September 19, 2026
10am - 2pm
2531 Mary Street
Billings, MT
An event to celebrate the benefits of nature and art for mental health and physical well-being.
Schedule
8:30 - Event Setup
9:15 - Kite Setup
10:00 - Kite Flying, Lois’s Point Overlook
10:00 - 2:00 Artists and Activities throughout Park
10:30 - Author Reading with Cara Chamberlain
11:30 - Nature Mandala Meditation with Rachel Larson Long
1:00 - Tai Chi with Mark Cassel
2:00 - Event ends, clean up
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October - Art Auction
List of Artists for 2026
Laura Marie Anderson
Ev Bergeron
William Crain
Rebecca Bern Davis
Marlene Dunis
Mari Hanes
Linda Hewett
Teresa Kelly
John Kennedy
Rachel Larson Long
Susan Martinez
Nancy Peterson
John Roberts
Shirley Shirley
Jeanelle Wassmer
Art Kites!
This event will also feature kites from the “Go With the Flow” art kite exhibit organized and curated by YRPA friend Terry Zee Lee in 2025. See photos of the kites, read about all of the artists, and learn more here.
Artists + Presenters
After many years of watercolors, I have found my calling with pastels. I loved art since I was a child. Art is my passion. I hope to keep having a deep passion for making art and I travel and attend workshops to keep learning.
Ev Bergeron
I continue to explore a variety of mediums and take as many workshops and classes as I can. I have always been interested in creative arts and retirement presented the opportunity to dive in! I hope my art keeps me active in lifelong learning.
Mari Haines
I work in various painting media, favoring a combination of acrylic and oil in the studio and either watercolor or gouache in plein air painting. A junior-year trip in high school to Paris sparked an interest in Impressionism, which led to college art classes and an eventual art minor. My future goals include securing a solo gallery exhibition and becoming a regular exhibiting artist at a local gallery or business.
Teresa S. Kelly
I have typically used acrylic paint but also love water-mixable oil paint. Every phase of my life has included artmaking in some way. From childhood I have aspired to develop skills in drawing and painting. Art Club at Bozeman High School was instrumental, and I went on to major in Fine Arts and Art Education in college. Later, after teaching in elementary schools for a bit, I was able to study Art Therapy and become a registered Art Therapist. My career consisted of a combination of these fields. I've always participated in exhibits and had several one-person shows. I am interested in community art that brings people together with shared creativity. I hope to develop my plein-air painting skills, and also to complete (and show) a series of symbolic abstractions
Rachel is also a presenter and will be leading the Nature Mandala activity at the park trailhead at 11:30.
Rachel Larson Long
I most enjoy mixed media. I combine texture, markers, paper, and paint to create expressive, layered work. I have always been an artist, but after an accident in 2019, art became a therapeutic tool - a way to communicate nonverbally and express my inner self while healing. I hope my art leads me to help others discover the healing benefits of expressive arts in community settings.
Susan Martinez
25 years ago my soon to be wife was living an hour and a half North of me in Milwaukee, and I’d go up and see her on the weekend. One weekend she said, “I’m taking a watercolor class this weekend and if you want to come seem me you will need to take the class with me.” So in love I was (and am). So that is officially how I started, we painted together every Sunday night throughout our marriage. She passed away 6 years ago.
It is enough for me to be given the opportunity to hang around with wonderful arty people, and to sometimes be able to give something back to the community.
John Kennedy
@clayladynancy
As a mixed media artist I use glazed clay, metal, fibers, and found objects to create artifacts that evoke alters, totems, or shrines as cultural “Rituals of Belief.” These assemblage, wall relief sculptures explore my interest in the materials of clay, wire working, and found objects, while the visual subjects represent the abstract qualities of repeated pattern incorporating cultural symbolism or stylized nature imagery.
The pieces are meant to be durable outside. I am a passionate gardener and I want the flexibility of displaying my work in the garden.
Nancy Petersen
Jeanelle Wassmer
I work in acrylic paint combined with glass art, a different method of stained glass. I truly felt like an artist when I went beyond instruction given to me in a stained glass class and created my own method of using crushed glass without heavy soldering lines. I want to continue to challenge myself with using new mediums and techniques and share my art through exhibits.
OTHER ARTISTS
Laura Marie Anderson
William Crain
Rebecca Bern Davis
Marlene Dunis
Linda Hewett
John Roberts
Shirley Shirley
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