Jazmine Schultz, one of the four owners of Prairie Sky Breads, and her team have been collaborating with Ryan Ackerman of the Aksal Group and other volunteers, to beautify downtown Minot and make drivers and pedestrians more safety minded in the area.

The project started as a way to create something local youth might be interested in, and Ackerman, the owner of the building, was on board for the changes they planned. After the city permits were gathered, volunteers got together and accomplished what they set out to do.

The goal was to have something fun and exciting for youth to do – to show them they can make an impact and give them something to point to and say, “I did that.”

Schultz also said there is an incredible need. She looks out of the windows of her business and sees vehicles almost get into crashes and experience near misses with pedestrians in that intersection at First Street Southeast and Central Avenue.

Volunteers prepare supplies for art installation in downtown Minot. Photo by Jazmine Schultz.

Schultz said the project was a team effort. It was supposed to have taken place during Magic City Volunteer Day at the beginning of this month, but the event was rained out. It ended up getting finished Monday night after more rain halted progress over the weekend.

Ultimately, it was a community activity.

“Something where we all feel like – ‘I got off the couch. We did something together and we made something better.’ And I think that’s pretty awesome,” Schultz said.

Schultz also stated to the community in general, “If you see a little thing you can do, you should do it.”

More projects are planned for the future.

Art installation was completed at the intersection of First Street Southeast and Central Avenue. Photo by Jazmine Schultz.