Current Events

Join us for a conversation with artist Melanie Yazzie. Melanie Yazzie is Professor of Art Practices and Head of Printmaking at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. Her works are in collections such as the Denver Art Museum, Anchorage Museum of History & Art, the Art Museum of Missoula, the Institute of American Indian Arts, the Kennedy Museum of Art, and the Rhode Island School of Design Museum. Yazzie has exhibited nationally and internationally, citing New Zealand, France, Russia, Canada, Estonia, Northern Ireland, Korea, China, United Kingdom, and Australia. She is known for organizing print exchange projects that connect communities across the world. She makes prints, sculptures, paintings, does surface design, and jewelry design. She has been represented by the Glenn Green Galleries in Santa Fe, New Mexico since 1994.

Join us for one of our favorite days of the year, Hurray! It’s Clay! We will visit multiple clay artworks, looking for color, texture, and shape before heading over to the studio to create. In the studio, we will use a clay slab to create a fish bowl wall hanging.

Kid Quest is a FREE program designed for the whole family to explore and create at your own pace. Each month has a unique theme with new artwork to explore and art projects to create.

Kid Quest is made possible with funding from Xcel Energy with additional support from Minnesota Public Radio.

Tuesdays, February 7, March 7, & April 4, 6-8 PM • Free

Are you interested in reading more about art, art theory, and the sociological context of art? Are you also interested in a participatory, investigative, and collective reading experience with other community members? If these questions resonate with you, please consider joining us for Read Between the Lines. The book we will be reading and discussing will be Who’s Afraid of Contemporary Art? by Kyung An and Jessica Cerasi, this book will be available for purchase in the Museum’s gift store. There will also be complimentary copies available for temporary loan. Contact Amanda Heidt at aheidt@plainsart.org for free registration and more information.

Generous support for this project provided by Art Bridges

Giving Hearts, Feeding Souls

Enjoy a bowl of piping hot, homemade chilis prepared by local restaurants, caterers, and Museum members. Receive a FREE custom-made ceramic bowl created by local potters with a $35 (or more) donation. Make sure to get here early, supplies are limited.

What impact will your gift of $35 or more make? How about continued free general admission to exhibitions and affordable events and classes for the community? We invite you to give back on Giving Hearts Day, Thursday, February 9, givingheartsday.org. We are excited to be part of this amazing statewide event, organized by Dakota Medical Foundation and Impact Foundation.

Do you ever feel uncomfortable at a museum? Do you want more from your museum experience? Then this program is for you – Plains Art Museum Curatorial team invites you to join the third Wednesday of each month starting in January to learn about the inner workings of a museum. In this monthly talk series, our team will break down different points of entry in museums from missing pieces in the Plains Art Museum Collection to focusing on why art is framed the way it is and the labels we see on the wall. Each session will have a takeaway for participants. This is a free talk series with all materials included.

What’s in the basement?
Spend the evening learning about Plains Art Museum Collection. The Museum is home to over 4,000 different pieces of artwork, all carefully stored in our collections vault. Our team will talk to you about the process of getting art into the museums, and up on the walls for visitors to see. Learn about conservation, storage, and putting together exhibitions with our collection, as well as histories and fun stories about art at Plains Art Museum. These are all the things that help an art museum function, come get a full behind-the-scenes look!

Generous support for this project provided by Art Bridges

It’s a competition between students from Moorhead, Fargo, and West Fargo. Along with other nearby colleges, the best students from North Dakota State University, Moorhead State University, Concordia College, and others compete in various categories to win big! Student performers will perform fine arts including singing, playing instruments, dancing, drama, comedy skits, and monologues. A total of more than $1,000 in cash and prizes is awarded to students who place at these events. Student 1st place winner will go home with $250 2nd place 100$ and 3rd place 50$. On April 29th, the top 6 students will compete in a final event for the community, and the winner will leave with a prize of 500$.

Find more information here.

Select Thursdays, 6:30-8 PM

• February 23: Midnight Hour (Stories 1-10)
• March 23: Midnight Hour (Stories 11-20)
• April 27: Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder
• May 18: Devil in the Blue Dress

For our third iteration, we will read a collection of twenty short stories by twenty writers of color as well as works by both Valerie Burns (aka V. M. Burns) and Walter Mosely. In Midnight Hour (edited by Abby L. Vandiver), we discover twenty voices of color who take us through an expansive terrain of crime and mystery writing, sure to keep you reading well past the dead of night. Valerie Burns’s Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder promises a sassy, stylish mystery set in a cozy little Michigan town—the first installment of Burns’s Baker Street Mystery series. Finally, Walter Mosely’s classic Devil in a Blue Dress takes us on a scintillating ride down mean streets, through bedeviling political plots, and right into the house of American-as-apple-pie-style relationships.

To encourage broad participation, you may acquire the selected texts through convenient means, as per your situation. Also note: Critical Grooves Book Lab selections will also be available for purchase from The Store at Plains Art Museum. Ages 16+ are welcomed. We exercise respect among ourselves.

For more information and/or participation contact Dr. Kelvin Monroe kmonroe@plainsart.org.

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards Ceremony recognizes all North Dakota winners of the 2023 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards and celebrates work by writers and visual art winners on display at the Museum’s Starion Gallery. Hosted by Plains Art Museum, NDSU, and the Red River Valley Writing Project.

Tuesdays, February 7, March 7, & April 4, 6-8 PM • Free

Are you interested in reading more about art, art theory, and the sociological context of art? Are you also interested in a participatory, investigative, and collective reading experience with other community members? If these questions resonate with you, please consider joining us for Read Between the Lines. The book we will be reading and discussing will be Who’s Afraid of Contemporary Art? by Kyung An and Jessica Cerasi, this book will be available for purchase in the Museum’s gift store. There will also be complimentary copies available for temporary loan. Contact Amanda Heidt at aheidt@plainsart.org for free registration and more information.

Generous support for this project provided by Art Bridges

Join Plains Art Museum Teaching Artists in an insightful tour and review of Below the Surface. This exhibition was curated by our team of teaching artists in order to make accessible artistic knowledge and reading practices common to the principles and elements of art and design. This Panel discussion also complements Read Between the Lines book discussion of Who’s Afraid of Contemporary Art?

Generous support for this project provided by Art Bridges.

Share in the excitement at this artists’ reception for students, friends, family, and educators. Light refreshments and art-making projects offered.

Generously sponsored by the Phyllis Thysell Education Fund. Support also provided by Hornbacher’s.

Do you ever feel uncomfortable at a museum? Do you want more from your museum experience? Then this program is for you – Plains Art Museum Curatorial team invites you to join the third Wednesday of each month starting in January to learn about the inner workings of a museum. In this monthly talk series, our team will break down different points of entry in museums from missing pieces in the Plains Art Museum Collection to focusing on why art is framed the way it is and the labels we see on the wall. Each session will have a takeaway for participants. This is a free talk series with all materials included.

How do we talk about art?
This evening is dedicated to learning the language of art to decode how museums talk about art. The curatorial team will break down the elements and principles of design while having discussions in the installation of Below the Surface which is located on the first floor of the Museum. This exhibition has our permanent collection along with pieces from Los Angeles County Museum of Art. This night is for anyone that has ever felt art is too complicated, or out of reach. Let us be your guides to better understand the work on the walls, so you too can walk into a gallery and be an expert.

Generous support for this project provided by Art Bridges

Select Thursdays, 6:30-8 PM

• February 23: Midnight Hour (Stories 1-10)
• March 23: Midnight Hour (Stories 11-20)
• April 27: Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder
• May 18: Devil in the Blue Dress

For our third iteration, we will read a collection of twenty short stories by twenty writers of color as well as works by both Valerie Burns (aka V. M. Burns) and Walter Mosely. In Midnight Hour (edited by Abby L. Vandiver), we discover twenty voices of color who take us through an expansive terrain of crime and mystery writing, sure to keep you reading well past the dead of night. Valerie Burns’s Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder promises a sassy, stylish mystery set in a cozy little Michigan town—the first installment of Burns’s Baker Street Mystery series. Finally, Walter Mosely’s classic Devil in a Blue Dress takes us on a scintillating ride down mean streets, through bedeviling political plots, and right into the house of American-as-apple-pie-style relationships.

To encourage broad participation, you may acquire the selected texts through convenient means, as per your situation. Also note: Critical Grooves Book Lab selections will also be available for purchase from The Store at Plains Art Museum. Ages 16+ are welcomed. We exercise respect among ourselves.

For more information and/or participation contact Dr. Kelvin Monroe kmonroe@plainsart.org.

Applications open March 1st, 2023 and are due Friday, April 14th.

We welcome anyone interested in knowing more about Buzz Lab to come to the Launch Party. This is an evening dedicated to answering questions, providing support with applications, and sharing the awesome things we have planned for this summer. Open to interested youth, families, and community members.

Buzz Lab is a paid summer internship for youth who are interested in art, science, and the environment! Buzz Lab interns engage in learning, teaching, creating, sustaining, and advocating for the livelihood of pollinators in a healthy ecosystem. Application and more information here.

Artist reception at 5:30 PM, Talk begins at 6 PM • Free

Join artist Gerald Cournoyer and Director of Native American Programs Joe Williams as they discuss Cournoyer’s latest solo exhibition Sending a Voice. The duo will discuss their 25-year collaboration from working with Native youth with the Oscar Howe Summer Art Institute to the Plains Art Museum’s Northern Plains Summer Art Institute. The two will discuss the importance of Native American art history, mentorship, and Native American presence in the contemporary art world today. Refreshments will be provided.

Tuesdays, February 7, March 7, & April 4, 6-8 PM • Free

Are you interested in reading more about art, art theory, and the sociological context of art? Are you also interested in a participatory, investigative, and collective reading experience with other community members? If these questions resonate with you, please consider joining us for Read Between the Lines. The book we will be reading and discussing will be Who’s Afraid of Contemporary Art? by Kyung An and Jessica Cerasi, this book will be available for purchase in the Museum’s gift store. There will also be complimentary copies available for temporary loan. Contact Amanda Heidt at aheidt@plainsart.org for free registration and more information.

Generous support for this project provided by Art Bridges

Do you ever feel uncomfortable at a museum? Do you want more from your museum experience? Then this program is for you – Plains Art Museum Curatorial team invites you to join the third Wednesday of each month starting in January to learn about the inner workings of a museum. In this monthly talk series, our team will break down different points of entry in museums from missing pieces in the Plains Art Museum Collection to focusing on why art is framed the way it is and the labels we see on the wall. Each session will have a takeaway for participants. This is a free talk series with all materials included.

What’s up with art collecting?
Why do people collect art? What does art collecting look like? This discussion will walk through the different levels and tiers of collecting artwork with anything from the ceramic mug purchased by your local artist to collecting fine art pieces such as prints or paintings. Understand how a personal, or a museum collection is built, understand the history of how museums acquire works, and how you can start your very own art collection!

Generous support for this project provided by Art Bridges

Join us for a conversation with artist Hazel Belvo.

Over her almost 70 year-long career, Hazel Belvo has been a prominent contributer to both the arts and feminist advocacy in the region. Belvo co-founded the Women’s Art Registry of Minnesota (WARM), was Chair of the Fine Arts Dept. at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD), and taught at the Grand Marais Artist Colony.

This engagement is supported by the Arts Midwest GIG Fund, a program of Arts Midwest that is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional contributions from North Dakota Council on the Arts

Select Thursdays, 6:30-8 PM

• February 23: Midnight Hour (Stories 1-10)
• March 23: Midnight Hour (Stories 11-20)
• April 27: Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder
• May 18: Devil in the Blue Dress

For our third iteration, we will read a collection of twenty short stories by twenty writers of color as well as works by both Valerie Burns (aka V. M. Burns) and Walter Mosely. In Midnight Hour (edited by Abby L. Vandiver), we discover twenty voices of color who take us through an expansive terrain of crime and mystery writing, sure to keep you reading well past the dead of night. Valerie Burns’s Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder promises a sassy, stylish mystery set in a cozy little Michigan town—the first installment of Burns’s Baker Street Mystery series. Finally, Walter Mosely’s classic Devil in a Blue Dress takes us on a scintillating ride down mean streets, through bedeviling political plots, and right into the house of American-as-apple-pie-style relationships.

To encourage broad participation, you may acquire the selected texts through convenient means, as per your situation. Also note: Critical Grooves Book Lab selections will also be available for purchase from The Store at Plains Art Museum. Ages 16+ are welcomed. We exercise respect among ourselves.

For more information and/or participation contact Dr. Kelvin Monroe kmonroe@plainsart.org.

Select Thursdays, 6:30-8 PM

• February 23: Midnight Hour (Stories 1-10)
• March 23: Midnight Hour (Stories 11-20)
• April 27: Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder
• May 18: Devil in the Blue Dress

For our third iteration, we will read a collection of twenty short stories by twenty writers of color as well as works by both Valerie Burns (aka V. M. Burns) and Walter Mosely. In Midnight Hour (edited by Abby L. Vandiver), we discover twenty voices of color who take us through an expansive terrain of crime and mystery writing, sure to keep you reading well past the dead of night. Valerie Burns’s Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder promises a sassy, stylish mystery set in a cozy little Michigan town—the first installment of Burns’s Baker Street Mystery series. Finally, Walter Mosely’s classic Devil in a Blue Dress takes us on a scintillating ride down mean streets, through bedeviling political plots, and right into the house of American-as-apple-pie-style relationships.

To encourage broad participation, you may acquire the selected texts through convenient means, as per your situation. Also note: Critical Grooves Book Lab selections will also be available for purchase from The Store at Plains Art Museum. Ages 16+ are welcomed. We exercise respect among ourselves.

For more information and/or participation contact Dr. Kelvin Monroe kmonroe@plainsart.org.