Monte Dolack- Graphic Artist Extraordinaire
Monte A. Dolack is an graphic artist who lives in Missoula, Montana. He is one of the best known artists in Montana ' s current artistic venues. Dolack has had his work exhibited worldwide. Some of his work is highly collectible. I met Monte in 1979, and watching his career as a Montana artist has been like catching a star as it streaks across the night sky, growing brighter and brighter.
Monte was born in May 1950 to Michael George and Mary( Miller) D. Dolack. His father had two sons from a previous marriage( Bob and Bill), while Mary gave birth to Monte and his sister, Marlene. He graduated from Great Falls High School in 1968. In his senior year, Dolack was chosen to design the cover of the GFHS yearbook, The Roundup. His design was a then-fashionable contemporary art work.
He was educated at Montana State University in Bozeman from 1969 to 1970 and the University of Montana in Missoula from 1970 to 1974, graduating with a bachelor ' s degree from the latter institution. While an undergraduate he drew charts and graphs for the University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research, which turned his work into photographic slides. After graduation, Dolack was employed by the Anaconda Copper Company and was a member of " Out of Sight " a rock band.
Monte began gaining local notice by designing posters for the Crystal Theater, an art film theater in Missoula. By 1997, original Crystal Theater posters were collectors ' items. Monte also began creating posters which he sold as artwork; one notable piece was " Yahoo," which depicts a cowgirl on a horse and an anti-nuclear power symbol at the bottom. It was created to commemorate the day the Missoula City Council voted to ban nuclear facilities within the city limits. Beginning in 1978, Dolack had a studio located at 132 W. Front Street in Missoula. A 48-page color collection of his poster art, Catalog of Posters & Prints: Crystal Theatre, was published in 1982.
In May 1984 Monte married artist Mary Beth Percival, an artist in her own right. The same year, he began a series of works known as the " Invader series." The works feature animals " invading " human habitat, such as ducks swimming in a bathtub or a bear lying on the couch in a den in a house. The following year, Dolack— who was already " a nationally The West Old & New Page 6