Northwest Arts Center presents ‘The Great Open: Photographs of North Dakota’

MINOT, N.D. - The Northwest Arts Center presents "The Great Open: Photographs from North Dakota" on display at the Walter Piehl Gallery from Aug. 9 to Sept. 21. A culmination of a multi-year project by internationally known photographers Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb, the exhibition is touring the state through the North Dakota Museum of Art's Rural Arts Initiative.

In 2019, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Museum commissioned the artists to create a body of photographs probing the essence of North Dakota's current landscape, people, and way of life. The Great Open interweaves their distinctive photographic styles to create a multi-layered portrait of North Dakota.

In the exhibition, Rebecca Norris Webb takes a poetic and intimate look at the natural world of North Dakota. Her work often explores where the natural world and one's inner landscape meet during times of change and upheaval, such as with her book and NDMOA exhibition, My Dakota: An Elegy for My Brother Who Died Unexpectedly. Drawn to the great openness of the mixed grass prairie and the broken, surreal beauty of the South Dakota badlands while grieving for her brother, she began this project photographing in the North Dakota badlands. Norris Webb photographed other North Dakota landscapes resonant with loss and memory, including the Lincoln Drive Park, once home to some 350 residences lost in the 1997 Red River flood in Grand Forks; and the Fort Totten Historical Site, once an Indian boarding school.

Alex Webb, raised predominantly in New England, has photographed in more than 50 countries and 200 cities around the world. Webb takes a more global and often urban approach to North Dakota. During two trips, he photographed in the parks, neighborhoods, and flea markets of the more populated cities and towns of the state, including Fargo, Grand Forks, Bismarck, Minot, and Williston. He also photographed at various festivals and other events across the state, including the Icelandic Festival in Mountain, the Spirit Lake Professional Bull Riders on the Spirit Lake Reservation, the Morton County Fair and Rodeo in New Salem, and the Twin Buttes Powwow south of the Missouri River on the Fort Berthold Reservation.

Additional programming is planned while The Great Open is in Minot, including a public reception, multiple presentations, and workshops. The artists will be attending the public reception on Thursday, Sept. 5, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., held at the Northwest Arts Center in the Walter Piehl Gallery.

The couple will present selections from their body of work in two public lectures on Friday, Sept. 6. Part of the Art Seminar Series, they will present Blind Man & the Bus at noon in the newly renovated Hartnett Hall. The seminar will showcase a mix of projects by the Webb's, some solo and some collaborative, including Brooklyn (AW & RNW), Night Calls (RNW), and La Calle: Photographs from Mexico (AW).

A social and refreshments will precede "The Poetics of Light" at 7 p.m. in the Hartnett Hall Collaboration Space on the second floor. The evening photo viewing and book reading features five bodies of work and ends with "A Difficulty Is a Light." Discussed is Alex and Rebecca's joint Cuba work (Violet Isle), My Dakota (RNW), The Suffering of Light (AW), and Waves (AW & RNW).

On Saturday, Sept. 7, two photography workshops are being held in Hartnett Hall. Interested community members are encouraged to contact Minot State Professor Ryan Stander for details. Space is limited, so RSVP is required.

While at the Northwest Arts Center, the exhibition will be available for viewing Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, 1-5 p.m. The Center is closed on holidays. The Walter Piehl Gallery is located on the lower level of the Gordon B. Olson Library at Minot State University, with its own entrance on the south side of the library. The exhibition and related events are free and open to the public.

This exhibition is made possible by the North Dakota Museum of Art and the Rural Arts Initiative. Part of the Rural Arts Initiative, funded by the state of North Dakota. The Northwest Arts Center is supported in part by a grant from the North Dakota Council on the Arts, which receives funding from the state legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.

EXHIBITION CREDIT 
This exhibition is made possible by the North Dakota Museum of Art and the Rural Arts Initiative. Part of the Rural Arts Initiative, funded by the state of North Dakota.

The Northwest Arts Center is supported in part by a grant from the North Dakota Council on the Arts, which receives funding from the state legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts. 

Artist activities at Minot State University are supported by a grant from the MSU Cultural and Intellectual Engagement Council.

RELATED PROGRAMS

• Public Reception with the artists: Sept. 5, 2024 - 6:30-8 p.m.
• The Blind Man & the Bus, Art Seminar Series: Sept. 6, 12-1:30 p.m.
  • Hartnett Hall, Rm 106, Minot State University
• The Poetics of Light, Photo Presentation and Book reading: Sept 6, 7 p.m.
  • Hartnett Hall Collaboration Space Rm 203
  • Artist Workshops: Sept 7, 10 a.m. & 2 p.m.
  • Hartnett Hall Collaboration Space Rm 203, RSVP Only

NORTHWEST ARTS CENTER 
The Northwest Arts Center is a non-profit arts center operating on the campus of Minot State University. The Center houses the Walter Piehl Gallery, a public reception area, and climate-controlled collections storage and display for Minot State University's Permanent Art Collection and Native American Collections. Over the years, the Center has enriched the artistic life of northwest North Dakota with year-round art exhibitions, a performing arts series, a public lecture series, and numerous workshops and artists-in-residence activities. 

GENERAL INFORMATION 
The Northwest Arts Center is located at Minot State University, 500 University Ave. W, Minot, ND, 58707. The Walter Piehl Gallery is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 1-5 p.m., and by appointment. Gallery entrance and parking are on the south side of the Gordon B. Olson Library. Exhibitions and receptions are free and open to the public. 

PRESS CONTACTS 
JoHannah Grosz, exhibition coordinator, Northwest Arts Center, 701-858-3264 [email protected]

Greg Vettel, director, Northwest Arts Center, 701-858-3264
[email protected]

Ryan Stander, professor of art, Minot State University, 701-858-3297
[email protected]

About Minot State University
Minot State University is a public university dedicated to excellence in education, scholarship, and community engagement achieved through rigorous academic experiences, active learning environments, commitment to public service, and a vibrant campus life.

Published: 08/22/24

»More MSU News

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.