Plains Art Museum Launches Low-Sensory Mondays
Press Release
For Immediate Release (January 2019)
Fargo, N.D. – Plains Art Museum announces the launching of Low Sensory Mondays, a monthly program occurring the first Monday of each month. This program aims to provide neuro-diverse adults and children with the opportunity to experience Plains Art Museum at their own pace and in a less stimulating environment.
Plains Art Museum embraces the unique qualities of all who walk through our doors and appreciates that many visitors need to explore the Museum in different ways. Low Sensory Mondays takes place the first Monday of each month, 2:00 – 5:00 pm, throughout 2019. During this sensory-friendly program, individuals can visit current exhibitions with smaller crowds, controlled sounds, and low-level lighting. At each event a variety of sensory and activity resources are available for use, including social stories, fidget bags, headphones, and activity bags.
Plains Art Museum is general admission free and open to the public thanks to the generosity of our members and donors.
Plains Art Museum is the largest art museum in the Dakotas and Western Minnesota and is general admission free thanks to strong and growing support from over 800 households and businesses. The Museum manages a permanent collection of over 4,000 objects, organizes and presents dozens of annual exhibitions, facilitates public art projects, and leads over 200 educational programs and experiences for all ages each year. The Museum, and its Katherine Kilbourne Burgum Center for Creativity, is located at 704 First Avenue North in downtown Fargo.
Contact: Netha Cloeter, Director of Education and Social Engagement, ncloeter@plainsart.org, 701.551.6109
North Dakota Students Announced as 2019 Regional Scholastic Art & Writing Award Recipients
Press Release
For Immediate Release (January 2019)
FARGO, ND —The Red River Valley Writing Project at NDSU and Plains Art Museum have announced the regional award recipients of the 2019 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Presented by the nonprofit organization the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, the 96th Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are the country’s longest-running and most prestigious scholarship and recognition program for creative students in grades 7–12. This year, over 350,000 works of art and writing were submitted to more than 100 Affiliate Partners across the country. In North Dakota, 417 works were submitted, and 118 received regional honors, which include Gold Keys, Silver Keys, Honorable Mentions, or American Visions & Voices.
Flash Fiction:
Peyton Blotsky, Watford City
Journalism:
Abigail Brooks, Fargo
Novel:
Sumaiyah Alyadumi, Watford City
Personal Essay/Memoir:
Megan Ausk, Kindred
Mattea Johnson, Kindred
Manisha Karki, Fargo
Annelise Klein, Bismarck
Anna Stoppleworth, Kindred
Poetry:
Therese Byankuba, Fargo
Srinath Kandooru, Bismarck
Sunni Parisien, Belcourt
Science Fiction/Fantasy:
Samuel Tschaekofske, Bismarck
Mason Wilmer, Park River
Short Story:
Olivia Drake, Fargo
Jacob Frisinger, Bismarck
This year’s Gold Key winners in Art are:
Drawing and Illustration:
Deanna Rose (2 awards), Grand Forks
Comic Art:
Jennifer Chao, Fargo
Painting:
Fischer Ackerson, Sherwood
Yuki Coyle, Fargo
Deanna Rose, Grand Forks
Photography:
Jakob Bloomquist, Tower City
Ryley Dahl, Fargo
Olivia Propeck (2 awards), Fargo
Sculpture:
Eva Sobak, Fairdale
Museum’s Starion Gallery from February 2-March 9th.
The state ceremony will take place on Saturday, March 9th from 5:30-8pm at Plains Art Museum in Fargo. All students, educators, judges, families, and friends are invited to attend. The winners of North Dakota State University’s new scholarships in art and writing will also be announced at the ceremony.
All Gold Key winners are forwarded to New York City for national adjudication. The national winners will be announced on March 12, 2019.
Since the program’s founding in 1923, the Awards have fostered the creativity and talent of millions of students, including renowned alumni who have gone on to become leaders in their fields, including Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, Richard Avedon, Philip Pearlstein, and Sylvia Plath. More recently, Stephen King, Richard Linklater, Zac Posen, and Lena Dunham received Scholastic Art & Writing Awards when they were teens. Locally, Laura Youngbird, Director of Native American Art at Plains Art Museum, was a Scholastic teen award winner.
For Gold Key works of art and writing in the Awards’ 29 categories, including architecture, painting, flash fiction, poetry, printmaking, video game design, and more, the opportunities for recognition will continue when the works are adjudicated again on a national level by a panel of leading creative professionals. National Gold Medalists will be announced March 12, 2019 and will be honored during a special awards ceremony at the world-famous Carnegie Hall in New York City in June 2019. All National Medalists are eligible for a wealth of additional opportunities such as inclusion in the Art.Write.Now.Tour traveling exhibition and The Best Teen Writing anthology. National Medalist poets are considered for the National Student Poets Program, the nation’s highest honor for young poets presenting original work.
A complete list of 2019 regional Gold Key Scholastic Art & Writing Awards recipients is available online at artandwriting.org.
Quotes
As NDSU Associate Professor Kelly Sassi explains, “When we stepped up to serve as state affiliate for the awards in 2014, there were only 20 entries from the state of North Dakota. By publicizing the awards to every school in the state, participation increased exponentially to 120, then 200, then 300, and this year to 417 total submissions. The number of national awards has also increased from zero to one to three to six.” For Sassi, as Director of the Red River Valley Writing Project, accessibility is a driving concern. “Every teen in North Dakota, from Belcourt to Beulah, from Williston to Wahpeton,” she says, “deserves a chance to be recognized for creative talent in writing and art. Our summer workshops support both teachers and students in honing their skills.”
“We have an amazing network of Affiliate Partners who bring the program to life by recognizing and encouraging creative teens across America,” said Virginia McEnerney, Executive Director of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. “Over the course of the program’s nearly century-long history, we’ve learned that this recognition can be life changing. For many creative teens, their regional Scholastic Award leads to recognition at the national level, where opportunities for exhibition, publication, and millions of dollars in scholarships await those who receive top honors.”
Sponsors
The Alliance is grateful for its generous sponsors, who provide funds to support and produce the Scholastic Awards at the national level, including: Scholastic Inc., The Maurice R. Robinson Fund, Command Web Offset Co., The New York Times, the New York Life Foundation, The Herb Block Foundation, Blick Art Materials & Utrect Art Supplies, Golden Artist Colors, the Garcia Family Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the ESA Foundation, the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, Creative Circle, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and Amazon Literary Partnership; the National Student Poets Program, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Poetry Foundation, and the Academy of American Poets.
For more information about the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers and the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, visit the Scholastic News Room: http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/artandwriting.
Plains Art Museum is the largest art museum in the Dakotas and Western Minnesota and is general admission free thanks to strong and growing support from over 800 households and businesses. The Museum manages a permanent collection of over 4,000 objects, organizes and presents dozens of annual exhibitions, facilitates public art projects, and leads over 200 educational programs and experiences for all ages each year. The Museum, and its Katherine Kilbourne Burgum Center for Creativity, is located at 704 First Avenue North in downtown Fargo.
Contact: Netha Cloeter, Director of Education and Social Engagement, ncloeter@plainsart.org, 701.551.6109
Plains Art Museum Announces Teen Art Club and Teen Art Classes
Press Release
For Immediate Release (January 2019)
Fargo, ND – Plains Art Museum is launching three teen art programs for Spring 2019. Teen Art Club is a workshop series at Plains Art Museum for young people ages 12-18, led by practicing artists in a variety of media. The format is one day workshops with teaching artist demonstrations, followed by creative time. These workshops are high quality, with all artist materials included. Teen Art Club will meet on select Sunday evenings from 5-7:30 pm, and registration is only $22 for Museum Members and $28 for Nonmembers. There are 5 sessions coming up, including: January 20: Oil Painting, February 17: Sculpture, March 24: Street Art, April 28: Watercolors, and May 19: Printmaking.
The Museum will also be presenting two Teen Art Classes, which go into more depth on specific media. On Tuesdays (Feb. 26, Mar. 5, Mar. 19, Apr. 2, Apr. 9, and Apr. 16) from 4:30-7pm, the Museum will present Teen Photography taught by photographer and photojournalist Ann Arbor Miller. Expand your image-making skills through a series of exercises designed around the photographer’s creative tool box. Technical aspects of digital photography as well as composition, design and more will be highlighted. Photographers of all levels are welcome, as are any digital cameras (including smartphones). This class is $96 for Museum Members and $120 for Nonmembers.
Then, on Mondays from May 6 to June 17 (except Memorial Day) from 6:30-9pm, the Museum will present Teen Ceramics taught by local ceramic artist and educator Hayden Swanson. Whether you are a beginner or have worked with clay previously, this is your opportunity to advance your skills. Build and refine your throwing and hand-building skills, learn new techniques and participate in constructive, collaborative evaluation of your work. Basic glazing, staining, and slipping techniques will also be introduced. This class is $96 for Museum Members and $120 for Nonmembers.
For more information or to register for these programs, please visit plainsart.org or call 701.551.6100. Scholarships are also available thanks to support from the Creative Plains Foundation.
Plains Art Museum is the largest art museum in the Dakotas and Western Minnesota and is general admission free thanks to strong and growing support from over 800 households and businesses. The Museum manages a permanent collection of over 4,000 objects, organizes and presents dozens of annual exhibitions, facilitates public art projects, and leads over 200 educational programs and experiences for all ages each year. The Museum, and its Katherine Kilbourne Burgum Center for Creativity, is located at 704 First Avenue North in downtown Fargo.
Contact: Netha Cloeter, Director of Education and Social Engagement, ncloeter@plainsart.org, 701.551.6109
Plains Art Museum Celebrates Indigenous Women Artists with “Power- Lines” Exhibition
Press Release
For Immediate Release (January 2019)
Fargo, ND – Plains Art Museum is opening its first main gallery exhibition of 2019, with a contemporary exhibition celebrating the creative traditions and innovations as well as the cultural agency of Native American women. The exhibition, titled Wassamoo-Beshizi (which translates to Power-Lines in the Ojibwe language) will be exhibited between January 31st and July 31st, 2019.
Curated by Laura Youngbird and with support from Tasha Kubesh, Joe Williams and Netha Cloeter, Wassamoo-Beshizi is poetically inspired by the parallel electric power lines that resemble dresses and celebrates the connections we have to each other and the intergenerational passage of knowledge. The exhibition includes multidisciplinary artwork from 23 contemporary Native women including Maggie Thompson, Andrea Carlson, Ann-erika White Bird, Julie Buffalohead, Nelda Schrupp, Cecilia Fire Thunder, Denise Lajimodiere, Heid Erdrich and many more. While the exhibition is multidisciplinary, one exhibition highlight is the complexity and history of clothing and textiles, which can reflect identity, an intention of nurturing or protection, and the love shared in the creative process.
Wassamoo-Beshizi is organized in partnership with the Minneapolis Institute of Art’s upcoming exhibition, Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists, which will be on display beginning June 2nd at Mia. Like all exhibitions at Plains Art Museum, general admission is free thanks to PlainsArt4All General Fund members and donors.
Plains Art Museum is the largest art museum in the Dakotas and Western Minnesota and is general admission free thanks to strong and growing support from over 800 households and businesses. The Museum manages a permanent collection of over 4,000 objects, organizes and presents dozens of annual exhibitions, facilitates public art projects, and leads over 200 educational programs and experiences for all ages each year. The Museum, and its Katherine Kilbourne Burgum Center for Creativity, is located at 704 First Avenue North in downtown Fargo.
Contact: Andrew J. Maus, Director & CEO, 701.551.6123, amaus@plainsart.org
Contact: Laura Youngbird, Director of Native American Programs, lyoungbird@plainsart.org, 701.551.6119
Plains Art Museum Announces Programs with Zoran and Ilene Mojsilov
Press Release
For Immediate Release (January 2019)
Fargo, ND – Originally from Serbia (former Yugoslavia), Zoran Mojsilov is a Minnesota-based sculptor boldly working in stone, steel and wood. Resembling large, surreal machines with hand-carved wheels, cogs and gears, the artist’s Time Machine series forms the centerpiece of his current solo exhibition at Plains Art Museum. In connection with this exhibition, Plains Art Museum announces three programs including Zoran and his partner Ilene, who is a freelance art educator at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis Institute of Art, and Can Can Wonderland (Minneapolis, MN):
On Thursday, January 31st from 6-7pm, the Museum will present a Conversation with the Artist. This adult program will include Associate Curator Tasha Kubesh, who led the organization of the exhibition, and will highlight Zoran’s various influences and career-long concern for humankind, nature, love, and war. This program is free and open to the public and no registration is necessary.
The following day, on Friday, February 1st from 6-8pm, Ilene will lead an Adult + Child Workshop: Assemblage Time Machines. This is your opportunity to create your own sculpture after gaining inspiration from the exhibition, and its layers of time, cultures and symbols. This program is $15 for Museum Members, $19 for Non-Members, and registration is required at plainsart.org.
Another opportunity for family art making will be presented the following day on Saturday, February 2nd, from 1-4pm during Plains Art Museum’s popular Kid Quest family event. Get a chance to meet Zoran and see him at work carving a sculpture – then, create your own time capsule and mixed media sculpture. Kid Quest events are free thanks to support from Xcel Energy and Kiwanis Club of Fargo. Pre-registration is required at plainsart.org.
Plains Art Museum is the largest art museum in the Dakotas and Western Minnesota and is general admission free thanks to strong and growing support from over 800 households and businesses. The Museum manages a permanent collection of over 4,000 objects, organizes and presents dozens of annual exhibitions, facilitates public art projects, and leads over 200 educational programs and experiences for all ages each year. The Museum, and its Katherine Kilbourne Burgum Center for Creativity, is located at 704 First Avenue North in downtown Fargo.
Contact: Netha Cloeter, Director of Education and Social Engagement, ncloeter@plainsart.org, 701.551.6109