Lamont Gallery

The Lamont Gallery, on the Museum's second floor, features the work of local and regional artists. Approximately six art shows are planned for each year.

Now Showing:

Oscillating Landscapes
(through June 15, 2013)

Paul Peterson from Sturgis, SD, is the guest artist in the Lamont Gallery of the Dacotah Prairie Museum. Just opened, the show is entitled “Oscillating Landscapes” and can be seen until June 15 on 2nd floor. Also on Saturday, June 15, from 2 – 4 pm, the Museum will host an artist’s reception, held with the artist present and refreshment served. It is free and all are welcome.

“Growing up on a farm in Southeast South Dakota has given me an intimate understanding of rural life and a unique perspective as an artist…the paintings are colorful, emotionally autobiographical and reflect my feeling of connection to the land,” the artist states. Recognized as one of the foremost oil painters working in South Dakota now, Peterson reflects on lessons learned in his farming background as strengths in his artist endeavors. “Working on the family farm for most of my life gave me an appreciation for hard work and a sense of dedication to a way of life that at times can be difficult….As a farmer must be dedicated to the land and a way of life despite the hardships, so must the artist be dedicated to his craft and his vision while constantly challenging himself and growing in knowledge and skill.”

Twenty canvases of saturated color and reflecting spectacular prairie images comprise Peterson’s show at the Museum. Mostly large-scale pieces, the paintings offer meanings and emotions, not only personal to the artist, but universal in the appreciation of land, sky, and the prairie itself, vast and beautiful.

Peterson talks about his experience and rewards as an artist, again with an appropriate analogy with the farmer. “The farmer is rewarded with long days in the great outdoors and the opportunity to nurture the plants and animals in his care. The painter is rewarded with a muddy palette, the smell of turpentine and the bounce of a freshly stretched canvas.

Please join the Museum in celebration the paintings of Paul Peterson until his closing reception on Saturday, June 15, 2013.

For information on past exhibits in the Lamont Gallery, please click here