GLENDIVE, Mont. — A vacant grain elevator that has long defined the Glendive skyline is getting a new purpose, and a lot of attention, as artists transform its walls into what is expected to become Montana’s largest mural.
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For Sue and Norman Hostetler, the transformation has become part of their daily routine. The couple has stopped by the GTA grain elevator near Bell Street nearly every day in recent weeks to watch the mural take shape.
“Never seen nothing like it in Glendive,” Sue said. “It’s going to be beautiful.”
The Hostetlers have watched as the once-empty structure has slowly filled with color. They have also seen other residents stop to take pictures, watch the artists work and share dozens of photos of the progress online.
“When we come here, they’re always, you know, taking pictures and on Facebook,” Sue said. “So it’s really exciting. It really is.”
For Norman, the elevator carries a more personal connection, as several members of his family worked there over the years.
“Actually, when I was a younger kid, my dad took me up to the second, to the highest level up there,” Norman said.
“It looks great,” one Glendive resident said while stopping to look at the work from his motorcycle. “And it really kind of adds to the ambiance of the community.”
The GTA elevator rises about 160 feet above Glendive and can be seen from much of the city and beyond.
Jaime Shanks, a community development specialist with the Eastern Plains Economic Development Corporation and the project lead, said people have long used the structure as a visual marker.
“This tower can be seen everywhere in Glendive and outside of Glendive,” Shanks said. “(At) Makoshika State Park, you can see it.”
The structure also carries a piece of Glendive’s industrial history. Originally built in 1924, it was once a working grain elevator and later included a bean processing operation. A recycling plant was also attached to the facility before a fire damaged and destroyed that portion of the site.
For years, the elevator sat vacant.
Now, Bozeman artist Griffin Foster and his assistant, Matthew Bauchman, are giving the structure a new identity. They are covering about 10,000 square feet with artwork, working roughly 10 hours a day, seven days a week.
The finished mural is expected to be the largest in Montana and the largest mural Foster has created.
“We are creating the largest mural in one of Montana’s smallest towns,” Shanks said.
The project has also attracted plenty of attention from the people who live around it. Foster told MTN that Glendive has been the friendliest place he has painted. People regularly stop to watch the artists work and offer them food or other items.
“It’s just fascinating,” Shanks said. “Our town is just completely fascinated by their productivity, but also just the talent is amazing.”
Shanks said the mural is more than a large piece of artwork. Foster designed it around the culture and landscape of Eastern Montana, drawing heavily from his own experiences in Glendive after being selected to design the piece.
The centerpiece is a branding scene, inspired in part by a local branding Foster attended while spending time in the community. The scene includes ranchers wrestling calves, calves in the background and the activity of a working ranch.
“He went very authentic with the brandings and not keeping it so Hollywood with cowboy hats,” Shanks said. “It’s real ranch.”
The artist also wanted visitors entering Montana from North Dakota to immediately see something that represents the region.
“He said, ‘I want them when they cross over from the North Dakota into the Montana border, I want them to see the culture and the heritage and the roots of Montana,’” Shanks said.
The mural wraps around two sides of the elevator, while the side displaying the existing “GTA” lettering will remain unchanged. The design also includes details specific to Glendive, like a dinosaur that nods to the area's prehistoric history and several pigeons referencing birds that have lived around the elevator. The mural also includes mandala designs that have become part of Foster’s recent artistic style.
In the early stages of the mural, seemingly random hearts, smiles, spirals and other symbols could be seen throughout, but they serve a practical purpose. Foster said they help muralists keep their proportions and scale as they transfer the design onto a structure.
“Everything you see on this tower is not AI,” Shanks said. “This is all from his own photos, from his own experiences.”
While the painting is happening high above Bell Street, the idea behind it started on the ground several years ago. The mural is the first phase of a larger revitalization effort aimed at transforming the area around the grain elevator.
The project received support through a $1.25 million Montana Department of Commerce tourism grant program designed to help rural communities develop tourism assets.
“We’re transforming this area that’s been a gravel lot with an old tower into something that our community can enjoy,” Shanks said.
The larger plan calls for a tourism hub that could eventually include a stage, vendor spaces, public amenities and space for community events. The goal is to create a place that gives visitors another reason to stop in Glendive and another reason to spend time downtown.
Shanks said the revitalization project is designed to help capture some of the traffic that travels through I-94 and those who visit Makoshika State Park.
“I think that the town needs some kind of projects to happen here to sort of boost the economy,” one Glendive resident said.
For local residents, however, the value of the project isn't limited to tourism or economic development. It is also about what a more colorful, active public space can mean for a community.
“We found that research shows beautifying your community is one of the very most important steps in downtown revitalization and economic development," Shanks said. “We want to be in beautiful places. We want to be in places that are clean and safe-looking.”
The project is also part of a growing interest in public art across Eastern Montana. Glendive has seen an increase in murals in recent years, including work created by local high school art students. Other communities in the region, including Miles City, Baker and Wibaux, have also begun adding murals and other public art.
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Shanks said those projects are helping Eastern Montana showcase an artistic identity that has sometimes received less attention than other parts of the state.
“Eastern Montana doesn’t have a lot of representation, so we’re changing that,” Shanks said. "We're sort of on the cusp of starting to really highlight the culture and the artwork out here.”
The GTA elevator has spent years standing over the community as a reminder of the area's agricultural and industrial history. Now, the familiar grain elevator is becoming a new kind of landmark — one that reflects the landscape, history and people of Eastern Montana.
While the mural continues to take shape, it's already become a symbol of pride for this community.
“We’re giving people more reasons to come out and visit our side of the state and experience what we call the real Big Sky,” she said. "It's something that our community is very excited about.”
The mural is expected to be completed in mid-October. The second phase of the broader revitalization project is expected to begin within the next few years.
