Urlifestyle Magazine October 2016 May 2016 | Page 6

Stipulations?
No obscenity, no political art.
“There are a wide range of artist with some
connections to ND so why do an outside
source?” Paul said. “Everyone all of a
sudden wants to be my Facebook friend. I
probably get 30 or more (requests) a day..
Every one is interested in submitting art.”
Because of the wide range of artists,
touching base with former students is a
good idea, right?
“I don’t know the final plans, but the
team talked about involving High School
students somehow getting a part of the
wall,” Noot said.
Next week the board will call for artists.
There’s a Facebook page set up called
Bismarck Alley Art.

“It will be awesome to paint the panels of the parking ramp. So many talented
people are using an urban aspect.. ND is expanding. The theme of the Alley Art w on’t
be limited. I don’t wanna see 10 pictures of bison or badlands. We want urban/
conservative stuff. The idea is to get outside the norm of ND. Some people think
it will be limited… it’s not limited to street artist, there will be traditional
painters, tattoo artists, graphic artists.” ~Paul Noot

What will need to be submitted?

Deadline to submit art work:

“Probably need a drawing or example of what they’re doing,
basic resume. Drawing will be the big thing. When they select
someone they need room for change.. three artists will be on
the committee.”

Close to over a month to submit and a
week to decide which artists. Every year
sections will be repainted.(Artists) Need a
permit to paint. Rapid City tried it but it got
out of hand so now it’s permit only.

Art affects people in the community and Noot has no problem being on the
committee. He said can face rejection if he doesn’t get picked.

What will happen if someone paints
without permission?
“My job will probably have to repaint it.
BDAC maintains things… if someone tags
it someone will paint over it,” Noot said.

Photo taken from Alley
Art in Rapid City, SD.

Paul taking a picture of a cloud

Had there been any negative backlash?
Some are afraid others will ruin it. Social
media can be nasty. “Oh we’re gonna tag
it. It won’t last” I painted a 200 foot mural
and no one tagged it. The important thing
is to take ownership and pride in it and no
one will deface it.

“It’s important to let the next generation of artists
rise up and get a chance to show their skills.”
“I think that it is permit only needs to be stressed… as a
community and artists in general we need to take pride in it and
make it a gathering place. Have Art weekend or have music
down here. Artists can come sell their work at their booths. It will
be a social gathering place. It’s long overdue.”
No tax dollars will be affected on this at all. DWAC is in charge. It is grant
funded. Artists are not getting paid for it. People can come take pics after it
is finished. Right now they are trying to get videographers to tape the whole
process. The main thing is finding someone like Dakota Media Access
because it’s non profit.

There are no cameras to watch the area,
but Paul said he will talk to Eileen about it.

Paul joked about painting something with
steam punk theme in this area.

“First of all, it’s a group
project. There are 6 of
us that jumped on board.
Part of the process we
went through was we
needed a sponsor so
DWAC agreed to provide
grants for funding.
From that, it needed
to be approved by City
Commission, Parking
Authority, and the Police
Department as well as
the business owners
themselves. Seeds of
Hope and Dr. Becker
are on board but we
are waiting to hear from
FireFlour Pizza.
Hopefully it will evolve
into a community place
and attract people to
downtown. We want to
combine people from
part of Bismarck’s history
and embrace the new
by having a place for the
community to gather.
We want to promote
downtown, add art and
culture.”

~Ben Houdak

The board is planning to start painting by July with a grand opening in time for
the street fair.
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