FEE: $12 Adults | $11 Seniors | $10 College Students | $8 Youth 5-17 & Children under 5 are Free.
HCSCC members get in free | Admission is also free every Tuesday night 5-8pm.

Rocks and Hard Places:
Emigration through the Lens of Knud Knudsen

June 12 - September 27, 2026
Hjemkomst Center

The exhibit provides viewers with 30 stunning framed black and white photographs taken between 1870 and 1900 that capture the toil and challenging topography that drove so many people to emigrate, many to Minnesota. In addition to Knudsen’s photographs, exhibit panels explore and contextualize the political, economic, and family pressures that led to above-average emigration from the region.

These immigrant stories from the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries give us a more nuanced understanding of our immigrant neighbors today and the pressures that lead them to leave their homelands.

This traveling exhibit is organized by Vesterheim, the national Norwegian-American Museum and Folk Art School, with support from Lars and Martha Alsaker on behalf of Dan Alsaker and his sister Pam (Alsaker) Hemingway; Alsaker Corporation, and the Hanson Family Foundation.

This exhibit is supported in part by The Arts Partnership with support from the Cities of Fargo, Moorhead, and West Fargo; the Alex Stern Family Foundation, and the Fargo-Moorhead Area Foundation.

FEE: Museum Admission

Americana: Objects that Reflect Us

July 4, 2026–January 3, 2027

Explore 250 years of American history through the stories told by everyday objects in Americana: Objects that Reflect Us. This exhibition examines how Americans have understood their nation, communities, and identities through themes of democracy, conflict, opportunity, belonging, and culture.

Featuring artifacts that reflect the evolving American experience, the exhibition invites visitors to consider how ordinary people have helped shape the nation's history and culture over the past two and a half centuries.

This exhibition was made possible through a donation from Stenerson Lumber of Moorhead and the generous support of museum members.

Location:
Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County
Hjemkomst Center
202 1st Avenue North
Moorhead, MN 56560

FEE: $12 Adults | $11 Seniors | $10 College Students | $8 Youth 5-17 & Children under 5 are Free.
HCSCC members get in free | Admission is also free every Tuesday night 5-8pm.

Bearing Witness Art Quilt Exhibit

October 10 - December 27, 2026
Hjemkomst Center

Opening Oct. 10, Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County will display 40 art quilts called Bearing Witness, produced by Studio Art Quilts Association. The theme of the exhibit is “deliberate attempts to eradicate specific populations due to differences of culture, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender expression, and race. Often motivated by those in power, collective trauma and tragedy are part of our past and present.

This exhibition will educate viewers about the perils of antisemitism, racism, homophobia, sexism, and inequity. Our challenge is to remember and learn from the history of The Holocaust and other global genocides and to amplify our shared humanity. Preserving our humanity is at the center of all diversity, equity, and inclusion work, invoking the core of our experiences” (SAQA website).

The exhibit will show at the Hjemkomst Center in Moorhead Oct. 10 through Dec. 27, 2026. This exhibit will no doubt startle viewers who may be expecting their grandmother’s traditional quilts. Images and artist statements share the artists’ reflection on global atrocities in an art form that expands the tradition of quilt making to include found objects, sculpture, photo transfer, embroidery, and beadwork.

This activity is funded in part by Joe and Muriel Richardson, the FM Quilters (thank you!), the voters of Minnesota through grants through MN State Arts Board and Lake Region Arts Council from a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, the FM Area Foundation, Alex Stern Family Foundation, and The Arts Partnership with support from the Cites of Fargo, Moorhead, and West Fargo.