Bitterroot Young Artists Are Celebrated at ATR’s Contest

Hundreds of dollars were awarded to budding Bitterroot high school students at the the Annual ATR contest in Hamilton. The ATR Smart Procedures software company, with offices in Montana and Texas, encouraged artists from all Ravalli County high schools to enter the competition with their renditions of famous Montana landmarks. The three categories were Drawing, Painting and Sculpture. Besides the winning artists receiving money, the school with the most "top three" artists picked up some money, too.

The "Best of Show" winner was Madison Conner of Darby with her entry "Shattered Trapper," using the Bitterroot Valley's Trapper Peak as her subject (see photo above). This year, Montana Bliss Artworks and Artists Along the Bitterroot helped in judging and with three workshops at professional artists' studios for selected students. Elliot Lander and Jenn Turner of ATR were pleased with the contest and opened their office on Hamilton's Main Street for viewing during Friday's Culture Crawl in April.