HUMBOLDT — The message is spreading: “Life is fine in Humboldt.”
In fact, after hearing of the many downtown projects, Manhattan muralists Taylor Carr and Jess Kerr contacted Josh Works and A Bolder Humboldt about a possible project.
The two are painting a mural in a pocket park in downtown.
“Something like this lifts people’s imaginations to what is possible in a community,” Kerr said.
Kerr said she’s seen a sort of revival in small towns since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, by people wanting to make their homes and communities more inviting.
“Humboldt is kind of trail-blazing for Kansas and for the Midwest. The word on the street is you gotta get here,” Kerr said.
Their mission fits nicely with the work being done.
Art, they said, brings a community together. It’s a collaborative effort that inspires people to invest in their community and each other.
Carr is a graphic designer. Kerr works in community development. They started painting murals together about a year ago, beginning with a mural of Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Manhattan. They’ve also worked on a community project in Clay Center.
“We really like working with small towns to put art in spaces that bring people together and create energy,” Carr said. “When you create that space, it gets things moving.”
Every community has bigger issues, Kerr and Carr said. Leaders want to address important problems like food insecurity and housing. Art works as a visual reminder of the beautiful things that can happen when people come together and take care of each other.
“When you put art in a community, other things happen. People donate to causes that reinvigorate and give back to the local community,” Kerr said. “The more you energize in one area, it kind of carries the whole system.”
THE POCKET park in Humboldt has its own backstory.
In 2019, it was the site of a beer garden during Water Wars. It’s also been the location of an anniversary party for Joe and Janie Works, and has hosted food trucks.
Josh Works recently decided to move Frost Bite Shave Ice into a food truck, rather than its previous location in a brick and mortar building that needs repair. Delivery of the food truck has been delayed, but the hope is to be up and running sometime in July.
