JAMESTOWN, N.D. (May 11, 2021) – The Arts Center will host a community conversation about human rights as part of the North Dakota Human Rights Arts Festival. The exhibition, which features the work of 50 artists, will be on display through June 5. Gallery hours are 9-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10-2 p.m. Saturdays, or by appointment. The exhibition is free and open to the public. It is the first time that the traveling exhibition has appeared in Jamestown.

A community conversation about human rights will take place at the center on Tuesday, May 11. The event begins at 5:15 p.m. and will include local students and community service groups. Poet Katie Ryan-Anderson will provide a live reading of her work When I Say Nothing and share the motivation and inspiration behind the piece. The event is free and open to the public. 

The festival includes 50 2D, 3D, filmmakers, and live performance artists from around the world. Each artist explores human rights, civil rights, or social justice issues through their respective mediums. In addition to paintings, mixed media works, and photographs, a series of experimental videos are also a part of the festival. A full list of the artists participating in the festival can be found in the festival’s online Exhibition Program. Certain works in the exhibition may be purchased via the exhibition’s online store. Purchases support the work of the artists.

The show’s themes include pandemic-related stories of isolation and creativity, domestic violence, racism, immigration, and border detentions, and more. The festival features regional artists and artists from California, Kentucky, Missouri, New York, Oklahoma, and Texas. International filmmakers from Rome and Spain are also included.

The Arts Center is operated by the Jamestown Fine Arts Association, a 501(c)3 organization that has been promoting the arts in the Jamestown area since 1964. Located in the heart of downtown, the main building features an exhibition gallery, performance stage, classroom, office, artist-in-residence apartment, and studio. The Arts Center provides a wide variety of arts activities, exposure, and experience for every age group and skill level.

The North Dakota Human Rights Arts Festival’s mission is to educate, engage, and facilitate discussion around local and worldwide human rights topics. The festival was founded and is managed by The Human Family, a non-partisan 501(c)(3) based in North Dakota founded to change our communities through art.

The North Dakota Human Rights Arts Festival is supported in part by a grant from the North Dakota Council on the Arts, which receives funding from the state legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.

For more information about the festival, visit www.ndhraf.org or visit the festival’s online Exhibition Program. Interviews with artists can be arranged by contacting Sean Coffman at sean@human-family.org.

 # # #

 #NDHRAF4