Charles Crane/MDN From left to right, artists Walter Piehl, Casey Opstad and Dyana Decoteau-Dyess pose in front of two panels in a studio at Minot State University. The panels will be incorporated into a 140-foot long mural titled “Seasons,” commissioned by Altru Health in Grand Forks for its new hospital opening in 2025.

A New York City-based artist has spent this week in a studio at Minot State University working on pieces with two Minot-based artists which will be incorporated into a 140-foot long mural commissioned by Altru Health for its new hospital in Grand Forks.

Casey Opstad, a Grand Forks native, said the hospital has partnered with the Grand Forks Art Commission to contract or acquire pieces from local and regional artists to furnish its walls, and ultimately commissioned his pitch for the mural, which he has dubbed “Seasons.”

Rather than being a traditional cohesive mural, Opstad said “Seasons” will be a “gestalt” experience of paintings from himself and five other regional artists interspersed through a 200-foot hallway in the new hospital. The paintings showcase the seasons, landscapes and landmarks of North Dakota along U.S. Highway 2 from Grand Forks to the Montana border.

“In writing the proposal, it was this whole thing about how much life happens in a hospital. It’s an active place for the community. For me, growing up there and being born in the hospital, my mom worked there as an ICU nurse, I just want to make it the best I can for these people going through these intense life moments. To give them some kind of comfort or relief ,” Opstad said. “I stopped everything. It was an opportunity where I just had to drop everything and just go.”

This creative decision was partially due to accommodating hospital infrastructure like fire alarms, according to Opstad, but also provides a natural rhythm to the experience and allows his collaborators to put their own distinctive touch to their contributions. Each panel originates from photos taken by Opstad which are used as the basis for the paintings.

“I didn’t want to do it all myself. It’s always sort of evolving. I hope it comes together in the end, but I think it will,” Opstad said. “It’s hard to get a 200-foot long hallway to see all of these in a row, so it will probably be when I see everything when it’s installed.”

Opstad’s collaborators include David Rathman of Minneapolis, Grand Forks artists Abby Manock and his former professor at the University of North Dakota Brian Paulsen, along with longtime Minot State University professor Walter Piehl and current MSU senior Dyana Decoteau-Dyess.

“I’m trying to source everything locally too. These are hardback panels built in Grand Forks by Grand Forks people. It’s not like I stayed out in New York and did all the work and just shipped it. The idea was to physically move here and do all the work. That was important,” Opstad said.

While his base of operations is in a former brewery in Grand Forks, Opstad planned to paint the western portion of the piece at his father’s farmhouse near Minot. During his conversations with Piehl about the project, Piehl encouraged him to rent space at the university as well, which opened the door for him to engage with MSU students like Decoteau-Dyess who was eventually enlisted to contribute a segment capturing the Indigenous experience and history.

“She came on board about three days ago. Walter wanted to include Native American history in the mural. I didn’t feel I was in a position to do that. We asked around if there was a Native American person interested in doing it, and low and behold we found a really talented artist right here,” Opstad said. “Walt said, ‘Come to the college and paint,’ and I said, ‘I don’t know about that.’ Because it would just be me at the farm painting, the energy you get from being around the students and other artists has been nice.”

Decoteau-Dyess’s contribution will be the segment including the reconstruction of the fur trading post Fort Union near Williston, which will incorporate elements representing the historical and contemporary experiences of Indigenous people in the region.

“With a lot of my art I think of, ‘How can I indiginize this?’ I like to utilize a lot of my Ojibwe heritage in my artwork. We sat down and talked about making sure we’re keeping the history of Fort Union in this photo but bringing into it that Indigenous people are still here,” Decoteau-Dyess said.

Opstad said he expects the mural to be mostly completed and hung by Dec. 1, with a delivery date of Jan. 1 for the final paintings.

“I’m really excited that it’s a collaboration. As it’s evolving, I’m really excited that Dyanna is involved and Walter is involved. People are saying yes to this. Even when there wasn’t money yet, people have been helpful. It’s all working out, “ Opstad said.