Big artistic statement

This 50-by-8-foot ceramic mural now decorates three walls of a study lounge in the Gallagher Business Building. The massive mosaic was donated to the University’s Montana Museum of Art and Culture by J.H. “Hib” Hanson, who donated the piece in memory of his son, Douglas Hanson, the former president of Security State Bank in Polson, and Robert Bowers, an executive at the bank, both of whom died in a 1998 plane crash. The mural was on display at the Polson bank for years. The piece was crafted by Rudy Autio and Ward Devlin. Autio, who taught at UM, also created the grizzly statue on the Oval. “The size and scope of this piece are beyond anything we have of Rudy’s,” said Barbara Koostra, director of the UM-based museum.