03/18/2026
🎨 Let's meet the 2026 Fargo Film Festival Cover Artist! We had a chance to talk with award-winning artist and Moorhead High School art teacher Grady Carlson about his work.
Read the interview and get information on how you can get a signed and numbered print of the painting below! ⬇️
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Fargo Film Festival: The Fargo Theatre marquee is honored to be the subject of lots of local art! As an artist, what was the reason you decided to make it the subject of this year's program cover for the Film Festival?
Grady: The centennial of the Fargo Theatre provided an ideal opportunity to add my own version to the many treatments of the iconic sign.
FFF: Was this concept for the cover the first idea you had, or did you consider any other ideas?
G: I have made paintings of the iconic Fargo Theatre marquee before, but this particular version was the first idea that I had for the program cover image.
FFF: Have you ever painted any other scenes of the F-M area?
G: Yes! I grew up in Moorhead and have painted numerous scenes and other iconic buildings, including other paintings of the Fargo Theatre, the Hjemkomst Center, the Moorhead Dairy Queen, scenes of Broadway, and the original Bruns and Finkle Grain Elevator.
FFF: It feels as if there is a stormy or rainy atmosphere present in the painting. Was that intentional?
G: The stormy/rainy atmosphere was definitely intentional. Having attended a variety of events at the Fargo Theatre over the years, it is certain that many of the evenings have been breezy, stormy, rainy, or blizzardy. I thought about the idea of comfort that the theatre provides to so many when they settle into their chairs to enjoy a show on a cool evening.
FFF: What is something about this piece you want our audience to notice?
G: I would like the viewer to notice the glowing lights and how they reflect off of the structural bracing. It was important to me to capture the construction aspect of the metal scaffolding and the many different negative spaces created by the viewing angle. I love that part about the Fargo Theatre marquee.
Love the artwork? A very limited number of fine art prints of Grady's Fargo Theatre marquee image, signed and numbered by the artist, will be available for sale at the Fargo Theatre during the 2026 Fargo Film Festival. Proceeds from the sale will support the Fargo Theatre!
