Archive for the ‘Around the Museum’ Category
Hidden Fargo in Plain Sight
Plains Art Museum will open the exhibit Wing Young Huie: Hidden Fargo in Plain Sight on Thursday, May 16 at 7 PM. Minneapolis-based photographer Huie joins the Museum again to present images taken during his residency at the Museum last October.
Huie’s subjects come from the everyday: people whose faces we see but often fail to notice. Within each of those individuals, personal stories unfold on the grand and small scales; yet all are affected by a confluence of cultural and social forces. His photographs capture glimpses into these private stories as a way to gain insight into the lives of others.
On May 16, Huie will facilitate and take part in a special talk in the Starion Financial Gallery that will be transformed into a “Third Place,” where participants are encouraged to share their own thoughts and experiences living in our increasingly diverse community. In addition to the images by Huie, the exhibit features work from Fargo-based photographer Ann Arbor Miller. Miller spent time as an informal apprentice with Huie as he worked with various members in the community, documenting and emulating his process.
WHAT: Wing Young Huie Opening Reception including gallery talk, karaoke, ping pong, hors d’ouevres, and cash bar
WHEN: Thursday, May 16 at 7 PM
WHERE: Plains Art Museum
COST: Members free, students $5, nonmembers $10
It’s Spring Gala Time!
Join the Plains Art Museum for your Fifteen Minutes of Fame at the 17th annual Spring Gala on Saturday, May 4th from 7 PM – Midnight! With presenting sponsor Border States Electric, the theme will be based on Andy Warhol’s Creating Myth and Icon exhibition, so come dressed to impress as your favorite icon or in cocktail attire. The night will be filled with ravishing fun!
Mosaic Foods will be catering their famous food for the event followed by delicious desserts from Nichole’s Fine Pastry. Happy Harry’s will be providing a wine and beer tasting and Post Traumatic Funk Syndrome will be performing live music so guests can dance the night away! In addition, there will be dinner music by Diane Miller and the Silver Daggers, a photo booth to capture your look, cocktails by Side Street, and much more.
A silent art auction will be held throughout the event where regional artists will have their artwork for sale.
Proceeds will benefit the Plains Art Museum educational programs.
To purchase tickets, visit http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e6uzv2mca7e09f25&llr=rgnqygcab or call (701) 232-3821.
Written by Savanna, Communications Intern.
When Pop Goes Your Culture
As an exploration of Andy Warhol’s appropriation of Native American cultural figures, Plains Art Museum asked photographer Joseph Allen to create a set of images in response to Warhol’s print series Cowboys and Indians. Allen will discuss his work in a public talk at the Museum on Thursday at 7 PM. In the two images, Allen challenges the viewer to question perceptions of the Native American as portrayed in art and commerce. While Warhol’s images attempt to examine such figures through the lens of pop culture, stripped of their original social significance, Allen attempts to bring the issue full circle and raise awareness of how such appropriation affects our understanding of Native American culture and history.
WHO: Joseph Allen
WHAT: “When Pop Goes Your Culture: Joseph Allen Talks Back to Andy Warhol”
WHEN: Thursday, April 18 at 7 PM
WHERE: Plains Art Museum
COST: Free and open to the public
Joseph J. Allen (Lakota/Ojibwe) currently lives on the White Earth Ojibwe Reservation in northern Minnesota and has been exhibiting his art for 18 years. His photographs are in the collections of the Weisman Art Museum, the Minnesota Historical Society and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community archives. His work has also appeared in the books Beloved Child and Minnesota in Our Time: A Photographic Portrait. Joe has won awards for his work, including a “best photo spread” honor by the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA) in 1998. He also won a McKnight Photography Fellowship in 1993.
Youth Art Month Celebration
The Museum was filled with enthusiastic youth artists this past Sunday as the Plains Art Museum celebrated the 11th annual School Spirit: Celebrating Youth Art Month Reception, exhibiting works from approximately 350 regional K-12 student artists. With approximately 750 people attending the reception, guests enjoyed viewing the art, listening to the fabulous F-M Youth Symphony Orchestra, and browsing the Museum’s exhibitions.
Jackson, a student at Kennedy Elementary, is a very proud exhibitor and was extremely excited to see his artwork in the Museum, according to Sandy Ben-Haim, Plains Art Museum Director of Education. The School Spirit Reception was his second time at the Museum with his mom to view his art, as he visited in early March for Kids Quest.
Youth Art Month is celebrated for the month of March and the Museum will display the student artist’s work through the end of the month. Stop in to see the creativity of these young artists and to visit the rest of the Museum exhibits!
Written by Savanna, Communications Intern
Museum finalist for ArtPlace Grant
Plains Art Museum has been named a finalist for a grant from ArtPlace, an initiative to accelerate creative placemaking across the United States through grants and loans, research, communication, and advocacy. The Museum was selected as one of 105 finalists, representing the best of the 1,225 letters of inquiry from across the country. Finalists were chosen for their potential to transform communities through placing art and culture at the heart of portfolios of integrated strategies that drive vibrancy and diversity.
“It is a huge honor to be a finalist for this prestigious national grant,” said Colleen Sheehy, Plains Art Museum Director and CEO. “We have been working on these public art projects for Fargo-Moorhead for several years, and an ArtPlace grant would help us to bring these to fruition. Our communities want more public art.”
The Museum’s grant proposal aims to increase the vibrancy of the urban cores of downtown Fargo and neighboring Moorhead by fulfilling three artist-led initiatives in Plains Art Museum’s program, Defiant Gardens for Fargo-Moorhead. The project was inspired by landscape historian Kenneth Helphand’s book, “Defiant Gardens: Making Gardens in Wartime” (2006) and applies his concept of “defiant gardens” as a productive model for place-making by artists to build vibrancy and social engagement into urban spaces. Projects include:
- Defiant Garden for the Moorhead Power Plant
- The Moorhead City Council, Moorhead Public Service Commission, and citizens have been grappling for five years about the redevelopment of the Power Plant building and site. The Defiant Garden for that site will bring people to a new garden in an area that has been off-limits because of its industrial nature and will create an amenity. Rob Fischer and Kevin Johson are serving as the artists for the Power Plant.
- Pollinator Garden for Plains Art Museum
- The Pollinator Garden will be created with K-12 school students and be tied to 4-H and science classes. The Museum site, which is surrounded by building, streets, and parking lots, will incorporate a lively green space and learning laboratory, where people in the neighborhood can convene and enjoy the outdoors. Christine Bauemler is serving as the lead artist for the Pollinator Garden.
- Fern Grotto for Fargo
- The Fern Grotto will bring people to a new amenity – a small greenhouse on the main retail street of downtown and be a pleasant respite during North Dakota’s long winters. There is currently no indoor green space in Fargo, like a conservatory, accessible to the public. Mark Dion, in collaboration with architect Regin Schwaen, is servings as the lead artist for the Fern Grotto.
This year’s grant recipients will be announced in May. To date, ArtPlace has distributed $26.9 million to 76 organizations in 46 communities across the country. ArtPlace is a collaboration of 13 leading national and regional foundations and six of the nation’s largest banks. Participating foundations include Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Ford Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The William Penn Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Rasmuson Foundation, The Surdna Foundation and two anonymous donors. ArtPlace also seeks advice and counsel from close working relationships with various federal agencies, including the National Endowment for the Arts, the departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Education, and Transportation, along with leadership from the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Domestic Policy Council. ArtPlace is also supported by a $12 million loan fund capitalized by six major financial institutions and managed by the Nonprofit Finance Fund. Participating institutions are Bank of America, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Chase, MetLife and Morgan Stanley.
Unglued Craft Fest is this weekend
Unglued Craft Fest
Plains Art Museum is anticipating a very busy weekend as we are hosting the third annual Unglued Craft Fest. On Saturday, February 23, from 9 AM to 5 PM, come join us for a variety of fun for {FREE}! There will be over 60 crafters and artists with their craft and work for sale. Shop for unique goods, enjoy live music, grab lunch at the café, and check out the Andy Warhol exhibit!
Interested in more Unglued fun? On Friday night, from 5 – 8 PM, we will be hosting the Unglued Craft Fest Gala night! Tickets are $8 presale and $10 at the door, which includes admission, one free drink ticket, appetizers, and live jazz. Also, guests are able to shop in a more relaxed environment of all of the craft fest vendors!
Click here to purchase tickets for the Unglued Craft Fest Gala: https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07e6y8hkdu6a32152d&oseq=&c=&ch=
Hope to see you there!
Written by Savanna, Plains Art Museum Communications Intern
Giving Hearts Day is February 14!
Support the Arts on Giving Hearts Day!
The Plains Art Museum is collaborating with Theatre B and the F-M Opera for support of the three downtown arts organizations that are participating in Giving Hearts Day. Giving Hearts Day is a 24-hour fundraising event started by Dakota Medical Foundation and Impact Foundation to raise funds for non-profits on one day – Thursday, February 14th. With your help, the museum can raise a tremendous amount of funding to support art education at the Museum.
On Thursday, February 14, we invite you to give from the heart by donating to the Plains Art Museum. All donations of $10 or more will be matched, up to $8,000.
How to donate:
- Donate online! Visit impactgiveback.org to make a secure online contribution. Donations are accepted from 12 AM – 11:59 PM.
- Stop in to the Plains Art Museum from 8 AM – 9 PM to make a donation in person! We will have table set up inside the Museum for donations to be taken onsite.
We are also hosting a noon Valentine’s concert with Darin Henze and Friends, so we invite you to come enjoy some music and grab lunch from the Café!
Any person who donates at least $10 in person to all three organizations (Plains Art Museum, Theatre B, and the F-M Opera) will receive a gift bag with tickets to all three organizations and a Museum t-shirt! Donations can be made in person at any of the three locations.
Additionally, anyone who donates $50 or more to the Plains Art Museum will receive a clay heart made by local children during our “Making Hearts Day” event that was held on MLK Day.
Here are some specific examples of how your donation can directly impact the Museum’s educational mission:
- $50 pays for clay supplies for ten students
- $100 pays for electricity and gas for the kilns for two months.
- $250 pays for a teen art-making event.
- $500 pays for weekend access to the Center for two weeks.
- $1,000 pays for 100 children to take part in one Kid Quest.
A gift of any amount is greatly appreciated. Thank you for supporting the Plains Art Museum and our commitment to providing art education to our community!
Written by Savanna, Plains Art Museum Communications Intern
Introducing Savanna…Communications Intern Phenom
Being an intern for the museum, one of my job duties will consist of writing posts for the blog! My name is Savanna and I am interning with Nicole Ellis, the museums Communication Manager. I will be spending my Spring Semester doing a Cooperative Learning Experience here at the Plains Art Museum. I am a senior at Concordia College, majoring in Communications – Public Relations, along with a minor in Business.
I am so excited for this opportunity to expand my classroom knowledge through a real world experience! Throughout my internship, I am hoping to get a strong understanding of how the Communication Department promotes visual arts and education to the public.
I have been employed at the front desk of the Plains as a staff of Visitor Services since May of 2011. To have the opportunity to get involved and learn more about the organization and the impact creativity has on our community will be such a valuable experience.
New Gift from James Rosenquist
Drawing class inside Ruth and Louis Rosenquist Painting / Drawing Studio.
Plains Art Museum is excited to announce it has received a major gift to its capital campaign from North Dakota-born artist James Rosenquist. The gift was a tribute to Rosenquist’s parents, the late Ruth and Louis Rosenquist, and a studio in the Katherine Kilbourne Burgum Center for Creativity has been named the “Painting / Drawing Studio in memory of Ruth and Louis Rosenquist.”
“My parents met at an airport in Grand Forks,” Rosenquist explained. “My beginnings are in North Dakota, so it seemed fitting to do something to remember them.”
“It is so fitting that our Painting and Drawing studio in the Center are named in honor of two North Dakotans who raised one of the most remarkable artists of our times—James Rosenquist. I am honored that Jim generously gave to the Center in memory of his parents. He understands the value of children learning about art,” said Colleen Sheehy, Plains Art Museum Director and CEO.
Born in 1933 in Grand Forks, North Dakota, Rosenquist spent his childhood in North Dakota and Minnesota. His mother, Ruth Hendrickson Rosenquist, was an amateur painter and aviator who flew the mail between Grand Forks and Winnipeg as one of first female pilots in North Dakota. His father, Louis Rosenquist, also worked in aviation, eventually becoming the head mechanic for Northwest Airlines and Braniff Airways.
James Rosenquist is one of the most esteemed artists of his generation. Beginning in the mid-1960s, he was at the center of the New York art world and participated in the emergence of the art movement that came to be called “Pop art.” Over five decades, Rosenquist has forged a high profile career as one of America’s pre-eminent artists.
Stevie Famulari’s garden fashion
Artist and NDSU landscape architecture professor Stevie Famulari (left, with intern Courtney Valen) puts the finishing touches on a long coat with from living greenery. The coat is completely wearable, and it will continue to grow, flower, and reseed itself over the course of time. The coat is one of five pieces Famulari is creating for The Green Line Series, a collection of garments made with like materials. One is on display as of today, and the others will be added just prior to our Spring Gala on May 5. The complete collection will be on display until May 28.
Famulari and her green fashion was featured last night on WDAY; you can find that here.