Community mural marks turning point for Hartford

Three years ago, Hartford was a town divided. A disconnect between the city government and its constituents hampered growth within the town of 3,000 people fifteen miles northwest of Sioux Falls.

Hartford needed a fresh coat of paint, and on Friday morning, residents picked up brushes downtown to deliver one.

By next weekend, the thirty-foot wall belonging to the Hartford Senior Citizen Center and the Siouxland Libraries will be transformed into a colorful depiction of the town’s history and emblematic features, including a street of colorful buildings and a large oak tree sprouting from the pages of a book (the town was called “Oaksville” from 1879-96). Any resident is welcome to take a brush and contribute.

“It’s just coming together to create a project where, three years ago, we couldn’t sit in the same room together,” said Jesse Fonkert, chamber and economic development director for the City of Hartford.

In July of 2015, Hartford city councilors voted to remove the city's economic development director position, a move met with backlash from the community. What followed was a community petition to keep the position (which Fonkert took a year later), an allegedly falsified email, and the resignation of then-Mayor Bill Campbell and some councilors.

But things are different under new leadership. The mural is the city’s latest step in its “downtown revitalization project,” which has brought in a brewery, a boutique, a flower shop and the meshing of the senior citizen center with the library so residents have access to books before 4 p.m. every day.

The mural's planning began in April, when Amber Hansen, an assistant professor at the University of South Dakota, and Nicholas Ward screened “Called to Walls,” their documentary promoting engagement in artistry. After that, the city held meetings where members told stories, wrote poetry and drew pictures to inspire themes for the mural.

“From those meetings and from our own research on Hartford history — several residents were helpful with providing us with information as well — we created a composition,” said Hansen, who’s planned murals in Vermillion (her hometown), Hastings, Joplin, Missouri, and Lawrence, Kansas, just to name a few.

Fonkert and Hansen aimed for inclusiveness, Fonkert said. They sought input from third and fourth graders alongside those who’ve lived in the community for decades.

Hartford is unique in that sense, said Fonkert, a Mobridge native. The proximity to Sioux Falls creates certain “silos” of residents in terms of employment and daily movement, but everyone can still return to a “tight-knit” community at the end of the day.

“We’re growing together, not apart,” Fonkert said. “Those silos are breaking down, and we’re learning more about each other as a community. Creating spaces like this that folks can come to and share creates more community in the future.”