Artist David Secrest exhibit opening “The Unprejudiced Silence of Things that Are” in the Wanda Hollensteiner Art Gallery at Wachholz College Center

The Wanda Hollensteiner Art Gallery presents “David Secrest: The Unprejudiced Silence of Things that Are” at Wachhold College Center on the FVCC campus in Kalispell.

The show opens April 7 and runs through May 23, 2026, with a free public opening reception on Friday, April 10, from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm.

David Secrest is a nationally known sculptor and blacksmith celebrated for his mastery of forged iron, fabricated steel and bronze. He is also an accomplished draftsman, ceramicist and woodworker. Secrest has designed, engineered, and hand-built his extraordinary home and sculpture studio in the woods above Flathead Lake near Somers, a setting that has shaped his solitary creative process. Over a career spanning more than four decades, he has developed a singular visual language rooted in natural form, material history and the intentional manipulation of metal.

In 2017, Secrest was named “Master Metalsmith” by the Metal Museum in Memphis, Tennessee — one of the highest distinctions in the field. The honor is awarded to artists with more than 20 years of exceptional studio practice and is jury selected by a committee of leading metalworking professionals. To date, fewer than 40 artists have received the designation.

Secrest’s sculptures and furniture are held in private and institutional collections across the country, including the University of Montana, and have been shown at major national venues, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, SOFA Chicago, the Armory in New York City, the National Ornamental Metal Museum, the Prichard Art Gallery at the University of Idaho, and Art Market San Francisco. He has shown at the Paris Gibson Museum, the Holter Museum, the Missoula Art Museum, and the Glacier Museum of Art. He has exhibited extensively with Gail Severn Gallery in Ketchum, Idaho.

His work has been recognized with the Silvermine Guild of Artists Prize, the Rolex Prize for Excellence in Metal, and a WESTAF/NEA Regional Fellowship for Visual Artists. The title of this show, “David Secrest: The Unprejudiced Silence of Things that Are,” is a quote from the philosopher Henry Bugbee. To Secrest, the quote evokes the quiet immutability of the objects he ultimately creates.

Everyone is invited to attend the exhibition opening reception in the Wachholz College Center’s Wanda Hollensteiner Art Gallery on Friday, April 10 from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Following the opening event, the exhibition will be available for public viewing through May 23. The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm as well as during WCC showtimes for patrons with tickets to WCC performances.

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