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Stan Herd is a native Kansan known worldwide for his gigantic earth work creations. For over 20 years he has worked the earth using indigenous materials to produce evocative and mystical works of art. From 160 acre plowed portraits to one-quarter acre intimate stone designs, his earth works have become a platform for discussion of mankind's contemporary relationship to the land.

Stan’s earthworks have been published worldwide and reached audiences from Sri Lanka to Moscow, appearing in numerous U.S. publications such as Smithsonian, National Geographic, People Magazine, and the Wall Street Journal. Film crews from South America, Japan, and England have captured Stan's unique art for presentation to fascinated television audiences. He has been featured on CBS's Sunday Morning, NBC's Dateline, CNN News, ABC's Good Morning America, and National Public Radio's All Things Considered. He also is the author of Crop Art and Other Earthworks, a chronicle of his work from 1976 to 1993.Stan’s inspiration can be traced to his childhood.

Although he grew up on a farm near Dodge City, he never considered farming as a career. However, being around agriculture instilled a great appreciation for the land. As a young boy he was fascinated by photos of the mysterious line drawings in the Nazca Desert in Peru.  After taking art classes at Wichita State University, Stan moved back to Dodge City and began painting seriously while building his reputation as a gifted fine art painter and muralist.

Then, one winter day on a flight back from viewing an exterior mural he had painted, Stan looked down and was transfixed by a singular line of plowed black earth trailing a tractor across a field. After landing at the airport, he went directly to his studio and created theportrait of Kiowa Chief Santanta, which would become his first earth work design.  

While making a name for himself in a genre he virtually pioneered, Stan has continued to paint. His paintings are prized by private and corporate collectors worldwide. In the past several years he also has branched out into other art forms including lithography, serigraphy, printing, etching, sculpture and film making.