Dates & times
All times are local to the venue · America/Denver
- 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
These are the previously published dates. Check the organizer for a new edition.
Check the organizer’s latest schedule ↗On Darkness at Missoula Art Museum: First Friday talk and music
At the center of On Darkness: shifting perceptions is a shift in how viewers look: darkness is treated not only as a lack of light, but as a way to alter what can be seen and imagined. Missoula Art Museum’s First Friday pairs a gallery talk by exhibition organizer Margo Geddes with music by The Dawn Patrol.
Changes in light change what a work can suggest
The exhibition draws on MAM’s collection to consider darkness as both a visual subject and a prompt for imagination. Its works use contrasts of light and shadow, along with shifts in depth, scale and form; those choices can change how a viewer reads a shape or space.
MAM Registrar Margo Geddes, who organized the exhibition, will share what inspired it during a 30-minute gallery talk. Hearing from the organizer gives visitors a way into the choices behind this particular collection presentation, rather than a general introduction to darkness as a theme.
Further reading: First Friday: On Darkness: shifting perceptions — Missoula Art Museum ↗
A collection show within a regional-art program
MAM’s exhibition program focuses on contemporary regional art, including contemporary Indigenous art, Montana modernism and emerging artists working in different media. The museum also keeps works from its collection on view and presents exhibitions drawn from that collection, as it has with On Darkness: shifting perceptions.
The museum reports presenting 20–25 solo and group exhibitions annually across five main galleries and the Missoula Art Park. That broader program helps place this show: it is one collection-based presentation within a museum whose exhibitions also include projects developed with artists and other kinds of institutional collaborations.
Further reading: Current Exhibitions | Discover Art. Experience Exhibitions. Visit Today. — Missoula Art Museum ↗
A gallery talk and music
Geddes’s half-hour talk is scheduled for 5:30–6:00 PM within the 5:00–7:00 PM gathering. Music by The Dawn Patrol is also listed, but no separate performance time is given.
Friday, November 6, 2026 · Missoula Art Museum galleries
- Gallery talk with MAM Registrar Margo Geddes about On Darkness: shifting perceptions.
Friday, November 6, 2026 · Missoula Art Museum
- Music by The Dawn Patrol.
Plan your visit
Friday, November 6, 2026
First Friday runs from 5:00 to 7:00 PM. Margo Geddes’s gallery talk is scheduled for 5:30–6:00 PM.
First Friday: On Darkness: shifting perceptions — Missoula Art Museum ↗
Missoula Art Museum
335 Pattee Street, Missoula, MT 59802.
First Friday at MAM: Gallery Talk "On Darkness: shifting perceptions" | Nov 06 2026 | Destination Missoula ↗ · Hours and Location | Discover & Engage Today — Missoula Art Museum ↗
Free
Admission to the event is free.
First Friday: On Darkness: shifting perceptions — Missoula Art Museum ↗
Getting to MAM
Bus
MAM is two blocks east of the Mountain Line Bus Depot on Pine Street. The museum identifies routes 1 and 12 as having their first outbound stops at the depot.
Hours and Location | Discover & Engage Today — Missoula Art Museum ↗
Driving
From I-90, take the Van Buren Street exit south toward Broadway, turn right onto Broadway and continue six blocks to North Pattee. Turn right; MAM is on the left at the corner of Pattee and Pine.
From Missoula International Airport, follow West Broadway/I-90 Business into downtown for 5.6 miles, then turn left at North Pattee. MAM is on the left at the corner of Pattee and Pine. For directions from another starting point, the museum recommends using a GPS app.
Hours and Location | Discover & Engage Today — Missoula Art Museum ↗
Parking
Metered street parking is available on nearby blocks; MAM says street parking is free after 5:00 PM and on weekends.
The adjacent Pine Street lot has a restriction worth noting: the museum describes it as leased and not open to the public during the workweek, while also saying it is free after 5:00 PM on weekdays and all day on weekends. Do not assume the lot is available.
Hours and Location | Discover & Engage Today — Missoula Art Museum ↗
Access inside the museum
MAM describes the museum as wheelchair accessible and says a wheelchair is available for public use. Push-button door openers and an elevator to all floors are provided.
Labels and interpretive text use 16-point Futura and are installed at 46–56-inch centers. Self-guided audio tours are available in every gallery, and visitor educators can provide verbal descriptions of large-print text.
Hours and Location | Discover & Engage Today — Missoula Art Museum ↗
Before you make a plan
Is there a separate performance time for The Dawn Patrol?
Music by The Dawn Patrol is listed, but MAM does not specify a separate start or end time for the performance.
First Friday: On Darkness: shifting perceptions — Missoula Art Museum ↗
How long will On Darkness: shifting perceptions be on view?
MAM lists the exhibition through December 5, 2026.
Current Exhibitions | Discover Art. Experience Exhibitions. Visit Today. — Missoula Art Museum ↗
Is parking free during First Friday?
MAM says nearby street parking is free after 5:00 PM. The adjacent Pine Street lot is leased and not open to the public during the workweek, so do not count on access to that lot.
Hours and Location | Discover & Engage Today — Missoula Art Museum ↗
Does the museum have wheelchair access?
MAM says the building is wheelchair accessible, has a public-use wheelchair, push-button door openers and an elevator to all floors.
Hours and Location | Discover & Engage Today — Missoula Art Museum ↗
Location & Google Maps
Missoula Art Museum
335 Pattee Street, Missoula, MT 59802
Map search by venue and address. Check the organiser’s entrance details before travelling.