![]() "We've done it all here in McKinney, Texas." "We were the blue jean capital of the world at one point." More Mayoral pride. "We were the lollipop capital," Mayor Fuller points out, with pride. There once was a flour mill, a cotton mill. McKinney's economy is diverse: it includes Raytheon, a big copper wire company, hospitals, tech. "We saw this as a tremendous opportunity" the mayor says. Mayor George Fuller and other town leaders think the silos could bring together McKinney's white, Black and Hispanic population. It sits some 30 miles from Dallas, off Highway 5 - once the main way to go north or south. Mostly Republican, with lots of civic pride. Its population jumped from 35,000 to 210,000 in just a few years. For McKinney the theme is "Community." The town is changing. The muralist has themes for his silo art: public housing, education, desegregation. "People interacting," he says, "and moving and walking. Van Helten's Texas mural shows several McKinneyans at a town celebration of Juneteenth. And by painting some with strong, evocative images, he's made them literal signs of home. They stand for safe-keeping, sustenance, security. Photos of his project prompt thoughts about silos. "I meet people, try to get a bit of character of the place." He sorts through hundreds of black and white photos, "seeing which ones will fit the space." And then he chooses maybe 20 pictures, and combines parts of them, to paint on a 90-foot high silo. Van Helten starts by interviewing and photographing residents. Now, the silo's eight canisters introduce passers-by (and locals) to the spirit and people of the place. The latest - in McKinney, Texas - stored grain once. ![]() He often turns to old, abandoned silos in small towns. He's made them canvases for giant murals in Iowa, Arkansas, Finland, Jordan, Denmark and his native Australia. But artist Guido van Helten is obsessed with them. ![]()
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