On the Plains
Peter D. Springberg, MD Vault Gallery
June 26 – September 13, 2026

After moving with his family to Moorhead, Minnesota, a year and a half ago, Patrick Dunford found himself returning to the Great Plains region of the Red River Valley after eleven years away. Upon returning to the Plains — or the Prairies, as they are known in Canada — Dunford became newly captivated by the region’s vast expanses. What had once appeared to him as an uneventful and even monotonous landscape now revealed a dense network of human-made and natural features across its mostly flat terrain. Painting the Plains after such a long absence became a revelatory experience, transforming the familiar region into what felt like entirely new country.

Frequent travel between Moorhead and Winnipeg led Dunford to observe the agricultural structures, grain hopper railcars, and open spaces lining the highways of this fertile landscape. He became especially interested in the grain elevators and sugar beet factories scattered throughout the region. Rusting railcars and aging elevators bearing the faded logos of defunct farmer grain cooperatives stood in stark contrast to the sleek corporate grain trains racing by at sixty miles per hour. Dunford began documenting these spaces through small drawings and photographs made on site, later bringing them back to the studio as source material for his oil paintings. Over time, his focus has shifted away from majestic or conventionally picturesque scenery toward overlooked and everyday spaces such as rail yards, roadside attractions, signage, and agricultural factories.

Patrick Dunford was born and raised in Winnipeg, MB and completed his MFA at Concordia University in Montreal.

The show is hosted by Dinghy Rig, a collaborative artist-run art production and exhibition program launched by Aitor Lajarin-Encina and Marius Lehene. This exhibition is the seventh installment of a long-term collaboration with the Museum of Art | Fort Collins, which is hosting the Dinghy Rig shows in what used to be the building’s safety vault room. The project benefits from the generous support of Peter D. Springberg, MD.