Kilpatrick Art Garage

10 ways the arts saved my community

Why have or even support the Arts?

I have had the opportunity to see firsthand how the arts can impact a small rural community; Helper, Utah.  A community which has been coal and railroad based for the past 100 years.  The coal industry has been declining since the 1980s.  This decline depressed the community’s economy to the point of in 2012 all but 4 store fronts were closed and 80% of the buildings on our registered historic main street were in disrepair.  Helper needed something to happen to rejuvenate and keep the town going into the future.  Here are the top 10 ways art has impacted my small rural community:

1: Art defines a physical space

In 2013 our town went through a total renovation of our infrastructure which included digging up all of main street; one of our artists had the foresight to see the potential of creating a gathering space.  He pulled the other artists together to get their support and then went to city council with his idea.  City council saw the potential of the idea and we now have a wonderful gathering space which not only physically continues to bring the community together but gave them a chance to redesign our landscaping historic main street. 

2: Art can start a dialogue and bring people together

The changes to main street brought the SDAT (Sustainable Design Assessment Team) a team of experts from the American Institute of Architects.  The SDAT team pulled our community together to express and brainstorm what our community needs and what we see ourselves to be and become in the next 10 to 20 years.  The feedback from these community gatherings were collected to give our city a plan to implement.  Without the inspiration of one of our artists we would not have a plan “written” by our community to implement.  

3: Art creates a sense of belonging

There is a sense of pride and belonging when art represents your community.  We have all different types of artists that represent a part of our community within their artwork.  Whether it is a portrait of a prominent community member, a landscape painting of our beautiful geological formations, or figurative work of the railroad and mining industry these artworks give pride and belonging to our community.  The sense of belonging has also drawn others to our community to live and take part in our excitement

4: Art helps with neighborhood beautification

As we have enhanced our main street the community has started to transform to its former glory.  We have experienced a domino effect in our community as main street has become more and more beautiful, more and more yards and businesses have been cleaned up and beautified.  Everyone wants to be a part of the transformation of the community.

5: Art increases business and drives economic development

In the early 90s, the town was found by a university professor on his way to teach a summer plein air class.  On main street a large building was for sale by the city he and four other artists went in and purchased the building.  For years classes and workshops were taught in and around that building.  These classes drew artists to the area to live and purchase studio and gallery space on main street.  Without the purchase of studio and gallery space numerous buildings on main street would be empty and some abandoned.

6: Art brings tourism

The Artists and the art they have created have brought tourism to our community by opening up galleries, hosting workshops and festivals, supporting longtime events and creating new events.  We have numerous nationally and some internationally known artists.  These artists have a following that pulls collectors to our community to not only buy art of those artists they follow but new artists’ work, as well as eat and shop other items in our community.  

7: Art is inspired by community and reflects the community back and documents the communities’ history

When a community faces numerous economic ups and downs over time it starts to create wear and tear on the community morale and pride.  As morale decreases hope also begins to diminish and when that occurs a community becomes blind to the communities’ worth.   Within the past 4 years an artist in the community has decided to create a project that collects the histories and paint the portraits of the community.  Often the individuals are surprised someone wants to record what they have to say and an artist would want to paint their portrait.  This acknowledgement increases pride in both themselves and the community as a whole.  This project is so well received the openings bring a cross community group together to discuss the “old times”, laugh at the stories, and remember how they are related to each other.  

8: Art creates a sense of pride and gives community something to share with others

Artists are different from others in that we see the beauty in items, experiences, and landscape that others may not.  When a community loses hope they forget the beauty that is around them and the beauty that is the community.  Artists are able to see that beauty and pull it into the artwork they make.  The artwork reminds the community of that beauty and re-instills a sense of pride that the community begins to share with each other and those outside of the community.

9: Art entertains and brings joy to community

Twenty-five years ago, the earliest artists of the area started an Art Festival that has brought fun, joy, and tourism dollars to the community.  The community looks forward to this summer event every year.  Another event that is artistic in nature is the Christmas Light Parade with an art and craft fair, another event that the community looks forward too.  Other events and activities have been created because of the excitement these events bring.  We now have a film festival, State Poet Laureate events, Helper City Poet Laureate events, State Symphony and Opera events, and First Fridays. 

10: Art encourages creative problem solving

In recent years money has been tight for our rural community with mineral right leases on the decline and closers of coal mines and coal-based power plants.  These events hit the community two-fold with less money coming into the community as well as job loss.   Art in itself is creative and urges all around it to think beyond the norm. Rather than raise taxes local officials are finding other ways to bring money and industry into our community. Philanthropists are finding our small town through the arts and have fallen in love with our town bringing their money to rehabilitate buildings and pull other business to our main street. Tourists have followed the art and are pulling off the highway to spend time and money in our town.  Organizations see how much we believe in our community and want to invest in our town.  The Arts are a “yellow brick road” bringing hope, investment, and continued pride to our small community.

In the heyday of the coal mining industry there were 27 different languages spoken in Helper.  This diversity has given Helper a rich history and wonderful stories. This diversity of community and history attracted artists to the area and in turn the arts have been a large part of the revitalization of the community.  Art is essential to the health and happiness of our communities.  Without the Arts Helper would be a ghost town like many towns in rural America.  As the economy changes moving us away from certain industries the Arts has given us hope, industry, and increased funding.  Art has and will continue to be imperative to our communities’ survival.