Early 2016 marked the beginning of a new era for the North Dakota State arts department. With a million dollar endowment from NDSU alumni Jim Falck, the department was booming as new students flocked in.
With this endowment in mind, eight students decided to start a studio just for NDSU student art as a way to express their individuality. As more students joined the arts programs, studio space became limited and the need for more room became a major player in the decision to open a new facility for NDSU art projects.
That’s how Ochre Creative Studio came into being.
The building at 1114 Main Ave. in Fargo serves as a studio and gallery, allowing students to show their work and provide the community with their services. The space is a three stall garage behind the Teamsters building that allows for more work space as well as a more immersive environment.
The contributing students work together with NDSU staff members to put on gallery showings such as their first exhibition, entitled “Staring Contest,” which was comprised of self-portraits made by the artists.
Businesses and individuals are encouraged to request creative services from Ochre Creative Studio. One of the studio’s main goals is to help provide better access to local art and artists in Fargo-Moorhead. This is a way for students to get their names out in the community and the world while also producing original pieces of art that can be displayed throughout the community.
In pursuit of this goal, Ochre Creative Studio is opening a new student juried exhibit, which will showcase individual work from Fargo-Moorhead students for the community to see.
This will be the first juried exhibition for the student gallery. As part of the process, students were asked to submit artwork. Then, students from the gallery analyzed and selected only a handful of submitted artwork to be featured in the exhibition itself.
The exhibition will open Nov. 18 with a reception from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Ochre Creative Studio’s studio. It will be available for viewing from then to Nov. 27.