A planned mural of climate activist Greta Thunberg was scuttled at locally-owned and operated small business in Bismarck, North Dakota, after public backlash to the plan took a “hostile” turn.
As reported in the February 13 edition of the Fargo Forum:
Shane Balkowitsch, a renowned practitioner of glass plate photography, had planned to put the mural of the teenage activist on an external wall of Brick Oven Bakery, which opened about five months ago in downtown Bismarck. Employing a 160-year-old technique, Balkowitsch took the the image of Thunberg to be used in the mural during her visit to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in October.
Apparently the good folks of Bismarck are really scared of the potential sight of the image of Ms. Thunberg adorning the side of a downtown building. Threats of a boycott of the bakery, along with threats of vandalism on the mural itself were enough to nix the plan.
As for the potential mural , the artist hopes he can find another home for it:
The original glass plate upon which Balkowitsch made the photo for the now-nixed mural has been archived at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.. Balkowitsch said he still plans to install the mural somewhere else and will begin looking for other venues across the country. The artist said the experience has left "a bitter taste in his mouth" and he may not ever install another project in his hometown.
Recall that the Mayor of Bismarck himself spoke out against allowing refugee resettlement in his county, for which the county board said, nope, gonna allow it. Bismarck is a nice city, nestled along the Missouri River Valley in central North Dakota. It’s unfortunate that such stupidity and vitriol has again tarnished its image.
Reporting on the story in the Fargo Forum can be found here:
www.inforum.com/...
Additional reporting from the Bismarck Tribune is available here:
bismarcktribune.com/…
and about the creation of the glass plate image of her that would have been used in the mural, here:
bismarcktribune.com/...