are honored to do that.

Laura Millin: [00:26:30] Thank you. Thanks.

Josh Slotnick: [00:26:31] Thanks, everybody. Thanks for listening. We'll catch you next time. Thanks for listening to the agenda. If you enjoy these conversations, it would mean a lot if you would rate and review the show on whichever podcast app you use.

Juanita Vero: [00:26:43] And if you know a friend who would like to keep up with what's happening in local government, be sure to recommend this podcast to them.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:26:49] The agenda with the Missoula County Commissioners is made possible with support from Missoula Community Access Television, better known as MCAT, and our staff in the Missoula County Communications Division.

Josh Slotnick: [00:27:01] If you have a question or a topic you'd like us to discuss on a future episode, email it to communications@missoulacounty.us.

Juanita Vero: [00:27:09] To find out other ways to stay up to date with what's happening in Missoula County, go to Missoula.co/countyupdates.

Dave Strohmaier: [00:27:16] Thanks for listening.