Arapahoe Adds a Mural to Downtown
Launch the media gallery 1 playerWatch the video of the mural creation here.
During the summer of 2020, Arapahoe invited two college students to come live, work and serve in the community through the Fellows Program hosted by Rural Futures Institute, now called Rural Prosperity Nebraska. During the ten weeks that Megan Tofflemire of Wayne State College and Aline Abayo of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln were in Arapahoe, they worked on a variety of projects. One project that arose during their time was the idea to implement a mural to add color and art to downtown Arapahoe. The ladies presented the idea to the City Council and began working on the idea.
Megan and Aline looked into a couple artist options and determined that Impact Art, a non-profit art business out of Kearney, would be fit to do the job. The next several weeks were used to brainstorm ideas from community members and the Impact Art team. There were many incredible designs so the design was put up to a community vote, and voters chose a design that said "Welcome to Arapahoe, Where the Hi-Ways Meet" in a bubble letter format.
Over Halloween weekend, Impact Art started on the design and were done by November 7th. This design, created by Impact Art and modified by a couple community leaders, depicts several areas of the community including the school, agriculture, the library, businesses, youth and more. The design is featured on the south side of the Senior Citizen's Center, a large wall that creates a unique central location for many to see.
A huge thank you is in order to everyone who made this possible including our artists, Impact Art, our Rural Prosperity Nebraska (formerly RFI) student fellows who proposed the idea, the City of Arapahoe City Council for being supportive, those who contributed design ideas, and the community for all the support and compliments!
Now let's see some photos of you with your family and friends in front of the mural and tell us why you love Arapahoe, Nebraska! Tag us and use our hashtag.