By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Rooks County Arts Council has mounted 135 barn quilts on the wall of the Stockton city utility building.
The first phase of the project, which measures 54 by 10 feet, is the culmination of 1,500 hours of volunteer work since the beginning of June.
Jayne Prockish, owner of Sunflower Shed art studio, has helped coordinate the program with the help of the council.
This is one of the first arts council projects since the council re-formed in 2020. The first phase of the blocks went up on the Stockton city utility building last week.
The barn quilts can be seen coming into Stockton from the west on U.S. Highway 24.
The barn quilts, which are 2-foot square, are all sponsored. Some were sponsored by local businesses and some were created in memory of family members. Fans of KU and K-State each sponsored multiple blocks honoring those schools. A third multi-block section is set for phase two that will honor Fort Hays State University.
The project also received grants from the Heartland Community Foundation and the Stockton Community Fund.
Sponsors could paint their own blocks or request community volunteers to do it for them.
All of the blocks have been sponsored and painted by people from Stockton or who have connections to Stockton.
Prockish said the project has been a way to bring the community together. The city has allowed the council to use its building for five, three-day painting sessions.
"We did it as a community project to bring people together for a common cause. It is to bring some art to community, and it's also to pull us together and give us a little bit of a history wall," she said.
Stockton is celebrating 150 years since its founding. Other blocks note important businesses and dates, including blocks that honor a past police chief and optometrist.
Each of the blocks has its own story, Prockish said. The council committee working on the wall hopes to create a webpage on the city's website that will tell the story of each block. A sign will be erected at the site that will help people link to that page.
"It's only been a week and it's been amazing. People have been popping in, 'Do you have room for mine?' " Prockish said of the barn quilt blocks.
The wall has space for 135 or more blocks. The second phase of the project will start in January.
If you want more information on the Stockton barn quilt project, you can follow the project on Facebook.
The arts council would also like to sponsor barn quilt walls in other communities in Rooks County, but the council is looking for people to spearhead the projects in those towns.
Prockish said she hopes the barn quilts will make Rooks County a destination for those travelers who want to get off the beaten path.
The arts council also sponsored a new mural on the corner of U.S. Highway 24 and U.S. 183. That mural is nearing completion.