Reception for photo exhibit today

A reception takes place today in honor of Israel Mickelson’s photography exhibit at the Dacotah Prairie Museum.

The reception runs from 2 to 4 p.m. Refreshments will be served.

The museum says the exhibit, “Dakota Dreams,” showcases Mickelson’s “energetic natural images.”

The photos are on the second floor in the Dacotah Gallery space. The exhibit, which opened April 10, continues until June 6.

Mickelson was born and raised in Aberdeen, although he has also lived in New York City and northern California. His interest in photography was first piqued during his job on a cruise ship in the Caribbean.

Mickelson has crossed the U.S. several times since his high school graduation in 2002.

His portfolio has expanded to include a wide gambit of weather, land and animals/birds, according to the museum. The 18 photographs in “Dakota Dreams” focus on likenesses familiar to most of the state’s residents.

“They present an intimate vision of back-lit cloud formations, leaping deer frozen in motion, deserted and weathered houses and delicate speckled eggs wrapped in a down-filled nest of twigs,” according to the press release. “From a drowsy squirrel lounging on a branch to the jeweled eyes of a dragonfly to the complexity of layered orange fungus sprouting from a tree trunk, the photographs here provide familiar glimpse into our home state where we exist in harmony with the natural world that surrounds us.”