Artist Guido van Helten said the images may seem disconnected at this stage, but there is a connectedness in the project that will bring the mural’s story to life in the end.

“Everything will eventually speak to each other in a way. But in terms of how it’s going, it’s going as best as it can” he said.

“You can’t really plan these things, because they are kind of unpredictable by nature,” he explained. “Every project is so different in many forms – texture wise, weather wise. In this case, there’s all these pipes and different sizes and levels, and so it’s completely unpredictable. It’s going as it goes, which is just as quick as it can go.”

Since starting in March, van Helten said, he has worked on the mural nearly every day, through wildfire smoke, heat and wind.

Guido van Helten

“It’s just the nature of working outside,” van Helten said.

The wind has been particularly an important factor because it can interfere with the spray painting. He deals with it by moving around to different sides of the silos to complete portions of the work, rather than focusing on the mural by sections.

He also uses a rented crane with a 135-foot elevated work platform and a donated boom from Main and Holmes with somewhat less reach. Strategizing the use of the equipment for the period in which he has access to it has influenced how van Helten’s project has been unfolding.

“I’m going at many different angles at once, which is kind of interesting because nothing is really, therefore, finished,” van Helten said. “For example, I could reference a project in Fort Dodge, Iowa, which was the size of this one here, and it took me two months. I finished everything as I went because I had the boom the whole time, even when I’m painting low. So, these tools are very important, obviously, and I need to strategize the best action for it.”

So far, his height work has involved use of an elevated platform.

Guido van Helten’s artistry showing a woman and child is featured on the south side of the Union Silo project.

“Soon I’ll be doing the top with a rope access,” he said.

The assortment of fixtures on the building brings access challenges when painting on the side of the structure. Van Helten added the work can be a hard physical effort as much as a creative process at times.

As the public sees the art in progress, people put their own interpretation on the images, which van Helten also finds interesting. He noted the mural is based on photographic images he captured over the previous year.

“It’s just things that I feel have an emotive connection, and they’re also very open in a way. It could be many different things. But most importantly, finding things that balance off other elements is important because the whole thing is kind of a narrative that goes 360 (degrees) around the entire, very unusual building with so many different heights and levels. So, I’ve very much been considering composition in a way that is sculptural, not in a way that is a flat canvas that is rectangular.”

He calls the building’s characteristics symbolic of the architecture of North Dakota.

Jill Schramm/MDN Artist Guido van Helten works from a crane on a scene taking shape on the west side of a former grain elevator in downtown Minot Monday, Aug. 4.

“I feel like this project has been probably the most challenging in terms of composition, to try and balance all these strange architectural features and these rusty old pipes and all these things that make this building, I think, unique and worth saving and working with. Because these shapes have really inspired me too,” he said.

Rather than be constrained to a viewpoint that only considers how the image suits a certain curve, van Helten intends his art to be viewable from different vantage points and distances. He thinks about Broadway and Burdick Expressway and places that are downtown gathering spaces when he considers areas where people will view his art, both now and in the future as the downtown develops. His desire to see the art endure into the future prompts his use of art materials that will stand the test of time.

Van Helten is estimating a September completion. He said there will be almost a sadness associated with the finish. Dedicating several months to the Minot project, he’s become attached to the community.

“I’ve found that it’s really growing on me, in a way, because of the closeness of the community,” he said. “The togetherness is really strong, and I think that’s quite beautiful.”