Plains Art Museum

About

Plains Art Museum is a contemporary and regional art museum at 704 1st Ave N in downtown Fargo, North Dakota. The museum moved into its current home, a renovated International Harvester warehouse, in 1996, and the building now anchors a campus of roughly 56,000 square feet. General admission is free every day, a policy the museum credits to its donors.

Inside, the museum runs rotating exhibitions alongside a permanent collection, plus classes, workshops, and an open studio program. In 2012 it added the Katherine Kilbourne Burgum Center for Creativity, known as the K Center, a wing of roughly 25,000 square feet built for hands-on art making. The K Center keeps the same hours as the main museum and also opens for scheduled classes. A self-guided visit is free and can run anywhere from thirty minutes to a couple of hours depending on how many galleries you cover. Guided tours last 60 minutes, led by museum staff, and cost $10 per person for groups of eight or more, or a flat $70 for groups of seven or fewer, with two weeks' notice requested.

The museum is open Monday through Wednesday and Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and stays open later on Thursdays until 9 p.m. It closes for seven holidays: Easter, Independence Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day, based on the 2026 schedule posted on its site, so confirm before a holiday visit.

The building sits on First Avenue North in downtown Fargo. Parking is free in dedicated lots on the south side of the building, and bike racks are available on site for visitors who arrive by bike.

Accessibility

Plains Art Museum is wheelchair accessible: the museum's own visitor page lists "Wheelchair accessible" under its accessibility notes for the building. The museum's dedicated accessibility URL currently returns a 404 error, so a page with fuller detail on restrooms, elevators, or door widths is not available on the site right now.

Parking is free in dedicated lots on the south side of the building, and marked accessible parking spaces sit near the entrance. Bike racks are provided on site for visitors who arrive by bike.

The museum has not published specifics on interior routes, elevators, restroom fixtures, or aisle widths in its galleries or in the K Center, so ask visitor services on arrival if you need details for a particular path through the building. On the first Sunday of each month, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the museum runs Sensory Friendly Sunday: lights are dimmed, gallery sound is turned down, and attendance is limited. Sensory bags, available at the front desk, include a pop-it tool, sunglasses, ear defenders, and a 2-pound shoulder weight.

A printed and downloadable Social Story is available at the front desk to help visitors prepare for the layout and pace of a visit. For anything not covered here, call the museum at 701-551-6100 before you go. Since the site's accessibility page is currently broken, a phone call is the more reliable way to confirm restroom, elevator, or seating accommodations on the day you plan to visit.

Checked by Accessible America, August 2026. Report a change

More accessible places in North Dakota

• Fargo Air Museum (Fargo)
• West Acres Mall (Fargo)
• Red River Zoo (Fargo)
• Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (Williston)
• Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site (Stanton)
• Bonanzaville USA (West Fargo)

Photo credits

• The Plains Art Museum's brick facade with large sign and street-level entrance in downtown Fargo.: Ken Lund, CC BY-SA 2.0 (source)
• Flat, step-free entrance to the Plains Art Museum under a wide canopy with glass doors.: AJ LEON, CC BY 2.0 (source)
• The Plains Art Museum's tan brick building glowing in evening light on a Fargo street corner.: WeaponizingArchitecture, CC BY-SA 4.0 (source)