Fargo, ND

Greetings from Fargo Mural in North Dakota

Greetings from Fargo, North Dakota. For many travelers trying to visit all 50 states, North Dakota is commonly the last-visited state for some odd reason. It happened to be our second to last state visited before Alaska but we didn’t wait for it to be the last state we painted in. This city is certainly a hidden gem of the state. Fargo is located on the Eastern state border with its sister city Moorhead right across the Red River in Minnesota. A lot of people don’t realize that it’s only a few hours from Minneapolis. We certainly encourage to stop by on a road trip if you’re in the area. Unlike others, don’t wait to make it your last state visited!

You may be asking how we ended up in Fargo? During the pandemic, our travel was limited and we decided to really focus on the root of our mission to create timeless public art landmarks. We started a community mural grant to help out cities that were negatively impacted by the severe loss of tourism. Most of our clients are in the hospitality and travel industry so we wanted to do our part to give back. Many cities applied but we ended up selecting Fargo for several reasons. Firstly, tourism is the third largest industry in North Dakota and there are about 14,000 hospitality workers in the county (42,000 in the state.) However, Fargo is not often on the top of the list of destinations for many travelers. Secondly, we loved the idea of working with a downtown neighborhood association consisting of residents instead of a business focused organization. Often times, gentrification is problem in growing cities and we wanted to represent the voices of those who have roots here. Lastly, it was an area of the country that we didn’t have too many murals in yet. The location also lined up with our tour route this year, so we decided to make it happen while we were still on the road.

We rolled into town a few days early to check out the city and get some real life perspectives of the landmarks we were planning to paint. It was a sunny and warm weekend afternoon with a bustling downtown that looked totally different from what we had experienced about 5 years ago. We checked out the wall that the Fargo DNA generously prepared and primed for us prior to our arrival. The mural was going to be located on on the corner of 1st Avenue North and Roberts Street on the side of Orange Records. We stopped in to say hello to the owner Matthew Sweet who’s been in business at the location for over 14+ years. We learned a bit about the building itself known as the Dakotah Pioneer Center which was rent stabilized for their tenants. We were happy to donate our artwork to the facade of this building. Often times, the big developers are the ones with the budgets to bring big name mural artists in to create large productions on their buildings. Unfortunately, this associates a lot of mural art with gentrification. We appreciate the DNA mindfully selecting this specific canvas for our mural. The organization that manages the building (Region V) has a mission to support affordable housing and provide opportunities to small businesses. These businesses are often the root of culture in communities.

Victor Ving North Dakota Mural Artist - Sign Painter

The Hodo (Hotel Donaldson) is an eclectic & historical hotel that graciously donated one of their art themed suites during our stay in Fargo. The DNA team warmly welcomed us into town with a beer at Drekker Brewery Co. and a quick tour around town. It’s always nice to get some local insight into city life before painting there. One of the first things we noticed was the strong influence of Nordic culture in the area. Apparently, one in three of all North Dakotans is of Norwegian heritage, which is the highest among all US states. We suppose that explains why they are not afraid of cold winters that could reach as low as negative 40.

Luckily for us, we got to paint the mural during a very warm summer week. We started the week by laying out the background colors that were donated by the local Sherwin Williams. The color scheme of the piece was selected by the downtown community from a few options we provided. The green & yellow paid tribute to NDSU and the pink in the 3D was to keep things bright and fun. Together, this was a unique color combination that we haven’t done in any of our murals before. The pink was definitely a crowd favorite as the public passed by throughout the week. Even though we donated our supplies and labor to create the mural, all the imagery ideas ultimately came from the locals. Our goal is to help the community represent their hometown as best as possible. Long after we are are gone, we hope that the piece will be a symbol of collective pride for those who live here. With that said, it’s not always possible to encompass everything about Fargo into just 5 letters. We did our best to visually highlight the most important categories that make a city unique.

Landmarks - Downtown Fargo has many iconic landmarks but we had to pay tribute to the most famous one which is the Fargo Theatre marquee. We had a chance to meet with the theatre’s director and get a quick tour of the space. The interior was beautifully restored in it’s art deco style. We also learned that their Mighty Wurlitzer organ is a replica of the one in Radio City Music Hall which was built by a local Lance Johnson. Since 1973, he was well known for playing the organ for 20 minutes before movies are shown on Friday nights. If you are traveling to the city around March, be sure to check out the Fargo Film Festival.

Local Artist Collaboration - When we paint our postcard murals, we try to collaborate with a local or regional artist. In this case, the community nominated a local, indigenous artist Anna Johnson to paint her artwork in the A. Anna is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians who specializes in printmaking. She picked up the practice after attending NDSU and graduating with a bachelor’s degree in printmaking and drawing. The colors in her design were all pulled from traditional native artwork from her ancestors. Ojibwe floral designs were incorporated to the artwork as well as hummingbird and rabbit imagery. Rabbits are a recurring image in Anna’s work as it was considered a delicacy back home as well as a common site in Fargo. Outside of being a talented artist, Anna is heavily involved as a leader in the Native American and LGBTQ+ communities.

You might also notice that we didn’t paint our traditional skies & sunsets in this piece. We wanted to artwork to blend in more with Anna’s graphic style so we altered the design last minute to be more abstract above the horizons. It was actually really fun to design & paint in this style. It’s something we want to experiment with more in future murals.

Anna Johnson Local Mural Artist in Fargo

Nature - This is our favorite category of imagery as we love the outdoors. Over the years, Lisa has focused most of her personal work on beautiful landscapes across America. Victor also enjoys painting organic elements like mountains, plants & bodies of water. In the R, we focused on the Red River of the North which was an important route for trade. The Red River actually flows North into Lake Winnipeg and it floods often since the city is located in the plains. In fact, the taller buildings in Fargo have foundations that go very deep underground since there’s no bedrock to drill into. However, since the landscape is pretty flat you can see for miles in any direction once you are even slightly up high. It makes for some beautiful sunsets and keeps it light for pretty late into the summer time. We don’t think it actually got fully dark until after 10:30pm or so while we were in town. In addition, we also painted the Veteran’s Memorial Bridge monument as a landmark connecting the Fargo & Moorhead over the Red River.

History - We paid tribute to the Great Northern Railway Depot in the G. The railway was an important part of developing the city into what it has become today. We also included some hidden easter eggs in this letter which seems to be a favorite of locals. The clock on the tower actually reads 7:01 which represents the local area code. We changed the train engine number to 581 to represent the first few digits of the Fargo zip code. At the top of the letter, there’s also some abstract graffiti lettering that says “ND" for the state. If you are looking for something fun to do in town, there’s a legal street art alley that allows locals to freely paint on walls! Be sure to check it out at 1st Ave N between 4th St. and 5th St. behind the Forum building.

Greetings Tour Mural in Fargo North Dakota

Culture - You can’t paint a mural about Fargo without incorporating a winter scene! We left the best for last in the O which features some outdoor activities during the holidays. To capture a snapshot of modern Fargo culture, we included ice skaters at Broadway Square downtown. Another popular winter activity is ice fishing which we couldn’t incorporate in to the artwork. However, it gives us a reason to have to come back to try it for ourselves one day! Finally, we couldn’t forget about the farming industry that surrounds the city so we added in a symbol of agriculture outside of the letters.

One more thing we learned is how popular the Minnesota Lakes area is for locals. Weekends in downtown are usually filled with tourists because the locals went to their cabins by the lake. The common expression in Fargo was ‘I’m going to the lake’ but that could mean any number of lakes since they have over 100 lakes nearby! Many of the people we met had cabin stories and childhood memories of family time at the lake.

Local Resident Spotlight: Nathan Crawford

Nathan stopped by the wall everyday while we were painting. He later opened up and shared his story with us via a DM. It’s heartwarming messages like this that really show the positive impact of public art.

“I wanted to thank you for making a place that used to be a bad memory for me is now a sign of hope. I was shot in the head and found just across the street and I’ve been trying to deal with bad PTSD and it has not been easy. Now when i walk around by the Greetings from Fargo mural, I have more of positive, new outlook on life and it brought me a new happiness and seeing all you have done is really amazing. Thank you for so many reasons I can't explain. I can't wait til they make the mural a PokeStop for Pokemon Go and I will visit murals you've done to make sure there's a PokeStop there. Love and light for your journey ahead.”

Photo Update: “I look so different. I thought who is that guy. I've been working as a volunteer cooking for homeless people. Hence, the chef coat. If I can make someones day with food , it makes it more than worth the time." — **Photo Update:** “I look so different. I thought who is that guy. I've been working as a volunteer cooking for homeless people. Hence, the chef coat. If I can make someones day with food , it makes it more than worth the time."

The mural took us about one week to complete and afterwards, there was a mural celebration at the wall. The Fargo DNA organized the event and invited the mayor, food vendors, drinks by Front Street Taproom and live music by Jessica Vines. It was an honor to meet so many amazing members of the community. Everyone felt like family in the short time we got to know them.

We also wanted to thank all the amazing local restaurants that kept us fed including Youngblood Coffee Roasters, Beer & Fish Company, Poke Bowl, Luna, Mezzaluna, & Scoop N Dough Candy Co. There’s so much delicious food to be had in this town so if you’re a foodie, you should definitely stop through Fargo! Thank you to Bobcat of Fargo for donating the scissor lift for the week of painting. We definitely won’t be strangers and plan on passing through Fargo each time we are in the area! Maybe we can even do our first Minnesota mural in Moorhead?

Many thanks to this beautiful community of the Fargo Downtown Neighborhood Association we got to work with.

“The Fargo community is very proud that we have been the first recipients of the Greetings Tour Mural Grant. Working with Victor and Lisa on this project has truly been a fantastic experience; they have become part of our Downtown Fargo family. The amount of community energy and excitement behind this mural is palpable. It will definitely become the most photographed part of our city, and bring people from all over to Downtown Fargo!”

— Austin Foss / Vice Chair of Fargo DNA

“It was a pleasure to have Victor and Lisa for a week here in Fargo. To watch Victor paint is mesmerizing, and you must see him in action to believe he creates what he does with nothing other than cans of spray paint. It wasn’t long before Lisa produced camping chairs for visitors to sit and watch the mural take life. Both Lisa and Victor were patient and kind, and they clearly loved answering questions as curious onlookers stopped by. The week went by too quickly. Our community is richer. Not only for the incredible mural they gifted us, but because Victor and Lisa were a part of it, if only for a brief time. We promised to stay in touch.”

— Paul Gleye & Kay Schwarzwalter / Chair of the Fargo DNA