Looking at anything in another person's perspective can be enlightening. This painting showed me an entire different side of the town of Park Rapids. I realized I didn't know much about the past of it. This painting really made me look at the past differently. It was painted in 1979 by Gary Peterson. He seemed to really try to put all of the town in one picture. He includes downtown and some nature. This really shows that Park Rapids is a decent sized town but also is surrounded by beautiful nature.

I see the old apartments with a plane taking off in the background. On the streets, there is a concrete truck with a man that is in a brown work jacket and a red hat that says Malm Concrete. He looks tired and worn out like a football player after a tough practice. Just below that, a woman is sitting at a table answering a phone, she looks confused and bored. The painting also shows the old red bridge (wasn't red at the time). The Fishhook River is running beneath it and there are three men canoeing downstream.

Down the river a bit further, there are a couple of men who are logging. One man is cutting down a tree with a chainsaw while the other is guiding a horse pulling a tree across the river. In the middle of the painting there is a pair of fields. In the first one, there is a 7 point buck on the edge of the field and a horse pulling a plow which is guided by a man behind. In the second field right above the first, there is a man on a tractor pulling a plow. The fields are both hilly and rugged like the edge of the badlands.

Centered at the top of the painting there is a banner that states the time this painting takes place in and also says that it is Park Rapids. Slightly above the banner, there is an opening with pine trees lining both sides. In the top right of the painting, just above the treeline, there are two water towers. Both are white. One has Park Rapids on the side of it. That one is replaced by a blue one today. The other, is still up today by the courthouse.

Below the tree line, there are two Native Americans, one man and a woman. The man is wearing a beat up hide jacket with a hat made of feathers. The woman is also wearing a hide jacket. She also is holding a baby that is wrapped up. In the bottom right of the painting, there is a tree that is fallen over the river. Right by the river there is also a doe.

This painting reminds me of my Boundary waters trip. Not having to see anybody. The lakes clear, wildlife everywhere, and not much civilization. It's amazing to think how Park Rapids looked until it got settled. Sometimes I wish it was more like it used to be, like it is in the painting. This however, I know won't come true.

Looking at Park Rapids from Gary Peterson’s perspective changed mine a bit. It made me think how things are so different, but also how things are better and worse in different aspects. The reason I chose this painting is because I could connect to it more than any of the other ones. It really caught my eye because of my lack of knowledge of the past.