Missoula’s First Friday Has Local Art, Ice Cream Combine For Fun

"First Friday" in Missoula in the summer is always special. Downtown always seems to come alive on the first Friday of the month, but in the summer it is a bit different. More energy, more people, and more fun. The upcoming "First Friday" on July 7th will be no exception. If you are in the area of Big Dipper Ice Cream at 631 S. Higgins between 6p-10p you will be in for a treat, both literally and figuratively.

Big Dipper Ice Cream and Josh Quick have Teamed Up

Local artist and author Josh Quick has teamed up with Big Dipper Ice Cream for a special project for the next First Friday event. We introduced Josh's work to everyone recently. You may have seen Big Dipper's big yellow ice cream truck around Missoula over the years called "Cone Boy" . Josh has redecorated "Cone Boy". I spoke with Josh about the project. He had this to say:

Just last year (Charlie one of the Big Dipper owners) was like "let's cover it, let's do it for real".  So they just gave me carte blanche, for the truck which was really nice. They just let me run wild and free with what I was thinking. Of course, keeping the parameters of an ice cream store. I did my thing... If you look at the ice cream truck, I've snuck in a lot of local stuff that we have here in Missoula. Including some local celebrities known and unknown. I'll be interested to see if some of the "Hip Strip"  business folks see themselves inside of there. It's a mural about Missoula within the Big Dipper universe"

Big Dipper is Throwing a Party in Missoula

The van has been out on the streets of Missoula the past month, but this will be it's coming out party. There will be music provided by DJ "THE COMMISSIONER". There will be opportunities to get your art on with chalk drawing activities and some exclusive limited edition Big Dipper gear available for purchase. You can't forget about the ice cream too.

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"Factotron" Will Make an Appearance

There will also be an appearance of Josh's invention "Factotron". That is where a child can slip a piece of paper, with a person or a thing written down, in a slot and out the other slot will come a drawing of what the child wrote down. I won't give too much away on how this works, but according to Josh, "there is magic in there".

Josh Quick will Have a New Book Coming Out This Fall

Josh Quick has three books currently published about Montana using his artwork and facts about Montana, Yellowstone, and Glacier. They can be purchased at independent book stores throughout Montana. He will be publishing a second book of "Quick Facts" about Montana coming out this fall which he describes as a "little bit edgier and crazier" than his past books.

Josh Quick and I Have a Connection

On a side note as Josh Quick and I were having our conversation we found out that we know some of the same people in Missoula growing up. Josh's brother was one of my friends from a long time ago that helped me build one of the biggest skateboard ramps in Missoula in my mom's yard. Missoula is really a small town after all.