A: 3-Months. Van Helten spent October thru December of 2018 painting the mural. It was designed to follow the structure's curves and provide a circular viewpoint for visitors.

A: Van Helten used hand-mixed hues of earthy browns to evoke the area's early stoneware industry while blending with the unused grain silo's original surface.

A: The seven figures represent the Fort Dodge community's diverse migrant make-up, including a farmer, a teacher, a student, a miner, and an African-American community leader.

A: Stoneware. As each figure is passing the stoneware to the next generation. This stoneware is permanently housed at the Fort Museum and Frontier Village. The pieces were made from the distinctive clay found in the Fort Dodge area.

A. One of the women represented on the mural came to Fort Dodge when companies offered free rail tickets to economic migrants during the Civil Rights Movement and became a leader in the African-American community. One of the men represented on the mural was a lifelong resident of Fort Dodge, a veteran, and mineworker who left only to serve during World War II, then worked as a local gypsum plant manager.

Van Helten's murals are world-wide. He also  created a series of them in the Midwest and Southern U.S., including in Nashville, Tennessee, Fort Smith, Arkansas, Faulkton, South Dakota, and Mankato, Minnesota.