If the Douglas Design District were a family, it would be one with the usual spats and drama.

“It’s like any large family,” said Jeff Breault, who owns R&J Discount Liquor near Douglas and Hillside. “There’s going to be a lot of infighting around the dinner table.”

It’s all part of the growing pains of a 12-year-old district that is on the precipice of jumping from a mostly volunteer-led group to potentially becoming the city’s first business improvement district, or BID. A BID would assess a mandatory fee levied by the city in the most prominent part of the district along East Douglas to make improvements to the area.

(Read more: Wichita Eagle)

Of all the differences of opinion in the Douglas Design District, no single issue seems to be more polarizing than the art.

“I know that there’s a lot of criticism about the quality of art,” said district executive director Renee Duxler.

“And there’s some people who love everything.”

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Two years after his death, M.T. Liggett’s legacy continues to spin, rattle and clink with the Kansas wind in a pasture along Highway 400 on the west end of Mullinville, Kansas.

Since his works began appearing in 1989, Liggett’s artworks have served as a landmark for travelers crossing western Kansas and a source of divisiveness among the locals in Kiowa County, who were often depicted in the “totem” sculptures Liggett welded and bolted together from spare pieces of farm equipment and various scrap metal.

Now, in an attempt to prevent Liggett’s artwork from rusting away in the equally harsh summers and winters of western Kansas, an effort is underway to preserve the sculptures for generations to come. The preservation work will also give visitors passing through a chance to stop and learn more about the art and Liggett himself.

(Read more: Wichita Eagle)