Why Does it Have to be Beige?
I live in a little city. It has grown quite a bit since I moved here eight years ago but it is still quite small. The prevailing colors are brown, beige, and white. A sea of grasses and fields surround it for miles in every direction. In the winter, the days are short, dark, and bitterly cold, driving everyone indoors and seasonal depression takes a heavy toll on the population. The lively colors of summer and fall are drowned and forgotten in the vast expanse of frozen white fields and colorless buildings.
This is Fargo, North Dakota.
Fargo is a growing city with lots of potential but it’s lacking numerous qualities that people look for when searching for a place to live. The harsh winters, limited actives, monotonous landscape, absence of “culture,” and lack of visual stimulus are major reasons why current residents want to leave and potential residents don’t want to move here. While the weather and landscape can’t be helped, the way we direct the future culture and aesthetics of Fargo can be.
We certainly have the talent to make these changes.
I live downtown in an apartment two blocks east of the local art museum and two blocks north from the art department of the local university. I pass street art every day on my walk to class. Many of my friends and acquaintances are highly skilled artists. I work at a local hotel at the end of my street that features a different artist in each of the seventeen rooms. I also work at a creative and colorful bar owned by an artist who happened to employ 4 other artists, myself included. In short, I am surrounded by creative people and lots of art.
So why is Fargo still so completely and utterly to its core…beige?
The only reason I could think of was that we haven’t stepped up to make a serious change. People complain, others nod in agreement, and nothing changes. At least, nothing changes enough. Beige, boxy buildings are still being constructed and seasonal depression still hits hard.
So let’s do something about it. Something permanent.
My mission, over the next 10 weeks and beyond, is to form a collaborative network of artists focused on enriching and improving Fargo and its culture. Projects can range from tiny additions to entire buildings. I want this group to reflect on areas that can be improved, brainstorm ways to address these problems, and then make it happen. We need a group of creative visionaries to consult with business owners, contractors, and city planners to build impressive, beautiful structures that will increase the value of Fargo. We need to add subtle works hidden throughout Fargo only known by those who pay attention. We need more professional graffiti and graffiti walls for up-and-coming artists. We need sculpture parks that double as a playground. We need cafes with cups and wall art made by local artists. Architects, painters, illustrators, digital artists, sculptors, potters, cartoonists — essentially all artists — are needed to undertake this work. I want to infuse Fargo with tasteful, dynamic art that expands past the plains, bison, and Fargo Theater imagery. Beautiful cities attract people, people attract business, business attracts more people.
Let’s get started.
I will be following these steps throughout the next 10 weeks:
I. Contact people for information. Contact state and city officials to gather information about installations on public property and potential grants available. Contact owners of local buildings to assess available wall and grounds space. Contact local restaurant and cafe owners to asks about their level of interest of including local artists in their business.
II. Review responses and direct energies and resources into promising prospects.
III. Get in touch with the artists and share my mission with them. Assess interest levels and ask for digital portfolio submissions, a synopsis of their vision/works, and a profile picture.
IV. Organize artists into categories based off their medium for future reference and a future website.
V. Share artists’ information and portfolios with people/businesses interested and form list of projects/opportunities
VI. Connect artists with each other and form groups of to work on projects
VII. Follow progression of projects to completion and take note of things that do and don’t work.
VIII. Review projects, process, and success of projects. Assess current situation and move forward from there.
IX. Approach new businesses using results, and experience of the last projects, create a website, and promote on social media.
This is the outline for my project. I will be posting updates on social media and learning as I go.Wish me luck!
