By RONDA GRAFF

MCFF

McCOOK - Just over a year ago, the movie "Called to the Walls" played at the Fox Theater in McCook, bringing the concept of a community mural project to the big screen. Created by Amber Hansen and Nicholas Ward, the film documents the process of creating community-based murals with muralist Dave Loewenstein and the Mid-America Mural Project.

This week, McCook’s first community mural will be fully realized as the finishing touches are put on the downtown mural at West First and C Streets. A community celebration is planned for this Saturday, June 3 from 2 to 5 p.m. with a dedication at 3 p.m.

Nearly a half-block in length and one to one-half stories tall, the McCook Mural uses dozens of colorful, visually-striking images to tell the story of the community from various viewpoints. And then both professional and volunteer artists spent the past three weeks bringing those images to life on the wall.

Volunteer Joann Falkenburg of McCook took the lead to get the project off the ground, spearheading fund-raising and organizing planning sessions. One of the first issues to resolve was where the mural would be located. After looking at several options, Mike Deveny donated the use of the formerly-blank brick wall of his building in downtown McCook, ultimately one of many donations to the project

But the McCook Mural project is truly a community project. 

The mural project involved dozens of citizens sharing their ideas about what should - and what shouldn’t - be included in the mural. Listening and planning sessions have been held over the past year to create a mural that was both artistic and told a story. Plans are underway to provide information digitally about specific items in the mural.

The mural project involved dozens of donors, both financial and in-kind, from individuals to businesses to families to organizations, all seeing the vision before it was even complete but willing to put their funds toward the project. Donors includes the Kimmel Foundation, the Nebraska Arts Council, McCook Community Foundation Fund, the Graff Charitable Foundation, Community Hospital, the McCook Arts Council, and Frenchman Valley Coop.

Additional support from Ron and Missy Nelson, Matt and Shelly Sehnert and McCook Christian Church ranged from housing the artists to providing a scissor lift to reach the top of the wall.

And the mural project involved more than 100 community members picking up a paint brush and leaving their mark - or more appropriately their brush stroke - on the 2023 McCook Mural. Artists ranged from local youth groups to workers at the SWATS program to those who just showed up at the community paint-in. 

Those volunteers were led by the “Called to the Walls” creator Amber Hansen, along with Darcy Millette. They were joined by local assistant artists Wes McCollam and Karrie Steely and apprentice artists Elizabeth Aguirre, Maria Lopez Campos and Asher Long. Other local artists lent their artist talent including Deonne Hinze, Deb Goodenberger and Lucas Kotschwar.

Hansen said the community turn-out is the most she has seen on of her projects. 

As the project comes to an end, Falkenburg said she is grateful for the community’s support.
“There have been so many generous community members,” Falkenburg said. “From the guy from North Dakota who gave us $20 in April 2022 when we put out the first promotion fliers to donations of food and snacks by Sehnert’s, Poppin’ on the Bricks and several other community members.”

While the McCook Mural is reaching its’ conclusion, the community mural project is not over. Along with creating the mural, the project was also designed for local artists to work alongside the professional muralists, learning about the process and how to make the mural happen. And then those local artists take that knowledge and bring more murals to fruition. So don’t be surprised to see more and more walls in McCook and Southwest Nebraska turning into beautiful murals to tell our stories and simply make our communities brighter, more colorful places to be.