July 17th, 2019
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…
June 26th, 2019
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…
June 24th, 2019
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…
June 19th, 2019
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…
May 29th, 2019
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…
May 1st, 2019
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…
May 1st, 2019
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…
April 10th, 2019
“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…
April 3rd, 2019
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…
March 27th, 2019
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…