The Montana Women’s Murals at the Montana State House in Helena, Montana
( Photos by Cary Nowell, 2015)
In July, 2013. just weeks after getting her MSA diagnosis, Hadley began work on a proposal for a competition initiated by two Montana women legislators for a single mural that would illustrate the contributions women have made throughout Montana’s history. The mural would hang in third floor of the Montana State House on a wall flanking the building’s grand staircase.
Hadley felt that two murals—one on each side of the stair—would bring greater balance to the space. She proposed one panel depicting the lives of Montanan women, both settlers and Native Americans, pre-railroad in the late 1880s The second panel would illustrate women in roles of leadership, entrepreneurship, social activism, and service, following the arrival of the railroad and the 20th century.
Click or tap on the photos for more info on each one.
On December 5, 2013, Hadley received the news that she’d won the competition. She set to work making space in her upstairs studio for the two 5’ x 10’ panels.
Hadley prepped the two powder-coated aluminum mural panels, sanding and then brushing them with two layers of gesso to create a more textured, uneven surface. Then, she drew the borders that defined the center ovals, triangular corners, and outside edges of each panel. She brushed on a layer of sepia to give the murals a warmer quality.
In July, 2014, Hadley pulled out her paintbrushes, ready to bring definition to the first of thirty-three characters that populate the two murals. In the days leading up to the January 7, 2015 mural unveiling, she painted eighteen hours every day. For the murals’ elaborate borders, she recruited help from friends and family, including her daughter, Sarah, seen here.
On Jan 5, 2015, Hadley texted me that she was finished Then she shepherded the two murals to Rick’s Auto Body, where they were powder coated, a protective treatment that would eliminate the need for plexiglass once the panels were mounted at the Montana State House.
The State House on the day of the mural unveiling
Montana State House grand stair hall
By the time the dedication ceremony began, more than 250 people had jammed the stair and the space that wrapped around it
Program for the unveiling. Montana’s first lady, Lisa Bullock, was the first to speak, calling the mural unveiling a “monumental moment!”
The unveiling!
Panel two, titled “Women Build Montana: Community,” is set in 1924, the tenth anniversary of Montana women’s suffrage and the year the right to vote was extended to Native American women with the passage of the Indian Citizenship Act. ( See p 262 for more)
Panel One, titled “Women Build Montana: Culture,” is set in the spring of the late 19th century. It depicts Native women having come to a homestead to trade goods. (See p 262 for more.)
Hadley has always enjoyed the research she does for her murals, sorting through images in the files she’s kept over the years and at the library. She researched artwork and objects to decorate walls and tables, making sure every detail of a room, including lamps, rugs, and curtains, was historically accurate. Often, she referred to old Sears and Roebuck catalogs for furnishings. She studied hairstyles and obtained swatches of material from every decade from a historian of fabrics in Bozeman so that clothing would be appropriate.
Julie Cajune, a Native American member of the mural committee, took Hadley to the Flathead Reservation so that Hadley could photograph Julie’s friends in authentic Native American clothing and accessories. In addition to establishing historical authenticity, the photographs helped Hadley to capture natural head angles, gestures, and the drape of fabric.
The two Montana Women’s Murals where they will hang in perpetuity on either side of the grand stair. Hadley was right—two murals are much better than one!