PRESS
THE ARTISTS JOURNEY AT MIDLIFE
by Aaron Kampfe
This year, Kira Fercho comfortably turns 40 and settles into midlife. Like many who hit this milestone year, Kira is reflective about the past and also thinking forward about the next phases of her life.
A CALLING TO CREATE
By Jana Bounds
Fercho’s true and lasting love in life is painting – something she has never had to force herself to appreciate. Her paintings hang in the White House and Tom Brokaw’s home. They also hang in the homes of Dwight Yokum, Emmylou Harris and John Mayer. Seventy percent of her work is commissioned, and she often travels from Big Sky to Los Angeles or New York City to do installations. READ MORE...
ART CUSTOMIZED FOR THE HOME AND SOUL
THE PROCESS OF KIRA FERCHO
For Kira Fercho, the painting process doesn’t begin with a blank canvas but rather with an open mind. The process is interpersonal and cerebral before it is artistic and physical.
Prior to the initial work of art creation,
BILLINGS 40 "UNDER 40"
Fercho studied art and psychology in college, and went into art education. After deciding that teaching wasn’t her cup of tea, she went to work at the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch. Later, she returned to Montana State University Billings where she received a master’s degree in counseling. One of Fercho’s better known works is an expansive display of 12 tepees on display at the Billings Clinic.
ARTISTS ORIGINAL COMMISSION BLOSSOMS TO 12 PAINTINGS FOR BILLINGS CLINIC COMMONS
Billings artist Kira Fercho set out to paint one tepee, but fate intervened. The single tepee painting was originally commissioned by Jim Duncan, president of the Billings Clinic Foundation. It was to hang in the commons area of the Clinic off North 28th Street. Fercho said she was honored to be chosen, but her vision was to paint 12 tepees to represent all 12 federally recognized tribes in Montana.
ARTIST OF THE WEST: TAKING CHANCES
Kira Fercho pulls into a turnout in Gallatin Canyon. In the back of her pickup she carries a 5-gallon plastic bucket filled with paints, brushes, knives and a few small canvases.
“This is a spot I’ve been eyeing for a while,” she says, stepping out into the quiet morning, the river chatting behind us. “Painting is an excuse to be outdoors all day.”
As she sets up on the tailgate, laying out three blank canvases, a bald eagle skims above us and follows the curve of the river.