CABOT — Sarah Wells, an artist from Cabot, said that as a result of the pandemic and other obstacles this year, 2020 has felt “like a dumpster fire” for many people, or a year to forget. She said she hopes that by creating and painting a large-scale mural for the city, she “can bring a little cheer and joy back to this year.”
Wells is putting the finishing touches on her first large outside mural on the building at 119 N. Adams St. The mural, titled “Holy Cow,” is part of the Cabot Foundation for Arts and Culture. John Rudd, president of the foundation, said the mural serves as “a tip of the hat to our local farmers and our community, along with our long history of farming.”
“It turned out much better than we thought or anticipated,” Rudd said.
“The owner of the building was on board way early on in the design process, and she asked for it to feature a cow scene,” Wells said. “I had to do something modern and fun that would make people want to come here and see it.
“Murals really do help with the economic tourism factor. I wanted to brainstorm on how we could fit that in with Cabot and something the community would be proud of.”
The mural features the face of a black-and-white cow that is surrounded by several large yellow honeycombs with honeybees intertwined in the combs. Wells said she is still putting the finishing touches on the wings of the bees, but the mural is nearly complete.
Rudd said the Cabot Advertising and Promotion Commission has helped fund the murals in Cabot. He said the commission has been a huge supporter from the start, and “we want to make sure they get the proper credit for making this possible.”
Wells said her family had a dairy farm in the 1950s, and she thought, “This was a cool way to take a new spin.”
“The Cabot Meat Market (where the mural is located) and the feed store across the street really are staples in our community,” she said. “I really wanted to try to honor our background and those businesses.”
Rudd, who has lived in Cabot for more than 20 years, said, “This type of progress in Cabot is a huge step in uniting and promoting community through the advancement of art.”
“It allows for others to get out and visit with the artists and talk about how this painting connects with them. We have found some pretty good stories that way.”
Wells said she has been a part of the foundation for about a year, when the organization started inviting people to create artwork behind the parking lot of the Cabot Police Department. She said the spaces are about 2 to 3 feet tall and 4 feet wide.
“[John and other members of the foundation] gave me one and then a second one, and I just did them so quickly,” she said. “They said they had this pole at the end of the walk, which they wanted painted as a pencil, so I did that.
“I have been participating in their meetings and trying to get more involved, so we started this conversation on doing one of the larger murals.”
Wells said this is her first large-scale mural, but she has done murals for her church and for one of the elementary schools when she was in college. Wells is originally from Cabot, having graduated from Cabot High School in 2002 and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. She works for the Division of Arkansas Heritage as a website developer. She took the week off to complete the mural.
“That’s really a lot of what our mission is for our department,” she said. “It is economic growth for the state and local communities. … For me, it is an extension of what I do daily, which is promotional items and updating our website. This mural was very much in my wheelhouse, and I got the opportunity to do something in more of a personal capacity.”
Wells said the murals give people something to be proud of, and the artworks provide an iconic feature in town, “where visitors will want to come, take pictures and spend money at the local restaurants or shops — so there is an economic drive there as well,” she said. “[Murals] also present more community and a place for people to gather to take photographs.
“It is a sense of community.”
Wells said she has loved art ever since she was a kid, including going through the art program at Cabot High School. She is excited to see the progress of the mural.
“Eventually, I would like to talk to kids about art because when I was young, I had big dreams of impacting the community around me and making my mark,” Wells said. “It is important to me to inspire newer, younger people to do that as well.
“I really enjoy the kids. I had my nieces and nephews helping me with the smaller murals, and having the kids get excited about it was special. Art is more important than some people believe, and it enriches everybody’s life.”
For more information, visit cabotar.com.