Arts Across the Prairie: Placemaking in Rural North Dakota

07/29/2026

Stakeholders selected the icon (below) to represent the Region 8 artwork by Ryah Christensen and Sun McColgin. The installation will be located on US Forest Service land west of Medora on Old Highway 10. It's in the midst of prairie potholes on a crest with views of nearby surroundings. The proposed artwork is a sculpture of hoodoo rock formations resembling a human and a bison, which was used as inspiration to generate this region’s icon. Each region will have its own icon representing its artwork

07/24/2026

🎉 Exciting news! Region 3 stakeholders selected Shayna Grandbois-Herrera and Derek Poitra as the artist team for their project themed “Heart of the Land, Spirit of Unity. (Tentative rendering shown here.)

Read the full press release https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/NDCOTA/bulletins/421d5ae

07/23/2026

When was the last time you checked out our website?

At https://www.artsacrosstheprairie.nd.gov/ you can learn more about our Arts Across the Prairie Program, keep up to date on all things AAP News, check out designs of the work that will be complete, and keep track of what phase of completion we are in for each region.

If you haven't visited the website in a bit, take a minute to look around.

The .gov means it's official. Official North Dakota websites will end in .gov. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a government site.

07/20/2026

One of the core pieces of the Arts Across the Prairie Program, is the Artist Training Cohort. The Artist Training Cohort is a group of North Dakota Artists who get to learn from the artists who are designing and leading projects in the 8 different regions.

Most recently we had seven North Dakota artists joined up for our clay tile workshop series in Region 8, partaking in the workshops and helping facilitate. Each artist is interested in learning more about or advancing in public art, so they connected with Ryah to learn from her expertise in finding calls, developing applications, designing public artworks, fabricating her own work, and operating as an artist pair with husband Sun McColgin. Together, our group shared their experiences in working in public art throughout North Dakota and shared tips and tricks.

07/17/2026

Taking a moment to reminisce on our tile workshops that happened earlier this month.

We'd like to take a moment to thank the Chateau de Mores, Prairie Fire Pottery, The Pioneer Trails Regional Mesuem, Hettinger Armory, and The Southwest Art Gallery and Science center for hosting the tile workshop. We'd also like to thank everyone who came out to attend the tile workshops. We are endlessly grateful to our community in North Dakota.

We are one step closer to finishing Region 8's artwork!

07/14/2026

The North Dakota Council on the Arts has launched an interactive map of murals across the state of North Dakota! Have you checked out the murals in your area? Tons of murals are listed, but some still need to be added.

If you’ve painted a mural in North Dakota, or know someone who has, tag them in the comments and encourage them to submit their mural to the map. Every submission helps tell the story of our state’s growing public art scene.

You do not need to be the artist to submit a mural. They welcome submissions from community members, building owners, organizations, photographers, and city staff.

We can't wait to see the amazing murals and artwork across the state of North Dakota.

To learn more and/or submit a mural here:
https://www.arts.nd.gov/programs/murals

In preparation of the council's 60th anniversary in 2027, residents are asked to submit public art to be included in a statewide map.

07/02/2026

Today is your last day to come and make art with our Region 8 artist Ryah Christensen. Come to the Southwest Art SW Art Gallery and Science Center this evening and make a clay tile! We would love to see you there.

07/01/2026

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06/28/2026

Are you ready for our tile workshops happening this week?? We sure are. We can’t wait to make art with all of you and hear your stories.

Make sure to let all your friends know about this awesome opportunity. 🎉🎉😊😊