General Exhibitions

Art on the Plains is the Plains Art Museum’s signature juried exhibition for contemporary art in the region. Now in its eleventh year, AOP has become an important career builder for emerging artists and a point of pride among more established professional artists. The exhibition is known for presenting the latest trends in art of [...]

Right now, in the recesses of your cupboard, resides a cup. This cup has been long forgotten and left to sit idle for too long. Why is it still in your cupboard? With the “Missfit” Cup Liberation Project, artist Michael J. Strand has asked participant to bring their favorite rejected cups to the Museum, which [...]

See an overview of new art works that have become part of Plains Art Museum’s permanent collection over the past four years in this new exhibition. Since 2007, hundreds of works of art have been donated to the Museum, and several new pieces have been acquired through Museum purchases or commissions. Become acquainted with a [...]

Ladies and gentlemen! Children of all ages! Come one, come all to this extraordinary exhibition inspired by the drama and showmanship of the American circus. Contemporary mixed-media artist Judy Onofrio’s life-sized sculptures of performers, animals, and circus acts will be exhibited alongside historic examples of circus banners, posters, and carvings from Circus World Museum that [...]

In October, we’ll be showing an exhibition of work from our permanent collection. But, this won’t be your usual permanent collection show. Why? Because you, and many others like you, will be helping us select the work for the show.

When The North Dakota Mural by James Rosenquist was unveiled at the Museum last fall, its sheer size—13 ft. x 24 ft.—made an impressive impact. Rosenquist is known for producing large canvases as well as painting large images, an approach that emerged in the 1960s from his life as a billboard painter. In celebration of [...]

The art auction for our 15th Annual Spring Gala will feature outstanding work across a wide variety of media by 89 artists. All works will be on display in Fred J. Donath Gallery during our Gala Auction Preview exhibition April 23 – May 6. Click any of the thumbnails below to view the full image [...]

Learn about the remarkable collectors Herb and Dorothy Vogel in this exhibition of fifty works by twenty–four artists from their collection that were donated to Plains Art Museum. The Vogels’ inspiring life story demonstrates how people of modest means can amass significant collections of art. Loretta Cantieri, an artist who teaches contemporary art history at [...]

Gain a new view of the print collection held by Plains Art Museum in this exhibition of 40 prints created at Vermillion Editions Limited, a famous printmaking shop in Minneapolis. Begun in 1977 and operated through 1992 by the legendary master printer, Steve Andersen, Vermillion Editions Limited brought the printmaking renaissance of the 1960s and [...]

The landscape in North Dakota is the sky—the stars at night, the clouds in the daytime. At night I thought about the stars and light-years and the speed of light and everything that was sort of inexplicable. — James Rosenquist, Painting Below Zero: Notes on a Life in Art With the installation of The North [...]