592 - Elizabeth White - Threads of Heritage: A braid of Landscapes and Stories

South Dakota-based artist and educator Elizabeth White brings her training in Fine Arts and Arts Education into both the classroom and her public work, including Threads of Heritage: A Braid of Landscapes and Stories at the Mandan Art Alley. At first glance, the mural captivates with a sweeping braid of hair stretching across the wall and weaving through the space.

Inside each section of the braid are images drawn from Mandan itself: bison, a rodeo bull rider, a powwow dancer, a swallowtail butterfly, native grasses, and a bluegill like those caught at Sweetbriar Lake. The blockhouses at Fort Lincoln and an earth lodge appear alongside the wild prairie rose, Mandan Hill, the historic train bridge, and layered landscapes stitched together like a quilt.

The braid forms the heart of the mural, symbolizing how stories and histories intertwine. It unites Native history, Lewis and Clark, Custer, the land itself, and White’s childhood memories into a single, continuous narrative, reflecting the cultural and personal threads that shape the community. White, who has deep roots in Mandan, created a mural that is both personal and collective.

Around the braid, patterned landscapes add layers of meaning. Blue fields dotted with small hearts represent the Heart River, while stripes echo the rhythms of farmland. Sandy, geode-like lines suggest the dunes and sandbars along the Missouri, and bark-like textures nod to cottonwoods. A vertical green pattern draws from old wallpaper once found in the Lewis and Clark apartments on Main Street. Three sunflowers and swirling blue clouds inspired by Van Gogh bring energy and movement, adding contrast and vibrancy.

The L-shaped wall required the design to wrap seamlessly around a doorway, a process mapped out with VR projection and traced carefully from a ladder with guidance from White’s husband.

Bright and cheerful, the mural captures the feeling of growing up in this place. It offers moments for viewers to pause, explore the details, and find pieces of their own story woven into the braid. Threads of Heritage is one of several public works by White, who hopes to leave a mural in every city she has called home. If you’d like to see another, head over to the Bismarck Art Alley and check out her Rodeo Bulls mural.