An extraordinary cultural destination
The Yellowstone Art Museum is a contemporary art museum in Billings, Montana, and strives to be an extraordinary cultural destination for creative exchange.
The Sidney E. Frank Foundation supports its art education programs through museum visits, art-making classes, and camps for children, and a special partnership with a local prison. With the Foundation’s support, women at Montana Women’s Prison take classes with professional teaching artists. In immersive workshops, women learn to draw, create ceramic tiles, paint with watercolors, make jewelry, and create abstract expressionist paintings. The program has a profound impact on the women who participate.
"Art education allows us as a society to learn, mature, evolve, transform and live our lives to their full potential. If this program heals one woman and gives her a second chance it is worthwhile."
The initiative was initially a high school project of Cierra Coppock, the daughter of Billings attorney, Renée Coppock. Cierra loved Van Gogh’s painting, The Starry Night, and decided to sell her iPad to support her art teacher to teach a class about the painting in Montana Women’s Prison.
After the iPad funds were spent, the Foundation continued to support the program. Now, years later, one of the program’s teaching artists is Beth Korth, Art Education Coordinator at Tippet Rise Art Center in Fishtail.