Daphne JohnsonClark's "Badlands" Exhibit Open House Is Saturday

The Long X Arts Foundation and The Merc at Long X, Watford City, invite you to an open house for Williston area artist Daphne JohnsoClark's exhibit "Badlands" on Saturday, Aug.10 from 12 p.m.-5 p.m.

Make plans to visit The Merc at the Long X Visitor Center and meet Williston Area Artist Daphne Johnson Clark and tour her exhibit titled "Badlands", currently on display at the Gallery in the lower level of the Long X Visitor Center.

Enjoy a complimentary scoop of ice cream, coffee and select Pride of Dakota snacks and samples, which are for sale in The Merc.

In addition, Daphne will be teaching a Landscape Oil Painting Class at 12 p.m. in the Gallery. Participants of all ages and skill levels are encouraged to register at www.longxarts.com.

About the Venue

The Merc at Long X is the expanded and rebranded Long X Visitor Center gift shop, now run by the Long X Arts Foundation. The Merc has officially opened in the main level of the Long X Visitor Center with the mission of welcoming guests, celebrating local artists and makers and creating a welcoming and gathering space for locals to enjoy arts and cultural programming. The Merc features and sells Pride of Dakota products, books from local and regional authors, National Park and community themed merchandise and souvenirs, work by local artists and makers, unique gift items and locally cut flowers. As always, guests can enjoy hard scooped ice cream with the addition of a soda bar and specialty ice cream floats. Soon the freezers and refrigerators will be stocked with local food items as well.

"The Merc is a hub where you can learn about and celebrate our unique community through stories, art and conversation over some sweet treats," said Jessie Veeder Scofield, Long X Arts Foundation director, which manages The Merc. "And what's really special is that revenue from every purchase goes right back into our non-profit so that we can continue to provide quality arts programming in our community."  The Long X Arts Foundation plans to expand their arts programming into culinary classes and more in the new expanded space. The Merc is open Monday-Saturday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

About the artist

Daphne JohnsonClark was born and raised in rural North Dakota only three miles from the Montana border. Her grandparents had a ranch 10 miles from her childhood home. She spent the majority of her childhood at their ranch; chasing cows, building fences, milking cows and helping check for spring calves.

She received in a Bachelors degree in biology in 2003 and has spent the time since then working as Environmental Health Practitioner working to protect the area where she was raised. Over the years she has watched as the ranching life in North Dakota and Montana has disappeared. In 2010, she was drawn to start painting when a friend introduced her to oil paint as a medium. It was then she discovered she could easily spend fulfilling hours mixing paint colors and manipulating the paints on the canvas with different brushes, strokes and the pallet knife. The fluidity and versatility of this new to her medium had her hooked. In 2012, she enrolled at the Academy of Art University to pursue a Masters in Fine Art. It is a natural fit to bring together her background and love for ranching and the outdoors into her painting. She believes there is a rough beauty to this area that few people get to enjoy as the population remains classified as frontier, which is less than six people per square mile. Most of these counties have an average density of two people per square mile. There is a story in these rural areas just waiting to be told to the rest of the world and she wants to be one of the people telling that story.

For more information visit www.longxarts.com or contact Jessie at 701-770-8659 or [email protected].