(singers vocalizing) ♪ You might think that the horizon is too far ♪ ♪ Let's drive straight ahead onward ♪ ♪ Flying in my car because we can fly ♪ ♪ We can fly to the sky ♪ ♪ Yes, we can fly ♪ ♪ Fly, fly to the sky.

♪ - Amarillo is known for being unique in its artwork.

If for no other reason than people know the Cadillac Ranch, and they come to see that.

And now when they're coming, they're seeing these really cool murals all over the city.

And it's another way of looking back, and being in place here, and then looking forward.

So this particular work of syncing up with different community storytellers like PBS is to put some sort of record together in a sort of living textbook.

A living atlas of our area.

(upbeat music) - 2892 Miles to Go, originated in 2020.

I was working at National Geographic Society as an education fellow.

And I'm based in Louisville, Kentucky.

And at the time there was a lot of unrest in the world around communities and places and the stories they're in.

And so I proposed to National Geographic to do a project that connected young people directly to the community work and stories and history because they weren't always getting access to that kind of content in schools.

And so Nat Geo was like, "Great, go do it."

And so I piloted five original sites starting in Louisville, St.

Paul, Minnesota, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Amarillo, Texas, and Hilo, Hawaii.

And since 2020, we've grown, I want to say we have 25 sites around the country now.

And we do place-based education, youth-led programming.

And it's truly co-designed.

So we work with community organizations and leaders that already exist.

And then we co-design programs like this one that are specific to that community.

- Blank Spaces had been working with 2892 Miles to Go and National Geographic for like two years, trying to figure out a project that would fit both of the missions of, you know, of our programs.

You know, us being public art, and then of course 2892 specializes in like storytelling projects.

And so we were trying to figure out what could we, you know, do together?

How can we collaborate to come up with something that, you know, would serve our community?

- This is a collaborative to really make public art go far beyond just paint on a wall and instead really educate our community of its past, present, and future.

This is a way to empower the stories of the past that might otherwise be forgotten or only be remembered within small circles, to really share them in a powerful and lasting way, to let human voices carry the narrative, but then find an artistic expression by including it within the mural.

This is also a way to connect our young people with people from many different generations that may not currently be part of the Amarillo community, but once were, and really help them see the beauty of building connections across generations and seeing how that stories unite us.

They connect us.

They build bridges, not only from the past to the present, but also to really create ties to really empower people's future.

- We tried and kind of just kind of started and stopped.

Like we never got the idea to go through like fruition.

And we had been looking at this underpass that we're at, this sixth and Parker, where they were putting a lot of revitalization into it.

So they were putting in the new Multimodal station and then they were putting in Transformation Park.

And so a lot of, you know, time, money, and good effort was going into this area that really needed, you know, some revitalization.

We always liked it because it was this corridor between historic Sixth Street and then downtown Amarillo.

Both of those places get a lot of tourist traffic.

And so we thought it was important to try to focus on this area because like when you go to this historic 6th Street, well, maybe you want to go downtown and like vice versa.

And so this was like a really good like in between spot.

With the Centennial coming up about a year and a half ago, we really started looking at that area.

We had to get some surveillance stuff done on the bridge to make sure that it was like structurally stable.

That review took like a year to get done.

And so there was some bureaucratic green lights and stuff that we had to get as well.

And then all of a sudden things just kind of started to fall into place.

And so I worked with Ashley Lamb Sinclair from 2892.

And together we wrote the foundational grant for this project through the Amarillo Area Foundation.

And there was a lot to it.

And there were a lot of different aspects.

And so by working with her, we came up with this idea about 66 stories because it had a really nice ring to it.

And like I said, as we worked on that grant and we were able to get it funded.

And so that gave us the foundation.

- The project basically, it's such a in-depth project.

It's hard to be basic about it, but basically we are collecting stories from Route 66, people who have grown up there or have some sort of influence by Route 66.

And we're turning that information into a visual piece of art that will go along Route 66 at Sixth and Bowie in Amarillo.

And all of those visuals are going to tell the stories that these people have already told us.

And the exciting part of that is that we get to include youth journalism fellows to gather those stories and then Blank Spaces interns, as well as some other community members will be putting those stories and the artwork on the wall.

- I think a lot of people were really kind to kind of come in and trust us and, you know, do their best to, you know, tell what they know and how it's personal to them and why it might be important to, you know, Amarillo, the Texas Panhandle, and then of course the other eight states it goes across as well and kind of how that, you know, tethers us to the rest of the country.

I think that's important right now where everyone's kind of divided maybe and maybe doesn't see eye to eye.

It's important to focus on the things that do bring us together.

While Amarillo is a separate community and it's different from, you know, Chicago, there's something that in our DNA that ties us together and that DNA is Route 66.

- Being here in Route 66, we have that story sort of told for us.

In a lot of ways, we have this very day tripper, rockabilly, headed down the highway type of view of Route 66 with no sense of what are the communities around Route 66?

How was Route 66 built?

What was here before it came?

What happened when I-40 was built?

What we found is that Route 66 gave community something and took things from people.

And it was very fascinating when we got a look at different parts of the Amarillo community and then Albuquerque.

So if you think about the average traveler that would've come down through Oklahoma City and then come to Amarillo and then gone on to Albuquerque, well, you can still drive that today and know you're gonna run into some small towns between Oklahoma City and here.

And at that time, for certain travelers, it could be dangerous.

But then leaving Amarillo and going to Albuquerque, there's miles of nothing.

Or so I thought.

But there's so much richness in the landscape.

You just have to know who to connect to, what people, what stories to connect to, to bring it all to life in a way that gives us really depth and perspective on it.

(gentle music) - And then to bring in the young youth fellows and get to hear them research and be trained through, you know, the Nat Geo Services and to see how they interpret it, has been interesting.

I always knew that when you took young people and you paired them up with older people and you put them in a room together and you give them a topic to talk about, like stuff is going to happen, like light switches are going to go off.

There's so much that we can learn from each other.

You know, I'm kind of stuck in the middle, but it's really fun to get all those different multi-generational people together and kind of see what comes out of the conversation.

That's been very special.

It also has let those young people invest in our community by getting to know people that have had history here and have done, you know, important things or have, you know, lived well lives that, you know, they want to share that.

And for those young people to hear that and to connect with it, like I said, it gives them an investment in the community and it gives them a direction about where they want to go in the future or maybe how they want to handle things in the future.

And once again, it kind of gives us the feel about how we're all connected and how we're closer than we might think we are.

(gentle music) - Like that was one of the reasons I was really excited to work with Blank Spaces and kind of like sought them out early on was because when the team Shanda put together originally, like back in 2021, one of the members of that team referenced Blank Spaces and their work.

And I was immediately drawn to the fact that they do treat young people as equals, as experts, as contributors.

Unfortunately, I think that that can be rare in the world to have organizations that serve young people that want to work with them as partners.

And so I could tell from the work that they had put out into the world that they were doing that.

And that was something that was really important to us as well.

When young people are given the opportunity to contribute to their community, A, I don't think they get that opportunity enough in an authentic way.

And then when they do get that opportunity, I think it snowballs.

It doesn't stop, right?

It's not like, oh, I did that project and now I'm done with it.

I think that it lights a fire under them in terms of the things they want to pursue in their own life, but also understanding their community in a new way that they want to keep contributing to it.

- I've seen with every single one of these storytellers, some sort of connection or bond created with the Youth Fellow that will serve both parties moving forward.

- I've been with Blank Spaces for six years now, since I started as a freshman in high school.

Been drawing, painting ever since I could pick up a crayon with my little grabby hands.

And so while I was at Cap Rock, due to some of like the situations and relationships that I had at the time, they connected me with Blank Spaces and was able to get an interview.

Showed them my portfolio from, I think it was like three years that I was consistently drawing.

And so showed them my portfolio and they added me on.

I think that was the year 2020/2021.

And then ever since then, I've helped curate over a 100 murals all over the Texas Panhandle.

I've helped with designs in some of those projects and yeah, I even lead.

- I've been drawing since I was really little.

Honestly, one day I was like, "I want to be an artist."

And I was just drawing and I just improved from there, I guess.

(gentle music) I helped do a lot of design work and like the line work for the murals.

It feels really good to know like that I've gone from like something so small scale to something so big.

And it just makes me feel like I've really improved because like it's such a big deal to work on murals, you know?

- It's a lot easier to get into details when it's on like such a large scale.

And design work, I feel like is a big difference too.

Like there's a layout whether you want the mural to be interactive, like people walking by to take photos rather than I feel like in my studio art, it's more of like what I want to do, like what I want to paint, like what means a lot to me.

And compared to the murals, it's public art.

Like it's made for everyone.

- I did about 20 different drawings.

Each of those drawings took like an hour and a half to two hours.

So they were fairly quick.

They took quicker than I thought they would.

But listening to the interviews and like doing my research and then like doing my own take on what those people said was definitely difficult for some of them.

But I really liked how a lot of them turned out.

(gentle music) - I think for me personally, my identity is really important to me where I come from.

What it means to be me and to be part of my culture.

And I think like that's one of the biggest, most important parts of recording history and culture because that shows you who you're a part of and who other people are part of.

That's the human story.

Like every single other living being, they live, they hunt, they gather, they eat and they sleep and that's about it.

But with humans, you have culture, you have love, you have arts.

And capturing that is what makes us human, which is why I think it's so important.

But also why I think capturing history and preserving it is so important in culture as well.

Is because it inspires the next generation.

Like I grew up watching the "Cars" movie.

So when I moved here, I was so excited to be right next to the Mother Road, Route 66, because it inspired me.

And now whereas in the past, people like Michael Wallace worked so hard to preserve this road.

Now you have a next generation of people like me and the others who've worked at this project working to preserve this road.

(gentle music) I did some journalism in my newspaper class because I've always wanted to be like, wanted to get my thoughts out into the world.

And working with this project was so great because not only did I get to interview all these cool people, which is obviously fun, but also like I could see them through my own eyes and interpret what they had to say and see how I see and like interpret it and write about it how I see fit.

So I felt like even though the stories were about other people, I had my own voice in it.

And that's just what inspires me about journalism.

- Essay format, like journalism type stuff.

You definitely have to be more specific and you want to be able to capture your reader to be able, like, to have their attention, to be able to want to read your piece rather than with art you can still translate those same messages.

It's just up for interpretation.

Like not everybody's going to get the same meaning rather than from an essay.

It's like this is my point that I want to make to you.

And with the murals, anybody, anybody can make up their own definition, their own meaning.

Like it can resonate with them differently, every different person.

I want to be able to execute these stories well.

Like I want these stories to represent the person to the fullest.

Like I don't want any question unanswered or them to be portrayed in any wrong way.

Like I said, for their message and their life story to be told in a factual and meaningful way.

And for when people read it to see that there was passion and that there was dedication to this project and it wasn't just like ChatGPT writing it.

There was meaning and there was passion and there was personality behind the story.

And like I said it being very thought out.

- We obviously have Route 66.

We have the Palo Duro Canyon.

But I think like why the story of people is important is because people make a place alive.

Like I said, like when I first moved to Amarillo or before I'd moved, I couldn't find anything about Amarillo.

Like what's Amarillo even about?

But when I like finally moved here and met the people, it was just so incredible seeing all these kind people.

So I think people affect a place more than geography or anything else.

And that's why getting the stories of people is so important.

- I feel like this project as a whole is a bridge between generations.

So when Route 66 started in, what's it, the 1920s, right?

This generation now has never heard of those stories.

Like it's not something that you can find on like the internet.

And so with this project being a bridge and connecting everyone in a way that we haven't really gotten.

And so having these videos, the essay, the mural, it's a way for anybody to read and gain information and to be a part of this huge project.

(gentle music) - I remember growing up, there weren't as many restaurants as we have now, but it was always a special treat to go out to eat on Sunday after church.

And some of the best restaurants were there on Route 66.

I remember Underwood's Barbecue.

There was a big neon sign with a cowboy turning beef on a spit.

And when we got to go to Underwoods, that was a special treat.

And then on Route 66, the historic Route 66 that runs through our business district, there was Myers Fried Chicken.

And today, that little building has been restored, and it's a Route 66 information center.

(gentle music) - You know, one thing that comes to mind is freedom.

I think this openness and this freedom of like, I can just get on this road and I can go anywhere I want to.

And I love the businesses that sort of reflect that.

And the old motels, you know, really, I've seen a few of those come back.

They've been fixed up and people are staying there because it's on Route 66, not because it's a cheap place to stay.

And I think that's something very important to preserve.

And the architecture of the road is different from everywhere else.

And, you know, now we're building everything it looks just alike.

But back in the '50s and '60s you know, gas stations and diners, they had their own architectural style.

And you knew exactly from a block away, "Hey, that's a Kentucky fried chicken or that's whatever."

I'd like to see that preserved and not everything look the same all the time.

(gentle music) - I want to share the history of Route 66 with the public.

That's my big deal.

I love the old buildings.

I like the old curio shops and the old filling stations and everything that's been restored and old motels.

But my big thing is the people that live and work and travel 66.

They're the people that make it what it is.

So without that, it's nothing.

(gentle music) - Along Route 66, where we hung out most, it was across the street where the Toot'n Totum is now.

They used to be the Quiet Burger.

That's where we had the big hamburgers and the footlong hot dogs and all of that, you know?

And everything then was cheap.

Like we could get a hot dog for a dollar and we'd cut it in half because it was so long.

So two people could eat.

(gentle music) - If you look throughout American history and the move westward from people that settled here originally, you know, it's always been about opportunity, a sense of freedom, sense of discovery.

And you know, it might have started with cattle trails a long time ago and then evolved to the railroads and then moving things out west and then eventually Route 66, basically the gateway to the west.

So I think that's kind of how it symbolizes.

It just fits into the narrative, you know, of the American expansion westward.

(gentle music) - I think the stories that are being lost are the stories of those early people who traveled the highway, who made a network, who made a communication.

I think one of the worst things that we've lost because we've gone to the highway system that we have in the United States is we bypass everything.

- I-40 moved everything off of Route 66, and we felt like Route 66 was dying and it would eventually die out.

What we now can see and what we know is it'll never be a has-been.

It'll always be a forever.

(gentle music) ♪ Come on, everybody ♪ ♪ Everybody ♪ ♪ Everybody ♪ (singers vocalizing) ♪ You see me fly like an eagle along the road ♪ ♪ To your heart.

♪ ♪ Let's have some party.

♪ ♪ We'll have a good time in the park because we can fly ♪ ♪ Yes, fly ♪ ♪ We can fly to the sky.

♪ ♪ Yes, we can fly ♪ ♪ Fly, fly to the sky.

♪ - It's in the sharing that this becomes impactful and lasting.

And I think for some people, the storytellers that were included, I would say it's not a stretch to say members of their own family may not even know these stories.

And so this will be a way for all of us to learn more about one another.

I think oftentimes, the best art creates such questions within us.

We want to know more about the artists.

We want to know more about inspiration.

We have so many unanswered questions, especially when the artist isn't available to share.

But this is something that allows it to go so much deeper.

And so maybe you are drawn to the mural that you see, but then you're able to really isolate it piece by piece and uncover these 66 incredible stories that, again, you may not have ever had any clue were centered around the history of Amarillo or the greater narrative of the mother road.

- Now I feel like I'm part of that history.

I'm part of the American history.

It's the American road, and it's the road that connected all of America.

It's all these bunch of states.

But with the mother road, that's when you unify America.

And that's one of the greatest American ideals that I love.

The connection, the togetherness, and having my part of it makes me feel that I'm now part of the American melting pot.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) (bright music)