Finding strength in numbers to develop an art gallery in Havre, Montana with help from the Montana Cooperative Development Center – Artitudes Art Gallery

On a road trip from Havre to Lewistown, Kris Shaw and a fellow artist got to talking about Havre’s need for an art gallery.

Shaw had been involved in art cooperatives in other communities and thought creating a cooperative would be a way to open a gallery in Havre.

"An art gallery has a hard time surviving when it’s owned by one person," Shaw said.

It often takes a while for the artwork to begin to sell and in the mean time a single owner can struggle with paying the bills and earning an income.

"We talked about that, and then we had no idea how to start," she said.

Shaw got in touch with the Bear Paw Development Corporation http://www.bearpaw.org/ staff members in Havre who put her in touch with the Montana Cooperative Development Center http://www.mcdc.coop/ . MCDC helped Shaw and a steering committee of other artists set up bylaws, file with the state and go through all the other steps of creating a cooperative.

Artitudes Art Gallery

http://www.artitudesgallery.com/

220 3rd Ave

Havre, MT 59501-3554

(406) 265-2104

By ERIN MADISON • Tribune Staff Writer

Full Story: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20090104/BUSINESS/901040309/1046/SPECIALSECTION05