Helper, Utah And The Mysteries Of Community: Part 2 “Art As Caring”

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With the downturn of the coal mines in the 70s and 80s came a period of economic decline for Helper, Utah. The town was starting to look a little shabby, so proud residents Neida Garcia and Lois Giordano took it upon themselves to spruce things up a bit. They started planting flowers on Main Street with a hunch that caring would beget caring. They were right. Every business on Main Street wanted to be a part of it, and pretty soon there were pots of flowers outside every storefront. But it didn’t stop there. 

One day in the 80s, artists Dave Dornan and Marilou Kundmueller finally pulled off the freeway and onto Helper’s Main Street after one of their many trips to southern Utah for artist workshops. They had long been dreaming of hosting their own workshops, and when they passed a building for sale Marilou said, “wouldn’t it be nice to have a building like this?” Dave and Marilou bought the old Hotel Utah and began hosting artist workshops while also working on their own art. Some Helper residents were skeptical until they began to see the results of these artists’ caring. The restoration of the building improved the aesthetic of Helper and the workshops brought much-needed life to this sleepy town.

In this episode, you will hear how Dave Dornan’s artwork is inseparable from this story. He’s not interested in finding the beauty in things that are decidedly valuable but in finding “the beauty in something that could become valuable.” Through painting an old useless carburetor he breathes new life into it. Through picking and painting a rose from Chris Diamanti’s incredible rose garden, he turns the retired miner’s caring into an icon through his own form of caring: art. And this is the story of Helper, Utah; caring begets caring. 

Soon other artists started to realize that Helper could allow them to pursue their careers in a place where they could really be a part of a community. One of the many artists to follow Dave and Marilou’s lead was Kate Kilpatrick. Inspired by people’s coal mining and railroading stories, Kate began painting portraits of Helper’s residents as a way to remember these individuals and their stories. This process developed into her “Faces of Helper” series, which has seen six installments so far, and which truly bridges worlds, uniting Helper’s coal mining and railroading past with its new economy based on the arts and tourism. 

Kate’s work reminds us that none of this would even be possible without Helper’s unique story. Each face immortalized on canvas holds nostalgia for the good times in their smile lines, coal dust and worries over union rations in their forehead wrinkles. 

Take a listen to find out how artists helped the town shift to a new economy, buoyed always by Helper’s story, forging a new chapter of community, built solidly on the old.