Roxy Paine Statement
a space for contemplation
an idiosyncratic space
independence
a pilgramage site
a place of great fermentation

time, scales of time, geologic time- this area speaks to  the contemplation of time and earth’s processes with the mountain uplift,  yellowstone, remnants of volcanoes, the fact that this place sits at the bottom of a glacially carved trough.
What you see here is a labour of love.
This space is what 2 people have been dreaming of for decades. It is the product of that dreaming, but also the culmination of the experience of 3 decades of building, sculpting, inventing, constructing and planning and drawing. It is the product of our experiences as an artist and an architect individually but also our collaborations building and renovating industrial buildings, barns,  and houses.
In terms of the art that will be housed here, an emphasis on permanent installations- we will have temporary exhibitions, but I believe it brings out the best in an artist when they know their project will be permanent. This also means we need to be very particular in choosing permanent installations, as they will need to endure the test of time

One of the things I love about Montana is its fiercely independent spirit, we want this space to be a fiercely independent museum. As the world becomes increasingly beuracratic, this is more important than ever. Also as this country gets more divided and hateful, it is very important that we have spaces that promote contemplation , not didacticism, that may serve as a bridge and a reminder of humanity and commonality and our place in nature.

This building was built in 1910 as a brewery, which operated until 1918, when prohibition began in Montana (earlier than federal prohibition). In 1925 it began operation as a pea cannery, which lasted until 1975 when the cannery shut down and the building began a steady state of decay. Although during its operation as a cannery it was already in a state of decay as canning is a very wet process and much of it was occurring in the wood parts of the building, leading to many areas of rot. The maintenance during that time was poor and mostly consisted of applying layers of tar to the wood.
The animals; mostly birds found the cannery a great place to live after 1975. Pigeons in particular occupied most of the horizontal beams in the building, judging by the copious amounts of  byproducts.  Also carcasses, not only of pigeons , but ravens in the boilers, which must gotten trapped inside the smokestack. This was aided by the fact that most of the windows were broken, which also allowed some impressive nest building to occur in the elevator shaft (eagle, hawk perhaps?)

So far what we have done:
Demo, demo and more demo-  estimate we have have filled at least 20  30 yard dumpsters and another 4 of steel for recycling. 
Remediation- we hired licensed remediator to remove the asbestos and lead paint from the building
Repaired much rot- replacing beams, joists, floor boards. 
Repointing brick- on the east side and north, some of the south- the mortar was dust.
Replaced the entire north side wood wall- actually twice. one wall  so we could remove the rotten wall, the second to replace the rotten wall.
New plywood and siding on all the wood walls -north east and south
Replaced all the windows (105 of them!) with historically accurate frames and vacuum insulated glass.
Replaced all exterior doors
New insulated roofs- standing seam and rubber roofs
Bathrooms- 2 ADA bathrooms to serve both the cafe and museum.
New electric service - nothing of the old electric was salvageable
New water service, all plumbing is new- again nothing of the old salvageable
New concrete floor on first floor with radiant heating - also new concrete in courtyard outside.
Cafe- steel I beam support structure, wire brushed all the steel, removed tar, tiling, built counter, installed sinks, kitchen
New sprinker system throughout ( in process)
Lighting( first floor so far)
New mechanical room- radiant heating system, electric, sprinkler control

Still to do:
Exterior exit stairs
Main central stairs
Passenger elevator
2nd and 3rd floor flooring
2nd and 3rd floor: sheetrock, electric, lighting, heating
Painting everywhere. 
Most importantly - installing the art