The Dacotah Prairie Museum is excited to announce the installation of a new mural to transform the front exterior entrance of the Museum, located on 1st Avenue. The vibrant colors, which are apparent from the street to motorists, bikers and walkers, create a welcoming invitation for visitors. 

Nick and Nicole Fischer, Aberdeen artists especially designed the mural for the Museum. Art students who were part of the Granary All Dakota Fine Arts High School Exhibition did the painting. The Exhibition workshop was held in April and high school art students from North and South Dakota were present to provide the painting of the mural.

The Fischers created the pattern with images that would relate to the prairie in general and the Museum, which tells the story of the history of Brown County, specifically. After drawing the imagery on masonite, Nick and Nicole then cut the entire surface into 6” squares. They mixed various colors of paint that would be appropriate and gathered brushes and canvases for the painting.

On the two days of the Granary High School event, all students who attended the Fischer’s “Collaborative Painting Workshop” chose various squares to paint and were encouraged to invent their own image. The only requirements were to include the name of the Museum and image lines and to paint with either the light or dark group of colors. The project left plenty of room for individual creativity. Thus, it became a piece of original art co-created by a couple dozen artists. Installation was done by Nick Fischer and his father, Ron Fischer, on Tuesday, July 20, 2010.

The mural is special not only because it reflects the mid-west prairie land, but because it was designed and painted by area artists and art students who live in the area and enjoy the Dacotah Prairie. The Museum is proud to add this unique piece of original art to its collection and invites everyone to stop in and see this wonderful new look.