Architecture for the Birds

March 16, 2022 - May 12, 2022

Starion Bank Gallery

Architecture for the Birds is a popular annual exhibition in partnership with the North Dakota State University Department of Architecture & Landscape Architecture. The work is the result of a design challenge posed to participating students: to design and build a birdhouse based on the work of a Pritzker-Award-winning architect. In addition, students are asked to design a space suited for the needs of a specific local bird, considering the bird’s favored environment, nesting habitat, spatial needs, numbers of family members, and patterns of use. Architecture for the Birds is a pedagogical exercise rooted in environmental stewardship, community collaboration, and a passion for design. This annual exhibition is sponsored by Longspur Prairie Fund, NDSU, Craig Larson Landscape Architects, Engage BUILD, Contour Design Studio, Studio Birke, and Office Sign Company.

We invite the public to participate in this competition through the People’s Choice Award for Best Overall Design. Stop by the gallery to cast your vote for the most creative solution to the design challenge. The winner will be announced via social media near the end of the exhibition.

Ongoing Exhibitions

No Time For Despair

Ongoing
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

Ongoing
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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S.P.A.C.E.

Ongoing
S.P.A.C.E.
Kaleidoscope

The S.P.A.C.E. (Sculpture Pad Art Collaborative Experiment) project is a public art initiative undertaken collaboratively between Plains Art Museum, and the college art departments at North Dakota State University, Minnesota State University Moorhead, and Concordia College.

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The North Dakota Mural

Ongoing
The North Dakota Mural

Drawing on his childhood memories of the Great Plains, he created a work that speaks to the wide open spaces, huge vistas, and ocean-like skies of the region.

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Fragile Preservation

Ongoing
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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