For more information about the Trollwood Arts residency with In the Heart of the Beast, click here.

Gin Templeton, Moorhead Power Plant, 2010, oil on canvas, 9 x 9", loaned by the artist

This Art View exhibition presents the work of seven artists from the region who responded to a call for submissions for views of the Moorhead Power Plant. Work in oil, pastel, watercolor, mixed media, and photography range from bird’s eye views of the building’s setting on the Red River to close-up details of the structure. Their work makes us look more closely at a building that we may overlook because of its familiarity or because of its industrial purpose. On display as the Moorhead community plans for the future of the building and site after the plant is decommissioned, the exhibition will encourage reflection on the beauty, formal qualities, and value of this local landmark. The public is encouraged to leave comments with their ideas for the building’s possible re-use.

Landmark artists are Janet Flom, Juliet Hanratty, Ann Arbor Miller, George Pfeifer, Richard Skauge, Gin Templeton, and Britta Trygstad.

The Museum thanks Mark Chekola, Chair of the Moorhead Power Plant Study Group, for serving as a juror for this exhibition.

Star Monster

Last winter, several Minnesota State University Moorhead students submitted designs for a project called S.P.A.C.E. (Sculpture Pad Art Collaborative Experiement). Museum visitors voted for their favorite design and the winner, Star Monster, will adorn the Museum’s outdoor sculpture pad through October.

The sculpture is a character from a dream. He has no name. His identity is that of a monster that eats stars.

The White Album’s roster of thirty-five songs in diverse musical styles inspire a wide range of visual connections, working with familiar tunes ranging from “Revolution 1” and “Revolution No. 9” to “Blackbird,” “Rocky Raccoon,” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”

What are others saying?

The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead
High Plains Reader

Each year the Museum collaborates with an area campus on the exhibition of a sculpture for the Museum’s outdoor sculpture pad. Through collaboration with sculpture professors, students submit preliminary designs that are voted on by Museum visitors. Then, the selected sculpture is made on campus and installed on the pad, located next to the Museum, where it will remain through October. This year’s sculpture will be made by Minnesota State University Moorhead students under the guidance of Professor Chris Walla.

To vote for your favorite, stop into the Museum or click here to vote on our blog.

Are you famous—or almost? Join us as we examine what portraiture means today and explore the role images play in transforming the unknown into the renowned. Thirteen artists, ranging from the famous Annie Leibovitz to the almost famous Modern Man of Fargo, inquire into the process of fame using an array of media from photography to portraits made from seeds and from ceramic plates to a dazzling, simultaneous display of 3,000 internet video diaries.

Through the work of these artists, Individual to Icon contemplates how and why people become transformed into icons and how portraiture imbues the “almost famous” with iconic status. In some cases, today’s icons are exemplary people that many admire and emulate. Others act as cautionary figures in a rogues’ gallery. Figures of both saints and sinners offer lessons by which to steer and gauge our own behavior, appearance, goals, and values.

Organized by Plains Art Museum. Curated by Colleen Sheehy, Director and CEO, Plains Art Museum, with catalogue essays by Dr. Sheehy and Karal Ann Marling, professor emeritus of Art history and American studies, University of Minnesota-Minneapolis.

left: Alec Soth, Adelyn, Ash Wednesday, New Orleans, 2002, c-print, Loaned by the artist
right: Kehinde Wiley, Entry into Paris of the Dauphin, 2005, oil on canvas, Loaned by Julie and Bennett Roberts, Los Angeles, CA

What are others saying?

High Plains Reader

Andrew David Stark received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Minnesota State University Moorhead and a Master’s of Fine Arts from the University of North Dakota, both with an emphasis on painting.

Note: due to renovations in the Museum atrium, Microcosm/Macrocosm will be down until May 21.

Andrew Stark, Telescoptics, 2009, 60 x 60”, oil on canvas, Courtesy of ecce contemporary

This exhibition is organized by the Columbus Museum of Art and Arts Midwest, in partnership with the Ohio Arts Council. Ongoing support is provided by the Columbus Foundation, the Greater Columbus Arts Council, and the Ohio Arts Council.

Abdi Roble, Dirty Harry, Anaheim, California, April 2006, silver gelatin print, 20 1/6 x 26 x 3/16”

The Birdhouse Project will present unique birdhouses designed by beginning architecture students at NDSU. Birdhouses will be required to be completely functional and usable, addressing the needs of the client – in this case, a particular bird. At the same time, the designs are to be a poetic expression, inspired by the design philosophy of a well-known architect of the student’s choice.

Come see these unusual birdhouses at the Museum and vote for your favorite. The winner of the vote will receive a “people’s choice” award. A professional jury will also award prizes. the Audubon Society will hold an auction of the birdhouses after their display at the Museum to support the health and habitat of birds in the local region. Check the Society website at www.audubon.org.