“Sweat and Steel” captures railroading spirit at Livingston Depot Center

Published: May 11, 2010

C. David Swanson's painting of a locomotive mechanic is part of his "Sweat and Steel" exhibit.

“Sweat and Steel,” a new exhibition by Livingston artist C. David Swanson, opens May 29 at the Livingston Depot Center, and continues through Sept. 6. The series of 18 paintings depict railroad workers on Montana’s MRL and BNSF lines.  

Swanson’s paintings forcefully present figurative images of working men and women. The exhibit is designed as an educational experience and incorporates elements of music, poetry and historic railroad artifacts.

Swanson is a contemporary realist who seeks to capture and chronicle American life in its people and environments. He has done numerous paintings of subjects in and around Park County and Livingston, notably townscapes and grain elevators, and a major series on Route 66, titled “Highway Loneliness.” (Visit www.davidswansonart.com to view his work.)

With this exhibition the artist further explores the human form in the architectural/mechanical context. “Men and women working on machines such as these mighty steel locomotives – holdovers from the steel and jet ages – are to me a compelling metaphor for the larger issue between mankind and technology,” says Swanson.

The exhibit, which is funded in part by a Montana Cultural Trust grant and additional grant support from Atria Group, Inc., also travels to seven other art museums and historical centers throughout the state, including Custer County Art & Heritage Center (Miles City), MonDak Heritage Center (Sydney), Lewistown Art Center, Jefferson County Museum (Clancy), Copper Village Museum and Art Center (Anaconda), Holter Museum of Art (Helena), and the Hockaday Museum of Art (Kalispell). The cycle of the tour extends into 2012, under the auspices of the Montana Museum and Art Gallery Directors Association.

Also on display at the Depot: the museum’s main exhibit, “Rails Across the Rockies: A Century of People and Places,” which introduces the visitor to the rich history of railroading in Montana; “The Livingston Depot in History and Architecture” and “Film in Montana: Moviemaking under the Big Sky.”

The museum plans to continue its “Third Thursday” summer program series, beginning at 7 p.m. June 17 with an evening of railroad poetry, music and a reception for “Sweat and Steel.” The program on July 15 is “Movies at the Museum,” a collection of vintage railroad films of the 1920s and ’30s; and the final installment on Aug. 19 honors Livingston’s railroad heritage with railroad historian Warren McGee and friends.

For more information, call 406-222-2300 or visit www.livingstondepot.org.