Rural
J Erin Hutchinson dreams big in the South Shore
The Rural Regenerator Fellowship brings together individual artists, makers, and culture bearers, grassroots organizers, community development workers, public sector workers and other rural…
Talon Bazille Raps, Performs, Records, Builds and Shares
The Rural Regenerator Fellowship brings together individual artists, makers, and culture bearers, grassroots organizers, community development workers, public sector workers and other rural…
Sandra Kern Mollman: Creating with Intention
The Rural Regenerator Fellowship brings together individual artists, makers, and culture bearers, grassroots organizers, community development workers, public sector workers and other rural…
Amber Hansen: Process and Place
The Rural Regenerator Fellowship brings together individual artists, makers, and culture bearers, grassroots organizers, community development workers, public sector workers and other rural…
Alice McGary: Sowing Seeds of Unity
The Rural Regenerator Fellowship brings together individual artists, makers, and culture bearers, grassroots organizers, community development workers, public sector workers and other rural…
Elisha Marin: Making Place, Fostering Connection
The Rural Regenerator Fellowship brings together individual artists, makers, and culture bearers, grassroots organizers, community development workers, public sector workers and other rural…
Bethany Lacktorin and Creative Placemaking
The Rural Regenerator Fellowship brings together individual artists, makers, and culture bearers, grassroots organizers, community development workers, public sector workers and other rural…
Molly Hassler: Crafting Community
The Rural Regenerator Fellowship brings together individual artists, makers, and culture bearers, grassroots organizers, community development workers, public sector workers and other rural…
Mai'a Williams' Sister Projects Connect Place & Identity
The Rural Regenerator Fellowship brings together individual artists, makers, and culture bearers, grassroots organizers, community development workers, public sector workers and other rural…
Annie Hough Creates Characters to Make the Truth Bearable
The Rural Regenerator Fellowship brings together individual artists, makers, and culture bearers, grassroots organizers, community development workers, public sector workers and other rural…
Bringing artists and local government together for lasting change
How can artists, local government, and civic organizations collaborate effectively? Art-Train brings them together and offers ongoing support for proven models of artist-led change. Artists use their…
Laura Youngbird Knows We Need Art
Laura Youngbird’s art isn’t pretty, and she doesn’t want it to be. Her striking pieces convey the reality of many Native people in America in all its harshness. Laura draws inspiration from her…
Minnesota Through the Eyes of Joseph J. Allen
When the photographer Joseph J. Allen talks about his work, even when he’s talking about photographs of landscapes, he often talks about people. Allen describes himself as an introvert, and nothing…
Cecilia Cornejo embroiders community connections
Cecilia Cornejo is an educator, filmmaker, and artist who engages with different communities in order to create meaningful art. Originally from Chile, Cecilia focuses on the immigrant experience as…
Dana Sikkila Flies Her Flag for Creativity
According to Dana Sikkila, she graduated high school “by the skin of [her] teeth.” Months later, she earned a 4.0 in her first semester of college. She attributes the drastic change to the…
From the Field: Imagining the Future of Creativity, Healing and Wellness
From the Field is Springboard’s virtual conversation series that brings together artists who are reimagining the future of rural America. These artist-to-artist talks will explore rural-specific…
Announcing From the Field!
Update! Join us for From the Field: Imagining the Future of Creativity, Healing and Wellness with Holly Doll and Jamie Horter on April 9!…
Don't get spooked! Dominic Facio is here for you
Editor’s note: As the national platform for Springboard for the Arts, Creative Exchange has long been a platform to highlight the artists, resources, and efforts in our national network. In this…
Looking back to the Rural Arts & Culture Summit
The 2019 Rural Arts & Culture Summit was held in Grand Rapids, MN, October 3-5, 2019. With over 350 attendees coming together to share ideas and opportunities around rural-based creative and…
Remaking a Jail in Rural America
When Calvin Phelps first met Nik Nerburn at the inaugural Artists Working in Community Intensive training in Fergus Falls, Minnesota in September 2018, he knew immediately that he wanted to bring him…
Sioux Falls' Zach DeBoer loves to paint street lines
When Zach DeBoer graduated from the University of South Dakota with a degree in art education and an emphasis in print making, he just assumed he would be a teacher. Even when he worked at the…
Michael Dantzler maps the interconnectedness of Eastover, South Carolina
Michael Dantzler is a full-time photographer, creative, and budding community organizer living in his rural hometown of Eastover, South Carolina, a town of only about 800 people that is predominantly…
Rivers Run Through It: Shel Neymark's Mural Map & Community History Project in Rural New Mexico
Shel Neymark was born and raised in Chicago, near Oak Park. He remembers there were 52 Frank Lloyd Wright houses within biking distance of where he lived as a kid and he was "fascinated" by them. "I…
Mural Map & Community History Toolkit
Springboard for the Arts and Art of the Rural were inspired to commission a toolkit from an artist living and working in a rural place, as a way to bridge the Rural Generation Summit in May 2019,…
Holly Doll is creating a Native-based art economy in rural North Dakota
This article is part of a series highlighting artists and leaders featured at the Rural Arts and Culture Summit, a biennial, practitioner-driven gathering hosted by Springboard for the Arts that…
Delina White designs apparel and produces fashion shows celebrating and perpetuating Native cultural heritage
This article is part of a series highlighting artists and leaders featured at the Rural Arts and Culture Summit, a biennial, practitioner-driven gathering hosted by Springboard for the Arts that…
How Grand Rapids, Minnesota Thrives Through Creative People Power
This article is part of a series highlighting artists and leaders featured at the Rural Arts and Culture Summit, a biennial, practitioner-driven gathering hosted by Springboard for the Arts that…
Jamie Horter is a rural artist working in community engagement—in her own words
This article is part of a series highlighting artists and leaders featured at the Rural Arts and Culture Summit, a biennial, practitioner-driven gathering hosted by Springboard for the Arts that…
From Trenton, New Jersey to rural Vermont, Will "Kasso" Condry uses art as a catalyst for activism and revitalization
Will "Kasso" Condry, Jr. is a pioneer of the street art movement in New Jersey, and made national headlines in 2014 when he painted a mural of Michael Brown, the Ferguson teenager who was shot and…
A rural renaissance: How small towns are leading the way in creative placemaking
In 2014, New London was the recipient of a $262,500 grant from Artplace America. The grant helped fund nine different projects. Full disclosure: I was lucky enough to be one of those recipients. We…
