Monday, January 28, 2019

The Songs of the Fifty States: North Dakota

(What is "The Songs of the Fifty States"?)



Crawling Shadows, by North Dakota
artist Sarah Hultin
North Dakota!

Size: 183,843 km2 (19th)

2017 Population: 755,393 (47th)

Statehood: 1889 (39th or 40th).

(Cute story there, apparently: "North Dakota and South Dakota became states simultaneously on November 2, 1889. President Harrison had the papers shuffled to obscure which one was signed first and the order went unrecorded.")

American Human Development Index: 5.23 (19th)


Art Mecca:


Mrs.5000 and I had occasion to try to scope out the North Dakota art scene in October, when we journeyed roughly southeast to northwest across the state.  That meant that we didn't catch the North Dakota Museum of Art, which certainly seems to claiming the top-dog position with a name like that.  NDMA is a semi-independent college-campus museum at the University of North Dakota, and that's in Grand Forks.  We were pulled sleeping through Grand Forks in the middle of the night -- on a train, that is -- but we didn't pass through on the more flexible return trip.  The NDMA, which was founded in the 1980s, focuses on work from the 1970s forward, as well as on regional pieces.  I applaud this in principal, but I can't say it lures me in, which may be why we veered west before we got to Grand Forks.


There's also the Plains Art Museum, probably the #2 show.  It's in Fargo, which we did visit, but we didn't go there.  I think because we were in town on a Monday, when it's closed?



Michael 5000's North Dakota

First Visited: July 13, 2005 (48th)
Most Recently Visited: October 23, 2018 (5th)

First Run In: 10/22/18 (26th)
Best Run: 4.07 miles, Carrington, 10/22/18.

Have Admired the Visual Arts In: No.

Have Slept Overnight In: Yes.

Counties Visited: 24/53 (30th)
% Complete: 45.3% (24th)




Mrs. 5000's Counties Visited: 28/53 (14th)
% Complete: 52.8% (18th)
Mrs.5000 First Visited: November 1963 (2nd)
Mrs.5000 Most Recently Visited: October 23, 2018 (5th)


Atlas of All Roads Travelled

Purple indicates travel by rail; orange by car.

Plans and Aspirations

North Dakota was a pleasant surprise in the crisp October light.  No active return plans are on the calendar, however.

4 comments:

DrSchnell said...

It's the only state I've never been to! Sacrificed it on our big trip out west this past summer on the way back from Yellowstone to plan a route to appease younger daughter's desire to see Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota instead.

Michael5000 said...

That's a father's love for you right there. I would have been all like "Be still, child, and tend to your county checklists! If you are good, perhaps we will stop along the road atop a gentle rise, and listen to the wind blowing ceaselessly across the broad prairies!"

Morgan said...

I found it more pleasant than South Dakota to drive through the middle bits of. I also have ambitions of someday visiting the national park. From the vantage point of the highway, it looks neat.

Michael5000 said...

It's got that thinly populated but prosperous agro-industrial thing going on. Although, I think I've read that the southwestern part has less of the prosperous thing going on.