An art gallery during a health crisis

The Altitude Art Gallery is a respected business in downtown Bozeman and has been a beloved vessel for the art and culture of the city for over 15 years. Its founder, Amy Kirkland, opened the doors to this bright, cozy “jewel box” of a space in 2005, where she put her focus on the beautiful, innovative art of Bozeman. Her space has been home to multiple beautiful works of art crafted by talented artists. 

In order to protect public health, Kirkland stated, “We are requiring masks, we’re asking people to sanitize their hands when they come in, we’re sanitizing things pretty much all day and we’re just keeping the door open and making sure everybody is following health protocols.”

Kirkland finds that when customers use her website to order any piece of art, ranging from prints to earrings made from salvaged car steel, it gives her peace of mind. She is glad that her clients are still looking to support local art, but are doing so safely by shopping online to be cautious of the novel coronavirus. 

On the topic of current customer traffic flow, as compared to pre-pandemic business, she said, “I thought it would’ve changed more, but it’s actually just as busy as it’s ever been downtown, which is scary and stressful!” She mentioned that the fact that her gallery staying open is a double-edged sword. 

“I’m happy to be able to support all of the artists that we represent, but on a personal level, trying to stay COVID-free for my household and my community has been more of a challenge than I’ve ever expected.”

Kirkland is thinking of the 60 artists that she works with and how they stay busy during the pandemic.

“We are just encouraging the artists to be as productive as they can and putting more work in [the gallery] and selling it for them,” Kirkland said. “We’re doing a lot of work on social media, getting the word out about what’s new, what’s coming in, trying to talk about other things culturally like the Black Lives Matter movement, things like the rainbow crosswalks downtown, anything we see that is happening locally, we’re really trying to shine a light on it through social media.”

You can visit Altitude Gallery at 134 E Main St, across the street from Zocalo, or check out their website at https://altitudegallerybozeman.com/.