BUTTE — Butte, America has been immortalized in a new puzzle by renowned folk artist Eric Dowdle, and its unveiling recently went off with a bang.
“I think this was everything I hoped it would be. Coming to Butte and seeing the people now in one sitting and get to talk to people about the place they love and get to unveil the painting, it was a lot of fun,” said Dowdle.
Dowdle was commissioned by the Butte Chamber of Commerce and BLDC to paint a portrait of the city that was converted into 15,000 puzzles for sale. The artist took a tour of the city in January to get inspiration for painting.
The final painting captured many of Butte’s landmark buildings.
“There are so many beautiful buildings that just didn’t make it in. That was the biggest difficulty, taking out what I love,” said Dowdle.
People at the unveiling were not disappointed with the nostalgia the painting inspired in them and bought multiple puzzles.
“Oh, I think it’s wonderful. Those buildings are so cool, you know, I went to IC Church, IC School, so I grew up right down the street from the IC,” said Butte native Una Schlaebitz.
The chamber commissioned the artist and had 15,000 puzzles made for about $250,000. The chamber will get the proceeds on sales of the puzzles, which retail at $30 each, for the first year. The artist will then get to sell the puzzles nationally after that. The city believes it will benefit from this deal.
“We feel very confident this piece is going to be an incredible tourism piece. We’ve already so many positive remarks today,” said Butte Chamber Executive Director Stephanie Sorini.
Dowdle believes the Butte puzzle will be a popular one.
It’s a one-of-a-kind city, I mean, you’ve got a statue as big as the statue of Liberty on your mountain. There are people who haven’t seen or heard of Butte and that’s what the puzzle will do, it will put in front of people, and they will know about Butte,” the artist said.
The puzzles retail at $30 each and can be purchased at the Chamber of Commerce and other businesses in Butte.
