Mural spruces up downtown Kasson

Carson Borgstrom isn’t delivering pizzas this summer as she has in the past. Instad, she’s painting a 60-foot fence mural on Main Street in downtown Kasson.
“It’s more of a hobby than anything else,” Borgstrom said of her efforts. “My dad always says, ‘Don’t make what you love a profession.’”
Art has long been a love for her. She took six art classes at Kasson-Mantorville High School, graduating in 2018. She went on to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, where she’s majoring in neuroscience and biomedical science.
The mural is her biggest art undertaking to date. “This is the biggest thing I’ve done,” Borgstrom said. “I was really nervous at first because of how big it was.”
Borgstrom was hired to paint the mural by her grandmother, Janice Borgstrom-Durst, who works on Main Street at D Baker & J Borgstrom-Durst Accounting LLC. Borgstrom-Durst co-owns the lot the fence is on with Pat Brown, of Modern Woodmen Financial, which is also located on Main Street.
“I think it’s awesome,” Brown said of the mural project. “I think it’s fantastic. It’s pretty cool. It’s done by an artist who understands the history of Kasson, the historical fabric of Kasson. To see that improvement is just awesome. That’s what owners who care do, is try to make everything better and better on Main Street.”
Borgstrom-Durst said the mural is “money well spent.” Her goal was to improve the downtown landscape with the mural being painted over the formerly blue fence.
“I was tired of looking at the blue fence,” she said. “I wanted something to improve downtown, try to encourage more businesses to possibly open up because we’ve got some empty spots. Mainly my goal was to get people downtown.”
Borgstrom, the mural painter, said it’s a huge draw for passersby. Her work is often interrupted by people stopping to ask her questions abou the project.
“Everyone at least says ‘hi’ or ‘good job,’” Borgstrom said. “There’s been a couple of people with cameras asking to take my photograph. A lot of people have said this is one of the best things. My old middle school teacher said ‘this is one of the best things to happen to downtown Kasson in decades.’”
“Everyday people stop to talk to me about it. It’s a good break, and it’s really nice to talk to people I haven’t seen in a while or strangers passing by.”
Ivan Kroulik was walking past on his morning hike in July and stopped to talk to Borgstrom. “I think Carson’s doing a wonderful job,” Kroulik said. “Instead of just a blank fence downtown, it’s adding to some of the history of downtown.”
The mural features current and past landmarks of Kasson. Her grandmother suggested a city scape originally, and Borgstrom said she “thought it would be cool to include more of the historic buildings of Kasson that have been around a while.”
Depicted on the mural are the old public elementary school, the new high school auditorium, the state theater, the old water tower, the old city hall, the arches to the pool and the Freedom Rock from in front of the American Legion.
The mural received funding from the Kasson Economic Development Authority’s Façade Improvement Program. Funds from the program have also been used for exterior facelifts at Erdman’s County Market and Trail Creek Coffee Roasters.
“I really like doing art,” Borgstrom said, “and it just worked out to do this. I was also interested in how different this project was compared to anything else I’ve done. Plus it worked out that I was able to contribute to the community and add something to downtown that’s not like anything we’ve ever had. It’s a real attraction to people new to town and for people who have always been here.”