FMVA Visual Talks share local artwork, process, and creative experiences with the Fargo-Moorhead community. Topics range anywhere from personal and academic to historic in nature. Events are free and open to the public. If you’re interested in presenting a visual talk please contact info@fmva.org or fill out this proposal form. Artists are welcome to present individually or as a panel. A digital projector is provided along with tables to display artwork, merchandise, and promotional materials.

You can watch previous Visual Talks on the FMVA YouTube Channel (by clicking here).

The FMVA is a volunteer organization of nearly 200 visual artists and art supporters. The group promotes and encourages artists and the visual arts in the Fargo-Moorhead area through group art exhibitions, social events, guest artist talks and artist critiques. This project 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.

Past Visual Talks

2021 Visual Talks

Kent Kapplinger – Thursday, September 23, 2021

Art Education Panel -Thursday, November 4, 2021

2019 VISUAL TALKS

Chad Kartenson – February 28, 2019,  6pm – Plains Art Museum
Jeremy Ruppert – April 25, 2019, 6pm – Plains Art Museum
Kelli Sinner – September 26, 2019, 6pm – Plains Art Museum
Public Art, Panel Talk – Novemer 14, 2019, 6pm – Plains Art Museum

James Wolberg September 28, 2017 6-7PM PLAINS ART MUSEUM

JEFF KNIGHT APRIL 27TH, 2017

Visual Talks share local area artwork, process, and creative experiences with the Fargo-Moorhead community. Talk topics range anywhere from personal, academic to historic in nature. Events are free and open to the public. If you’re interested in presenting a talk please contact  fmvartists@gmail.com . Artists are compensated for their time and planning and are welcome to present alone or as a panel of artists. A digital projector will be provided along with tables to display artwork, merchandise, and promotional materials. For more information download this proposal form. You can watch previous Visual Talks on the FMVA YouTube Channel

Mark Gaviglio, February 23rd, 2017

Thursday, May 26, 2016:  “Trail Dust and Sentiment” with Sabrina Hornung Sabrina discussed her work, a celebration of the prairie and its heritage, as well as her German roots. She included discussion on her collage work, cyanotypes and cut-paper Scherenschnitte.

Thursday, February 25: Aerosol Art with Jared Froeber and Cory Gillerstein Growing up in Fargo, Cory and Jared first found their love of lettering through the freight train graffiti movement. Their talk explored how graffiti lettering styles evolved from and impacted the larger picture of design and typography, while incorporating examples from the artists’ own works and experiences.

September 24, 2015:  Visual Talks with Jescia Hopper Jescia discussed her current body of work, featuring whimsical paintings and sculptures that challenge the seriousness of adulthood.  Her narratives focus on the play between childlike innocence and apocalypse.

July 23, 2015:  Visual Talks with Tim Lamey Oil drilling and extraction in the Bakken is rapidly changing the culture and landscape of western North Dakota.  Part of the debate over the costs and benefits of oil drilling was fueled by a 2014 change to the drilling permit review process requiring additional review and public comment for a number of areas of extraordinary interest.

 February 26, 2015:  Visual Talks with Eric Johnson Eric shared how significant life experiences have helped shape his artwork and level of personal expression over the course of his career.

January 22, 2015:  Visual Talks with Amber Parsons HPR’s “Best Emerging Visual Artist” of 2014 shared her artistic talents and personal experiences as a local ceramicist, studio manager, volunteer, and young mother. Watch it here.

November 20, 2014:  Visual Talks with Ellen Diederich Ellen Diederich discussed the inspiration for her new book, “”Samson’s Gift.” She also gave insight to what the inner workings of collaborating with a book team looks like and explained her art-making process. Watch it here.

September 25, 2014:  Visual Talks with Sarah Dotzenrod FMVA’s vice president has taught visual arts to pre-k-12 students from ND to NYC. This talk shared her story of finding purpose with the drawings and paintings that reflect her journey. Watch it here.

August 28, 2014:  Visual Talks with Heather Zinger From wrangling bee beards in the Fairgrounds of Vancouver, Canada, to the eclectic purpose of performance art in Portland, OR, this talk was about the process of art making and art research as a way of better understanding the world and ourselves.

July 24, 2014:  Visual Talks Donna Kjonaas & Vicki Kessler In “Land, Sky, and Water,” contemporary fiber artists Donna Kjonaas and Vicki Kessler discussed the fluid process of creation, from initial concept to evolution of choices in materials and production. They reclaim historic, vintage, and practical fiber through a variety of processes including discharge, painting, monoprinting, and dyeing.