Past Exhibitions

Plains Art Museum, in partnership with EFA Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop (RBPMW) in New York City, New York (est. 1948), is honored to present unique prints, large-scale sculpture, and hand-made books in Gestural Expanse: Prints, Sculptures and Books by Chakaia Booker.

In the United States during the late 19th century and into the 20th century, there was a common narrative of the “Vanishing Indian”.

As a pillar of modernist painting, Sam Gilliam has had a profound influence as an innovative contemporary artist. To this day, his work continues to inspire younger generations. Beginning in the 1960s in Washington D.C., the legendary artist pursued the development of a new Abstract Expressionism that celebrated the cultivation of the individual voice that helped to transcend cultural and politica

Plains Art Museum is pleased to announce To See What I Could See: An Examination of Contemporary Printmaking from our permanent collection. The prints in this exhibition relate and connect to one another through the avenues of formalism, collaboration, narration, and process.

Using the chromatic spectrum of vibrant colors blended into their complements, Kristen Sarette’s latest exhibition of lithographic work gives us the opportunity to experience color and form saturated in a never-failing sense of optimism.

A multi-year project in creation that will result in a two-gallery exhibition and several programs, High Visibility: On Location in Rural America and Indian Country is diverse in content and media. Visitors will engage with installations, performance works, interdisciplinary work, alongside traditional 2 and 3-dimensional pieces.

Bias: Current Monotypes of Laura Youngbird shares a recent collection of the artist’s layered and multi-process monotypes using the dress as metaphor. Not a simple garment, for the artist it represents a powerful artifact with currents that bind grandmothers, mothers, sisters and relatives with the power of a common thread.

While I’m not originally from North Dakota, it is where I became an artist. It was here that I fell in love with long drives on roads that paralleled railroad tracks and with the view of seemingly endless fields surrounding me. This landscape carried the narratives of lives and moments that are now long past, and I began to seek out the fragments of these histories by exploring abandoned houses.

The second annual Northern Plains Summer Art Institute (NPSAI) is a two-week intensive art program for Native American high school and college-aged students seeking an art education that mixes fundamentals in art and a connection to their cultural identity. Students spent two weeks with their peers learning from active Native American professionals in multiple disciplines of the art world.

The 2021 North Dakota Human Rights Art Exhibition is a display of artwork celebrating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and its standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations as its foundation.

The Summer Gala Art Auction Exhibition includes 91 diverse, original & fascinating artworks made by some of the most talented and prolific contemporary artists from around the region. Artworks represented encompass a wide range of artistic expression and price point. The auction is not only a great exhibition of contemporary art, but is your chance to build a collection and support local artists.

Brad Kahlhamer’s (b. 1956 Tucson, AZ) art lives at the crossroads of real and imaginary worlds. Born to Native parents and adopted by a German-American family, he was raised in Arizona and Wisconsin and spent his early adulthood as a musician living on the road before settling in New York City.

Doktor Thrill is an enigma. Being the autobiographical and fictitious brainchild of retired Arizona State Painting Professor Earl Linderman, Doktor Thrill is a symbol saturated with wealth and a taste for lust and mystery. Constantly seeking passion, thrill, and beauty in Linderman’s fictional fantasy world, there are three women that are often found alongside the Doktor.

Inspired by Salvador Dali’s prints and the upcoming exhibition Salvador Dalí: Stairway to Heaven (on view December 19 – May 20 at Plains Art Museum), students and staff from participating universities will explore the theme “Interpretation of Dreams.”

The Virtual Art Auction Exhibition includes dozens of diverse, original and fascinating artworks made by some of the most talented and prolific contemporary artists from around the region.