Across almost every window in Baker’s downtown were splashes of red, white, and blue paint for the big 250th celebration. For nearly a month, each time you’d drive up Main Street, you could see a new addition on a window, a small piece in a larger collection. Most days, you could find one of the artists hard at work. Some pieces took days, while others appeared overnight. With each new painting, anticipation grew to see what Main Street would look like when they were done. The outward display of American pride was infectious, and that’s exactly what SMART intended.

But what does window painting have to do with economic development - what did we really accomplish besides making the town look pretty? It’s a fair question. When we think about economic development, we picture heavy-hitting projects - like recruiting major companies to expand in our town or building colleges to train the next generation of the workforce. That’s the Michelin-Star meal that every community pines for, and while we would all love to have Beef Wellington prepared by Gordon Ramsay, if we skip every meal waiting for that one dinner, we will surely starve.

Research shows that beautification has a direct, positive impact on increasing visitation and revenue for businesses. If infrastructure projects are Michelin-Star meals, beautification is Southern soul food. Murals, pocket parks, lighting, greenery, wayfinding- this is where the magic happens that gives communities life! Although temporary, the window paintings made everyone who drove through downtown feel something, and that feeling was unique to Baker. It's the same feeling that makes people passing through turn into visitors who stop and shop. If each business had only one extra customer per day that stopped and spent $30 over the course of the month, that would equal $9,000 in revenue that didn’t exist before - because of window paintings!

**"It was a lot of work, but I would definitely do it again"**

*-Shanya Stoddard*

To celebrate the 250th, we knew we needed to do something big. The United States only turns 250 once, after all! In the past, the Baker Chamber of Commerce used to lead the charge on painting the windows on Baker’s Main Street. Although the tradition was not forgotten, it has been a long time since an organized attempt was made. Very quickly, the theme became apparent: we needed to celebrate the things that made the “Great Experiment” successful in Fallon County; the veterans who fought for our freedoms, the great historical figures (both local and nationwide) who forged the path forward, the unique history of Fallon County, and, of course, we had to include a category for the 250th itself! The catalyst that made SMART’s vision possible was the Montana 250 Commission. Their generous sponsorship funded the majority of the window art, with the last leg being made possible by the community’s support during our Pancake Breakfast fundraiser.

That’s where our artists come in. Shanya Stoddard was the first to step forward, and she had already been painting the windows on Main Street for different festivities. Originally, the list of windows we had was much smaller, but Stoddard had a vision. She spoke to more businesses, adding to the list, and recruited more artists of all age ranges to turn her vision into reality. They worked in the rain, heat, wind, day and night throughout June to get the paintings done in time. These artists did something that nothing else could have; they made us feel. We felt pride in our community, our country, and our history. We felt excitement for the 250th - for the connection to our town. And their work paid off; Baker had one of the best turnouts for the 4th of July in years!