‘Herd About the Prairie’ at NDSU
Professor Dan Larew of the theater arts department decided the best way to represent NDSU’s past and present was to display a life-sized bison with contemporary piercings and a traditional beanie to boot.
The Lake Agassiz Arts Council started a regional public art project called, “Herd About the Prairie: A Visual Arts Stampede,” and Larew, along with the NDSU Downtown Visual Art Department, decided to join the stampede.
Individuals or businesses have the opportunity to sponsor a large fiberglass bison, decorate it in a unique way, and display the artwork around the Fargo-Moorhead area.
The theater and visual arts departments heard about this interesting opportunity and decided to take on the challenge and put their creativity to the test.
Larew created the overall design of the bison that is being decorated by the theatre department. “One Foot in the Past — An Eye in the Future” is the theme he chose for the design to illustrate NDSU’s past and present.
“ I wanted it to represent where we were and where we are now and also have fun with it too,” Larew said.
However, the overall design of the bison varies depending on the side.
One side, dedicated to NDSU’s past, will wear a beanie, NDSU sweater, knee socks, knickers or short pants, horn-ring glasses, a ski on two feet and a can of chewing tobacco in its back pocket.
The opposite side, dedicated to NDSU’s present, will sport a backward baseball cap, belly shirt, shorts, flip flops, sunglasses, a tattoo and nose ring and will carry a cell phone and an iPOD.
The actual painting and decorating will be in charge of the Student Chapter of United States Institute of Theatre Technology, which just began this fall at NDSU.
The bison being designed and decorated at NDSU Downtown is under the supervision of assistant professor David Swenson and senior art major Arion Poitra . The two have already began work on the project.
The bison will be painted white from end to end and has roughly 200 holes drilled into its body for lights to shine through. The lights will be charged through the use of a solar panel and battery. It will also be elevated on a 2-foot pedestal and will have a metal rod wrapping around it in order to show a “caged -in” effect.
“ It’s meant to symbolize how buffalo are not running free anymore,” Swenson said.
The white color and the lights shining through the small holes represent the imagery and spiritualism associated with the bison in North Dakota.
The visual arts department bison is currently stationed in the Sculpture Lab at NDSU Downtown so current art students can watch the project take shape and make it a learning experience for everyone.
After the bison are completed, which is expected to be in March, they will be returned to the Lake Agassiz Art Council where they will be displayed to the general public during the summer months. Then, sometime around next December, both will be given back to NDSU and permanently displayed.