'Arts conversation' session to be held Friday in Havre

The Montana Arts Council will hold an "arts conversation" at 5:15 p.m. Friday to discuss the state of the arts in Montana.

The session will take place at the Best Western Plus Havre Inn and Suites.

Four top officials of the Arts Council will be on hand to discuss agency programs, arts-driven economic development and "the state of the arts in Montana," a press release said.

Jay Pyette, who is on the arts council and is a Havre City Council member, said the session is designed to engage in a public conversation on the arts in Montana and where it is headed.

Executive Director Arni Fishbaugh, Grants and Database Director Kristin Han Burgoyne, Business Development Specialist Cinda Holt and Montana Artrepreneur Program Director Sheri Jarvis will be on hand to discuss agency programs and arts-driven economic development.

Everyone is urged to attend, he said.

The arts council members will be in Havre for the weekend.

Following the conversation meeting, the council will hold a Montana Artrepreneur Program Conversation.

That venture, Pyette said, is an interesting program that "teaches artists to be business people."

The council's regular meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at the inn. Issues such as the 2017 budget, the awarding of various grants and the search for a replacement for the retiring executive director Arni Fishbaugh will be discussed.

Pyette said the council members will also take in Havre's attractions.

After the meeting, members will have their choice of touring Havre Beneath the Streets, the Wahkpa Chu'gn Buffalo Jump or Fort Assinniboine.

They will have dinner at Pyette's home and then will attend the presentation of "Equivocation" being put on by Montana Actors' Theatre, which Pyette heads.

The Havre arts conversation is part of a series the council plans to conduct along the Hi-Line.

Council members will move on to Glasgow Monday, when they will hold an arts conversation 9 to 11 a.m. at the Cottonwood Inn.

A similar program will be at the Malta Business Center, 7 to 9 p.m., Monday.

The Hi-Line tour will finish at the Ekib-Tsah-Ah-Tsik Cultural Center at Fort Belknap's Aaniiih Nakoda College, 7 to 9 p.m., Tuesday.