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Cellpic Sunday – Public Art at Hector Airport

Public art in the airport baggage pickup area

Fargo, North Dakota.

We’ve flown out of Fargo’s Hector International Airport many times over the years but after recently returning from a trip, I noticed the mural above the baggage carousel #1 as we waited for our luggage to be unloaded. The image so much says “North Dakota” to me. For years, the state was the number one supplier of sunflower products in the United States. I see that in 2021, the top spot moved across the border to South Dakota. Nonetheless, at over 760 million pounds, North Dakota is far above the third-largest producer, our eastern neighbor, Minnesota.

The aircraft in the image is a Stearman, the first models were built in the late 1920s, and the sturdy biplane became a military trainer in the 1930s. The large radial engine was left uncowled for cooling and for ease of maintenance, and though the production stopped in the 1990s, Stearmans are regularly seen today in agricultural spraying applications and air shows around the country.

North Dakota is also home to one of the premier aviation training schools in the United States, the University of North Dakota. They offer a wide-ranging curriculum in the many specialties in aviation including air traffic control, aviation business management, unmanned aerial systems (drones), and commercial pilot training as well as many other aviation-related career paths.

I am also submitting this Cellpic Sunday photo to Marsha Ingrao’s PPAC challenge. The image truly tells a story of the marriage of agriculture and aviation, two of North Dakota’s important industries. Technically, her challenge states the art must be outside, but in the airport, this mural is in public view. 🙂

Click on the image above to view it in 2K HD on my Flickr site.

I encourage fellow bloggers to create their own Cellpic Sunday posts. I never have a specific topic for this feature, and the only rules are that the photo must be captured with a cell phone, iPad, or another mobile device… If you have an image from a drone or even a dashcam, that’s acceptable as well. The second rule is to link your challenge-response to this post or leave a comment here with a link to your post in the comment.

John Steiner

49 comments

  12. I love this photo. I still remember the first time I saw a sunflower field after moving to ND. Lovely!

    Reply

  13. John, It’s great to see that beautiful and cheerful mural at the airport. It introduces some great features of North Dakota and makes visitors feel welcome. Airplanes are so fascinating. I visited the North Atlantic Aviation Museum in Gander when I was in Newfoundland and Labrador last month. I think you’d enjoy the museum. Here’s my entry for Cellpic Sunday this week:

    5 Notable Lighthouses in Newfoundland

    Reply

    • I try to visit aviation museums whenever I can. I’ve got a trip planned for Canada in September, but we aren’t going that far north this time. I’ll have to put the museum on my list of places to see when we get there.

      Reply

  26. It feels like we are right there in the field, John. I had no idea that North Dakota raised so many sunflowers. They are one of the few flowering plants that grow well here in Prescott. Thanks for linking up this week. 🙂 I missed my linking posts this week. I’ll get back to you soon. 🙂

    Reply

  27. […] Last month, I read about the 52-week hiking challenge (one hike a week for 52 weeks straight) from a fellow blogger, Alisen Dopf, and it inspired my husband and me. I’m a little behind on blogging, but we have hiked for five weeks in a row now, and I would like to share the start of our journey. It’s been a little slow for the same reason that I have not blogged much (the 4th of July celebrations and catching a cold), but I am determined to get out there every week to meet our goal. I’ve taken most of these photos with my iPhone 12 Pro Max (I like to hike light), so I am sharing for John’s Cellpic Sunday. […]

    Reply

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