ART ON THE PLAINS XII: ATMOSPHERE

Arts | March 30th, 2016

By Elle Anderson

This is the twelfth year that the Plains Art Museum will be holding Art on the Plains, a competitive exhibition of contemporary art.

Most of the artists are from the Great Plains region, but there are some competitors from Canada. This event exposes the public to new and mature talent from the area, and helps the artists show their work.

Atmosphere on the Plains was an event in which three artists discussed their submissions of artwork. Each piece was created much differently than any other. The artists discussed how their artwork spoke to atmosphere on the Great Plains.

Let’s meet the artists:

Ann Arbor Miller

Currently, Miller lives in Fargo and studied Visual Communication at Ohio University. In 2013, Miller was asked to photograph buildings for an article. During the trip she came across an abandoned school in Sandstone, Minn.

“I enjoy finding scenes in situations to document”, says Miller. Her photograph is of chalkboards that were layered one on another. When the school was shut down the chalkboards were torn off. In the photograph, you will notice the different layers from each chalkboard and the writing that is left over.

Eric Santwire

Santwire lives in Fergus Falls and studied Studio Art at Minnesota State University Moorhead. He collaborated with Naomi Schliesman to create a unique piece of art. Santwire had found some x-rays of Schliesman’s teeth and decided to run with them. They both have had health issues and many x-rays. The other objects in the x-rays are of flowers. “There was a lot of layering of the photos to create this final piece”, says Santwire. Schliesman’s half of the collaboration was simpler than Santwires. He had fun working with Schliesman on this piece and the work was balanced perfectly. Together they created the final piece pictured below.

Osteoblast in Bloom

Gin Templeton

Templeton resides in Fargo and studied at the College of St. Benedict and University of Minnesota. She has had much of her artwork at the Uptown Gallery and The Plains Art Museum. She takes classes and continues to learn. Templeton enjoys painting abstract art and never has preconceived plans for a painting. The painting she created is an array of the color orange, and later she added fabric and paper. “I think a painting is more successful when you get in the zone and just go for it”, says Templeton. She always names her paintings after they’re completed, never before.

It was very interesting to listen to the different processes each artist went through to create their final piece. There are many different ways to create art, even with words. There was hard time and work put into each piece by the artists.

IF YOU GO

Art on the Plains XII

February 6- May 21

Fred J. Donath Memorial / William and Anna Jane Schlossman Galleries

Plains Art Museum

704 First Ave. N

701-551-6100

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