Last summer, while retrieving my daily mug of coffee, I watched the mural on the side of Sunshine Coffeehouse go from sketch to completion, thinking in my head every morning — how can we get on the mural project list?

That prospect was not even on my mind this spring when Morgan Williams, Cassville Area Chamber of Commerce director, asked us if we would like to donate the west side of our building for a mural.

As I have told anyone who’s asked me about it, we could not say yes fast enough.

The Cassville Summer School art program, under the direction of Fine Arts Teacher Teall Williams, completed murals in 2023 on the east side of Sunshine’s building, and on the west side of the SWMO Restore and Builds building facing 7th Street.

Those murals are most visible for those going west on East 14th Street, especially during Eunice Thomas Elementary school pickup hours, and for those going east on East 7th Street, which will see much more use in the future when the city completes the vehicular bridge replacement into Cassville City Park.

The placement of the mural on our building is a little more visible. Those going north on Main Street past the Highway 112/248 light would be hard pressed to miss the swath of deep red paint bleeding into a skyline of Cassville’s Main Street (from our office to Tomblin’s), and the sunset blend at the top of the wall.

Centered in the mural is the word “Cassville” in all capital letters, within which are painted scenes of Roaring River State Park, tying together the city and the park in an engaging and eye-catching way that has already produced photo opportunities for passersby.

Work on the mural started the week after the windstorm that has displaced us from our office for more than a month now. As I would stop in the office each day to rotate fans to dry our carpet or check messages, I would check in on the mural’s progress.

I was not the only one. If you were southbound on Main Street and trying to turn left on East 6th Street, you were waiting a while. Northbound drivers were in full rubberneck mode, or hitting a visual speed bump, slowing down to the pace of the Memories Cruise a few weeks ago as they gazed at the project as long as they could.

Williams and the students said often while they were working, cars would honk and waive, or shout praises for the job they were doing. In the last week of the project, as the heat picked up, community members also pitched in to bring the muralists Sonic drinks every day.

For nearly four weeks now, most of my conversations with people in public have, at one point or another, focused on the mural and how great it looked.

The praise is warranted. TV news even made their way to town last week to film a piece on the work.

It brings Jordan and I great excitement and joy to be able to not only give Cassville student artists a place to display their talents, but also to promote the city and our tourism advantages all in one.

The art program is up to four murals now, including the three I’ve mentioned and another new piece this year on the north-facing wall of a building at Harvick Farms on Highway 112.

Soon, there will be another tie-in with the murals and the city. No timeline has been fully established, but plans are in the works to hide a color-matched item in each of the works. Themed additions like a Wildcat logo or fishing pole will be placed on each mural, then visitors or locals will have an opportunity to earn discounts at local businesses by visiting a certain number of murals or finding a certain number of embedded items.

The goal of the scavenger hunt-esque additions is in line with ones Cassville has set in the past — lure visitors up the hill to spend their cash at our businesses.

It makes Jordan and I exceptionally proud to be even a small part of this effort. I’m not much of a painter, let alone a muralist. But, I feel grateful and blessed to be in a position to contribute to a project that should last at least 50 years and bring great pride and joy to the artists, residents of Cassville and visitors to the city.

Thanks for this are due to Morgan, who worked with Teall and myself to coordinate the planning and completion of the mural; to Teall, for working long hours with her students to get the job done so beautifully; and to the all-female student artist group of Savannah Crawford, Maggie Akers, Tomi Blankenship, Joei Blankenship, Rose Love, Brooklyn Krallman and Lydia Cupps for their sweating through the days to give Cassville another piece of art and pride.

Congratulations on a job well done!

Kyle Troutman has served as editor of the Cassville Democrat since 2014 and owner/publisher
since 2023. He was named William E. James/Missouri Outstanding Young Journalist for daily newspapers in 2017, and he is a two-time ISWNE Golden Dozen award winner. He may be reached at 417-8472610 or ktroutman@cassville-democrat. com.