Hello, my name is Mike Renner, and this is an untitled piece of artwork. The initial design emerged in one sitting during a free association sketch and contains many of the themes and images that have been imprinted on my mind after a lifetime of living in North Dakota. I wanted to use this opportunity to celebrate North Dakota’s landscape and natural beauty. Of course, we have the bison, which would be a candidate for the spiritual mascot of this state and was a mainstay to Native American life on the prairie. We have a canoeist paddling the waters of the mighty Missouri River in the moonlight. In the southwest corner of the mural, just as it would be placed on a map, is a scene from the Badlands. Tying this whole composition together is the sun, the sky, and the clouds.

I’ve always felt that our horizon is one of the state’s greatest treasures. Not only is our horizon a breathtaking natural theater, it also provides wide open space. While it’s a resource that’s easy to dismiss or take for granted, wide open spaces are hard to come by these days and more essential than ever. With wide open spaces, a person’s thoughts can graze and meander, a person’s hopes and dreams can roam freely. And yes, people can hear themselves think.

The windmill in this mural is also notable. The windmill represents North Dakota’s agrarian history and rural geography. In today’s world, the site of a tattered, lone windmill is often associated with far-flung places, places commonly referred to as the middle of nowhere. At first mention, the middle of nowhere sounds undesirable, but it’s actually something to be celebrated. The rural spaces and dirt roads of this state, just like the wide open sky, are places you can still get lost where you can find peace and solitude. Even from our capital city, a person can drive 20 minutes in any direction, take a random side road, and find themselves alone against a vast, beautiful, and humbling landscape. Thanks for listening to this audio and for visiting the Bismarck Art Alley. Whether it’s your first visit or you’ve lived here your entire life, enjoy your stay.