An inside look at the group behind Newton’s murals

The community crew, started by Constance Gehring and Curtis Stubbs in 2017, is working in a variety of places around Newton to "feed other people."

There was a blank wall on the east side of the Stubbs building at 526 N. Main. To the community, it was relatively insignificant, but to Constance Gehring, it was the perfect opportunity to spread art. In 2017, Gehring went to the building’s owner, Curtis Stubbs, and asked if he had ever considered creating a mural for that wall. 

In the search for funding, Gehring and Stubbs acquired grants from the Rotary Club, Volunteer Kansas, and an unnamed private donor. Leroy Koehn and Regier Construction donated supplies, and Raymond Olais, a Newton High School art teacher, helped create the design. NHS Art Club members volunteered as painters, each constructing unique sunflower designs  The mural was completed in October of 2018, but this was the beginning of a greater endeavor. 

The Eagle Mural, completed in late summer of 2019 at 526 N. Main, was done by the NMAP group — Photo courtesy of Newton Murals and Arts Project

What started as a call for a single mural grew into Newton’s thriving Murals and Arts Project (NMAP). Gehring and Stubbs created this group under Harvey Arts Connect with the goal of producing one mural every year and a mission to “add murals for the purpose of creating beauty in the community which benefits everyone,” according to Gehring.

Gehring is now the project’s organizer and treasurer. “Newton was an open canvas,” said Gehring. With that in mind, this group has set out to bring life and artistic vitality to the Newton community. 

Since its inception, NMAP has created four community murals and four larger project murals. That includes the Newton Historical Mural – a three-year endeavor that was finally installed in January of 2022. 

“We are ecstatic that we were able to give the Community of Newton, KS this mural designed to ‘Capture & Communicate Newton's Unique History,’” said the NMAP website.

A cheerful crew of volunteers pose with the in-progress Sunflower mural — Photo courtesy of Newton Murals and Arts Project

NMAP is also working to further community art while maintaining social awareness. On national Indigenous People’s day, the group implemented a land acknowledgment statement. 

“We are excited about each mural we do. It’s a mind puzzle to take it from conception into physical reality,” said Gehring. 

NMAP volunteers are now working on restoring the downtown Imagineers mural. The project has roughly fifty community volunteers. 

“We are only successful if we’re a part of a group, and it takes the community being interested and participating for anything to happen,” said Gehring. It is the group’s goal to be accessible to the community for both enjoyment and participation in order to provide an outlet for artistic expression.