The Prospector's Trail

"The Prospector's Trail" mural commemorates the rugged terrain that became the route of the White Pass and Yukon Railway and the Klondike Highway in Alaska. 

The central theme of the mural is a steep rocky cliff representing the historic Chilkoot and White Pass trails used during the 1897-98 stampede from Skagway, Alaska to Canada's Klondike gold fields.  Thousands of gold seekers landed in the harbor of Skagway to begin a backbreaking trip over the uneven vertical cliffs to the isolated wilderness of the Klondike.  Above the sheer rocky cliff, the painting depicts a distant mountain and glacier similar to those found near the summit of both trails.  A small prospector stands amid boulders at the base of the cliff, and gives scale to the work.  Between the figure and the dynamic rocky ledge is a dense forest of indigenous trees, designed to create space, depth, and rhythm. The figure of the miner represents the stampeders of the late 1800's and memorializes the prospector who founded the region.  

The work is painted with acrylic on ten separate panels, each standing out from the wall at a different distance from its neighboring panel, creating a three-dimensional effect.  It spans an area approximately 12' wide x 9' tall.  The technique of pointillism (the use of small dots) employed by Niebrugge on her smaller works was modified for this project:  larger dots were used so that they would be visible from a distance.