By Jen Clancey STAFF WRITER
Great for skipping, stumbling over and observing closely, rocks are history right under our feet. An art piece by Tecture Architectural Fabrication plans to put local stones on display inside the base terminal of Explorer Gondola at Big Sky Resort.
In the end, the project will suspend around 1,600 stones on wires in colors and patterns. That stone sum is being collected by the local community, namely Big Sky students. Big Sky School District’s art classes under the direction of middle and high school visual art teacher Kate Riley, and Big Sky Community School faculty and students have collected rocks ranging from four to seven inches from the Gallatin, Madison and Yellowstone rivers.
Kyle Erickson, Tecture AF project manager, told EBS it’s been fun to see which rocks the kids and community members collect week after week. He shared gratitude for the student collectors.
“First of all thank you,” Erickson said. “We appreciate the help. It never hurts to have an extra set of hands, let alone a whole classroom.”
Big Sky Community School students and teachers select rocks in Big Sky. PHOTOS COURTESY OF TAMARA BROCATO
He hopes the kids get something out of the experience of contributing directly to artwork.
“We hope that it also serves as a little bit of inspiration for them—that you should always want to follow your dreams and that you can actually make art for a living. This is something they could pursue if they want down the road,” Erickson said.
Mayla Sheil, a freshman student at Big Sky Community School helped younger peers select rocks on Friday, Sept. 4. She’s an artist and a youth’s art teacher, and making an impact as a local student was rewarding.
“I was really excited about that, because the whole community’s in it,” Sheil said. In one hour, each student had collected 10 rocks each along the Gallatin River.
“I feel like it’s a lot more fun that they want the kids from the schools to get the rocks instead of just random people,” Sheil said.
Big Sky Resort is commissioning the artwork, which is expected to be completed near the end of 2026.
