By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News

As the Helper Art, Music and Film festival was preparing to kick off on Thursday, Aug. 14, local leaders and art fanatics joined together outside of the Rio Theatre for the unveiling of ‘Abandon’ by artist Alexandra Fuller.

“I think there’s a misconception that art only belongs to city folk, and I’m super grateful for Carbon County for fostering the opportunity to prove that to be a very outdated and misguided thought,” said Fuller. “I’m driving past this corridor all the time. And, like probably everyone else driving by, I just got really curious about all the sidelined or abandoned rail cars sitting there.”

Fuller continued,” I started doing a lot of research and poking around areas more and more. And what this is, is an intimate relationship between landscape and humans, but as the world moves away from it, I think all of us should honor and recognize the time that came before.”

The piece features a photograph of a line of abandoned train cars with a poem – also created by Fuller – inscribed within the cars. A recording of this poem mixed by Kenny Driggs is also available for listening here.

The installation was funded through the Carbon County Office of Tourism’s Public Art Grant. “This program is intended to increase the number of public art displayed throughout Carbon County,” reads the program overview. “The ultimate goal is to be able to organize a Public Art Tour map within Carbon County and support our communities in beautifying their areas.”

The grant, which is funded through the county’s restaurant tax, has previously gone to projects such as a faux saloon front located next to Gateway Lanes.

Also speaking at the ribbon cutting was artist Kirk Mascaro, whose 2010 piece ‘Star Dancing’ has been on display at the Rio since 2010. “‘Star Dancing’ basically represents the pride and respect and history in Helper. Not just in the past, but forever.

Both pieces are available to view at Helper’s Rio Theatre, located at 210 South Main Street in Helper.