Two exhibits, one on the history of people with disabilities in Montana and another featuring works of art produced by disabled artists, will open for public viewing at the Western Heritage Center in downtown Billings beginning on Wednesday, March 26. The exhibits are the result of over two years of work by the Western Heritage Center, which used in-depth primary historical research and fourteen recent oral history interviews to uncover the unique and surprising stories of people living with disabilities in Montana.
Equally Different: Uncovering the History of Disability in Montana (March 2025 until December)
Following national trends of institutionalization and separation, the State of Montana began offering specialized education for the deaf, blind, and “feeble-minded” at the State School at Boulder and supported the opening of the Warm Springs Infirmary & Invalid Hospital (now the Montana State Hospital).
But while these institutions attempted to help Montanans with certain disabilities, local efforts took a different approach. Starting with the St. Vincent Orthopedic Hospital and Dr. Louis Allard, programs in Billings began leading the nation in services and integration. Then, as today, the history of people living with disabilities is about civil and human rights.
As federal legislation, such as the Education of All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990, and ADA Amendments Act of 2008, provided significant legal achievements for prohibiting discrimination of people with disabilities, many programs in Billings and Montana were working to accomplish these feats as early as the 1940s.
The disability rights movement continues today. In the exhibit, you’ll hear accounts from those who experience life with a disability and learn the stories of local advocates who worked to improve the lives of those living with disabilities. (Exhibit Description provided by Western Heritage Center)
Empowered HeARTs: Work from Artists with Disabilities.
Explore the emotions and skills of artists living with disabilities in the Yellowstone River Valley. From well-known talents, like Cliff Potts, to emerging young artists, experience the diversity and color of these wonderful works of art. (Exhibit Description provided by Western Heritage Center)
LIFTT is loaning Western Heritage Center a paper mache sculpture featuring two children riding in a rainbow colored hot air balloon for display in the Empowered HeARTs exhibit. The sculpture is one of several Justin Johnson gifted to LIFTT in 2013. Johnson was an autistic man who, when living in Billings from 2008-2013, participated in AWARE’s “Growth through Art” program and worked with Montana Vocational Rehabilitation and Job Connection to set up his own studio. Johnson passed away in Helena in 2014. LIFTT is proud to be able to honor Justin’s artistic legacy through this loan.
Artist Justin Johnson (left) and then LIFTT executive director Joe Burst pose with a sculpture Johnson, an autistic man, created and donated to LIFTT in 2013. Johnson would pass away in 2014. LIFTT is proud to honor Johnson’s legacy, by loaning the sculpture to the Western Heritage Center to display in an upcoming art exhibit by disabled artists from our region.
The Western Heritage Center is located at 2822 Montana Avenue in downtown Billings and is open Tuesdays-Saturdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission to the museum is $5 for adults. $3 students & seniors, and free for children under age six. The buliding, which at one time was home to the Billings Public Library, has an ADA accessible elevator and an accessible entry is located at ground level to the right of the main entry staircase. The museum also provides what is known as a “Social Story” as a guide to help potential visitors with concerns about social interaction and public spaces learn what to expect when they come to the museum. For more information about the Western Heritage Center visit ywhc.org or call (406) 256-6809
Western Heritage Center Community Historian Lauren Hunley Recently Joined Carlos Ramalho and Jed Barton on an episode of “Living Well in Montana” to discuss the exhibits, some of the surprising facts her research has yielded, and how history echoes in the situations the disability community finds itself in today. You can watch the full episode below.
About Living Independently for Today & Tomorrow (LIFTT): LIFTT is a Montana 501(c)3 corporation organized as a Center for Independent Living (CIL). With team members based in Billings and Glendive, LIFTT provides aging and disabled members of the community with programs and services that help empower them to break down the physical, bureaucratic, and cultural barriers that prevent them from being fully independent participants in their lives and communities throughout 18 counties in southeastern and south-central Montana: Big Horn, Carbon, Carter, Custer, Dawson, Fallon, Garfield, Golden Valley, McCone, Musselshell, Powder River, Prairie, Richland, Rosebud, Stillwater, Treasure, Wibaux, and Yellowstone. For more information, please visit liftt.org or download our mobile app for your Apple or Android Device.