Shane Balkowitsch to Speak at Artist Talk

Bismarck-based wet-plate photographer Shane Balkowitsch will be at the Second Annual North Dakota Human Rights Arts Festival artist talk to share about his work, “No Spiritual Surrender.”

The Artist Reception will take place on Friday, February 1, 2019, at the Bismarck Downtown Artist Cooperative in Bismarck from 6-8 p.m. Artists will be on hand to speak about the motivations and inspirations behind their work. Performances of written works will also take place. Refreshments and hors d’oeuvres will be avilable. The event is free and open to the public.

Balkowitsch was born and raised in Bismarck, North Dakota. He has never formally studied photography or been formally trained. Balkowitsch does not consider himself a photographer, but instead an image maker.

In August, 2012, he saw an image online that he found very intriguing. After researching the image, he disovered it was a wet plate photograph. Balkowtisch studied and researched many books before he assembled his makeshift studio including chemical supplies and wood box camera.

On October 28th, 2018, Calvin Grinnell “Running Elk” from the Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Nation bestowed upon Balkowistch the honor of his own Native American name “Shadow Catcher”, Maa’ishda tehxixi Agu’agshi – Hidatsa in a formal ceremony.

35 artists from around the world will have their works included as part of the traveling exhibition. 2D and 3D works as well as a series of looping experimental videos will be a part of the festival. Live performance works will take place during artist receptions scheduled throughout the exhibition calendar.

Artists who have work displayed in the exhibition include: Kinaoush Abedi’s “Alphabet”; Rachel Asher’s “Sunlight”; Kimble Bromley’s “Innocence Destroyed”; Jenny Balisle’s “Freedom”; Shane Balkowitsch’s “No Spiritual Surrender”; Kayla Branstetter’s “Innocence”; Kimberly Christianson’s “LOVE Knows no Color”; Gaurav Datta’s “Conflict and Mental Health in Kashmir: Exploring narratives of addiction and recovery”; Nancy Devine’s “The Dreamed”; James Faris’ “10 Commandments”; Kathleen Fettig’s “Shattered Hope”; Laura Forgie’s “Belladonna”; Mark Franz’s “When We Were Free”; Isaac Ruiz Gastélum’s “Iku Manieva”; Michael Genz’s “Mni Wiconi: Water is Life”; Lisa Gordillo’s “Las Cordenadas”, “Todas las poets que he” and “Prisa de Héroes”; Kay Gordon’s “I feel so honored”; Lourdes Hawley’s “Health, a fundamental right”; Glendon Henry’s “DAPL Kong”; Ken Kimmelman’s “Brushstrokes”; Joesph Larson’s “Bright Sky”; Ali LaRocks’ “Awaken”; Brett Lysne’s “The Lower Forty-Eight (HHOSTILE)”; Liz Minette’s “My Scorpio Broke”; Abtin Mozafari’s “Genesis”; Paul Noot’s “Make Music for Us to Enjoy”; Kim Olson’s “Man Made Borders”; Karen Perry-Anderson’s “A Murder Of… The Last Thing Virgil Saw”; Barzan Rostami’s “Balance”; Andrew Stark’s “Fragility”; Marilena Stavrakidis’ “I And Thou”; Beata Weber’s “Brandish”; Joyce Ellen Weinstein’s “The Blind Leading the Blind: Witness II”; Kathleen Williams’ “Ochumaré Takes On the Black Snake”; and Emily Vieweg’s “Vision”. Bios for the artists are available via the festival’s website.

Artist Receptions for Fargo and Bismarck have been scheduled. In Fargo, the reception will take place on Wednesday, January 23 from 6-8 p.m. at the Plains Art Museum. In Bismarck, the reception will take place on Friday, February 1 from 6-8 at the Bismarck Downtown Artist Cooperative. The Artist Reception for Grand Forks at the High Plains Fair Housing Center is presently being scheduled to take place in March. Additional information about all receptions will be announced in the near future.

The exhibitions and Artist Receptions are free to the public. Visit the specific gallery locations for exhibition show times.

The mission of the North Dakota Human Rights Arts Festival is to educate, engage and facilitate discussion around local and world-wide human rights topics. 

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