Who We Are
We’re a community art walk turning our downtown into an open gallery celebrating local creativity, connection, and small-town culture.
The Miles City Downtown Art Walk (MCDAW) was created in 2024 to beautify our historic Main Street with the installation of public art. Starting with the vision of Jenna Janshen in 2018, dreaming and planning led to our director, Kelsey Merritt, formalizing our public art initiative with the installation of the inaugural Bison Bar Mural.
Through grants and donations, MCDAW commissions public art to increase downtown visitation, encourage community pride, and support local artists and craftspersons. Since 2024, we are proud to have installed 9 murals, 4 sculptures, and 15 functional art pieces including several youth program collaborations such as with the CCDHS Art Club, CCDHS Welding Program, and Custer County 4-H Program.
We believe Miles City deserves to feel proud of its downtown district and we work to install public art that reflects the beauty of the hard-working and good-hearted folks that live here. We hope you’ll join us in celebrating these incredible artists and their talents.
What’s next? Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to see what we have planned for 2026. We’re excited to show you what we’ve been working on!
Photo by Miles City Live
Kelsey Merritt, Director
Kelsey (Weyerbacher) Merritt was raised on a farm in Kinsey, Montana and attended high school in Miles City. The daughter of an art teacher, she credits her mom's curiosity and passion for the arts for shaping her exposure to museums, galleries, and the value of public art.
Moving back to her hometown with her family in 2022, she began working at SDI Architects + Design, where community engagement is encouraged and celebrated. She was encouraged to use her writing skills to begin grant writing in 2023, planting the seeds that later grew into a successful grant application for the inaugural Bison Bar Mural in 2024.
She volunteers her time to plan installations, commission artists, engage property owners, write grants, develop meaningful donor relationships, and to provide support to surrounding communities hoping to install their own public art pieces. Her family is heavily involved in MCDAW, with her husband, Jesse, donating time and labor through his small business, Merritt Built Construction. Her children, Connor and Isla, help scout locations, are supporting artists on the Elks Mural and Veteran's Park Mural, and act as excellent supervisors. She stresses the support of family and friends in being vital to the success of MCDAW.
Now serving as a Funding Specialist offering grant writing and administration services for SDI Architects + Design, Kelsey is proud to be affiliated with several wonderful organizations, such as the American Grant Writers' Association, Red Ants Pants Foundation, and Custer County 4-H. She was named the Miles City Area Chamber of Commerce's Individual of the Year in 2024, and a featured Montana Main Street Community Leader in 2025.
Other resources
Frequently Asked Questions
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We commission Montana artists to create our public art installations, with an emphasis on regional artists from Southeastern Montana. Check out our artists page to learn more about the incredible folks who have shaped our Art Walk!
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MCDAW has installed murals, sculptures, and functional art pieces through grants and donations. Our Director volunteers her time to apply for grants and receive donations through meaningful relationships. We are grateful and humbled by the continued support of grant funders, donors, and local businesses whose efforts make MCDAW possible!
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While MCDAW was formally started in 2024, the planning began in 2022 through discussions about how to connect existing amenities and infrastructure in our community. Tentative locations within the downtown district have been identified and are pursued by our Director through conversations with building and business owners. Budgets, art themes, and owners support drive location decisions.
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The best way to support our mission is to donate funds, support local artists by purchasing their work or taking their classes, and by encouraging property owners to participate in the Art Walk!
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There are future opportunities for MCDAW efforts to expand beyond our downtown district. For now, the focus to revitalize and beautify our downtown to support the local businesses, existing amenities, and previous efforts continues to be the primary focus for MCDAW.
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Each art piece is different, but all installations require a design mockup to be approved by property owners ahead of installation. Sometimes building owners have an idea the artist works with, and other times artists come to the table with a vision. The process is collaborative, and that is how we like it! Public art should encourage conversation and dialogue.
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The Miles City Downtown Art Walk is a public art initiative started by Director, Kelsey Merritt, in 2024. As a local grant writer and administrator, Kelsey saw the potential for our downtown to look different through time and effort. Learn more about Kelsey's volunteer work and the MCDAW story here.
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Very soon, it will be! The Miles City Downtown Art Walk is a program of Helping Us Build, Inc. (HUB), an organization that promotes the community enrichment of Miles City, Montana, with a focus on the downtown district. HUB is actively waiting for a 501(c)3 nonprofit determination.
Contact us
Questions? Fill out this form and we will get back to you as soon as possible!