At 308 South Bozeman Avenue stands a house that began in 1881 as a plain frame building. Around 1889 and 1890 it was remodeled into a Queen Anne and Eastlake residence. Its owner was Samuel W. Lewis, a barber who came to Bozeman in the autumn of 1868 and had a successful business by 1870, according to the house's National Register of Historic Places nomination. The house is privately owned and is on the National Register. Starting October 17, it is also the far end of the most locally rooted exhibition Museum of the Rockies has opened in a long time.
A Kagy Boulevard Exhibition With a Downtown Address
Chisel & Razor: Art, Entrepreneurship, and the Lewis Family runs October 17, 2026 through September 12, 2027 at the museum, 600 W. Kagy Blvd. It tells two stories side by side. One belongs to Mary Edmonia Lewis, described by the museum as the first internationally acclaimed Black and Anishinaabe sculptor. The other belongs to her brother Samuel, the Bozeman performer, entrepreneur and community leader who was central to her success. The museum's exhibition page puts the significance plainly:
"This will be the first time Lewis's sculptures will be displayed in Montana."
The show includes original works by Edmonia Lewis and artifacts tied to both siblings. It follows Black migration to the American West and abroad in the 1860s, with a focus on entrepreneurship and creativity. It also includes an exhibition copy of her centennial sculpture, The Death of Cleopatra, made with faculty and students at Montana Technological University. MSU's Dr. Melissa Ragain and Dr. Regina Gee curated the exhibition with students and advisors. The advisors include Dr. Tiya Miles, the Harvard historian and 2011 MacArthur Fellow who also sits on the board of Tinworks Art.
That Tinworks connection matters. Chisel & Razor is a citywide collaboration among the MSU College of Arts & Architecture, Museum of the Rockies and Tinworks Art, and the exhibition continues on the other side of town. Seeing the whole story means leaving Kagy Boulevard and heading downtown and north.
The Route From the Museum to North Ida
Several places tied to Samuel Lewis still stand. Two of them are private property, so on this loop they are buildings to pass on a public street, not places to visit:
- Museum of the Rockies, 600 W. Kagy Blvd. Start with Chisel & Razor. The museum's posted hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, apart from the holiday closures listed at the end of this post, and the exhibition is included with admission or membership.
- Main Street, the barbershop site. The National Register nomination places Lewis's barber business on Main Street. Sources disagree on the exact spot today. Tinworks Art puts it at roughly where Altitude Gallery stands. A Bozeman Magazine history of Lewis names the Fechter Building site.
- South Tracy Avenue. Lewis invested in property and was among the town's most prosperous Black residents. Bozeman Magazine identifies two surviving rental cottages on this street, at 209 and 211, as his.
- South Bozeman Avenue. The Lewis house at 308 is privately owned. The City of Bozeman's register table gives its National Register listing date as March 18, 1999.
- The Mill Building, 719 N. Ida Ave. Tinworks Art's Chisel & Razor, Act II: The Artistic Legacies of Edmonia and Samuel Lewis focuses on Edmonia and opens the restored Mill Building. Tinworks lists the run as October 11 through April 4, 2027. Hours are Thursday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and admission is free.
According to Tinworks, Lewis is buried at Sunset Hills Cemetery, which adds a sixth stop for anyone extending the walk. The nomination dates his death to late March 1896.
The Tinworks dates and hours shape the plan. The Mill Building is closed Monday through Wednesday, while the museum's posted hours cover all seven days outside its holiday closures. A weekday museum visit pairs best with a downtown walk. A Thursday-through-Sunday visit can cover the whole route.
The Two-Day Symposium Is Free
On October 23 and 24, the museum hosts the exhibition's academic symposium, "On the Edge of American: Art, Exodusters, and Expatriates, 1850–1900." It looks at creativity and migration among Black and Afro-Indigenous artists, designers and performers in those decades. Cultural historian Dr. Jennifer DeVere Brody gives the keynote, and Dr. Tiya Miles moderates. The symposium is free and open to the public, with seating first come, first served. No ticket gets you closer to the scholarship behind the show.
What Else Opened Around It
Chisel & Razor shares the building with three other shows on overlapping schedules. Two have clear deadlines this winter.
| Exhibition | Run | What's in it |
|---|---|---|
| POPnology | Oct. 3, 2026 – Jan. 11, 2027 | How pop culture and science fiction shape technology; robotics, VR, 3D printing, space exploration |
| Getting Dressed: What Women Wear to Meet the World | Unveiled Oct. 12 in Paugh History Hall | Clothing and identity in the Northern Rockies, from a 1930s snowsuit to a 2022 couture gown |
| Carving the Backbone of the World: John L. "Cutapuis" Clarke | Through March 15, 2027 | Exhibition of Clarke's carved work |
| Chisel & Razor | Oct. 17, 2026 – Sept. 12, 2027 | Edmonia and Samuel Lewis |
The most-photographed object in POPnology is likely to be a screen-used Luke Skywalker lightsaber from The Empire Strikes Back, according to MSU News Service. Getting Dressed opens tonight, October 12. It follows the museum's first Indigenous Peoples' Day Fashion Show, featuring designers Angela Howe of Choke Cherry Creek and Rebekah Jarvey. Doors open at 7 p.m., the show starts at 7:30, and general admission is $15.
Across the hall, the Taylor Planetarium changes its lineup in late November. Faster than Light: The Dream of Interstellar Flight, Montana Skies, and Unseen Earth: Observe, Understand, Respond play through November 25. Season of Light joins from November 27 through January 11. The museum's own planetarium page lists conflicting showtimes, so check the day's schedule at the front desk.
Membership Math, Set Against This Season's Calendar
Because so many runs overlap, two visits can cover different material. Posted admission is $20 for adults, $17 for seniors, $14 for youth, and free for ages 0 to 4. Planetarium shows cost nonmembers $6 each, and one-day admission is sold only onsite. Memberships run $55 for an Individual, $100 for a Dual covering two named adults, and $125 for a Family covering two adults and their household children 17 and younger.
- Two adults, one planetarium show each: $52 per visit at the door. The $100 Dual membership pays for itself partway through a second visit.
- Two adults and two youth, no planetarium: $68 per visit. The $125 Family membership is covered by the second visit.
- One adult, admission only: $20 per visit. The $55 Individual membership pays off on the third visit.
Membership also covers unlimited planetarium admission, seasonal admission to the Living History Farm, and the ASTC Travel Passport. MOR describes ASTC as free or reduced admission at more than 350 participating museums.
A schedule that spreads visits out could look like this. POPnology before it closes January 11. Chisel & Razor any time through next September. Season of Light after Thanksgiving. Several of the dated events below are free or discounted for members.
Dates on the Calendar Through December
- October 15, 5:30–7 p.m. Survival at the Donner Party's Alder Creek Camp with Dr. Kelly Dixon. Free for members, $5 for nonmembers.
- October 17, noon–4 p.m. Grossology Discovery Day, the same day Chisel & Razor opens.
- October 30, 6–9 p.m. Pour and Gore: A Haunted Masquerade, for ages 21 and older, with spooky planetarium programs, gallery tours, tarot and palm readings, and mask-making.
- November 6 and 7. Ladies of Indian Relay on the 6th. Two sessions of Inclusive Imagination: A Neurodivergent Sensory Friendly Event on the 7th.
- December 11 and 12, 6–9 p.m. Homestead Holiday, with a planetarium holiday show, Victorian-style crafts, a reading and sing-along, and a St. Nick photo opportunity.
The museum is closed November 26, December 25 and January 1, and closes at 1 p.m. on December 24 and December 31. The free Mill Building show runs through April 4, so the full Lewis route can be walked well after POPnology closes.
Samuel Lewis turned an 1881 frame house into a Queen Anne residence that still stands well over a century later. That kind of material decision is what Mike Schlauch Platinum Properties studies in every older Bozeman home we walk through. If a stop on this route has you curious about how a historic house holds its character through a remodel, schedule a private consultation and we'll go through it with you.
