593 - Emily Murphy -- Prairie Education

Emily Murphy is a multi-disciplinary Midwest artist and creator. Her Prairie Education mural reflects her love of art in all forms, acrylic, oil, textiles, and more, and celebrates lifelong learning, creativity, and vibrant stories of the prairie landscape.

When you step into the Art Alley in downtown Mandan, you’ll see A Prairie Education, my first large-scale mural. Because I’m a teacher, I wanted this mural to center on education. I began by researching North Dakota’s one-room schoolhouses. At one point, there were more than 300 across the state! While looking through a postcard book, I found a photograph from 1914, and that image became the reference for the schoolhouse you see in the mural. That historic building anchors the entire scene and represents what I think of as a “simple education” rooted in rural community life.

After researching the one-room schoolhouse, I also wanted to integrate some kind of education about plants and gardening. So I included fruits and vegetables that are commonly grown in gardens across the state. You’ll see things like rhubarb, strawberries, tomatoes, squash, corn, and kohlrabi mixed into the scene. I also added wildflowers that grow here in North Dakota, including prairie rose, purple coneflower, prairie crocus, goldenrod, prairie lily, and others you might recognize. One of my favorite details is the kohlrabi. They are little round vegetables with stems shooting out, a colorful mix of green and purple. Not a lot of people like kohlrabi, but it’s very common in North Dakota. I think it’s a fun and interesting vegetable to look at.

Creating this piece was a huge learning experience. I had done a small mural in my home and a large painting for my brother’s wedding, but working at this scale required learning how to use a lift, when to choose a ladder, and what brushes and paint would hold up best. The stucco surface was especially challenging, it absorbed much more paint than I expected and forced me to adjust my technique. For a while, a large industrial garbage bin even blocked part of the wall until we were able to move it. All of these challenges made me a better muralist and artist.

A Prairie Education shares a piece of North Dakota’s history and culture through the Mandan Art Alley. To explore more of Emily Murphy’s work, visit emsartarhive.com.