ABOUT
- how to share your horse drawing
- the most recent exhibition
- artist statement, bio, and acknowledgments
- a history of Don't Doubt Your Horses
- contact us
HOW TO SHARE YOUR HORSE DRAWING
Please draw a horse. Postcard size is good. If you don't draw much, then PLEASE draw a horse!
Here are some ways to share your horse:
Please draw a horse. Postcard size is good. If you don't draw much, then PLEASE draw a horse!
Here are some ways to share your horse:
- Instagram or Facebook: @dontdoubtyourhorses - #ddyh - #dontdoubtyourhorses
- mail: 500 8th Street, Walnut Grove MN 56180, USA. I'll post your horse on Instagram as time and grace allows, so if you don't want that to happen be sure and let me know that your drawing is For Dan's Eyes Only
- email: dontdoubtyourhorses at gmail dot com (and if you want your horse hidden away, tell me it's For Dan's Eyes Only).
THE MOST RECENT EXHIBITION...
...showed at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, from April Fool's Day to Halloween, 2021.
Gallery guests were invited to draw horses on postcards. The drawings were then scanned, posted on social media, and physically added to the exhibition.
An amazing 3,347 colorful guest drawings joined the artist's original 400 black and white ones.
...showed at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, from April Fool's Day to Halloween, 2021.
Gallery guests were invited to draw horses on postcards. The drawings were then scanned, posted on social media, and physically added to the exhibition.
An amazing 3,347 colorful guest drawings joined the artist's original 400 black and white ones.
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Horse drawings by guest artist Neva Rose, on the front and back of a card used for inviting people to draw.
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Although most of the drawings were made by kids, many adults also interacted with the exhibition.
The Masters Store & Hall was built with the help of Pa Ingalls. Laura Ingalls Wilder worked in the downstairs store area for a time as a girl. The second floor social hall was a community meeting place.
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Artist Dan Wahl talks about the conceptual development and evolution of the Don't Doubt Your Horses Project. [photograph by John G. White]
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Virtual gallery walkthrough and ambient soundscape by video artist Bill Richards of Walnut Grove, Minnesota. He created the walk-through before gallery guests began drawing horses of their own. The actor is Heidi Morgan who is a regular in Walnut Grove's Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant. The exhibition was on display in the historic Masters Store & Hall which is undergoing restoration.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Don’t Doubt Your Horses is an interactive exhibition that includes your drawings with mine. It has been in development for six years, beginning with the 400 Horses Project.
Born from a desire to understand the equine body structure, the 400 Horses Project was initially a drawing exercise. I set out to create 400 horse drawings from January 1 to December 31, 2015. All was going well until I got blocked a few months into the project. I journaled and meditated and drew my way through the artist’s block. Then came a truly unexpected idea. I discovered that the project was not about making horse drawings. It was about liking the horse drawings.
If the project was to be completed at all, I would have to accept all the horses. This was much easier said than done.
The shift of focus from the act of drawing to the act of liking necessitated a deeper appreciation for the horses themselves. In order to accept them I had to let them be who they were. Who they are.
This approach to the project began raising essential questions about standards and aesthetics. What is “bad art”? What drawings would artists hide in their sketchbooks? What horses would be crumpled up and thrown away? In the end, it seemed right to include every single drawing in one exhibition.
The phrase “Don’t Doubt Your Horses” traveled along with some of the more adventuresome horses who were harder to like. I repeated the phrase to myself. Without that mantra some of these horses might never have come into being.
BIO
Dan Wahl is an artist and writer from the prairie land of southwest Minnesota. For several decades he has been asking friends, acquaintances, and strangers, “Could you please draw me a horse?”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Don’t Doubt Your Horses is an interactive exhibition that includes your drawings with mine. It has been in development for six years, beginning with the 400 Horses Project.
Born from a desire to understand the equine body structure, the 400 Horses Project was initially a drawing exercise. I set out to create 400 horse drawings from January 1 to December 31, 2015. All was going well until I got blocked a few months into the project. I journaled and meditated and drew my way through the artist’s block. Then came a truly unexpected idea. I discovered that the project was not about making horse drawings. It was about liking the horse drawings.
If the project was to be completed at all, I would have to accept all the horses. This was much easier said than done.
The shift of focus from the act of drawing to the act of liking necessitated a deeper appreciation for the horses themselves. In order to accept them I had to let them be who they were. Who they are.
This approach to the project began raising essential questions about standards and aesthetics. What is “bad art”? What drawings would artists hide in their sketchbooks? What horses would be crumpled up and thrown away? In the end, it seemed right to include every single drawing in one exhibition.
The phrase “Don’t Doubt Your Horses” traveled along with some of the more adventuresome horses who were harder to like. I repeated the phrase to myself. Without that mantra some of these horses might never have come into being.
BIO
Dan Wahl is an artist and writer from the prairie land of southwest Minnesota. For several decades he has been asking friends, acquaintances, and strangers, “Could you please draw me a horse?”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The physical exhibition was made possible by a grant from the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council with funds appropriated by the McKnight Foundation. This website, the virtual exhibition, and the social media aspects of the project were made possible by an MSAB grant, acknowledged as follows: "Dan Wahl is a fiscal year 2021 recipient of a Creative Support for Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund."
Many many kind and generous people also helped make the physical and virtual exhibitions happen. The list is easily topped by my friend and spouse Sara.
Thank you, brave horse drawers. In fact, thank you to Creators everywhere who make themselves known, even if only for a few moments.
I also thank those people, past and present, who hold the prairie land in their hearts.
Thank you, brave horse drawers. In fact, thank you to Creators everywhere who make themselves known, even if only for a few moments.
I also thank those people, past and present, who hold the prairie land in their hearts.
A HISTORY OF DON'T DOUBT YOUR HORSES
Check out a visualization of the artist's ongoing love of interactive and public participatory art. You'll love the video of impromptu tour guides Savanna and Rocky at the Pearson Lakes Art Center exhibition.
Check out a visualization of the artist's ongoing love of interactive and public participatory art. You'll love the video of impromptu tour guides Savanna and Rocky at the Pearson Lakes Art Center exhibition.