May 19th, 2025
By Raul Gomez
Minutes before Modern’s Celebration of Life opened its door at the Sons of Norway, I was fiddling with the bar computer, trying to pull up the playlists of Modern’s work I had set aside for the audience to see. Soon, the Sons of Norway would be packed with friends and fans of Modern. I finally get the audio working just as the room fills. It was a packed house.
There were heaps of laughter as folks shared stories, passing the mic from stranger to stranger.…
April 17th, 2025
By Raul Gomez
Modern Man was a gentle soul. If you were down or just wanted a friend, he’d be there for you.
I remember the first day I met Modern Man. It was Jeremiah Fuglseth and me. He wanted to write about this legendary artist he’d met. When I stepped into Modern’s studio, I saw a giant canvas, a 12-foot tall canvas, airbrushed in a deep, dark red. It was of Hitler and a group of men. When Modern turned off the lights, you would see this group of dead bodies crammed into the…
April 2nd, 2025
By Sabrina Hornung
Photo by Chad Nodland, "Artistic Freedom"
On January 19, 2025, the last full day of Joe Biden’s presidency, he commuted Leonard Peltier's two consecutive life sentences to home confinement at his residence in Belcourt, North Dakota. On February 18, 2025, Peltier was released after 49 years in prison.
Peltier is a Native American activist and a leader in the American Indian Movement (AIM). He was convicted of murdering two FBI agents in a shooting on…
March 15th, 2025
By Sabrina Hornung
Telling Queer History is an LGBTQIA+ organization that utilizes oral storytelling and community building to educate, honor and collect oral histories. To honor its final year in operation, the organization is on a five stop Minnesota tour featuring new work and retrospective work.
We had a moment to chat with founder and Executive Director Rebecca Lawrence prior to the upcoming exhibition titled “We Live On: Stories of Radical Connection” at Red…
February 21st, 2025
By John Showalter
Everyone has heard the adage, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” However, it is safe to say there are far more than a thousand in Mickey Smith’s photographs. When one hears about photography exhibitions, one often thinks of subject matter ranging from architecture to nature to people. In Smith’s case, she has spent years chronicling the changing landscape of libraries and their contents.
Originally from Duluth, Minnesota, Smith…
November 23rd, 2024
By Sabrina Hornung
In 1974, the Jamestown Arts Center started as a small space above a downtown drugstore. It has grown to host multiple classrooms, a gallery, performance studio, ceramic studio and outdoor art park.
“There were maybe four women who were artists, who just started to get together and paint. They wanted to have a way to display their work,” said former Executive Director Taylor Barnes. “More people joined, so they had this gallery above a drug store…
November 13th, 2024
By Sabrina Hornung
Ted Martin, retired educator and western North Dakota native, currently has his art on view at Mind Virus Counter-Culture Books and Media. The exhibition features Martin’s colorful ink drawings and will be on display from November 15 through December 1. The exhibit launches with a pre-show artist discussion on Friday, November 15 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
When asked if there was a common theme in his work, Martin said, “Male nudity? The male form —…
September 19th, 2024
By HPR Contributors
They are the inventive, passionate, adaptable, resourceful, sometimes over-enthusiastic, wack-tacular people who create art in our community, and they’re opening their studio doors to you for the 2024 Fargo-Moorhead Visual Artists Studio Crawl party. At fmva.org, there’s a map that shows where these studios are, and you might be surprised to see they’re in your neighborhood! Who knew?
A lot of you probably do know. The Studio Crawl is now in its…
June 20th, 2024
New Minnesota sculptures include artist’s largest troll
By Sabrina Hornung
According to Danish artist and environmental activist Thomas Dambo, “All trash is treasure.” So far, he and his team have built 138 giant recycled troll sculptures in 17 countries and 19 states in the U.S. This summer, they added Minnesota to the list with a new installation in Detroit Lakes. Now the hunt is on to find them.
“I make them in a big treasure hunt,” Dambo said. “So I hide…
May 16th, 2024
If your Spidey senses are tingling, it may be because Marvelocity: The Art of Alex Ross is coming to the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum. The traveling exhibition, developed by the Bess Bower Dunn Museum of Lake County, Illinois, will bring the gravity-defying world of Marvel Comic illustrations to Bismarck from March 16 through June 9, 2024.
The exhibition includes more than 50 original illustrations, including cover art, storyboards,…
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By Alicia Underlee NelsonMore than 1,000 pro-worker events are planned for Thursday, May 1 across the country, including rallies in Fargo-Moorhead, Grand Forks, Minot and Jamestown. East Grand Forks and Bismarck will host protests…
From concerts and car shows to Japanese art and Juneteenth celebrations, there's so much going on around the region this summer. This year's High Plains Reader Summer Events Calendar is back and bigger than ever. It's packed with…
June 21, 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.Fargo Theatre, 314 Broadway N., Fargo“We Watch Shudder,” Fargo’s favorite horror podcasters, bring on the darkness during the longest day of the year. The Darkest Day of Horror Film Festival features…
By John Strandjas@hpr1.com One description that perhaps aptly describes the mental state of many lately is that they feel they are attached to a string. Or several strings. Call it the notion that people are played like puppets,…
By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comFor sale: White House in D.C. housing dung beetles and giant leechesI suspect someone close to Donald Trump has read “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich,”because the Trump administration is…
By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com Holiday wine shopping shouldn’t have to be complicated. But unfortunately it can cause unneeded anxiety due to an overabundance of choices. Don’t fret my friends, we once again have you covered…
By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com After a very inspiring conversation with Kayla Houchin of Sonder Bakehouse a few weeks ago, I decided that it’s an appropriate time to write a column about some of the sweet people who are involved…
Mooncats and Pert Near Sandstone play Empire TheatreBy Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comThe MoonCats describe themselves as “Americonscious Campfire Folk.” They have a clear acoustic folk sound with a sense of whimsy — think…
By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.com Filmmaker Antonella Sudasassi Furniss constructs an engaging sophomore feature with “Memories of a Burning Body,” selected by Costa Rica to be entered for consideration as a possible Oscar…
By Raul Gomezraul@hpr1.com Minutes before Modern’s Celebration of Life opened its door at the Sons of Norway, I was fiddling with the bar computer, trying to pull up the playlists of Modern’s work I had set aside for the…
By John Showalterjohn.d.showalter@gmail.comHigh Plains Reader had the opportunity to interview two mysterious new game show hosts named Milt and Bradley Barker about an upcoming event they will be putting on at Brewhalla. What…
By Annie Prafckeannieprafcke@gmail.com AUSTIN, Texas – As a Chinese-American, connecting to my culture through food is essential, and no dish brings me back to my mother’s kitchen quite like hotdish. Yes, you heard me right –…
By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comNew Jamestown Brewery Serves up Local FlavorThere’s something delicious brewing out here on the prairie and it just so happens to be the newest brewery west of the Red River and east of the…
By Ellie Liveranieli.liverani.ra@gmail.com There appear to be differences in the incidence of mental illnesses between men and women. For example, women are more likely to be diagnosed with depression, post-traumatic stress…
By Alicia Underlee NelsonProtests against President Trump’s policies and the cuts made by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are planned across North Dakota and western Minnesota Friday, April 4 and…
By Vern Thompsonvern.thompson.nd7@gmail.com Our trucking business has me driving almost daily from gas plants in western North Dakota's oil patch to Canada. I haul natural gas liquids (NGLs) products we used to see flared off at…
