Buck and Bridget Miller are the creative power-couple behind High Life Tattoo. After meeting each other through the Missoula tattoo community, their mutual love of Butte’s grit and weirdness had them traveling I-90 anytime they had the chance. As soon as they could, they made the move and went full-Butte, raising the city’s cool-factor exponentially.

Throughout our conversation, their selflessness shines through. They talk about having an art ‘style’ but flexing diverse creative muscles that lead to being more well-rounded artists and ultimately providing better service to clients. Bridget, a recent addition to the board of directors, shares an unequalled love for Our Lady of the Rockies and talks about the statue as a cherished example of the uniqueness in the Butte community.

Their business dreams came true recently, purchasing and renovating an uptown building, the permanent home for High Life Tattoo and Buck’s majestically manicured mustache.

Whether it’s making pasties or tattooing clients, the couple shares how they lean on creativity and their community to push back at the challenges and inequities we’re experiencing in our country.

Of all the places, Buck and Bridget are happy to call Butte, Montana home.

For more of their work, visit tattoosbybridget.com and @high.life.tattoo on Instagram.

BT Livermore has been an Artist, Maker of Things, and Provider of Services ever since much since they were a small child in Minnesota. In addition to a web design degree, they completed a BFA degree in Illustration while working in Portland, OR. It was an artist residency at the Imagine Butte Resource Center that brought BT to the Mining City and they became enveloped by the history, grit, and wealth of ghost signs of Butte.

When your list of talents exceeds the room on a business card, your title simply becomes ‘maker of things. BT's professional skillset these days include traditional sign painting and gold leaf work, handmade lettering, illustration, logo design, murals, woodworking, furniture restoration, screen printing, and letterpress printing.

While excelling at each, none surpass BT’s passion to provide and support their community however they can. Like a good ol’ midwestern hot dish, their teaching and studio spaces bring people together. It’s the creations of BT Livermore that will continue to reach people far beyond the classrooms, studio spaces, and years. We all could be as fortunate.

Of all the places, BT Livermore calls Butte, Montana home.

For more information on BT’s projects, shows, and information on commissions, visit btlivermore.com and Instagram at @bigtimelivermore

Chad Okrusch is a professor, author, photographer, philosopher, and singer-songwriter with deep roots in Butte, Montana. After attending graduate school in Eugene, Oregon, circumstances brought him back to his hometown to accept a pair of jobs in a city that, at that time, had no jobs to offer. The Butte “vortex” has kept hold of him since, and continues to inform and inspire his myriad creative projects and academic career.

Chad reflects on spending decades within a creative community that is blossoming, one that is creating inspiration and truly authentic stories. His latest project, written for his daughters and titled ‘Mostly Love’ explores themes of resilience, connection, heartbreak, and all that keeps us making songs when life gets messy. A thoughtful love letter to a place, people, and community that Chad holds dear.

In the classrooms of Montana Technological University, Chad teaches philosophy and communication, where he works with students on questions of ethics, meaning, and how we live together in community. He shares his thoughts on AI and helping young people find clarity and humility in a world that’s moving faster than any of us can track.

One thread running through all of Chads works, is exploring how people build lives of integrity and creativity in the places they love, and how they contribute to the place's capacity to grow in healthy ways.

And maybe the appropriateness of the Comic Sans font… and aliens.

Of all the places, Chad Okrusch calls Butte, Montana home.

For more information on Chad’s projects, visit www.chadokrusch.com