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Downtown mural becomes community effort...

When a community comes together a lot can get done and that’s exactly what Jane Kalmbach has been experiencing.

10/01/19 (Tue)

Business wall becomes artist’s canvas . . . Jane Kalmbach paints one of two murals in downtown Kenmare on Thursday despite the threat of rain. The mural is a blowing dandelion on the back wall of Essler Insurance. The second one will be a group of poppies with a saying on the south wall of Peony Petals, just behind Kalmbach in the photo.

By Marvin Baker

When a community comes together a lot can get done and that’s exactly what Jane Kalmbach has been experiencing.

Kalmbach, a well known local artist secured a grant from the North Dakota Council on the Arts  to paint two murals in downtown Kenmare.

But she needed help and got it in a big way.

The idea was first mentioned by deputy city auditor Kinzie Jensen during a meeting with members of the North Dakota Department of Commerce last summer in Kenmare.

Someone from the Commerce Department told someone they knew on the Council on the Arts, according to Kalmbach, and the next thing she knew, she received an email from the Council on the Arts, saying they could help secure grant money and there wouldn’t be any local costs.

That seemed like a great idea so she and Jensen put together a proposal, asked some businesses if they would be interested and presented it to the city council for its approval.

But that’s only the beginning of the help Kalmbach has received.

The east wall of Essler Insurance had to be repainted so Kalmbach put the word out and 13 people showed up to help paint the wall.

It included little kids who painted the lower part of the wall, Jensen who had a direct hand in securing the grant and police officer Chris Almlie who helped paint and shined the lights of his squad car onto the wall so the painting could get finished before it got too dark.

A group of a dozen fifth-graders showed up one day to help with some of the prep work and vo-ag students were also there, cleaning up a tree that had to be removed.

“It’s the school, it’s the city, it’s the whole community,” Kalmbach said. “It’s really nice.”

According to Kalmbach, this is the second go-round of the mural idea.

Last year the south side of the Kenmare Clinic was an ideal location to paint murals. Kalmbach had three designs but later abandoned the idea. She would also like to consider the south wall of Wheels & Meals.

“It was really a fast turnaround. We were approved in about a week,” she said. “I do want to meet with the clinic board and I might be doing something like this in Flaxton.”

On Thursday she started on the mural, which is a dandelion blowing in the wind. The second mural will be poppies with a saying.

Jerry Essler, the owner of Essler Insurance, was certainly on board when Kalmbach asked him, as was Tami Chrest of Peony Petals.

“When you come down Division Street, it’s right here,” she said. “I love that the two are right here. I think they will work off each other.” ... Read EVERY WORD on EVERY PAGE of The Kenmare News by subscribing--online or in print!