Art House Cinema and Pub celebrating expansion!

Billings, Montana – In the heart of Billings’ downtown is a non-profit motion theater called Art House Billings. Its goal is to establish a setting where people may gather and enjoy a big-screen movie as a group activity.

“Our two spots in town are the Babcock and Art House Cinema, and we’ve been trying to get an expansion happening for a while,” said Matt Blakeslee, the founder and executive director of Art House Billings.

“We all wanted to be able to create a space to have an experience when watching a movie. The way streaming movies works now doesn’t beat being able to go in a movie theater with a group of people and be able to talk afterward. That’s what we’re trying to do here.”

The non-profit runs the Arthouse Cinema and Pub in addition to the Babcock.

“We have 3 theaters now, and a restaurant so people can order food and drinks while being able to enjoy watching a movie.”

Blakeslee acknowledged that community members’ contributions were crucial in bringing the expansion to fruition.

“We have the names of everyone that helped make this expansion happen on the wall right when you walk in the front door. It was a huge community effort and we’re excited to see the turnout for people in Billings wanting to have a communal experience at the movies.”

Thursday at 5:30 p.m. is the grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony.