Perhaps the most artistic residents of the Gallatin Valley in south-central Montana are the married couple Carol Guzman and Clyde Aspevig. Both of these gifted painters are passionate about preserving undeveloped expanses of Western landscape, and it was Guzman who first memorably described their zeal for attentive nature walks as “land snorkeling.” Today the couple maintains a website (landsnorkel.com) that encourages browsers to help preserve the environment, in part because it can, in Guzman’s words, “awaken our senses to the wonderful mysteries that await the curious mind.”
Two exhibitions this season confirm that the couple have been keeping busy making great art. On view now through October 3, 2026 at the American Prairie National Discovery Center in Lewistown, Montana, is “Prairie Personalities: The Art of Carol Guzman.” Depicted in the oil paintings hanging there are figures, still lifes, wildlife, and landscapes, all informed by the artist’s upbringing in St. Louis, her study of art and art history in New York City and the Hudson Valley, and her ongoing explorations of Montana and the West.
Located 350 miles to the northwest, the Wanda Hollensteiner Art Gallery at Flathead Valley Community College in Kalispell recently opened the exhibition “Paintings of Clyde Aspevig” (September 19–November 15). Born on a Montana farm near the Canadian border, Aspevig grew up relishing the “wonder and imagination that came with exploring nature,” and has long admired the paintings of such forerunners as the Scandinavian landscapists and Canada’s Group of Seven. Today he is best known for grand vistas of unspoiled Western scenery, yet he is also a gifted creator of more intimate, even poetic, scenes of ostensibly “ordinary” passages of nature, like the luminous fish illustrated here.
Also this season, Clyde Aspevig is receiving the Montana Governor’s Award, created to recognize outstanding Montana citizens and organizations whose achievements in the arts, or on behalf of the arts, benefit all Montanans. Clyde is being recognized for both his mastery of painting the Montana landscape and his lifelong contributions to the tradition of Western art.
Exhibition Details At a Glance:
“Prairie Personalities: The Art of Carol Guzman”
Through October 3, 2026
American Prairie National Discovery Center
Lewistown, Montana
More info: americanprairie.org/discovery-center
“Paintings of Clyde Aspevig”
September 19–November 15, 2026
Wanda Hollensteiner Art Gallery at Flathead Valley Community College
Kalispell, Montana
More info: wachholzcollegecenter.org
Related:
- Clyde Aspevig’s painting is the new opera show poster for “A River Runs Through It” and a fundraiser for Opera Montana. (read more)
- Artists: Take Clyde’s plein air painting workshop from the comfort of your home with this Clyde Aspevig PaintTubeTV session. In this course, you’ll sit beside Clyde as he paints a real spring-green landscape en plein air, from start to finish. With his calm, thoughtful instruction, you’ll see exactly what he’s thinking and why he makes each decision.
Announcement prepared for the web by Cherie Dawn Haas, Editor of Fine Art Today
