Artists community grows in Mark Twain's hometown of 18,000 near the Mississippi River

Artist Nancy Lee Kaufman in her shop in Hannibal, Mo. AP Photo/The Courier-Post, Mary Lou Montgomery. By: Jim Salter, Associated Press HANNIBAL, MO (AP).- Nancy Lee Kaufman was prominent in the arts scene in chic Santa Fe, N.M., and later made her woven art along the ocean near San Diego. So how did she end up living in a previously condemned house near the railroad tracks in small-town Missouri? The short answer: By choice. Other artists began telling Kaufman about the burgeoning arts community in Hannibal, a Mississippi River town of 18,000 known mostly for favorite son Mark Twain. When she visited in 2005 she happened upon a once-gorgeous old downtown home overlooking the Mississippi River, an early 19th century building in such disrepair that demolition was weeks away. The inside was a mess of crumbling boards and piled up debris. But, oh, that view from the window. "I looked out and there were icebergs floating down the river, the sun shining off of them, eagles flying overhead," Kaufman, 64, said. "That was it." Twain still is the main attraction for the half-million tourists who visit Hannibal each year, ... More