FARGO, ND.- Plains Art Museum is inviting people from the region affected by the 2009 floods in Western Minnesota and Eastern North Dakota to bring in their flood photos for an exhibition in the Museum’s main floor Landfield Atrium. The Museum wants to showcase the photographic stories of how the region was affected by this natural threat and the tremendous community response that minimized potential damage and losses. The exhibition will include a guest book in which visitors can write about their flood experience.

The exhibition will open May 18 and be added to continually until it ends August 30. It is called Floodwall 2009: A Tribute to the People of the Valley and is open to both professional and amateur photographers. The Museum asks that the unframed and unmatted photographs be brought to the Museum during open hours with identifying information including: photographer’s name, address, phone number and email address; when and where the photo was taken; and the location or situation depicted. The Museum will not accept electronic submissions and will accept only one photo per person. In a unique collaboration, after the exhibition the photographs will be donated to the Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County (HCS) in Moorhead, Minn.

Rusty Freeman, director of exhibitions and chief curator at the Museum said, “We wanted to give people an opportunity to use their photographs to tell the story of the 2009 flood. We believe the Museum can be one of the venues that helps showcase and commemorate the individual and collective experience that this dramatic event has had on our region. Further, we are delighted to collaborate with HCS so that the story will become part of the permanent archives of the community. Perhaps in some way, both organizations can help facilitate the healing that is often needed in such a situation.”

For more information, contact Rusty Freeman: Floodwall exhibition, Plains Art Museum, PO Box 2338, Fargo, North Dakota 58108-2338; or call (701)232-3821, ext. 106; or email rfreeman@plainsart.org.

On July 8, the Museum will open an exhibition in conjunction with Floodwall 2009 called ArtView: The Floodwall featuring local professional photographers Dan Koeck, Jon Solinger, Meg Spielman Peldo and Ann Arbor Miller.