Event Details

Learning Forum: Farrar Photo Files

December 15, 2019  2:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Learning Forums are thought-provoking presentations on a wide variety of topics. Each program features a 45-minute presentation, followed by an open forum with questions and discussion about the topic.

This week, Mark Slocum presents, "The Farrar Photo Files." Go on a visual journey of one of the most storied photographers of the Black Hills, Fred Farrar!



Slocum will present a brief history of Farrar’s life, collection and important events that Farrar photographed. The presentation will also include a slideshow of interesting images from the collection.

Part historian and part artist, Farrar chronicled the Black Hills from the turn of the century through the depression of the 1930s. He was one of the few instrumental pioneer photographers, working with glass plate negatives out of a mobile darkroom. His collection of photography chronicles the transformation and urbanization of the American West with themes like the cowboy, the Native American, the soldier and transportation, mining, lumbering and town building.

The Fred Farrar collection of historic Rapid City and Black Hills photography consists of more than 2,500 glass plates, negatives, photographs and ephemera and is available to view online at www.minnilusa.org.

Slocum earned an art degree from Black Hills State University in 2009, working in art galleries there. After graduating, he began working at The Journey Museum and Learning Center, holding various jobs and learning the museum inside and out.

In 2017, he became executive director of the Minnilusa Historial Association and Pioneer Museum, located at The Journey Museum and Learning Center.

Admission is $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, half-off for members. Call 605-394-6923 to reserve tickets.

For more Learning Forums, click here.

Theater map below. Seats marked ADA indicate wheelchair accessibility. Blue seats indicate space for foldout chairs, but those with ADA requirements take first priority.