The city of Bozeman is a college town, with a large School of Art, hence scads of resident artists. This lead to a sincere dedication to the arts by the City of Bozeman, resulting in dozens and dozens of works on display throughout the city. Certainly the largest gathering of art works is at the Bozeman Public Library, the majority of the works located in an art park behind (south of) the library,
Bozeman Sculpture Park.
One of the more notable artworks in the city of Bozeman is
Elk Herd, the work of well known sculptor Jim Dolan, a grouping of Eight Elk, installed in 1985 at First Interstate Bank at College and Main. From a distance appearing completely lifelike, this herd of eight elk often causes double-takes as viewers briefly think they are in fact real. Closer examination reveals the elk to be relatively simple frames clad in expanded metal mesh. However, many motorists traveling along Highway 191 have, upon spying
Elk Herd, deemed it necessary to screech to a halt, jump out and shoot multiple photos of what they thought to be an honest to goodness herd of urban dwelling Elk.
The group, or herd, has become sufficiently embedded in the consciousness of Montanans to rank inclusion in the
Smithsonian Art Inventories Catalog.
Welcome to Jim Dolan Art
Jim Dolan is a metal sculpture artist from Montana. Inspired by the beauty that surrounds him, Jim creates imaginative pieces of art. Dozens of his sculptures are
public art, including his most well-known installation, the
“Bleu Horses”. Explore his
portfolio and feel free to contact him with any questions or to schedule a
studio visit.
From Jim Dolan Art