“North Dakota Departed” by Shane Balkowitsch

Minot, N.D. (June 7, 2021) – The Fourth Annual North Dakota Human Rights Arts Festival will open at The Taube Museum of Art on Thursday, June 10. The exhibition, which features the work of over 50 artists, will be on display through July 15. Museum hours are 10:30-5:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 11-4 p.m. Saturdays, or by appointment. The exhibition is free and open to the public. It is the second year that the traveling exhibit has appeared in Minot.

An opening-night reception will take place on June 10 in tandem with Arts in the City. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. Artists will be on hand to speak about their motivations and the inspirations behind their work. Wine and refreshments will be available. The event is free and open to the public. Audience members are invited to interact and ask questions of the artists. Arts in the City will also be hosting live music, food trucks, art vendors, and various other activities downtown.

A special one-night theatrical screening of experimental and animated films in the exhibit will occur at the Oak Park Theater on Thursday, June 24. The film series showcases avant-garde artists using innovative techniques in storytelling to highlight important human rights issues. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the screening begins at 7. The series is free and open to the public. Good-will donations to support the festival are accepted. Seats may be reserved at www.human-family.org.

The festival includes over 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 Lillian and Coleman Taube Museum of Art, formerly known as the Minot Art Gallery, is a public, non-profit, membership-driven organization. The Taube Museum of Art enriches the lives of the Minot-area community through the visual arts. “The Taube is excited to work with The Human Family and display all of the impactful works and voices that are a part of the North Dakota Human Rights Festival,” said Taube Executive Director Rachel Alfaro.

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.

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