Arts

‘Local American epics’

July 17th, 2019

Advance Guard of the West was painted by Edward Buk Ulreich - photograph by Sabrina Hornung

The US Postal Service recently released a set of stamps celebrating the New Deal era post office murals that were federally commissioned during the Roosevelt administration, though the mural that graces the walls of the New Rockford Post Office titled “Advance Guard of the West” wasn’t featured on any of the stamps, it provides a shining example of the Roosevelt administration’s depression era public art program.

According to its registration form for the National Register of…

Read more...


​Getting spooky with Shelby Tagestad

June 26th, 2019

Shelby Tagestad in studio - photograph provided by Shelby Tagestad

High Plains Reader: Your watercolor work is currently on view at the Red Raven Espresso Parlor, common themes within your pieces are elements of horror imagery, mini monsters, clowns etc. Eyes and lips are another common theme. What draws you to this imagery? Some of your pieces remind me of the Nickelodeon show "Aaaaah! Real Monsters… Did you ever watch that as a kid?

Shelby Tagestad: Growing up, my favorite book series was “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.” That’s truly where…

Read more...


​‘A warrior in his lifetime:’ photographic book of Natives receives more than acclaim

June 24th, 2019

New Mexico Representative Debra Haaland sitting for a wet plate photograph with Shane Balkowitsch in viewfinder - photograph by C.S. Hagen

BISMARCK – Six months of preparation boiled down to eight seconds. There were wet plate photographs to capture, a well-known Congresswoman from New Mexico to pick up, reporters to please, and… wait… Representative Debra Haaland’s flight was cancelled? The forecast was for rain? Who was arranging refreshments for the book signing ceremony?

Shane Balkowitsch paced back and forth in his natural light wet plate studio, the only one of its kind in the United States, sometimes…

Read more...


​Nicki Marie, ‘Northern Stardust,’ and reasons to keep looking up

June 19th, 2019

Art by Nicki Marie

You may have seen Nicki Marie slingin’ her elaborately folded paper star creations at various craft and cultural festivals around the region. She was also a recipient of a folk art and traditional apprenticeship grant made possible for the North Dakota Council on the Arts and learned scherenschnitte and wycinanki through Tower City based folk artist Meridee Erickson Stowman in 2016. This Thursday, Nicki Marie’s first gallery exhibition titled, “Northern Stardust” will be opening…

Read more...


​Art on the Red Showcases Prairie Talent

May 29th, 2019

Art on the Red in Grand Forks

With all the coverage of artists in the Fargo-Moorhead area in the High Plains Reader, it can unfortunately be easy to forget that the rest of the state hosts their own fair share of artistic talent. Take, for example, Fargo’s neighbor to the North, Grand Forks. Since 2001, Grand Forks has hosted an annual event originally named “ArtFest”, which was organized and operated by the North Valley Arts Council (NOVAC).

Unfortunately, in December of 2016 NOVAC dissolved, but Grand…

Read more...


Plains Art Museum: 23rd Annual Spring Gala

May 1st, 2019

Art by Punchgut, design by Raul Gomez

The Plains Art Museum is ready to take you back in time – or forward, if you prefer – for their 23rd annual Spring Gala. The theme for this year’s event, which takes place on Friday, May 3, is Time Machine.

The Spring Gala is the museum’s biggest fundraising event every year. It will include a silent auction, music from Post Traumatic Funk Syndrome, who will take the stage at 9 p.m., and food catering from Urban Foods, Chef’s Table Catering, Concordia, and Nichole’s Fine…

Read more...


Picturing Nam

May 1st, 2019

Twentieth century angel of mercy — Navy Hospital Corpsman D. R. Howe - Glencoe, MN treats the wounds of Private First Class D A. Crum - Fifth Marine Regiment during Operation Hue City - Sergeant William F. Dickman, February 6, 1968

Minnesota State University Moorhead held their grand opening of Picturing Nam: U.S. Military Photography of the Vietnam War last Thursday at the Roland Dille Center for the Arts. The exhibition is the final installment of the Minnesota Remembers Vietnam initiative from MSUM and will run through May 25.

Picturing Nam will be a one-of-a-kind experience in that visitors to the art gallery will be able to see some photographs and images that have not been previously available for public…

Read more...


​Hold your head high

April 10th, 2019

Keep your head up with Kim Konikow - photograph provided by NDCA

“I started to look around at state arts council positions because I felt that even though I had never done that, I felt like it would be a really good blend of skills, so I started to look around in 2016. A few jobs came up but I knew I didn’t want to work for a large state agency,” Kim Konikow, executive director of the North Dakota Council on the Arts (NDCA), said.

She went on to say, “I can’t say I ever thought about North Dakota. It was not on the top of my list but it was…

Read more...


​Allen Sprenger’s Sculptures along Highway 49

April 3rd, 2019

Sprenger sculptures - photograph by Sabrina Hornung

As you drive the stretch of Highway 49 between Glen Ullin and Elgin, you’ll experience a variety of land features. You’ll see rolling hills, open fields, and great expanses of pasture land surrounded by barbed wire fences and curious cattle. Glorious buttes and cut banks of the area surround and contain the Heart Butte Dam. To say it’s a breathtaking view is an understatement.

Highway 49 is dotted by a few farmsteads and grain bins as one would expect from a state with such a…

Read more...


​Dakota Fine Art Featured Artist: Meet Mitchel Hoffart

March 27th, 2019

By Mitchel Hofart

This month at Dakota Fine Art gallery be sure to check out guest artist Mitchel Hoffart’s exhibition, “Flora, Fauna, and the Abstract World.” Hoffart, who lives in Moorhead, is a mixed media artist with an extensive and diverse body of work and a long and growing list of exhibitions and awards.

While Hoffart says it’s impossible to pin down his art into a specific category, he does work with some recurring themes. After being commissioned to create a multitude of 12x12 elk…

Read more...


Tracker Pixel for Entry FPL Tracker Pixel for Entry Pangea Tracker Pixel for Entry 7clans Tracker Pixel for Entry spirit Tracker Pixel for Entry Blackbird Tracker Pixel for Entry EmpireAUG2021

Recently in:

By Winona LaDukewinona@winonaladuke.com The business of Indian Hating is a lucrative one. It’s historically been designed to dehumanize Native people so that it’s easier to take their land. ‘Kill the Indian, save the man,”…

By Johnathan Campbell history@nd.gov Since Halloween is just around the corner, I thought I’d share three mysterious — and mildly creepy folktales — that have been shared about the Former Governors' Mansion State Historic Site,…

Thursday, November 7, 8 p.m.The Aquarium above Dempsey’s, FargoThe Minneapolis indie rock duo Bad Bad Hats hits the Fargo stage promoting their brand new, self-produced album titled “Bad Bad Hats.” Their name came from a song…

By Jim Fugliejimfuglie920@gmail.com As a political columnist, I know I should be writing an election preview for the issue of this paper that comes out just a couple weeks before what is being labeled, once again, as “the most…

By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comWill We Ever Recover from the Trump Virus of Universal Hate?Just a month ago, the primary doctor of 336 million U.S Americans,U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, issued an advisory on the mental…

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 In this land of hotdish and ham, the knoephla soup of German-Russian heritage seems to reign supreme. In my opinion though, the French have the superior soup. With a cheesy top layer, toasted baguette…

North Dakota’s All Star Tribute to John Prine at the Fargo TheatreBy Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comOn November 3, The Radio Stars are rounding up a number of North Dakota’s finest musicians from Watford City to the Red River…

By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.com Writer-director Nicole Riegel’s sophomore feature “Dandelion” is now playing in theaters following a world premiere at South by Southwest in March. The movie stars KiKi Layne as the…

By HPR Contributorssubmit@hpr1.com 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…

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 John Showalter  john.d.showalter@gmail.comThey sell fentanyl test strips and kits to harm-reduction organizations and…

Rynn WillgohsJanuary 25, 1972-October 8, 2024 Rynn Azerial Willgohs, age 52, of Vantaa, Finland, died by suicide on October 8, 2024. Rynn became her true-self March 31, 2020. She immediately became a vocal and involved activist…

By Dina Butcherdina.wtba@midconetwork.com In 1938, when my parents were living in Germany, my father — along with 30,000 other Jewish men — was rounded up by Nazi Stormtroopers during an event known as Kristallnacht. He was taken…