Dogs and Ponies at the Northwest Arts Center

The Northwest Arts Center in Minot presents “The Dog & Pony Show II,” an exhibition by artists Walter Piehl and Doug Pfliger, on view from Feb. 16 to March 30. This iconic series of works from Piehl and Pfliger, including mixed media painting and sculpture, playfully intertwine in a dynamic display of color, line, and shape.

The show features works from the “Walter Piehl Retrospective: 1967-2018.” Nationally recognized as one of North Dakota’s premier painters, Piehl is an aficionado of history and art with a lifelong passion for Western Americana that stems from his upbringing in a ranching family that rode horses, raised stock, and participated in rodeos. Continuing to be as prolific as ever, Piehl is including recent paintings alongside pieces from the Retrospective.

His paintings, which demonstrate a unique blend of Western and contemporary artistic styles, have been shown at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indian and Western Art, the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, the Museum of the American Cowboy, the Missoula Art Museum, and the Yellowstone Art Museum, among many other galleries throughout the Southwest and Midwest. The Plains Art Museum held Piehl’s first major retrospective in 2003, followed by the Northwest Arts Center and the North Dakota Museum of Art in 2018. Donated by Piehl to Minot State University in 2019, the Retrospective continued to tour through North Dakota and Montana through 2022, and is now back in Minot.

Accompanying the Retrospective will be an exhibition of mixed media paintings and sculptures by Pfliger, former Minot State professor. Inspired by a cowboy and bucking bronco emblazoned bandana purchased in a vintage store, Pfliger’s “Bandana-rama” series uses iconic western imagery documented from vintage and contemporary sources. Some of the images even found their way between Piehl and Pfliger as the two traded materials. The finding and documentation of these images became the core for the series, and of course the title for the exhibit is a play on the 1980’s English Pop group.

“Doug’s Dogs” series started in 2005 as a fluke. Several prototypes of the series had been constructed and submitted to a fundraiser for the Taube Museum of Art. The dogs were well received, and with many having been outbid, they wanted more. Doug agreed to make them, and their popularity continues to this day. The dog’s folksy quality is intentional, but their individual character was quite serendipitous. People began asking for other animals and soon other animals were added to the menagerie. In 2022 Pfliger reached the goal of having made 350 since their 2005 inception.

Humor has always been significant in Pfliger’s art, which tends to the whimsical and narrative. As Pfliger says, “I like working in a variety of themes and series in an attempt to both amuse and create dialogue.”

An opening reception and online viewing of “The Dog & Pony Show II” with the artists will be held Feb. 16 from 5 to 7 p.m. Masks are not required, but individuals who are not fully vaccinated or deemed vulnerable are encouraged to continue to wear masks. Both exhibitions and receptions are free and open to the public.

While at the Northwest Arts Center, the exhibitions are available for viewing Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday 1-5 p.m. It is closed holidays. The Walter Piehl Gallery is located on the lower level of the Gordon B. Olson Library at Minot State University, with its own entrance on the south side of the library. The exhibition and related events are free and open to the public.

This project is sponsored by the Minot State University Development Foundation and supported 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.