Odyssey honors artists Monte Dolack and Mary Beth Percival

Published: April 10, 2009

Missoula artists Monte Dolack and Mary Beth Percival take centerstage in Odyssey of the Stars.

Renowned Montana artists Monte Dolack and Mary Beth Percival will be honored April 18 during the University of Montana School of Fine Arts’ ninth annual Odyssey of the Stars, “A Montana State of Mind.” The popular event benefits the SFA scholarship fund while showcasing alumni who have gone on to successful careers in the arts, in concert with current UM students.

Partners in life and art, Dolack and Percival have been fixtures on the Montana arts scene for over 30 years. Both are native Montanans who have been influenced from an early age by the landscape and culture that surrounds them.

Mention their time at UM and the teachers who influenced them, and you will hear names of well-known art professors and artists such as Rudy Autio, Don Bunse and Maxine Blackmer. While on campus, Dolack produced cartoons for the Kaimin, sold his pottery at the first ever University Center Art Fair, and designed posters for Aber Day Keggers. Percival worked for Information Services designing covers for numerous campus publications and posters for campus events.

Wanting to be an abstract painter but facing the reality of making a living, Dolack painted signs and designed t-shirts, album covers, posters, menus and rubber stamps. In his own words, he went from, “fine art to applied art out of necessity.”

Dolack’s logos for businesses such as Butterfly Herbs, the Trailhead, Rishashay and the Crystal Theatre helped define these ventures and his work soon became part of Missoula’s identity. His career as a fine artist has also flourished, and the artist’s paintings are part of the collection of the Library of Congress, the American Association of Museums and the National Wildfire Foundation.

Percival was raised in a family brimming with artistic talents. A third generation Montanan, she grew up in the Big Hole and Boulder valleys, and started school at UM in 1963, studied at San Francisco State College, and received a bachelor’s in art from UM in 1968, followed by a teaching credential.

After teaching taught art at Belgrade High School, she returned to Missoula in the 70s, and together with Dolack, carved a large niche in the western Montana art scene. Best known for her watercolor paintings, Percival offers intimate views of the landscape where she grew up, and also celebrates simple pleasures of daily life. Her work has appeared in many juried and invitational shows.

The couple opened their first gallery above that famous Missoula watering hole, the Top Hat, and eventually moved to their current site on Front Street. In the late 80s, the couple began traveling to exhibit work and paint on location. Their journeys have taken them to all corners of the globe.

For more information on this year’s Odyssey, call 406-243-4970. To learn more about the artists, go to www.dolack.com.