Big visions for the Plains Art Museum: renovation, expansion and opportunities abound

May 19th, 2026

By Sabrina Hornung

The Plains Art Museum has been a trailblazing force in the North Dakota art scene since its inception and it’s not slowing down any time soon. In fact, this summer they are preparing to break ground on a major renovation and expansion of their permanent collection facility.

But first, a little history: The building as we know it started out as an International Harvester (IH) warehouse, built in 1904. According to the Plains Art website, the first floor was dedicated to shipping and receiving. The second floor was a showroom which also housed accounting and sales, and the third floor was dedicated to parts. IH remained there until 1970. From there, the building lived a number of lives, including a furniture store, until the Plains Art Museum secured it in 1993, started renovations and later opened its doors in 1997.

In 2012, the Katherine Kilbourne Burgum Center for Creativity came to fruition within three interconnected buildings to the west of the main building. All three were from the same era. Together, they added 27,000 square feet of space for pottery, painting and multi-purpose studios, as well as a small gallery. This addition allowed the Plains to both expand physically and expand their educational and creative outreach. And it’s only going to get better.

Not only is the Plains Art Museum providing creative opportunities, it’s providing a glimpse into the museum side of operations.

“We are working with Olson Kundig, an architecture firm out of Seattle, as well as JLG, a local firm here in Fargo, to really envision this open storage concept design,” explained Plains Art Museum Director and Ceo Erin Shapiro. “So it's not just expanding the space, it's also creating a basically fourth gallery for the museum, and that course is starting early in 2027,” she said.

According to Shapiro, collection storage is the most secure space at the museum and only a few staff members have access. It’s climate controlled to preserve the integrity of the works stored there. Accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums means there are strict guidelines regarding how to handle, care for and preserve the permanent collection.

There are over 6,000 pieces of art housed in the current space. And in the past couple of years, the museum has amassed some pretty impressive collections. These collections include art from renowned regional, national, and international artists, as well as folk art and Indigenous art.

Efforts have been made to digitize, but that’s no comparison to seeing the art up close. Open collections are a fairly new trend in museum design. They give patrons access and help them better their understanding of the inner workings of the museum and the art within it.

“Only 18% of art museums in the United States actually have this type of open collection, so it's a newer trend in museum design to give access to the collection so that patrons can have an understanding,” said Shapiro. “Because I…

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