By EMMIE BOESE
Hutch Post
Drive through the small town of Inman in McPherson County to see the progress of what will soon be a newly painted mural on the grain elevator east of Highway 61 in town.
"So that was their main theme they wanted was the turkey red wheat and also to showcase that Inman, you know, has built their own swathers or silage and stuff and so those were two of the things that they really wanted to have in the mural," Mindy Allen of Mindy's Murals said. "And so they gave me their thoughts of what they wanted and then they just sort of let me come up with the design and then, you know, we tweaked it a little bit to work for what they wanted."
The project is to help celebrate Kansas heritage with 150 years of turkey red winter wheat and the settlers that brought it to Kansas.
Ron Regehr said in a press release from Inman Museum Association that the mural will serve as a landmark for Inman history and future aspirations as they embark on a new 15,000 square foot facility that will share the stories of custom cutters from the Inman and Buhler area and across the Great Plains.
Allen's mural is going to be painted with a high performance acrylic paint which will give the mural more durability and add more vibrancy. She also said that public art in small towns gives the towns character.
"I feel like art just brings everything to life in a way," Allen said. "When you drive through a town or city that doesn't have any kind of art, it just doesn't feel the same as when you are driving through a city that has murals to look at. Whether it is something that is historical or something that you know relates to the business that it is on or something that is just purely for art."
Allen said she has been painting murals for almost 12 years now. She's painted exterior murals for the past four years. This is Allen's first time painting a mural on a grain elevator.
"To me its not any different than any other mural," Allen said. "It's the same process that I go through to paint it to get it up there. The difference is, just the time involved using a lift. It takes awhile to move it around and get it to where I need it to be."
The project was made possible through the support and collaboration with Inman residents, local organizations, the Kansas Department of Commerce, and the Office of Rural Prosperity.
Allen told Hutch Post that she predicts the mural to be done by July 12, but it's possible for it to be finished by a later date.
The community will have a chance to witness the mural's progress at the Inman Harvest Celebration on Saturday, June 29.