Tired and filthy face selfie. I wanted to give a little life update to anyone who has noticed I haven’t been posting much lately... Behind me is the majestic Phoenix Building, opened in 1906, the upper floors, a mix of offices and apartments,have been mostly abandoned and unused for many decades. The four upper floors have been left in ruins, home only to pigeons and the general “stuff” of people’s lives they left behind. If you’ve been following my stories, you’ve probably seen some of the treasures we’ve been unearthing. This building was once a hub of life and work for Butte, and with some funding and a lot of sweaty labor, it can be that again. For the last three weeks, we have been blessed by the presence of an NCCC crew from Americorps, one of their many projects during their stint in Butte is to help us clean out these upper floors, archiving and documenting important historic pieces and ephemera, and collecting still usable equipment and furniture for further cleaning and re-use. This is the first phase of returning the Phoenix to life, with affordable housing, live/work space, and thriving small businesses. I am putting in full time hours, supervising a small crew every weekday, which has left me very little time for commissioner work, and even less time for personal projects, which is difficult for me to deal with someday, but I really believe in the future of this building and the future of Butte. So, stick with me, and I’ll be back posting art stuff this summer, but keep an eye on my stories for frequent updates of cool stuff we find as we clean! Thanks, more later! ❤️ BT (at Butte, Montana)