About

Arts Across the Prairie: Placemaking in Rural North Dakota is a first-of-its-kind, statewide, public art program from North Dakota Council on the Arts (NDCA). This program will create eight large-scale public works – one for each geographic region in the state – that reflect the unique history, landscape, and cultural heritage of each region. All eight works will be placed in rural locations. This program is in collaboration with the North Dakota Department of Transportation and North Dakota Tourism/Commerce.

Arts Across the Prairie was developed to celebrate the cultural heritage of rural areas, foster creative relationships across counties and regions, bolster NDCA’s role as a rural development partner, and spur economic development through tourism. Furthermore, as a community-driven initiative, it aims to promote civic pride, affirm distinctiveness of place, and strengthen cultural identity. This program will create public-private partnerships throughout the state and will provide a national model of this type of creative placekeeping.

Artist Conversation Video (below): 

During the 2024 Biennial Statewide Arts Convening, in partnership with ND Main Street, five of the artists selected to build large-scale outdoor artworks for ND Council on the Arts' Arts Across the Prairie: Placemaking in Rural ND program engaged in conversation and answered questions from the audience. Among the topics were: the selection process, working on a rural site from a distance, incorporating cultural heritage into the design, community involvement, and the training of an ND artist cohort. The session was facilitated by Teva Dawson of Group Creative Services.

Goals of Arts Across the Prairie:

• Foster creative cross-county networking and regional collaboration
• Promote tourism for in- and out-of-state visitors
• Stimulate economic development and activity in rural areas of North Dakota
• Build stronger arts communities across the state
• Invest in North Dakota's creative sector with professional training and support to heighten visibility
• Bolster NDCA's role as a rural development partner
• Celebrate the cultural heritage of rural areas

Funds are currently being raised regionally and nationally. This program has a $5 million budget over seven years. The first-of-its-kind state partnership with the North Dakota Department of Transportation will contribute to roads, pull-outs, parking, and signage at selected sites.

The North Dakota Legislature created an endowment of $1 million specifically for the maintenance of these works over the life of the program.

For More Information, Contact:

• Program Manager Tobias Zikmund | tzikmund@nd.gov | (701) 328-1135
• Special Projects Coordinator Brenna Lahren | blahren@nd.gov | (701) 328-7404