Arts

Grants for artists: Arts organizations are looking for artists to give money to

February 13th, 2014

By Jacinta Macheel

Are you a musician, visual artist, writer, poet, dancer, designer, folk artist, theater performer, crafter or designer? Would you like funding for touring, events, publication or something else that could enable you to make a creative dream a reality?

There is a way you can do this, my fellow creative people: apply for grants.

Maybe you are thinking that the process is overwhelming, or that you don’t know where to begin, or that there is too much competition and…

Meet the curator: Becky Dunham

January 16th, 2014

Photo by J Earl Miller / Design by Raul Gomez

New Plains Art Museum curator Becky Dunham may have just moved to Fargo from Texas, but she sure hasn’t minded her new home’s extreme temperature drops.

“The weather, I love,” she said while sipping on a warm beverage at Atomic Coffee downtown.

“It’s really refreshing to be somewhere where there’s a real winter and where there’s a change of seasons, and you can see how that impacts the community and the culture and the lifestyle.”

Dunham is someone who is familiar with…

Emerging artists cause a BIG sensation

January 9th, 2014

“I’m not trying to cause a big s-s-sensation / I’m just talkin’ bout my g-g-eneration!” quoth Pete Townsend in The Who’s 1965 hit song “My Generation.”

“My Generation” is also the namesake of the Plains Art Museum’s exciting new exhibition featuring some of Fargo-Moorhead’s best up-and-coming artists, including Kelly Cantrell, Judith Feist, Torey Garletz, Kaylyn Gerenz, Steven Hammer, Jerica Olson, Ben Rheault and Ashley Strazzinski.

Springerle: delicious folk art

December 19th, 2013

I’ll be the first to admit that I am one sentimental fool, especially during holidays, when everything is so steeped in nostalgia, tradition and folk art. My family has a very strong German background and one of the highlights of the holiday season is coming home to bake Springerle with my mom and grandma in Jamestown.

Originated in the Schwabenland region of southwest Germany, which also originally included parts of present day France and Switzerland, Springerles are white…

Old and New Out of the Blue.. A three man show in the Hodo Restaurant

November 21st, 2013

I've been spending a fair share of my Tuesday and Thursday afternoons in the Minnesota State University Moorhead art department, not as a student, but as an art model for Andrew Stark's figure drawing class. Nearly two months ago, Stark was expressing how overwhelmed he was with having an upcoming show at both The Hotel Donaldson and ecce art gallery. Plus, he was moving and staying quite busy with the ultimate job -- being a dad to his 10-month-old son, Liam.

Stark asked me if I had…

Under pressure

November 7th, 2013

Eric Ista, Jeff Knight and Matt Charpentier / Photo by Jill Ockhardt

Cropped gets local graphic designers to compete for Photoshop glory

There’s a new kind of competition in town – one that doesn’t involve balls, food or money.

It’s called Cropped. It’s based off the Food Network television show “Chopped,” but instead of food, contestants work with a “horrible” selection of computer stock images and fonts. And instead of cooking utensils, contestants worth with a computer, a mouse and Photoshop.

Next Thursday, Nov. 14, Cropped will host…

FM Ballet’s new thrills

October 17th, 2013

Gabriela Baierle-Atwood and Matt Gasper / Photo by Dan Leeaphon

Artistic director Matt Gasper has some stellar goals for the Fargo-Moorhead Ballet, a blooming and somewhat young dance company housed by (but separate from) Gasper’s School of Dance and Performing Arts.

“The main goal of it is to become nationally recognized as a leading dance company in the Midwest,” he said.

The organization is taking a number of “baby steps” to reach this highly attainable aspiration. When the company started more than five years ago, it had only six dancers…

Hot Air: The Rise of Neil Hamburger

October 10th, 2013

Anyone hungry for a greasy new hamburger?

Los Angeles comedian Neil Hamburger might be able to feed your greasy fix with his slick comb over, oversized glasses, spiffy tuxedo, whooping cough and potty mouth this Saturday, Oct. 12 at The Aquarium.

We interviewed the comedian to talk about his experiences in Fargo-Moorhead, his severe distaste for Steven Tyler and his website dilemmas.

He did not miss a single beat.

High Plains Reader: Hey, Neil. How are you doing today?

Neil Hamburger: Good,…

Go Inside The Studio at the 2013 Studio Crawl

October 3rd, 2013

By Alicia Underlee Nelson

Across the Red River Valley – from Harwood to Hawley and various points in between – dozens of artists will throw open the doors to 41 different studios and workspaces this weekend during the Fargo-Moorhead Visual Artists’ Studio Crawl. The annual event runs Saturday, October 5 and Sunday, October 6 and it’s a great way for artists to connect with their fans and for art enthusiasts to pull back the veil and better understand the artists’ creative…

Artists move uptown

September 26th, 2013

By Diane Miller

It seems that each day, Fargo’s downtown is becoming more chic, elegant and modern. The trend continues with this Thursday’s grand opening of The Uptown Gallery, a fine looking space for gifted local artists to display their work.

Owner and CEO Steve Revland, 60, was born and raised in Fargo. For nearly 40 years, he has been designing and handcrafting is own high-end wood furniture.

Naturally, Revland has also gathered and maintained relationships with other veteran…