Fergus Falls

Filtering by: Fergus Falls
May
8
to Sep 12

Photo Contest: "Friends of the Prairie Wetlands 2025 Photo Contest" @ Prairie Wetlands

  • Prairie Wetlands Learning Center (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Event Link: https://www.prairiewetlands.org

FEE: NO FEE

The Friends of the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center are excited to again sponsor a prairie-themed photography contest! Thank you to all who participated in the previous years.

Nature photography is one of the many enriching activities available on our public lands. Photography is inexpensive, fun, and easy to do. In celebration of the plentiful opportunities to find and capture the beauty of the prairie, the contest is open to all amateur photographers.

Photos will be grouped into one of four categories: Prairie Wildlife, Prairie Plant Life, Prairie Scenic Views and Recreation, and Prairie Pollinators and Other Invertebrates. Individual photographers will be able to submit up to 5 prairie-themed photos taken on public lands in 2024/2025. The contest will accept submissions from September 14, 2024 through September 12, 2025. The Grand Prize Winner will receive a large metal print of their photo after it is displayed at the PWLC for one year! Other prizes will be available too, including gift certificates, award certificates, and more.

Please stay tuned for more announcements and visit our Facebook page for more information. We are anxious to see all the beautiful photographs captured on our region’s prairies!
Please visit our webpage for our entry form and contest rules, https://www.prairiewetlands.org/  Questions may be called in to our Friends phone line at (218) 998-4488 or email

View Event →
Jun
23
to Aug 1

YOUTH ART CLASSES: "Summer Arts Academy 2025" @ Kaddatz Galleries

Event Link: https://www.kaddatzgalleries.org/summerartsacademy2025.html

FEE: See Class Fees in post descriptions

Unleash Your Child's Creativity This Summer!

 We're excited to announce our 2025 Summer Arts Academy, featuring two sessions of engaging, hands-on art classes for students going into grades K-4 + 5-8. Our carefully designed programs blend creative exploration with skill-building in a supportive environment led by accomplished local artists.

 SESSION 1: June 23-27, 2025

 Fluids & Fibers with Amanda Callahan

 Going into Grades K-4 | 10:00am-12:00pm | $125 | Kaddatz Galleries Classroom

 Young artists will begin by exploring the unpredictable nature of fluid mediums like acrylic paint, watercolor, and inks. As the week progresses, they'll transition to structured creations using felt, foam, fibers, and fabric to craft unique 2D and 3D artworks. This dynamic class perfectly balances spontaneity with intentional creation!

Register Now

 

A Brief History of Clay – Brought to Life with Blayze Buseth

 Going into Grades 5-8 | 1:00-4:00pm | $150 | Creation Shop

 This exciting workshop takes students on a journey through clay's transformative role in human history. Over five days, participants will travel through time, learning prehistoric pinch pots, Neolithic coil-building, Mesopotamian slab techniques, wheel-throwing, and modern clay innovations. Each session blends hands-on technique with reflection on how clay has shaped civilizations and what it teaches us about creativity and community.

 Register Now

 

 

SESSION 2: July 28 - August 1, 2025

 

A Brief History of Clay – Brought to Life with Blayze Buseth

 Going into Grades K-4 | 10:00am-12:00pm | $125 | Creation Shop

 The popular clay workshop returns for our younger artists! This hands-on experience explores clay's important role throughout human history—from ancient survival tools to modern self-expression. Students will learn prehistoric pinch pots, Neolithic coil-building, Mesopotamian slab techniques, and more, while reflecting on clay's impact on civilizations and our creative potential.

 Register Now

 

Explore Creativity with Artist Naomi RaMona Schliesman

 Going into Grades 5-8 | 1:00-4:00pm | $150 | Kaddatz Galleries Classroom

 Join interdisciplinary artist Naomi RaMona Schliesman from Fergus Falls for an engaging art class experience! Students will explore 2D and 3D design elements, develop technical skills, and experiment with various materials while learning creative problem-solving. The class covers techniques in acrylic & watercolor painting, clay relief, printmaking, colored pencils, and mixed media, while providing insights into art movements through creating Surrealist self-portraits, abstract paintings, watercolors, and sculptures.

 No prior experience needed—just a willingness to explore and create! Students should wear clothes that can get messy and may bring a drink and snack if desired. Lemonade and a small treat will be provided.

 Register Now

 

View Event →
Jun
26
to Jul 13

YOUTH THEATRE PRODUCTIONS: "FINDING NEMO & BEETLEJUICE JR." @ A Center for the Arts

  • A Center for the Arts (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Event Link: https://fergusarts.org

FEE: Adults $15 and Students $10

FINDING NEMO JR - CAST A

June 26-29

Thursday 6/26  6:30pm

Saturday 6/28  5pm

Sunday 6/29  2pm

Disney’s Finding Nemo JR. is a 60-minute musical adaptation of the beloved 2003 Pixar movie Finding Nemo, with new music by award-winning songwriting team Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. Marlin, an anxious and over-protective clownfish, lives in the Great Barrier Reef with his kid Nemo, who longs to explore the world beyond their anemone home. But when Nemo is captured and taken to Sydney, Marlin faces his fears and sets off on an epic adventure across the ocean. With the help of lovable characters such as optimistic Dory, laid-back sea turtle Crush, and the supportive Tank Gang, Marlin and Nemo both overcome challenges on their journey to find each other and themselves.

TICKETS

FINDING NEMO JR - CAST M

June 27-29

Friday 6/27  6:30pm

Saturday 6/28  2pm  

Sunday 6/29  5pm

Disney’s Finding Nemo JR. is a 60-minute musical adaptation of the beloved 2003 Pixar movie Finding Nemo, with new music by award-winning songwriting team Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. Marlin, an anxious and over-protective clownfish, lives in the Great Barrier Reef with his kid Nemo, who longs to explore the world beyond their anemone home. But when Nemo is captured and taken to Sydney, Marlin faces his fears and sets off on an epic adventure across the ocean. With the help of lovable characters such as optimistic Dory, laid-back sea turtle Crush, and the supportive Tank Gang, Marlin and Nemo both overcome challenges on their journey to find each other and themselves.

TICKETS

BEETLEJUICE, Jr.

Friday, July 11 7pm

Saturday, July 12  7pm

Sunday, July 13 2pm

Lydia Deetz is a strange and unusual teenager, still grieving the loss of her mother and obsessed with the whole “being dead thing.” Lucky for Lydia, she and her father move to a new house haunted by a recently deceased couple and Beetlejuice, a delightful demon with a real zest for life. When Lydia calls on Beetlejuice to scare away anyone with a pulse, this double-crossing specter shows his true stripes, unleashing a (Nether)world of pandemonium.

View Event →
Jul
1
to Jul 21

CALL FOR ARTIST: "Artists Respond: Weaving Social Connection" @ Springboard for the Arts

  • Lake Region Arts Council (LRAC) (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Event Link: https://springboardforthearts.org/artists-respond/

FEE: FREE to apply!

Weaving social connection:
Apply by July 21

While loneliness and social disconnection remain urgent public health issues, artists can help people feel seen, heard, and part of something larger. 

Springboard for the Arts is proud to launch Artists Respond: Weaving Social Connection—a new initiative supporting collaborations between artists and community organizations to reduce isolation. Artists will collaborate with four Minnesota-based organizations: The Aliveness ProjectSAGA YouthSaint Paul Public Library, and MAHUBE-OTWA, to co-create projects that foster social connection.

Artists—we want you to participate! We are seeking individual artists and artists teams based in West Central Minnesota and the Twin Cities to join us in this initiative.

View Event →
Jul
8
to Aug 16

EXIHIBITION: "NAOMI RAMONA SCHLIESMAN: HEILUNG SAAÁM (HEALING MEDICINE)" @ Kaddatz Galleries

Event Link: https://www.kaddatzgalleries.org/current-exhibitions.html

FEE: Free to Attend the Gallery and reception on July 10th.

NAOMI RAMONA SCHLIESMAN:
HEILUNG SAAÁM (HEALING MEDICINE)

On View at in the Charles Beck Gallery July 8 - August 16, 2025

Opening Reception: 5-7PM Thursday, July 10, 2025
This event is free to attend and open to the public.

Exhibition Statement (in her own words):This new body of work reflects a deeply personal journey—one of healing, connection, and transformation through art. It tells the story of how I have used creative practice as a tool for personal healing, both for myself and in relationship with my child. Rooted in the belief that healing is multi-sensory and multifaceted, these works explore how we can use our senses—touch, sound, vibration, color, and spatial awareness—to reestablish a connection with ourselves, our bodies, and our environments.
Drawing from both Western and Eastern understandings of medicine, this installation considers the role of art as a form of care and restoration. I am interested in how we nurture the body—not only through what we consume physically, but through the environments we create and inhabit. In this work, healing becomes a sensory conversation between the self and the space: art is the medium, and the body is both the receiver and the responder.
I create immersive installations that explore the interplay of material, scale, and perception. Using a vibrant palette and a diverse mix of materials—wood, plaster, fiber, and paint—I build tactile environments that play with contrast and contradiction: hard and soft, domestic and institutional, playful and contemplative. These material tensions become metaphors for emotional and physical states, inviting the viewer into a space where meaning shifts depending on perspective and experience.
My goal is to create a space that is both nurturing and provocative—a place where viewers feel compelled to touch, to feel, to pause. Color becomes a bridge between the aesthetic and the emotional; texture becomes a point of entry into deeper contemplation. Through these works, I invite others to consider how they care for their own bodies, how they create spaces of healing in their lives, and how art can act as both a mirror and a balm.
This body of work is not just an installation—it is an offering. A space for curiosity, comfort, reflection, and ultimately, connection.


About the Artist:
Naomi RaMona Schliesman is an award-winning interdisciplinary artist with over 20 years of experience of exhibiting her work in New York, Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Pittsburgh, Brooklyn, Seattle, and throughout the Midwest. With a deep-rooted passion for sculpture, mixed media, and community engagement, she holds an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2009) and a BFA with an emphasis in sculpture from Minnesota State University Moorhead.
Schliesman has been recognized with prestigious fellowships from Ragdale and Kimmel Hardening Nelson Center for the Arts and was awarded 2nd place in the Miami University Young Sculptors Competition for the William and Dorothy Yeck Award. She was also a LEAP finalist for the Society of Contemporary Craft Award. Her commitment to art as a catalyst for community engagement led to her selection by Smart Growth America, Forecast Public Art, and West Central Initiative to develop a reusable community engagement kit, integrating both virtual and physical tools to benefit West Central Minnesota.

A passionate advocate for mentorship and storytelling through art, Schliesman was one of two Artist Organizers leading a youth mentorship project in Otter Tail County. This initiative resulted in Return to Normal? COVID Diaries from Local Youth, a multimedia exhibition funded by the CDC Foundation in partnership with Springboard for the Arts, Otter Tail County Historical Society, and Otter Tail County Public Health Department.

Her artistic journey extends internationally, having traveled to Italy, Scotland, Ireland, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Belize to study art movements and participate in prestigious residencies, including Vermont Studio Center, Kimmel Hardening Nelson Center for the Arts, Ragdale, The Traveling Museum, and Hospitalfield Arts.
In addition to her own practice, Schliesman is deeply committed to arts education and professional development. She taught 2D and 3D Design and served as Gallery Director for the School of Arts at Minnesota State University Moorhead (2011–2013). From 2013 to 2020, she was the Artist Development Director for rural programming at Springboard for the Arts in Fergus Falls, MN, where she managed the Hinge Arts at the Kirkbride residency program, led Work of Art: Business Skills for Artists workshops, facilitated artist development panels, and provided career consultations for artists across the United States.

Currently, Schliesman resides in rural Minnesota, where she maintains an active studio practice and continues her freelance work. She is a contracted Artist Career Consultant and Work of Art: Business Skills for Artists facilitator for Springboard for the Arts, a teaching artist for Kaddatz Galleries, and the Gallery Curator at Lake Region Legion Arts Council.

Through her extensive collaborations with artists and organizations nationwide, Schliesman remains dedicated to fostering creative storytelling, community engagement, and producing her work in her studio practice.

Naomi RaMona Schliesman is a fiscal year 2025 recipient of a Creative Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.​​



View Event →

Jul
10
5:00 PM17:00

OPENING RECEPTION: "NAOMI RAMONA SCHLIESMAN: HEILUNG SAAÁM (HEALING MEDICINE)" @ Kaddatz Galleries

Event Link: https://www.kaddatzgalleries.org/current-exhibitions.html

FEE: FREE to Attend Art Reception and Gallery.

NAOMI RAMONA SCHLIESMAN:
HEILUNG SAAÁM (HEALING MEDICINE)

Opening Reception: 5-7PM Thursday, July 10, 2025
This event is free to attend and open to the public.

Exhibition Statement (in her own words):This new body of work reflects a deeply personal journey—one of healing, connection, and transformation through art. It tells the story of how I have used creative practice as a tool for personal healing, both for myself and in relationship with my child. Rooted in the belief that healing is multi-sensory and multifaceted, these works explore how we can use our senses—touch, sound, vibration, color, and spatial awareness—to reestablish a connection with ourselves, our bodies, and our environments.
Drawing from both Western and Eastern understandings of medicine, this installation considers the role of art as a form of care and restoration. I am interested in how we nurture the body—not only through what we consume physically, but through the environments we create and inhabit. In this work, healing becomes a sensory conversation between the self and the space: art is the medium, and the body is both the receiver and the responder.
I create immersive installations that explore the interplay of material, scale, and perception. Using a vibrant palette and a diverse mix of materials—wood, plaster, fiber, and paint—I build tactile environments that play with contrast and contradiction: hard and soft, domestic and institutional, playful and contemplative. These material tensions become metaphors for emotional and physical states, inviting the viewer into a space where meaning shifts depending on perspective and experience.
My goal is to create a space that is both nurturing and provocative—a place where viewers feel compelled to touch, to feel, to pause. Color becomes a bridge between the aesthetic and the emotional; texture becomes a point of entry into deeper contemplation. Through these works, I invite others to consider how they care for their own bodies, how they create spaces of healing in their lives, and how art can act as both a mirror and a balm.
This body of work is not just an installation—it is an offering. A space for curiosity, comfort, reflection, and ultimately, connection.


About the Artist:
Naomi RaMona Schliesman is an award-winning interdisciplinary artist with over 20 years of experience of exhibiting her work in New York, Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Pittsburgh, Brooklyn, Seattle, and throughout the Midwest. With a deep-rooted passion for sculpture, mixed media, and community engagement, she holds an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2009) and a BFA with an emphasis in sculpture from Minnesota State University Moorhead.
Schliesman has been recognized with prestigious fellowships from Ragdale and Kimmel Hardening Nelson Center for the Arts and was awarded 2nd place in the Miami University Young Sculptors Competition for the William and Dorothy Yeck Award. She was also a LEAP finalist for the Society of Contemporary Craft Award. Her commitment to art as a catalyst for community engagement led to her selection by Smart Growth America, Forecast Public Art, and West Central Initiative to develop a reusable community engagement kit, integrating both virtual and physical tools to benefit West Central Minnesota.

A passionate advocate for mentorship and storytelling through art, Schliesman was one of two Artist Organizers leading a youth mentorship project in Otter Tail County. This initiative resulted in Return to Normal? COVID Diaries from Local Youth, a multimedia exhibition funded by the CDC Foundation in partnership with Springboard for the Arts, Otter Tail County Historical Society, and Otter Tail County Public Health Department.

Her artistic journey extends internationally, having traveled to Italy, Scotland, Ireland, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Belize to study art movements and participate in prestigious residencies, including Vermont Studio Center, Kimmel Hardening Nelson Center for the Arts, Ragdale, The Traveling Museum, and Hospitalfield Arts.
In addition to her own practice, Schliesman is deeply committed to arts education and professional development. She taught 2D and 3D Design and served as Gallery Director for the School of Arts at Minnesota State University Moorhead (2011–2013). From 2013 to 2020, she was the Artist Development Director for rural programming at Springboard for the Arts in Fergus Falls, MN, where she managed the Hinge Arts at the Kirkbride residency program, led Work of Art: Business Skills for Artists workshops, facilitated artist development panels, and provided career consultations for artists across the United States.

Currently, Schliesman resides in rural Minnesota, where she maintains an active studio practice and continues her freelance work. She is a contracted Artist Career Consultant and Work of Art: Business Skills for Artists facilitator for Springboard for the Arts, a teaching artist for Kaddatz Galleries, and the Gallery Curator at Lake Region Legion Arts Council.

Through her extensive collaborations with artists and organizations nationwide, Schliesman remains dedicated to fostering creative storytelling, community engagement, and producing her work in her studio practice.

Naomi RaMona Schliesman is a fiscal year 2025 recipient of a Creative Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.​​



View Event →
Jul
9
6:00 PM18:00

"Community Mural Celebration" @ Springboard for the Arts Fergus Falls

Event Link: https://springboardforthearts.org/events/community-mural-celebration/

FEE: FREE to attend!

Community Mural Celebration

Date: July 9, 2025
Time: 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm CST
Location:
Fergus Falls, MN
Come together for music, food, and fun as we unveil a new mural in downtown Fergus Falls!

Meet the local artists and youth apprentices who created the mural with South Dakota-based art collective Mural on the Wall, hear the story behind the design, and celebrate community creativity.

Community Mural Celebration

Wednesday, July 9
6:00-7:30pm, with remarks at 6:30pm
At the south side of Springboard for the Arts
201 W Lincoln Ave, Fergus Falls, MN 56537 (next door to the Viking Cafe)
No registration is required

Enjoy free activities for all ages:

  • • Uncle Eddie’s Ice Cream Cart

  • • Live music from Hawthorn & Flora

  • • Printmaking with Michael Weatherly

  • • Prizes!

The mural will cover a two-story expanse of the historic Benson Building, which is home to Springboard’s Fergus Falls location and overlooks the beautiful new Spies Riverfront Pavilion. Thousands of families visiting the riverfront will enjoy this new local landmark year-round.

This project is made possible by the Floyd & Harriet Miller Endowment Fund established with West Central Initiative.

View Event →