BRAZIL - The 2024 Clay County Community Tours are taking place again this year, but there is a small change. To showcase the various ways communities are being impacted by the Wabash Valley Community Foundation grant opportunities; each tour will focus on how the program is helping individualized needs.
The tour was organized locally and focused on major projects already completed in the area and the new mural to be completed at Bedwell Tires.
First Stop - Bedwell Tires - With the current mural on the building, an Eagle Scout Project from many years ago, experiencing the ravages of time, a new one will be done over the summer.
Second Stop - A&B Farmhouse Mural - Tour Guide Andy Stone explained the meaning of the mural on the side of his business, which Indiana Arts Commission Executive Director Miah Michaelsen said was a wonderful homage to the past and present history of the community in a mural; “A trip worth seeing.”
Third Stop - Ascension St. Vincent Clay Hospital Inside & Courtyard - The hospital staff, who believe they are a family unit working for the community, were proud to show off the mural and the statue in the courtyard, talking about the people featured in the displays connection to Brazil.
Fourth Stop - Chafaris Dos Cornos Fountain at Forest Park - Stone provided the tourists with a small history and a fun fact about some officials looking into the possibility of taking a trip to Brazil South America to return in favor a “friendship gift.”
The fifth and final stop of the tour was at the Community Theatre of Clay County, which is undergoing renovations.
Michaelsen said she was excited the tour program was based in the community theatre Wednesday evening, explaining that when people have a good quality of life, they are invested in their communities and their town.
“Used to be people believed people went where the jobs were,” said Michaelsen. ““But research has shown, jobs come to communities where people have a high quality of life.”
Arts in a community is a mutually beneficial relationship, playing a vital role in inspiring and uniting, and even fostering a sense of belonging and a strong, proud collective identity among community residents.
Michaelsen encouraged Brazil to capitalize on what they already have and reach for the future with a “little outside the box creative thinking” to bring the arts into the community.
“You have a question, an idea and need help,” she said. “That’s what I am here for.”