1950 Chevrolet 3100. Helena Montana

 

Thom Bridge's story in the Helena Independent Record

The No Sweat Cafe in Helena, Montana..

Originally painted around 1990 by renowned Montana artist Anne Appleby, whose meditative abstract works are featured in institutions like the Smithsonian and SFMOMA, the mural depicts a 1950 Chevrolet half-ton truck.

The truck once belonged to Aunty Tia, a free-spirited Californian who named her son Circle and sold the truck to original owners Debi Corcoran and Ron Eller in the 1980s.

The mural was refreshed in 2004 by Helena’s own Phil Maynard, a multitalented artist whose creative pursuits have spanned painting, auto-body restoration and antique dealing. In recent years, he has focused on building guitars through his business, Ghost Town Guitars, based in Rimini, Montana. After years of exposure and a damaging hailstorm in 2024, the mural was reimagined in 2025 by Helena artist Joe Crowley, with painting support from Kris Baker and installation help from Amos Crowley, Cory Baker and Kyle Perkins. The truck remains at the center, its license plate still reading EAT IT in reference to the cafe’s longtime unofficial motto, Eat it or Beat it. Debi Corcoran said, “I love it. It’s magnificent.”

“Each version of this mural has been so beautiful in its own way. This one just feels like it reflects us. A little classic, a little modern, a little whimsical,” said current co-owner Micah Eller, who now runs the 427 N. Last Chance Gulch cafe with business partner Mckenzie Homan. “McKenzie and I are both so thrilled with the life that’s been breathed into it.”