Remembering Laurel Reuter

Laurel Reuter, 81, retired director for the North Dakota Museum of Art, died on Monday, Oct. 13.

Reuter, born in Devils Lake and raised in Tokio, N.D., established the North Dakota Museum of Art from a student art gallery on the top floor of the UND Student Union in 1973.

At UND, she studied literature and art history, and in 2007 she received an honorary doctorate from the University.

In 1989, the museum moved from the Student Union to the empty women’s gymnasium on campus, which was renovated into what stands today — “a cultural jewel on the prairie,” in her words.

A full obituary is available on the Gregory J. Norman Funeral Chapel website.

From that obituary, “Her quest to see as much art as possible took her across the globe, from North America and Europe to South Africa, Japan, South America, and the far reaches of Iceland and Asia. In 1989, Laurel was installing a textile exhibition in China as the Tiananmen Square uprising began and she and her team were smuggled out for safe passage home. Throughout her career, she searched far and wide for exceptional art to introduce to her growing audience and the fledgling North Dakota Museum of Art.”

“Laurel forged a formidable career that earned praise from around the world, yet she was quick to brush accolades aside in favor of her next big project. In 1999, while still recovering from the devastating flood of the Red River Valley, she received the Award of Distinction from the National Council of Art Administrators for ‘her dedication to art and to culture in North Dakota and her struggle to create a world-class museum in a remote environment.’ Furthermore, they commended her for ‘helping a devastated community draw together and recover its spiritual existence.’”

Throughout her career, Reuter curated hundreds of exhibitions by renowned artists such as Kenneth Patchen, Larry Clark, Fritz Scholder, Ed Ruscha, David Gilhooly, Frank Gohlke, Sol LeWitt, N. Scott Momaday, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith and others.

Reuter retired in August 2022.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held at the North Dakota Museum of Art on Sunday, Nov. 23, from 1 to 3 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Laurel Reuter Directors Fund at the North Dakota Museum of Art. The fund continues her legacy of presenting world-class contemporary art on the plains, the development of Native American initiatives, commissions of new works and more.