Painting the Town

Drawing inspiration from past projects and blank canvases, Natalie Raffield of the Sandpiper Gallery and Gifts and her group of artists have made it their goal to beautify the Polson community by painting murals. 

After, as Raffield put it, “driving the Sandpiper’s board of directors crazy with their non-stop ideas,” she decided to pull away from the main group and create her own research and development committee.

 Relying on gracious donations and support from the community, the program took off. Together, with the help of Vicky Poole, Penni Weyant, Luke Orsborne, Carla Martinson, and other volunteer artists from the Sandpiper, Raffield went about painting the town. 

Initially, there was no momentum for public art. Trying to get different artists to contribute to the project ultimately fell flat. Raffield didn’t give up hope, though, stating, ”We want to continue to do this, because it’s fun to work with the community.” 

After volunteering to paint a mural on the Golf Course Water and Sewer building off Highway 93, Orsborne described the experience as intense. Over the course of a month with an average of 3-4 day work weeks, he chose to fight through the heat, fatigue, and fast-drying paint to become the proud artist of “The Painted Fairway.” The mural features a grizzly bear and the state bird, a meadowlark, which symbolizes the wildlife and natural heritage that define Montana’s identity. Orsborne said, “It’s just really exciting to be part of a process where people value the process of beautification and enlivening the community by bringing vital creative energy into a space.” When asked what the Polson community hopefully gained from his mural, Orsborne replied, “My hope was they would relate specifically to the community and foster that sense of identity. What is important to us, being here in Montana, is that sense of connection to the earth that I think a lot of people here can relate to.” The overwhelming support of the community members who dropped by, providing compliments and unexpected beverages, surprised Orsborne. It proved to him that this was a project that the Polson community needed.

With six future projects planned for 2026, Raffield is seeking the community’s support for the continued success of her program. She said, “Artists are indicative of our society. They’re the mirrors into our society. They help us express what’s going on. It’s a common language that everyone shares. You don’t have to have any money to look at art to gain something from it.”