While our unfiltered mountain town is known more for its outdoor offerings and natural landscapes than its cultural scene, we’re here to tell you that Kalispell has a few tricks up our sleeves. Our town by the lake has heaping helpings of arts and culture, which are complemented by vibrant murals that adorn Kalispell’s downtown. The locations of the murals vary, from a longtime cafe with more than 100 years of history in the valley to grain elevators that are a constant along Montana’s vast skylines. The murals are bold, colorful and diverse, with each telling an important story of Montana, the Flathead Valley and Kalispell. With murals and paintings that are located both indoors and outdoors, taking a self-guided tour of Kalispell’s murals is an ideal year-round activity and a great way to explore the various areas of downtown.

JEANETTE RANKIN

Main & 4th Street South (Bias Brewing) | Tessa Heck-George 

Located on the backside of Bias Brewing in downtown Kalispell, this mural honors Jeanette Rankin, the first woman elected to U.S. Congress (she served in both 1916 and 1940). Rankin was a women’s rights advocate and the mural features one of Rankin’s most-loved quotes, “Go! Go! Go! It makes no difference where, just so you go! Go! Go!” 

IT’S GOING TO BE OKAY 

127 S. Main Street (Montana Modern Fine Art) | Tessa Heck-George

The newest addition to downtown Kalispell, this mural was commissioned to help deliver messages of hope and a reminder to help keep Montana safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

MMIWG 

1st Ave. East (Nature Baby Outfitters) | Adam and Alisha Shilling, Frank Finley and Marita GrowingThunder 

Vibrant and stunning, this mural adorns the courtyard wall at Nature Baby Outfitters (you need to go through the store to their back outdoor courtyard). A collaboration between mural facilitators and artists, it honors missing and murdered indigenous women and girls and helps to raise awareness about the #MMIWG movement. 

LAKE MCDONALD 

1st Ave. E & 5th Street (Devonshire Building) | Glenn Case 

Painted by a Washington artist, this mural (which was completed during summer 2020) brings Glacier National Park and Lake McDonald to Kalispell. A beautiful painting, it was done in honor of Mike Apgar’s great-great grandfather who homesteaded in Apgar inside Glacier National Park. 

10-CENT COFFEE COWBOY 

202 2nd Ave. W. (Sykes) | Clark Heyler 

A Kalispell staple for over 100 years, Sykes Diner has a 10-cent coffee cowboy mural, which was painted in honor of Sykes’ longtime and still-standing tradition of offering a cup of coffee for 10 cents. 

VINTAGE AUTOMOBILE 

1ST Avenue East & Center Street (Brannigan’s Irish Pub) | Alice Martin 

One of the more colorful modes of transportation seen trundling along Kalispell’s unpaved streets in the early 1900s. This was painted by a beloved local artist and educator.

DAY TO NIGHT

Center Street & 5th Avenue West (Valley Linen) | Thomas Valencia 

One of the largest murals in town, this vibrant day-to-night scene stretches out for half a block and includes mountains, wildfire, the Northern Lights and a winding river, all of which are part of Montana’s tapestry. 

CARTWHEELS

Rails to Trails (along Meridian) | Thomas Valencia 

Another recent addition to Kalispell by artist Valencia, this colorful mural showcases people doing cartwheels and was created to help enhance an area (which was previously tagged with graffiti) along a section of Rails to Trails that’s popular among bikers and walkers. Additional indoor murals are tucked into Norm’s Soda Fountain and Rocky Mountain Outfitters (both on Main Street).