Becky Roberts: Glues Crooked
Spring 2025 Artist-in-Residence at Home ReSource
Spring 2025 Artist-in-Residence, Becky Roberts armed with a glue gun!
Describe your Open AIR Residency Experience.
My experience as an artist-in-residence with Open Air was really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Thanks to my family and job, I was able to leave for a month and pursue art full-time. Unfortunately, I got sick pretty quickly after arriving in Missoula and stayed that way for nearly the entirety of my residency. But I was able to balance rest and healing with creating and exploring. The home base was lovely. I was nervous to have roommates once again, but found wonderful humans to share the space with. Fellow artists, Amanda Baker and Jackie Vetter provided support and camaraderie.
I was stationed at Home ReSource, which not only provided the most amazing lofted studio space but access to endless tools and supplies. As an assemblage artist, I’m inspired by objects, and the floors of HomeResource are full of inspiration! I found that I would sit in the space, look at the objects, and wait for inspiration to hit. I came into the residency with only one piece in mind. Everything else I presented was created during the residency, inspired by the site. For my presentation, I had amassed a new collection of work to show!
Lucky for me, my process requires that I acquire and search for objects and new materials. I explored Missoula one thrift store at a time. It was a beautiful spring, and I enjoyed zipping around town, working up in the studio, and relaxing at my new home. I truly soaked up every second of the experience.
Becky scoured Home ReSource and local thrift stores for materials.
What role does place (both in terms of physical space and community) play in your work, especially during your time at Open Air.
I came home from my residency with a new appreciation for how my physical space affects my creative process. At Home ReSource I was blessed with a large open studio space with big work surfaces and ample shelving. As an assemblage artist I have a lot of materials or objects that compose my pieces. Being able to see everything I could use and having the space to lay them all out and look at them became central to my process. I realized as soon as I got home how much my space needed to change. I rearranged furniture, acquired new work surfaces, and implemented new storage solutions. I brought home a lot of new insights as to what I needed to continue with my creative journey, and it turned out the physical studio space was integral to my process.
Becky in her Home ReSource studio space.
As far as my place in the community is concerned, I felt very welcomed by Missoula, Open Air, and at my placement location, Home ReSource. I was touched that the community came out to hear my presentation (especially when it was a beautiful spring day). Prior to my residency, I had shown a few times as a first Friday artist, creating meaningful connections. I continued making great connections in town, within Open AIR, and with my cohort. There was a feeling of support and interest in my work that I hadn’t felt before. While in Missoula, I felt encouraged to be myself and that the community wanted to see me do what I do. I'm hard-pressed to book a show in my own community of Bozeman. In an article by the Bozeman Chronicle, they state that “Bozeman is slow to catch on” to my work. Haha! But if you know, you know.
Becky’s Artist Presentation at Home ReSource.
Tell us about your most recent solo exhibition/performance/publication.
Prior to leaving for my residency, I booked a large show for the late summer. Along with fellow Bozeman artists Kate Huston and Marla Goodman, we created the exhibition titled “The Ugly American Dream House.” The show ran at Kirks Grocery Gallery in Billings, MT. This was my largest showing to date, and I proved to myself that my work could find a place in a gallery setting. Plus, I had the chutzpah and the amount of work to create an entire show.
Last Fall, I was featured in another exhibition in Anaconda, MT. This one has interesting ties back to Open Air. Fellow Open AIR alum and my roommate during the residency, Jackie Vetter, offered to share her theater space with me for an upcoming theater production. The work was featured in the front of house lobby during the Anaconda Ensemble Theater’s Fall production, “The Rope Trick.” It’s a beautiful space, and I was honored to be included.
My work was also just on view at Bob’s Your Uncle in Open AIR’s show OTHERWISE, including the two pieces pictured below, Cherry Popper and BDSM!.
Selected work that Becky made in-residence and has shown across MT recently!
This interview has been edited slightly for clarity.
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Becky Roberts, known as Glued Crooked!
