It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Plains, thanks in part to the art students of Plains High School.

Forty-one students from freshmen to seniors painted the windows of 23 businesses in Plains from the Clark Fork Valley Hospital clinic on the west end of town to the Dew Duck Inn on the east side. It took the students nearly seven hours to do more than 70 individual windows from small 3x5-foot spaces to the First Security Bank's 10-foot wide by 8-foot high window. The bank got an old-fashioned Christmas scene by the team of Brea Patton, a sophomore, Kylee Altmiller, a senior, and Kolton Johnston, a junior.

"It's an opportunity for the students to get out of the class and give back to the community," said Kristen Cole, who started the Christmas painting program at Plains High School 24 years ago.

She said she still loves seeing their work. This year, she had only four seniors, but 14 freshmen. The students are from her two beginner art classes, the 2D and the 3D classes, along with the advance art class.

Several students had more than one window to paint, while others, with larger windows had only one, such as the First Security Bank scene, which took all day, and included Santa, reindeer, sledding, Christmas trees and presents, all on a large snowy hill. Altmiller's 6-foot, 1-inch height came in handy for the 25 snowflakes above the hill. Altmiller decorates the windows at her own house. She did a turkey and an autumn colored wreath for Thanksgiving, and she will be doing a Christmas painting soon. Her mother, Kelly, picks the theme.

Each year, Cole writes letters to Plains businesses to see if they want to have their windows decorated for Christmas. The students run their ideas by Cole to make sure they don't all pick the same subject. "I want to make sure they're thinking about their whole audience from children to elderly," said Cole. The students sketched out their ideas ahead of time to use as a reference, although some deviated slightly. They used Tempra water-based paint mixed with dish soap, which makes it easier to clean off after the season. She encourages the students to volunteer to clean off the painting, but most business owners do it themselves.

The freshman team at Plains Post Office - Aaron Pfister, Matthew Woods, Piper Bergstrom, and Alyvia Johnson - had the most windows with 31 panes to paint, a task that took nearly all day. "I like to see what this year's crop of artists are going to put up at Christmastime," said Toni Svedberg at the post office. "I look forward to seeing the whole thing with the painted windows every year," she added.

Most of the businesses have participated in the Christmas window painting project year after year and Cole said she appreciates the support from the community. This is the first time for the 406 Outlet. Also new this year was the Wild Horse Mercantile, which signed up that morning. Some businesses ask for a specific theme, such as Dog Hill Bistro owner Kathy Logan, who wanted something wintery because she wants to keep it up after Christmas, said Cole, who spent the day going from one end of town to the other checking the students' progress. First Security Bank asked for the old-fashioned Christmas.

Cole said the students have come up with some new themes this year. Senior Mackenzie Elliott painted a Santa holding a hair dryer at the Wild Roots Salon, along with team members Nick Gumm, a junior, and Kaden Ingram, a freshman, who worked on other images there.

This was the first year for twins Miranda and Meriah Morman, seniors, to work together. Miranda has participated in the Christmas painting all four years, but Meriah has done it only three years. The sisters decorated the Washtub Laundry, Big Sky Networks and Farmers Insurance. 

Cole said the community enjoys her students' artwork and constantly hears positive comments throughout the day. The business owners have also told her they love the art.

The students are graded based on quality, effort and design. "I want to encourage them to do their own creative process," said Cole. She didn't want to pick a favorite because they were all quality work.

Ed Moreth

MODERN CLAUS – Senior Mackenzie Elliott paints a Santa with a hair blow dryer at Wild Roots Salon. Her team included freshman Kaden Ingram (background) and Nick Gumm, a junior.

Cole believes the students' artwork adds Christmas spirit to the community. "I invite the community to come out and see all the businesses and to see the talent firsthand," said Cole. "They do a great job, but I'm just glad they have fun."