Distinctly Montana Magazine

64 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 2 5 - 2 0 2 6 to see them in the condition that they were is heartbreaking and knowing that so much didn't survive." Within days of the fire, offers of help came in from several sourc- es, including the Montana Historical Society, which offered the use of several secure, fire-protected storage spaces in Helena. The Montana Museum Association, the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula, Nine Pipes Museum and others responded to the loss of the People's Center. Even the Smithsonian pitched in, sending restoration supplies. Once the smoke cleared, the cleaning and restoration phase be- gan. It was a daunting task, and experts were brought in from all over the West. Painter/appraiser Joe Abbrescia from Kalispell undertook the painting restorations, and his meticulous work managed to revive eight of the large paintings of tribal elders. "He was such an awesome guy to put in that type of work to get them back to life," said Torosian. A specialist from Colorado, Jennifer McGlinchey-Sexton, was recruited to work on restoring documents and photos. Luckily, many of the photos were saved because they had been stored in albums. The albums themselves sustained heavy damage and many photos were destroyed. Miraculously, most of the photos within them were intact. McGlinchey-Sexton worked with sev- eral of the delicate pieces to restore them. Renowned conservator Nancy Fonicello, whose Ancient Art- ways Conservation, LLC specializes in the preservation of indig- enous artwork and cultural materials, brought her 40 years of experience to the cleaning and restoration efforts. She led the restoration efforts, teaching the Three Chiefs staff how to prop- erly and respectfully handle the challenge of restoring the arti- facts without causing further damage. Beaded items like vests, moccasins and even dresses were among the biggest challenge. Once they dried, a layer of soot was left behind, requiring many of the items to be cleaned bead by bead. Much of the cleanup and relocation effort has been paid for with a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Un- fortunately, the federal funding was cut off in May, leaving many cultural entities scrambling. Many staff members continued the work, unpaid. Even the new curator came in part-time on a vol- unteer basis. Now, five years after the devastating fire, restoration work is fin- ished. "Every item that was pulled from the fire has been taken care of," said Torosian. "It's not ever going to be one hundred percent. Anything that's beaded still has a little bit of soot un- derneath the beads. There's only so much work and chemicals you can put in there to clean those items. We learned a lot about cleaning," she adds with a laugh. While running a cramped version of the gift shop and museum in the old Doug Allard restaurant building in St. Ignatius for a couple years, Torosian and her staff decided that it was the right time for a rebranding of the center. One issue they'd had was the MARIE TOROSIAN Approximately 290 objects rescued from the burned People's Center were laid out to dry, photographed, assessed and catalogued before restoration work began. EDNOR THERRIAULT Photos, documents, paintings and other vulnerable materials are stored in the bank vault. ONCE THE SMOKE CLEARED, THE CLEANING AND RESTORATION PHASE BEGAN. IT WAS A DAUNTING TASK, AND EXPERTS WERE BROUGHT IN FROM ALL OVER THE WEST.

• Cover