HELENA — Omertà Arts is working to build up the local creative community and recently they’ve taken over the coordination of downtown Art Walks.
Co-founders Leah Cupino and Chris Riccardo are artists themselves, and they joined forces to found this new organization about a year ago, named as a nod to both Riccardo's and Cupino’s Italian roots.
Already, Omertà has gone through multiple phases and now is a location where multiple artists rent studio space.
“The studio space need was there. It's always been there," Riccardo told MTN News, "some of the artists in town don't have space and work out of their, you know, their kitchens or not at all. So that’s our main goal is to make it affordable for as many artists as possible.”
Part of the deal with joining Omertà is contributing to the community.
"It is a very family, kind of, oriented thing that we have going here. When you sign on to become part of this group, you're bringing your expertise as an artist to the group. And whether that's mentoring somebody within the group, or teaching class or workshop in the community. We ask them to give back," Riccardo said.
The public can attend workshops at the space hosted regularly by artists in residency.
“With our classes we offer high quality materials, a lot of really personal instruction from artists who are working in the medium they're teaching. There's a lot of engagement. There's a lot of long term enrichment for someone who wants to really learn more and really get into the craft." Cupino said.
There's also a gift gallery to check out. Over 40 artists from around the region have their work available for purchase.
"We have really great ceramicists, print makers, fiber artists, painters,” Cupino said.
While all of this was in development in 2023, Omertà raised a hand and volunteered to run the November Art Walk after Downtown Helena Inc. announced they would be dissolving.
“There was a lot of coordination putting together Art Walk, and we wanted to make it something really exciting for people to come to," Cupino said, "it's incredible to be able to give that gift back to the community."
The next Art Walk will take place on February 2.
In 2024, the organization plans to continue to grow, offer more workshops and become a nonprofit while running all upcoming Art Walks.
“We're gonna do this from the grassroots level and and grow it slowly. Hopefully," Riccardo said.
Omertà Arts is located just off Last Chance Gulch downtown at 800 Front Street. It's open to the public Wednesdays through Saturdays 11AM to 5PM.
