Among the many hands of the Faribault community, painted in a mural. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
WHAT ARE WE without community? The answer: alone.
We, at our very core, need each other. In times of celebration. In times of challenges. Even in times of great division. Without friends, family, neighbors and others, we are but individuals without community.
This mural was painted for and placed outside the Congregational Church in Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
And in Faribault, among the many murals adorning public spaces in the downtown area, one piece of art stands out as representing community. That is a free-standing mural placed on the west side of the Congregational Church of Faribault United Church of Christ this past summer. It seems an appropriate focal point to end 2025 and begin the new year.
The artwork, created by Shirley Rainey and her son Jason, features outstretched arms rising from the earth against a backdrop red heart and blue sky. “The mural represents the importance of coming together to share burdens and triumphs, while reaching for our highest selves,” Rainey said in an artist’s statement.
Henna painted on a hand reflects Somali culture. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
I see that in the mural. But I also see a community of diversity. The Raineys show that in assorted skin tones, clothing, hand sizes and even henna painted on a hand. I love that about this art, this intentional, varied depiction of Faribault as it is—gloriously diverse.
That said, I am well aware of the racial tension (and that’s a tamped down word) in my community. I wish it didn’t exist, that we all got along, welcomed and embraced one another. We are, after all, just people who live, love, work, play, laugh, cry… The list of commonalities we share as humans goes on and on. Yes, we are different, too. But differences seen as negative, those we create.
The diverse hands of Faribault, up close, in the new community mural. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo December 2025)
We can learn from that church painting. We can choose to love one another, as portrayed in the over-sized backdrop red heart. We can stand side-by-side and raise our hands to help one another. We can see, in those arms stretched skyward, the possibilities in building community. In that blue sky, we can envision not only our personal dreams, but the dreams of all who call Faribault home.
Faribault is a multi-cultural community, always has been. From early settlement days to today, people have come here from around the world to start anew. Whether French, Irish, German, Scandinavian, Latino, Asian, Sudanese, Somalian or any of many other ethnicities, this place has become home. We can choose to create community or not.
I hope in 2026 that Faribault can build a better, stronger, more unified community which celebrates our commonalities, and our differences.
Posted at the Congregational Church, UCC, located at 227 Third Street Northwest, Faribault, Minnesota. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo June 2020.
AS I PONDERED TODAY’S POST, even considered not writing one because I feel overwhelmed and emotionally drained from the events of January 6 inside our nation’s Capitol, I remembered messages I photographed back in June.
These messages, in the light of recent events in America (this week and in the past year, especially), seem more important than ever. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo June 2020.
The messages, posted on the side of the historic Congregational Church of Faribault United Church of Christ, are worth our focus. They are a reminder that we, as human beings, can strive to protect, care for, forgive, share, embrace and love.
We all need to look within ourselves but also look through the windows of others. Here I aim my camera up at the historic UCC in Faribault. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo June 2020.
We can choose those actions over destruction, neglect, animosity, selfishness, separation and hate.
We can open the doors to better days by the choices we make. Some day I want to tour this church, to see the beauty therein in stained glass and more. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo June 2020.
The many facets of this window create a beautiful piece of art, a metaphor as it applies to people. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo June 2020.
The historic steeple of Faribault’s UCC. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo June 2020.
I feel such sadness, mixed with hope, over all that has transpired in recent days. I sense that most Americans, including me, will now hold a deeper appreciation for democracy. For freedom. Perhaps we (or at least I) have become too complacent.
A historic marker tells the history of this aged church. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo June 2020.
It would do us all good to review the suggestions posted at Faribault’s Congregational Church. To reflect. And then to put into practice those very basic principles of common decency and kindness. And to remember that what we think, say and write, and how we act, matters. Just like it did in 1776.
The impressive Congregational Church, Faribault United Church of Christ. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo June 2020.
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Reflections on diversity & growing community in Faribault December 30, 2025
Tags: art, commentary, community, Congregational Church of Faribault United Church of Christ, diversity, Faribault, Jason Rainey, Minnesota, multi-cultural community, mural, painting, reflections, Shirley Rainey
WHAT ARE WE without community? The answer: alone.
We, at our very core, need each other. In times of celebration. In times of challenges. Even in times of great division. Without friends, family, neighbors and others, we are but individuals without community.
And in Faribault, among the many murals adorning public spaces in the downtown area, one piece of art stands out as representing community. That is a free-standing mural placed on the west side of the Congregational Church of Faribault United Church of Christ this past summer. It seems an appropriate focal point to end 2025 and begin the new year.
The artwork, created by Shirley Rainey and her son Jason, features outstretched arms rising from the earth against a backdrop red heart and blue sky. “The mural represents the importance of coming together to share burdens and triumphs, while reaching for our highest selves,” Rainey said in an artist’s statement.
I see that in the mural. But I also see a community of diversity. The Raineys show that in assorted skin tones, clothing, hand sizes and even henna painted on a hand. I love that about this art, this intentional, varied depiction of Faribault as it is—gloriously diverse.
That said, I am well aware of the racial tension (and that’s a tamped down word) in my community. I wish it didn’t exist, that we all got along, welcomed and embraced one another. We are, after all, just people who live, love, work, play, laugh, cry… The list of commonalities we share as humans goes on and on. Yes, we are different, too. But differences seen as negative, those we create.
We can learn from that church painting. We can choose to love one another, as portrayed in the over-sized backdrop red heart. We can stand side-by-side and raise our hands to help one another. We can see, in those arms stretched skyward, the possibilities in building community. In that blue sky, we can envision not only our personal dreams, but the dreams of all who call Faribault home.
Faribault is a multi-cultural community, always has been. From early settlement days to today, people have come here from around the world to start anew. Whether French, Irish, German, Scandinavian, Latino, Asian, Sudanese, Somalian or any of many other ethnicities, this place has become home. We can choose to create community or not.
I hope in 2026 that Faribault can build a better, stronger, more unified community which celebrates our commonalities, and our differences.
© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling