There’s something soothing about skipping the big box stores and opting for indie crafts, art shows and handmade gifts this Christmas. The gifts are unique, your dollars support a small businessperson and the shopping experience often includes fun extras like mulled wine, beer, live music, and entertainment to keep the youngest shoppers transfixed. As an added bonus, you can usually meet the artists and makers to get the story behind the gift you’re giving and learn how it wa

“What an artist is trying to do for people is bring them closer to something, because of course art is about sharing. You wouldn’t be an artist unless you wanted to share an experience, a thought.” – David Hockney The passing of Prince, Minnesota’s truest, wildest original, earlier this week reminded me of the incredible power that art (and artists) have. Art connects us, it inspires us and it challenges us. Art makes us curious, it draws us in, it keeps us hungry. Art matter

I think graffiti is beautiful. I honestly think an artful scrawl or well placed image can add something organic and interesting to a long string of boxcars or a dilapidated building. So I’m excited to see local graffiti artists from Fargo, Moorhead, Minneapolis and Saint Paul get a chance to shine at Fresh: A Graffiti and Hip-Hop Festival at the Plains Art Museum tonight. The event celebrates the closing of the exhibit Graffiti 101: The Foundation of Street Art, which I just

The Fargo Moorhead Visual Artists Studio Crawl is back this weekend. It’s on today and tomorrow, October 6th and 7th. Every year, local artists put out snacks, pour a little wine and open up the doors to their studios for a behind-the-scenes tour. This year, 39 different studios are participating all over the F/M Area, so you can see a huge amount of work in a day or two. And everything is free! You can watch demos, talk with your favorite artists and see their work in the en

Turns out there’s a Walking Tour tonight that features the work of one of my favorite Abstract Expressionists, Marjorie Schlossman. (If you missed my previous blog post about her, you can check it out here.) The artist will be leading both the walk and a discussion of her work. Ms. Schlossman partnered with local architects who created these small, moveable structures that house her paintings. Designed to provide a break from daily life and a space for reflection, these littl