Jon Jost is a fiercely independent artist known for his boundary-pushing work in film, photography, painting, and poetry.

Butte was a beacon in the dark, a warm handshake with cold fingertips. When winter came, I headed south: Memphis, Nashville, and then Austin, Texas, where I spent 13 years making music.

Butte is ugly, the pamphlets and websites said. Ugly from the days of metal mining, from the reign of Montana’s Copper Kings. Lead-stained ground, air-blown arsenic, metals in the soil. Dingy ...

There was a healthy dose of skepticism in Butte, Mont., when Hollywood producers began showing up to shoot their shows. Now, many say the industry’s arrival has been a boon for the city.