JULY 31 - SEPTEMBER 1 IN GALLERY I

Photo by Sabrina Ramey

SABRINA RAMEY

in Gallery I

MADE OF PRAIRIE

Sabrina has lived in North Dakota since she was 19 and loves exploring county backroads and prairie trails with her dogs. She enjoys matching old maps with current landmarks and researching older buildings that are still standing out on the prairie. Occasionally she can even talk her husband or son into coming along with her; they are always supportive of her passion in many other ways. The guys accept endless deliveries of large canvases in the mail and tolerate stacks of canvases and equipment in the dining room without complaint.

Sabrina’s photos have been used for a variety of projects like book covers, calendars, post cards, Christmas ornaments and even a few embroidery patterns, but she likes displaying her favorite images on large format canvases or acrylic the most. You can see a little more of her work on her Made of Prairie Facebook page.

JULY 31 - SEPTEMBER 1 IN GALLERY II

Tobacco Gardens at Dusk -Morgan Wagner

morgan wagner

in Gallery II

celebrating the essence

My still life and plein air oil and watercolor paintings are born from a need to develop as an artist. I choose to paint, rather than photograph, because while a photograph can do a good job of preserving a specific image and time, it can’t select for the most important details in a subject. In addition, it doesn’t allow for the time, careful scrutiny, and intention it takes to make a painting. I’ve heard love described as: “paying careful attention to.” If this is the case, when I practice painting, I am practicing love.

My work focuses on the essence of what makes my everyday subjects beautiful. I try to create an impression of light and form, simplifying shapes and distilling the subject down to its most important parts. I have a long way to go at perfecting this technique and that’s part of the fun. My practice is something I plan to pursue throughout my entire life because I believe there will always be room to grow.

Each painting was created in a single session, usually between 2 or 3 hours long. I painted the still lifes in my apartment while listening to music or podcasts, typically in my kitchen. The landscapes were painted on-site, plein air. It’s important to me that I paint what my eyes see, so they were all painted directly from life, not from a picture.

When I see them, these paintings make me hopeful that it’s worth the effort to try again and again, that daily, sustainable, practice yields the most powerful results, and that practicing for a lifetime is the only way to know just how good I can get.

JULY 3 - JULY 28 IN GALLERY I

Photo by Johnathan Campbell

NDCA/ND STATE PARKS

in Gallery I

ART IN THE PARKS

Each Year the North Dakota Parks & Recreation Department and North Dakota Council on the Arts put out a call for Artists to participate in the Artist in Residency program within the North Dakota State Parks. The Artist in Residency program offers artists the opportunity to stay and work in unique environments where they’ll draw inspiration from a North Dakota State Park, demonstrate their skills, and assist park visitors of all ages in discovering their artistic side.

The program's goal is to continue creating works of art that showcase, document, and celebrate our North Dakota state parks while providing opportunities for visitors to become stewards, with a deeper appreciation of artistic works inspired by the state parks. Artworks generated from this program have characterized the state's beauty for present and future generations, allowing park visitors to see North Dakota through the eyes and ears of contributing artists.

JULY 3 - JULY 28 IN GALLERY II

LEAH OLSON

in Gallery II

CAPTURING THE FUTURE’S PAST

Shiny, new things are nice, but I prefer antiques that are imbued with life.

North Dakota has always been my home, and I have always been fond of the old buildings that rested on the prairie. Each building with its slivering wood has a hidden story, and each time one collapses or is set aflame, history dies. The landscape and animals upon it keep changing, and though I can't save an old church from crumbling to the ground or a tranquil valley from being urbanized, I can capture it.

 One day everything we know will be different. Our present is a gift, and in the future, it will only be memories. A picture can capture a thousand words, but it takes a painting to capture emotion. I want to capture what I see for both the people of today and the people who may never get to experience it. Perhaps we can hold onto the past for so long, but eventually everything changes. When I paint my present, my world, I am painting the future’s past.