Dazed Children of the Future

Bismarck, North Dakota

The largest artwork on the grounds of the North Dakota state capitol is "The Pioneer Family," sculpted in 1946. Apparently feeling that a more up-to-date depiction was needed, "Pioneers of the Future" was unveiled a few feet away in 1989. Sculpted by by Jeffrey W. Barber, the bronze artwork depicts two slightly syrupy tweens, with odd tilted heads, walking and holding hands. "The path of the pioneer," informs its plaque, is now "a path of knowledge through education that opens up unknown truths about ourselves." Installed along a walkway surrounded by large trees, lit at night, North Dakota's Hansel and Gretel are oblivious to how spooky their surroundings are after dark.

The plaque notes that "1989 is at the threshold of the new Space Age." Decades later, North Dakota's spaced-out pair seem unlikely to ever escape the capitol grounds forest, let alone Earth's gravity.