Studio Crawl Preview Release (PDF)

Fargo, N.D. – Plains Art Museum will open the Studio Crawl Preview exhibition on September 2 in anticipation of the FM Visual Artists’ (FMVA) two-day Studio Crawl on Saturday and Sunday, October 2 and 3. The exhibition will offer visitors an early look at many of the featured artists’ work and will close on October 10. Various media will be represented in the Crawl and in the preview exhibition.

The Studio Crawl was established in 2004 to develop an awareness and appreciation for the quality and diversity of visual arts in the region. During the two-day event, the public is given a chance to go behind the scenes of a working artist’s studio and exposed to dynamic educational experiences that demystify art’s “making” process.

Thirty-two studios will be open for visitation during this year’s crawl. Studio Crawl maps are available at Plains Art Museum, 704 1^st Av. N., at www.fmva.us, at area businesses and from the participating artists.

A high percentage of the area’s most recognized artists participate, including full-time artists and arts educators. NDSU has opened studio space at its downtown facilities so emerging student artists can participate. Most studios are fully accessible from a mobility standpoint.

The FMVA is a recognized 501(c) (3) non-profit organization open to all those interested in supporting local and regional arts. It was established to promote and encourage visual art and artists in the Fargo-Moorhead area.

Plains Art Museum, FMVA, and Prairie Public Broadcasting are major sponsors of the event. Additional sponsors include NDSU, Bison Illustrated, Hotel Donaldson, High Plains Reader, Kilbourne Group, The Forum, Summit Brewing, Atomic Coffee, Ron and Karen Offutt, Fargo Streethawks, and 7^th Avenue Auto Salvage.

NDCA Institutional Support Grant Release (PDF)

Fargo, N.D. – Fargo, N.D. – In support of their efforts to provide arts programming in their community, Plains Art Museum was awarded a $12,000 Institutional Support grant by the North Dakota Council on the Arts (NDCA).

The Museum was among 58 recipients of Institutional Support funding. The Institutional Support program is designed to benefit artists, arts organizations, and the general public. The program provides general support for qualifying arts and cultural organizations that have proven they have strong management and leadership, quality artistic programming and services, and are an important part of the arts infrastructure in their communities. A total of $437,323 was awarded during this grant round.

The grant will be put toward general Museum operating expenses.

“The Institutional Support funds provided by the NDCA are extremely important to Plains Art Museum being able to serve our audiences around the state with high quality exhibitions, programs, and outreach,” said Colleen Sheehy, Plains Art Museum executive director. “We extend our gratitude to the legislature and the citizens of North Dakota for making these funds available.”

The North Dakota Council on the Arts is the state agency responsible for the support and development of the arts throughout North Dakota, and is funded by the state legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.

For more information on this and other grant programs, visit the North Dakota Council on the Arts web site at www.nd.gov/arts or contact NDCA directly at jwebb@nd.gov or 701-328-7590.

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Farmers Market Release (PDF)

Fargo, N.D. – Beginning Thursday, July 15, Plains Art Museum will again host a weekly farmer’s market on 7^th Avenue North in front of the Museum. The Plain Food Farmer’s Market will run from 4 – 7 p.m. every Thursday through September 23.

The Market will offer produce, herbs, flowers, artisanal foods and other items in a setting with a friendly, fun street vibe. It will emphasize healthy, locally grown goods from a variety of local vendors—an artful experience to complement experiences found inside the Museum. The Museum is open until 8 p.m. and admission is free on Market nights.

Participating vendors include Probstfield Farms, Yellow Bird Farms, Eisinger Farm, It’s About Thyme,Three Bears Honey, and Green Market Catering.

Andrea Carlson Release (PDF)

Fargo, N.D. – Plains Art Museum presents a debut exhibition of a series of works entitled VORE by Andrea Carlson, opening September 10 and running through January 16th, 2011. This exhibition offers audiences the opportunity to view many of Carlson’s latest mixed media works on paper that reflect on narratives, cultural relations, and power.

Carlson shows prodigious talent for combining complex ideas with agile, compelling visual compositions that mix representation with abstraction, acrylic and oil paint with watercolor, gouache, pen and ink, graphite, and colored pencil. Her approach in both concept and media is to combine, juxtapose, mash-up, and integrate while incorporating cultural narratives from the dominant and global to indigenous perspectives.

Begun in 2009, her VORE series uses the idea of cannibalism metaphorically to address ideas about cultural consumption, cultural exchange and appropriation. “Vore” comes from the Latin root meaning “to eat,” resulting in common words like carnivore and herbivore. Carlson does not depict acts of human cannibalism outright, but she often uses objects and animals as symbols for cultural consumption. She depicts objects, often from museum collections, seeing the museum as a voracious consumer of cultures.

Carlson was born in Minnesota and currently resides in Minneapolis, Minn. In 2003 she earned a BA from the University of Minnesota and an MFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 2005. Her work has exhibited widely, showing in venues such as the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in Minneapolis, the October Gallery in London and at the University of Ca’ Foscari, Venice, Italy. She has gained recognition through several fellowships including the Minnesota State Arts Board (2006) and the McKnight Artists Fellowship (2007-08). Carlson exhibited her first solo show in New York at the George Gustav Heye Center last summer and is represented by Bockley Gallery in Minneapolis.

Images available upon request.

Further information:

• Andrea Carlson online – mikinaak.com
  

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Fargo, N.D. – Plains Art Museum, accredited by the American Association of Museums, presents an exciting set of exhibitions, programs and classes to kick off the summer season. Please call (701) 232-3821 for registration or event details.

Exhibitions

Through August 15 in the Jane L. Stern Gallery and the William and Anna Jane Schlossman Gallery: Individual to Icon: Portraits of the Famous and Almost Famous from Folk Art to Facebook. Examine the process of fame by exploring the role images play in transforming the unknown into the renowned.

Through April, 2011 in the Fred J. Donath Memorial Gallery: The White Album: The Beatles Meet the Plains. How do music and visual art connect, intersect, or speak to each other? This innovative exhibition offers fresh perspectives on the Museum’s permanent collection by using the Beatles’ 1968 album as an organizing template. Related events:

• Wednesday, June 16, 5:30 – 8:00 p.m. – Opening Reception. Guitar pop singer/songwriter Michael Pink will play songs by (and inspired by) The Beatles, followed by a gallery talk from Museum Director Colleen Sheehy at 7 p.m. Museum members get in free, $5 donations are greatly appreciated. Hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar will be available.

Friday, September 10. Andrea Carlson: VORE opens. Carlson draws from a deep well of influence and focuses on the shared significance of occurrences like museum exhibitions and exploitation films, each carrying their own distinct values in portraying culture. Carlson is a Minnesota native and has received the McKnight/MCAD Foundation Fellowship for Visual Artists. Her work has been shown extensively throughout the state of Minnesota and abroad.

Thursday, September 23. The Photography Collection of Fred Scheel opens. The collection includes 167 photographs by Frederick Benedict Scheel, a serious and accomplished photographer who studied with Ansel Adams and other notable photographers and amassed one of the best collections of photography in the nation. Related event:

• Thursday, September 23, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. – Opening reception. Museum members free, nonmembers $10. Hors d’oeuvres and cash bar.

Rush Hour Music Series

• Wednesday, July 21, 5:30 – 7 p.m. Patchouli. Nationally touring multi-instrumentalists, Julie Patchouli and master guitarist Bruce Hecksel light up the air with sparkling acoustic sounds and their powerful contagious chemistry.  Patchouli’s intertwined voices perform original compositions on acoustic guitars, bass, marimbas, and percussion with notes of folk, worldbeat, flamenco and jazz.

• Wednesday, August 18, 5:30 – 7 p.m. Nick the Feelin’. Nicholas Mrozinski is a vibrant, dynamic and multi-talented singer/songwriter from Saint Paul, Minn., making music that connects with people on a deeply human level. His truly unique sound, typically described as “alternative soul-folk” or “conscious global pop” is passionate, intelligent, and captivating. His powerful voice, enriching lyrics, and liquid piano playing are the reason Skope Magazine calls him “an authentic artist of this millennium.”

• Wednesday, September 15, 5:30 – 7 p.m. Mike Swenson. Swenson is a singer/songwriter originally from Bismarck, N.D. by way of wherever he happens to be. Growing up between big cities and desolate prairie, his music and poetry tends to bring a sense of just how crazy life can be. Mixing a blend of old country/pop with a bit of a modern folk twist, he keeps things original and often a bit humorous, leaving audiences with a wanting to know how the story is going to end.

The Rush Hour Music Series is sponsored by Minnesota Public Radio.

Social and Educational Events

July 9 – 11. Hip Hop Don’t Stop 2010. After a wildly successful first year, part two of this collaborative program is bringing more art, dj’s, beat-boxers, and emcees to the streets of Fargo with the help of some of the best aerosol artists in the Midwest such as EAST, EMIT, QUISP, JAWSH and DAESK. This is a FREE, all ages urban culture event featuring hip-hop music and the creation of a graffiti-inspired mural that will take place at 1101 1^st Ave. S. (across from Duffy’s).  Co-presented by Plains Art Museum and Idehaus (aka EH945).

• Friday, July 9, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Aerosol Art Mural Creation at 1101 1st Ave South, Fargo, N.D.
• Friday, July 9, 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Hip Hop Don’t Stop Discussion in the Gate City Bank Presentation Center at Plains Art Museum. Graffiti artist extraordinaire EAST discusses his work and the development of the art form. Free.
• Friday, July 9, 7 p.m. B-Boy Battle. At the Hub Entertainment Destination (The Venue). This is an all-ages event with an after-party to follow. Judges: J-Sun, Seqal, and Stepchild from Minneapolis, Minn. Tickets are $10 in advance from Tickets 300, $12 at the door.
• Saturday, July 10, 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. Aerosol Art Mural Creation at 1101 1st Ave South, Fargo, N.D.
• Sunday, July 11, 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. Aerosol Art Mural Creation at 1101 1st Ave South, Fargo, N.D.

July 12 – 15, 9 a.m. to noon. Summer Art Camp, “Rock Out with Art.” Campers will be inspired by the Individual to Icon: Portraits of the Famous and Almost Famous from Folk Art to Facebook exhibition and artfully express the rock star and diva in themselves. Expect the unexpected along with the paparazzi. $110 or $99 for Museum members. Register at least one week in advance of class by calling 701.232.3821 ext. 101 or by going online to www.plainsart.org.

Thursday, July 15, 5:30 p.m. A Tribute to Modern Man. One of Fargo’s living landmarks will be celebrated with an evening exploring his iconoclastic work and contributions to the arts scene in the community.

August 3 and 4, 1 – 4 p.m. and August 5, 5 – 8 p.m. “Finding People, Pattern and Place.” This collaborative art workshop aims to draw together a narrative using memories awakened by patterned fabric. Participants can contribute a piece of patterned fabric along with a short narrative about the piece, or assist in the creation of a fabric book using the contributed pieces. Contact Anne Greenwood at anngreenwood.net@gmail.com for details.

August 16 – 19, 9 a.m. to noon. Summer Art Camp, “See the Music, Hear the Art.” August 16 – 19, 9 a.m. to noon.

Camp leader: Marcia Dronen
For children going into grades 3 – 5.
Participants will explore The White Album: The Beatles Meet the Plains exhibition and learn how music paints pictures and colors sing, creating a symphony of artwork that can be seen and heard. $110 or $99 for Museum members. Register at least one week in advance of class by calling 701.232.3821 ext. 101 or by going online to www.plainsart.org.

August 23 – 28, Bikes, Art and Community Health Week. In cooperation with Island Park Cycles and the FM Community Bike Workshop, Plains Art Museum presents Bikes, Art and Community Health Week, a series of bike-related events that will be held in tandem with Streets Alive!, a community-wide event in which select streets will be closed to motorists and left open for cyclists and other human-powered travel. All events are free and open to the public.

• Monday, August 23, 6 to 8 p.m. -  Family bike ride from Great Northern Bicycle Company. “Freak Bikes” ride from FM Community Bike Workshop. Both end at Plains Art Museum for the creation of spoke cards with Sara Watson Curry and Judith Feist … and ice cream.
• Tuesday, August 24, 5 to 8 p.m. – Bike Art Day at Plains Art Museum. Pick up spoke cards from the day before. Ride bikes (provided by the FM Community Bike Workshop) through sidewalk paint and use chalk to create a unique, collaborative piece of artwork.
• Wednesday, August 25, 9 p.m. – late. – Physical Challenge at Great Northern Bicycle Company. Bike sprints, a bicycle tractor pull and more.
• Thursday, August 26, 9 p.m. – 11 p.m. People-Powered Bike-In Movie Theater at Plains Art Museum. Powered by a 5-seat bike named ‘The Mighty Quinn’, watch The Triplets of Bellville projected on the south side of Plains Art Museum

• Saturday, August 28, 1 – 4 p.m. Bike Decoration, Safety Checks and Streets Alive! Decoration. At Woodlawn Park in Moorhead. Create art on the Streets Alive! route, decorate bikes and have bikes safety checked by FM Community Bike Workshop.

Images are available upon request.

Fargo, N.D. – Plains Art Museum will be a location for the North Dakota textiles project entitled “Finding People, Pattern and Place,” a collaborative art workshop with artist Anne Greenwood. The goal is to draw together a narrative using memories awakened by patterned fabric.

The project works in two phases, and participants can be part of one or both. In the first phase of the project, participants can contribute a patterned fabric square, 6 x 6”, from any source (new fabric, an old blanket, an old shirt, etc.). Along with the square, an information tag must be attached that acknowledges the contributor’s connection with the fabric. Fabric squares can be dropped off at the Museum.

In the second phase, textile artists will gather at the Museum over the course of three days to stitch together the individual pages of a book using the submitted fabric, combining the thematic elements of the first phase to create a completely new work. No experience is necessary. The workshop will run August 3 and 4 from 1 – 4 p.m. and August 5 from 5 – 8 p.m.

For more information, email Textiles Project coordinator Anne Greenwood at annegreenwood.net@gmail.com.

More information

• The website of artist Anne Greenwood

Fargo, N.D. – Plains Art Museum has received a gift of 267 photographs to its permanent collection from the Scheel family of Fargo-Moorhead. The collection includes 167 photographs by Frederick Benedict Scheel, a serious and accomplished photographer who studied with Ansel Adams and other notable photographers and amassed one of the best collections of photography in the nation. The gift also includes 100 photographs by an impressive roster of artists of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries including Adams, Berenice Abbott, Brett Weston, Walker Evans, Ruth Bernhard, André Kertész, Barbara Crane and Mary Ellen Mark.

“Photography was dad’s passion and obsession beyond the business of retail,” said Frederick’s son, Steve Scheel. “He studied tirelessly to learn to see what the great photographers saw and to capture what he saw on film. He enjoyed his days afield and in the classroom with Ansel Adams and Bret Weston enormously.”

“Dad traveled the world to see the people, the great cities and small villages, and the wonders of nature that were so different from one continent to the next. He would set up his tripod and wait for hours for precisely the right moment to click the shutter, and then hurry to the dark room to print and critique his work. Dad’s hope would be that others would not only appreciate his photography and his collection, but that a few might ‘learn to see’ and appreciate the details in the world around us.”

“This incredibly generous gift from Fred Scheel and the Scheel family is truly significant,” said Colleen Sheehy, museum director and CEO. “We will be able to teach our audiences so much about Fred’s life and work as well as about photographic history. He is an inspiring community leader and artist. We also are honored to be in the company of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, where Fred also made a significant gift of his photography collection several years ago.

Plans are underway to unveil the collection to the public in an exhibition opening September 17, 2010. A reception will be held at the Museum on September 23 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. with a tribute to Fred Scheel by Museum Director Colleen Sheehy and Christian Peterson from the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

Frederick B. Scheel is the grandson of Frederick A. Scheel, founder of Fargo-based sporting goods and sportswear franchise SCHEELS.

More information

• SCHEELS website
• Images from the Scheel collection at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Fargo, N.D. – In collaboration with Great Northern Bicycle Company and the FM Community Bike Workshop, Plains Art Museum presents Bikes, Art and Community Health Week, a series of bike-related events that will be held in tandem with Streets Alive!, a community-wide event in which select streets will be closed to motorists and left open for cyclists and other human-powered travel. All events are free and open to the public.

• Monday, August 23, 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.: Family Bike Ride from Great Northern Bicycle Company and a “Freak Bikes” Ride from Bike Workshop both end at Plains Art Museum for the creation of spoke cards with Sara Watson Curry and Judith Feist. Ice cream will be served.

• Tuesday, August 24, 5 p.m. – 8 p.m.: Bike Art Day at Plains Art Museum. Pick up finished spoke cards from the day before and ride bikes (provided by the FM Community Bike Workshop) through paint on canvas to create a unique, collaborative piece of community artwork.

• Wednesday, August 25, 9 p.m. – late: - Physical Challenge at Great Northern Bicycle Company featuring bike sprints, a bicycle tractor pull, and more.

• Thursday, August 26, 9 p.m. – 11 p.m.: People-Powered Bike-In Movie Theater at Plains Art Museum. Watch The Triplets of Bellville projected on the south side of Plains Art Museum powered by a five-seat bike named ‘The Mighty Quinn.’

• Saturday, August 28, 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. – Get ready for Streets Alive! by creating art on the actual street route with bike decoration and bike safety checks at Woodlawn Park

More information:

• Great Northern Bicycle Company website and Facebook page
• FM Community Bike Workshop website and Facebook group
• Event info at plainsart.org.
• Streets Alive! website and Facebook page
• An image of The Mighty Quinn. Email if you’d like a higher resolution image.

Just in “thyme” for the summer veggie season, our Plain Food Farmers Market is back with another go ’round of fresh produce, artisanal goods, and herbs out en plein air.

Fargo, N.D. – Plains Art Museum will offer free admission each Thursday between June 3 and September 2 this year. Currently, the Museum offers free days every second and fourth Thursday.

The Museum will maintain the same hours throughout the summer. Café Muse by Mosaic Foods, the Museum’s eatery, and The Store, the Museum’s gift shop, will also keep the same hours. For more information about Museum hours, call (701) 232-3821 or visit www.plainsart.org and click on the “Visit” tab.