The mural, located in Roberts Alley on the brick wall behind the Chase Bank building, is a depiction of downtown Fargo’s Dike East River Park, with the vantage point of views west toward Fargo.
NDSU graduate Elaine Smith, who currently works for JLG Architects, is finishing a custom-designed mural in downtown Fargo. The mural, located in Roberts Alley on the brick wall behind the Chase Bank building, is a depiction of downtown Fargo’s Dike East River Park, with the vantage point of views west toward Fargo.
“The whole scene came from an image that I captured while on a walk at the park, which I then took into Photoshop and used as a basis for the overall outlines,” explained Smith. “My intent was to highlight the activity that revolves around the recreational aspect of the river, nature and its tie to the lively downtown neighborhood. I also wanted to show the park through the seasons by subtly dividing the scene into four quarters, with different skies to express the beauty and variety of North Dakota sunsets.”
The JLGives Back program funded 100 percent of the mural’s materials, allowing Smith to start work on the wall on July 20 alongside several of her colleagues, including Ben Djerf, Jenna Larson, Ethan Holder, Ty Pritchard, Robert Curry and Kirk Carow, in addition to Carow’s daughter Lila. After the weekend, the majority of the colored areas were completed, with more details planned to continue development throughout this week and into the following weekend of July 27-28.
Smith grew up in Big Lake, Minnesota, and moved to Fargo in 2017 to attend NDSU. She graduated from NDSU with a Master of Architecture in 2022 and has been a project associate at JLG Architects for two years.
“It’s been a dream of mine to do a large-scale art piece like a mural, with a lasting impact on a community,” said Smith. “I’ve always been drawn to the realm of design and creativity, which is what drew me to architecture; a very tangible and practical application. In terms of fine art, I’ve explored several mediums in painting and drawing, and my current favorites are watercolor and colored pencil. This mural would be my first go at large-scale public art, and it’s definitely one of the biggest projects I’ve taken on thus far. This project has given me some amazing experience as a young artist, and I’ve been learning a lot in the process.”
