FARGO – Downtown residents may have noticed the colorful banners that have appeared over the past month.

Student artists from North Dakota State University partnered with the Downtown Community Partnership to create an art gallery that now adorns the streetlights near Broadway.

“What I love about art is that it forces people to think and ask questions,” Rocky Schneider, executive director of DCP, told The Forum. “It sparks conversations… and it creates a community.”

David Samson / Forum File Photo

It all started with an artist’s dream in NDSU’s Renaissance Hall.

Carlos Roybal is a rising senior at NDSU’s School of Design and Architecture and Art.

Every time he walked downtown, Roybal saw the potential to incorporate more local art.

The existing banners – a set of four seasonal designs repeated all along Broadway – didn’t quite hit the mark, he said, so he decided to change them.

“College wasn’t even on my mind at first,” Roybal said. “And then for some reason I thought, ‘Wait a minute, we’re going to art school…’ We have a completely untapped pool of artists who can create and share their work with Fargo.”

Fargo has the potential to become the cultural and artistic center of North Dakota, he said, and he has enjoyed the community since moving here in 2021 to continue his education.

This is his second attempt at college. He studied medicine at a university in Colorado for four years before taking a break from his studies for health reasons.

And now? He is pursuing his passion and is about to complete his Bachelor of Fine Arts with a focus on illustration.

“I’ve always been an artist,” Roybal said. “People tell you it’s not a very lucrative career, which may not be the case, but as time goes on I’m realizing that’s not necessarily the most important thing.”

Although he is a few years older than most of his peers at NDSU, he said they constantly inspire him and push him to be a better artist. He was excited to find a new way to showcase their work through this partnership with the DCP.

Throughout the process, he received the full support of his faculty, school principal, talented photographers, and more.

“I just wanted to make sure people know what kind of people we have there at Renaissance Hall,” Roybal said. “They’re doing everything they can to help us.”

Roybal got the ball rolling by reaching out to DCP to ask if they would be interested in selecting the best works from NDSU art students to update the banners downtown.

For Schneider, the idea seems to be fate.

“Renaissance Hall opened in 2004 and in some ways revitalized downtown, or at least paved the way for a revitalization,” Schneider said. “(This gallery) is kind of a tribute to the revitalized downtown, but art is also the best way to bring culture to everyone.”

David Samson / The Forum

The original plan was to select only 18 artworks from the student ranks for the annual student exhibition. But when push came to shove, the DCP was unable to narrow down the selection and so chose the 32 best pieces and included them all in the selection.

Each of the selected artists received a check for $100 for their work.

“My goal is to give people a reason to spend more time outside and walk around a little bit; to discover something new,” Schneider said. “The most traveled path in the state of North Dakota is the sidewalk on Broadway.”

They hope to repeat this gallery in future years, funding permitting, and find creative uses for the older banners.

“I think Carlos (Roybal) has an idea that will hopefully last well beyond the years in which he implements it,” Rocky said.

If you want to learn more about these artists, you can find the Downtown Fargo Street Light Gallery Walking Tour on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/downtown_fargo/

Night shift reporter 👻. I cover Fargo city government, Cass County government, and underserved populations in the region.