Area Mural Guide expands, thanks to Tourism Council and Humanities Grant

The newly unveiled “Murals of Neosho and Newton County Guide and Descriptive Audio Tour” features seventeen murals. The newest additions are from the communities of Stella and Granby.

According to Steve Roark, president of the Newton County Tourism Council, the group has worked to bring murals to communities across the county for over two decades. This was an effort designed to highlight the historic significance of the county to not only the region but to the state of Missouri.

“The audio descriptions guide viewers through the work using descriptive language while weaving in historical and cultural narratives,” explained Sarah Serio, President of the Neosho Arts Council. The arts council had already created ten guides that have helped make the murals accessible to more members of the community including those that are blind or partially sighted.

The seven newest murals include several that were able to be created thanks to sponsorships from the tourism council. They include “Granby Mining” by Dan McWilliams and “I Remember When” by Sherry Pettey, both of which are located on the exterior of the Granby Mining Museum.

“Everyone has a story and I wanted this painting to convey that,” Pettey said of her work which features a grandfather telling his memories and stories of early lead and zinc mining in the community to his grandson.

“Granby Veterans Mural” by Sandra Pemberton and the sign mural “Grow Granby” by Sydney Angel and Jaclyn Kidd were also added to the guide.

The sign mural features large colorful flora including coneflower, daisies, and dogwood. According to Kidd, the energetic colors and textures provide both a bright backdrop that showcases the simple yet powerful message “Grow Granby” and also allows individuals to draw their own meaning from the phrase.

In the summer of 2021, Grow Granby, a nonprofit economic and community development organization, put out a call for submissions for a sign mural to be painted in downtown Granby. Angel approached her friend, graphic designer Kidd, to collaborate on the bid. After the pair’s proposal was accepted by the organization, Angel began painting the mural on panels in the fall of 2021 at her home in Neosho, MO. Once complete, the panels were transported to Granby and installed in spring 2022.

Three murals located in Stella, MO round out the new additions. Two focus on the Le-Ru Telephone Company and how the advancements in telecommunications arrived in the small community and wove its way through the village’s history.  “Stella Gets Wired” by Pettey and “Telecommunications of Rural America” by McWilliams show historic communication milestones in Stella including the community’s first phone call placed from the Lentz & Carter Mercantile store in 1899.

“The Stella Mural” by Pemberton is a 10 foot by 30 foot rectangular mural with figures outside the rectangle on the left and right edges. These figures frame the history of Stella between some of the community’s most prominent members. Overall, it tells the story of the businesses and citizens who helped make the small village a thriving community.

Pemberton drew inspiration from the Dalbom family who were members of the Stella community for decades. Doris and her late husband Chuck were educators in Stella, raised their family in the village, and later worked to preserve and restore the Lentz-Carter building and saw that it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.  In the mural on the steps of Stella’s United Methodist Church Pemberton placed the Dalbom family. After the mural was completed it was dedicated to the family.

“These additional audio descriptions wouldn’t be possible without Newton County Tourism Council and the grant from Missouri Humanities,” Serio said.

Each mural has an audio guide that is paired with a video element that helps guide viewers through the works. This includes zooming in on specific details and showing specific sections while the audio element explains what viewers are seeing both descriptively and historically.

“Additional information has been included on our website for each mural such as information on their design, images detailing their creation, or historical documents,” Serio said.

Viewers will also be able to access the description transcripts along with high resolution photos, and location details on the arts council’s website, neoshoarts.net. The guide can also be accessed through the tourism council’s website at newtoncountytourism.org

Missouri Humanities is dedicated to enriching lives and strengthening communities by connecting Missourians with the people, places, and ideas that shape our society. It is the only state wide agency in Missouri devoted exclusively to humanities education for citizens of all ages. It has served as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities since 1971.