Current Events

Opening Reception: Women Artists

November 1, 2025 - 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Opening Reception: Women Artists

Join us the night after Halloween – Saturday, November 1st, from 6-8 pm – to celebrate the opening of Women Artists: Four Centuries of Creativity by dressing as your favorite woman artist or work of art.

  • Hors d’oeuvres by Chef’s Table Catering
  • Cash Bar
  • Free admission, registration requested
  • Museum members receive one complimentary beverage. Become a member here.

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Sensory Sundays

November 2, 2025 - 11:00 am to 2:00 pm
Sensory Sundays

First Sunday of every month from 11 AM – 2 PM

We embrace the unique qualities of all who walk through our doors and appreciate that many visitors need to explore the Museum in different ways. For individuals and families who prefer a quiet, less sensory-stimulating environment, we offer Sensory Sundays on the first Sunday afternoon of every month. At each event, loud gallery sounds and bright lights are turned down and attendance is limited. Fidgets will be available for checkout.

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Member Morning at the Museum

November 5, 2025 - 8:00 am to 10:00 am
Member Morning at the Museum

Enjoy coffee and treats as we open the galleries early—exclusively for members like you. Your generous support makes it possible for us to remain free and open to the public seven days a week.

This Member Morning, we’re excited to welcome Professor Brynjolson from Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM). Professor Brynjolson joins us in connection with a special collaboration — some of her students have written the didactics and labels for works featured in our upcoming new exhibition, Women Artists: Four Centuries of Creativity, opening November 1.

This upcoming exhibition celebrates four centuries of artistic achievement by remarkable women who, despite persistent gender bias, forged paths into art history. For much of history, women were denied formal training, excluded from exhibitions, and dismissed as amateurs. Their work was often relegated to “crafts” such as textiles or decorative arts, rather than recognized as “fine art.” Even those who achieved success were said to have “overcome” their gender to do so. Only with the equal rights and feminist movements of the 1960s did women gain widespread access to study, teach, and create freely across the United States and Europe.

Professor Brynjolson’s research explores modern and contemporary art, focusing on long-term public art projects that address the politics of housing and urban development. She serves on the editorial collective of FIELD: A Journal of Socially Engaged Art Criticism, and her writing has appeared in FIELD, Akimbo, Geist, Craft Journal, and several edited volumes. Professor Brynjolson earned her BA from the University of Winnipeg, MA from Concordia University in Montreal, and PhD from UC San Diego — all in art history. Before joining MSUM’s School of Art, she was Assistant Professor of Art History at the University of Indianapolis.

Members and donors are invited to enjoy early gallery access with complimentary coffee and pastries. Become a member today here.

A guided tour of Women Artists: Four Centuries of Creativity will begin at 8:30 AM.

This event is FREE but please RSVP below so we can anticipate the number of members in attendance.

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Artist Talk: Prairie Kintsugi

November 6, 2025 - 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm
Artist Talk: Prairie Kintsugi

Introducing the philosophy and practice of Kintsugi—the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold. The event will combine storytelling, visual demonstration, and personal reflection, inviting participants to consider how kintsugi and its companion philosophy of wabi-sabi (embracing impermanence and imperfection) can shape not only art but life. A collaboration event by a local artist, Peter Schott and JOI coordinator, Mika Usuki. Free with registration.

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Exhibition Tour: Women Artists

November 13, 2025 - 6:00 pm to 6:45 pm
Exhibition Tour: Women Artists

Women Artists: Four Centuries of Creativity –  Learn more about the powerful women artists who shaped their centuries of artmaking with this guided tour, covering artworks from the 17th to 21st centuries. Free.

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Sensory Sundays

December 7, 2025 - 11:00 am to 2:00 pm
Sensory Sundays

First Sunday of every month from 11 AM – 2 PM

We embrace the unique qualities of all who walk through our doors and appreciate that many visitors need to explore the Museum in different ways. For individuals and families who prefer a quiet, less sensory-stimulating environment, we offer Sensory Sundays on the first Sunday afternoon of every month. At each event, loud gallery sounds and bright lights are turned down and attendance is limited. Fidgets will be available for checkout.

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Sensory Sundays

January 4, 2026 - 11:00 am to 2:00 pm
Sensory Sundays

First Sunday of every month from 11 AM – 2 PM

We embrace the unique qualities of all who walk through our doors and appreciate that many visitors need to explore the Museum in different ways. For individuals and families who prefer a quiet, less sensory-stimulating environment, we offer Sensory Sundays on the first Sunday afternoon of every month. At each event, loud gallery sounds and bright lights are turned down and attendance is limited. Fidgets will be available for checkout.

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Ongoing Exhibitions

Convergence:

Convergence:
Hope, Love, Resilience, Rest, Community

This installation was created specifically for the atrium at Plains Art Museum as part of the exhibition Convergence: Health & Creativity. Inspired by Labovitz’s research on the psychological benefits of art, this piece celebrates the connection between art and well-being.

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S.P.A.C.E. 2024-2026

S.P.A.C.E. 2024-2026

The S.P.A.C.E. (Sculpture Pad Art Collaborative Experiment) project is a public art initiative led by Plains Art Museum in collaboration with NDSU, MSUM, and Concordia College. Sculptures are displayed for two years.

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No Time For Despair

No Time For Despair

To say that right now is the ideal time to make art that speaks directly to the people about social justice is an understatement. Because the very nature of art is to undertake or assume the role of a healer by shading light on the human condition.

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Bee in Flight

Bee in Flight

Community artist and school art teacher MeLissa Kossick, who guides youth classes at the Museum on art, gardens, and pollinators, has created an enchanting mosaic design in the Creativity Pathway in the Serkland Gallery called Bee in Flight.

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Fragile Preservation

Fragile Preservation
A Tallgrass Community

While the Tallgrass Prairie is a community made up of a great diversity of species, Fragile Preservation represents a selection of them.

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