TOPEKA – Humanities Kansas recently awarded $9,375 to the Seward County Historical Society in Liberal to support “Rethinking Downtown Vacancies.” JoAnne Mansell serves as project director.

Historical photos of Liberal’s downtown buildings will be pulled from the archives and transformed by local printmakers into large-format images. These will be applied to both vacant and occupied windows in the downtown corridor of Liberal. Each image will include a link to the historical society’s archives and the unique history of that building. Both pedestrians and commuters will soon be connected to the community’s history and the historical society any time they visit downtown.

“The humanities help us understand who we were and where the future might take us,“ said Julie Mulvihill, Humanities Kansas Executive Director. “This project will start conversations among Liberal residents about the community’s history and the possibilities for the future of their downtown.”

The concept for this project was created through a partnership with the Seward County Development Corporation. Executive Director, Eli Svaty, had this to say about the grant. “Efforts are underway to create a downtown experience in Liberal that capitalizes on the thousands of people who pass through it each day. While this project won’t immediately fill all the empty store fronts, it will give people another reason to visit our downtown. Rural communities across Kansas are looking for ways to revitalize their own spaces; this project can make Liberal a model for the rest of the state.”

For more information :

Phone: 620-624-7624