"Summer Road Trip"

Now showing in the Granary Gallery, August 11 - September 30, 2016
 

“Summer Road Trip” Photography by John Eichinger

Celebrates All American Fun

The new exhibit, which will run August through September, is called “Summer Road Trip”. It is located at the Granary Gallery, 5 miles north of US Highway 12 between Aberdeen and Groton. (map and directions on-line or call 626-7117.)

“Summer Road Trip” takes a light hearted look at an American summer tradition of loading the family in the car and adventuring to a warmer destination. Artifacts from the Dacotah Prairie Museum will blend with some vintage memorabilia to compose several destinations for summer fun including a beach scene; gathering garden abundance; mountain climbing; and cheering for the local baseball team – the “boys of summer”!

Included as a highlight to this exhibit will be the photographic work of John Eichinger. Complementing the summer fun memorabilia will be photographs taken in what he refers to as a “California Photographic Surfing Trip”.  The area John focused on for his picture taking was the miles of beach front between San Diego and San Francisco. Eichinger, who spends time each winter in California, started taking pictures at the age of 14 with a Kodak Brownie camera, a gift from his mother. From there he invested in his hobby further by buying his first Pentax 35mm camera in 1970 during his stint in the Army. One of his main focusses was and is capturing shots of vintage cars.

After a year of college art, Eichinger pursued mechanics and auto body work, leading to his career in restoring classic cars. The action surfing photos in this exhibit were captured with a Canon digital camera in California.

In addition to the photo-art which will be for sale, there will be beach and shade hats and classic bathing suits from the Museum collection, reminiscent of a summer day under the sun at a favorite beach. An Aberdeen Pheasant’s uniform will bring to life an exciting day of cheering on the Home Team at the baseball diamond. Binoculars, a compass and hiking boots will focus and hiking and rock climbing in our State’s favorite get-away, the Black Hills of South Dakota. A wicker picnic basket and child’s metal garden tools from the Museum collection will evoke memories of summer bounty in the sights and smell of fresh garden produce.

Come join us for the heat of the season and the excitement of a summer road trip at the Granary Rural Cultural Center!

Hours: Saturday-Sunday, 1-4pm. Always free and welcoming the public.
Directions at Driving Directions

"A Harvest of Arts"

Now showing in the Granary Gallery, July 25 - Sept. 27, 2015
Closing reception Sunday, Sept. 27, 1-4pm

Granary Rural Cultural Center Opens:

“A Harvest of Arts” Exhibition

The Dacotah Prairie Museum and the Granary Rural Cultural Center announce the opening of their new exhibit: “A Harvest of Arts” being held at the Granary Gallery, 40161 -128^th Street, Groton, SD. The event, which is a juried art show, is in its 3^rd year at the Granary.

The works are both two and three dimensional and cover the media of sculpture, painting, fabric art, drawing, stained glass, photography, and ceramics.

Large scale acrylic paintings by Aberdeen artist Lori Tobin include “Palomino”, a lovely landscape “Italy”, and a painting of a blue cow called “Daydream”. Also of impressive scale are the acrylic paintings of fellow Aberdonian, Jeanna Jerde who uses layers of hardboard to envision “My Heart Aches for That Which Never Was” and gives a light-hearted look at the “Student”.

Jay Hopkins, North Dakota native now creating art in this area, offers “Summer Yellow” capturing the bright, luminous hues of the season abstractly. Thom Berg returns from last year with his exquisite stained glass hanging “A Diamond in the Rough” and Lois Beckner is “Looking for Bugs (on the prairie)” in her watercolor painting.

New out-of-town artists at the Granary for the first time include: Marcy Urban, an acrylic Plaine Air painter from Belle Fourche; the striking nature photography of Sisseton artist, Marlys Brooks; and the biographical art of Fargo artist, Tracy Melendez, who also shows a drawing composed of multiple colored ballpoint pens.

Bobbi Piascki chooses photography to capture four pensive horses in “Posing for Apples” and includes an amusing ceramic bowl on “Turkey Feet”. Brenda Kohlman carves and sculpts gourds in “Black Swan”.

Siera Tomczak’s painting eludes a mystic aura and in her first art competition, Aberdeen artist Christine Rawstern renders the delicate beauty of orchids and the unpredictable weather of the prairie in her paintings.

Prize winners in each of four media categories will win $100 each and there will also be an overall “People’s Choice” award, voted on by all visitors. The judge for the competition will be artist and NSU Art Professor, Peter Killian.

Take the short drive to the Granary Rural Cultural Center and enjoy the “Harvest of Arts” exhibition in the Gallery, “Between Land and Sky: History of Farming in Dakota” at Putney Hall and the outdoor sculpture garden in one relaxing, art-filled trip.

"Between Land & Sky: Farming in Dakota"

Now showing in Historic Putney Hall, June 4 - Sept. 27, 2015

     “While settlers were claiming land under the Homestead Act south and east of Brown County in the early 1870’s, this area was still virgin prairie with grass waving in the summer winds for miles on end. Buffalo bones from many an Indian hunt bleached among the grasses…” This passage from the Brown County History helps us picture the prairie of north-eastern South Dakota at the beginnings of its farming traditions.

     The exhibition “Between Land & Sky: Farming in Dakota” celebrates these farming traditions and is open in the Putney Hall at the Granary Rural Cultural Center, located at 40161 – 128^th Street, Groton, SD. The exhibit opens on Thursday, June 11 and will remain open until September 27^th, 2015.

     Appropriately situated in the old town hall from Putney, an early farming community, “Between Land & Sky” examines the area’s transition from tall grass prairie to the farming mecca that it has developed into today.  

     Large format, vintage photographs describe the sod house, with its earthen blocks having the grass peeled away and stacked to form the housing for many a homesteader family. The dug out and tar-paper shanties are also pictured in photographs from the area recalling the days of farming when $6.00 fee was required to “proved up” on homestead land.

     Farming practices in the James River Valley are traced through photographs from the scythe cutting of grain with a large crew, to thrashing with mules and horses, from the early days of steam tractors to one of the first local 8-bottom plows.  Small-scale models are presented as replicas of farming machines typical of early agricultural days in the cases of the exhibit. Models include a hay-rack wagon with a slatted box; a spring wagon buggy complete with a cloth covered tufted seat and red wheels; a small wooden hay bucker which was used with a stacker to stack hay; a running gear wagon made for a team of horses; and a bobsled with a wooden seat atop its green wagon box for a fine snowy ride.

     Several display examples show barb or “bobbed” wire of an assortment of designs. All are labeled with name of the pattern, inventor and most include the patent number. The wire examples bear witness to the reality of a prairie now fenced for cattle and crops. First person quotations from area residents of the day are distributed throughout the exhibition bringing  into clear focus to the challenging process of early farming  on the Prairie.  Gallery Hours: Thursday & Friday, 1-7pm, Saturday & Sunday, 1-4pm. Click here for directions and map.

Art Camp 2015

Bring your own sack lunch and take a field trip out of the city to become an artist for the day. Register for each day individually. Instruction by Artist Lora Schaunaman in a prairie setting to inspire creativity and fun! Optional bus transportation to the Granary is provided by the DPM.

Click here for registration form.

TOPICS of ARTISTIC EXPLORATION:

Session I:

Session II:

Granary Harvest of Arts

Greetings Friends of the Arts!

Dacotah Prairie Museum of Aberdeen, SD and its Granary Rural Cultural Center Facility (located in rural Groton, SD) are pleased to announce plans for their Granary Harvest of Arts Exhibition, to be held July 25 – September 27, 2015.  This juried exhibition, to be displayed at the rural Granary Gallery, is open to artists from North & South Dakota and Minnesota.  A call for entries is currently being extended to all artists from this three-state area.  The deadline for entering is July 1, 2015.

Between the dates of July 25 – September 27, the show will be available for viewing by the public during regular gallery hours.  The Granary Gallery is open seasonally during the months of June to August, every Thursday & Friday from 1 – 7 p.m. and Saturday & Sunday 1 – 4 p.m. and on weekends in September from 1 – 4 p.m.

We are seeking a wide variety of entries, representative of the diverse perspectives and artistic interpretations of artists residing in the Dakotas and Minnesota.  A cash award will be rewarded in each of the five media categories: Painting, Drawing, Photography, Mixed Media & Fiber Arts and 3-D.  A people’s choice prize will also be awarded.  Entry fees apply.

To find out more about the Granary Harvest of Arts and the Granary Rural Cultural Center, please visit us online: www. granaryfinearts.org. The Granary facility is an extension of Dacotah Prairie Museum of Aberdeen. 

Thank you for your time and consideration.  We are looking forward to hearing from you.  Additionally, as you travel this summer, please consider visiting the Granary, a short trip north of Highway 12 between Aberdeen and Groton, SD! 

RULES

REGISTRATION FORM

CALL FOR ARTISTS