HELENA — On Friday, Elise Perpignano touched up the nose of a big horn sheep and signed her name, putting the final brush strokes to her latest grand art installation.
The Mann Gulch Fire Mural at the Lyndale Ave. tunnel in Helena has been months in the making. It marks the second large tunnel mural for Perpignano. Just a year ago she painted the mural in the Last Chance Gulch tunnel.
“To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I was ready to do another mural right after finishing the last one,” Perpignano told MTN. “[Chiara Cipriano] at the Forest Service reached out to me and asked if I had any interest in creating some imagery around Mann Gulch and I just knew I had to.”
Perpignano grew up in Helena, discovering her love of art at a young age by drawing princesses, turtles and other ideas of a child at her grandma’s kitchen table.
Like many Helena-area children, she learned about the Mann Gulch Fire in school. The event is one of the most well-known fire incidents in the country. Thirteen men died and the lessons learned are still implemented in modern wildland firefighting.
Perpigano took great care in making sure the mural honored the firefighters of Mann Gulch, current wildland firefighters and showed how the land recovers after a fire. To accomplish this, she worked closely with the U.S. Forest Service to make sure every detail was correct, from the smoke jumpers to the types of animals found in the area.
“I never thought I would be making this scale of work that is so important to so many people,” Perpigano explained. “It feels like a big responsibility almost too, to do it in a very meaningful and thoughtful way.”
One of the artist’s favorite parts of doing the project is all the people, and their dogs, who stop by to chat.
“Previous smoke jumpers have stopped by to share their stories and just like the kiddos who come down and they're just baffled. It's really cool seeing the community react in this way,” she said.
Painting the mural in the summer means Perpigano was working during the heart of fire season. Smoke filled the air for many days and there were weeks of triple-digit temperatures.
On the afternoon of July 9, the Horse Gulch Fire started around 20 miles from where Perpigano was painting in Helena. On July 10, the firefighting community experienced tragedy again. Pilot Juliana Turchetti, 45, died in a plane crash while helping fight the Horse Gulch Fire. Perpigano added a memorial for Turchetti, reminding all who walk through the tunnel of the acts of bravery shown by those who fight wildland fires.
“I’m in town painting this mural and complaining about how hot and smokey it is, but I’m not out there in the fire fighting it. I feel so thankful that we have so many amazing wildland firefighters out there who are literally risking their lives to protect our wild places and us,” said Perpignano.
Time is relentless, and the further we get from an event, the harder it can be to remember it.
But thanks to Perpignano, people in Helena will be reminded of the Mann Gulch Fire, the souls that were lost in service to others, the lessons learned and a path forward.
A ribbon cutting for the mural will be held Monday, Aug. 5 at 10:30 a.m. The day marks the 75th Anniversary of the Mann Gulch Fire.
More about Elise Perpignano and her work can be found on her website or by following her on Instagram.
