Staci Beauford and Audrey Sayles are the artists behind Some Girls and a Mural, transforming grain elevators and other rural landmarks into large-scale works of public art. Their work celebrates agriculture, patriotism and small-town America.
One of their most recognizable works appears on the cover of this issue. Painted over seven days in October 2021 at the Flagler Cooperative Association in Flagler, Colorado, the more than 100-foot mural featuring the American flag and the words “In God We Trust” has become a defining landmark for the community.
The design grew from conversations with the Flagler Cooperative about what the elevator should represent. “We were talking about what a flag says by itself,” Sayles said. As those discussions evolved, the nation’s official motto became part of the design, creating a mural that reflects the character and values of the community it serves.
Beauford said painting their first grain elevator mural revealed something they hadn’t anticipated. “We didn’t realize that the ag story needed to be told through art,” she said. “We didn’t know that until we painted our first grain elevator.”
Since then, the artists have completed more than 150 murals on grain elevators, wind turbine blades, schools, libraries and community buildings. Their long-term initiative, Paint the Plains, is to create a trail of painted grain elevators celebrating the communities, history and agricultural heritage of the Great Plains. Beauford describes the towering structures as the “lighthouses of the prairie,” landmarks that define a community’s skyline and deserve to tell its story.
For Sayles, the murals are about far more than paint and design. Her favorite part of the work is “getting to meet people, hear their stories and have the opportunity to tell them,” she said.
That philosophy continues to shape every project, turning familiar agricultural landmarks into enduring tributes to the people and places they represent.
Learn more about Some Girls and a Mural, see their amazing work and learn more the Paint the Plains initiative at www.somegirlsandamural.com.