Thoughts about art and community.
Recently, I co-facilitated How Can Community Arts Help People Feel Like They Belong in Your Town?, a Small City Workshop for the Iowa League of Cities.
This workshop is part of the Rural Shrink Smart initiative, a interdisciplinary team funded by the National Science Foundation that's exploring how to increase the quality of life in rural communities with shrinking populations.
When I first started working for Iowa State Extension and Outreach, I learned to focus on the assets a town has and not on their deficits. I’ve found this to be so helpful and so effective. I grew up in Mississippi and I’ve lived in Iowa for the last 15 years. In both states, I spend a lot of time driving around and listening the stories. It’s the best part of my job. In each new community I visit, I inevitably meet hear about someone doing some really creative thing to make their community better. These folks are scrappy – pulling together local resources and assets and talents together that’s grassroots, creative, and locally impactful.
Read MoreLast month, I was invited to participate in the Placemaking in Small & Rural Communities Virtual Conference hosted by the amazing Arts Extension team at the University of Kentucky. (They are the OG of community arts extension and rural placemaking.)
I thought I’d share a few key points from that presentation over the next few weeks, including 4 common themes that I’ve noticed in effective and inclusive rural placemaking efforts.
Read MoreA topic that arises fairly frequently in my work is:
How can I support artists if:
I can’t afford to buy their work,
I’ve already bought their work/seen their performance
I don’t have room for their work in my home,
I can only buy so many books, see so many performances, etc, etc, etc.
Well, friend, this list is for you.
Read MoreMost of you know that I teach. A majority of my artist friends teach. We for many reasons, in many ways and in many roles. We teach K-12 with a rolling cart, we teach in colleges and universities, we teach in community spaces, we teach in our studios, we teach online. Today I’d like to focus on how two fabulous artists who teach: painter Annie Guldberg and fiber artist Jean Haley.
Read MoreI can think of no one who’s a better and more generous community-builder than Derek Covington Smith, my friend and fellow artist from Brookhaven, Mississippi.
Case in point…
Read MoreLast summer, I had the good fortune of connecting with Annie Guldberg, an expressionist oil painter living in Mount Pleasant, Iowa (pop. 9724). She humored me by showing her incredible home studio and answering tons of questions over a lunch of Cuban sandwiches at The Grange Public House in downtown Mount Pleasant.
Read More“Without the foundation of the wheel, it would be difficult to produce movement. It was the wheels of those wagons that propelled the Poor People’s Campaign forward, and those wagon wheels will now be parted permanently along the Mule Train Interpretative Trail”, Katrina Rankin, Emmy Nominee, “The Mule Train: Poor People’s Campaign Continued” Documentary.”
Read MoreI made a short video about the early stages of Cultivation, a new painting still in progress that’s based on a conversation I had in 2019 with Benjamin Saulsberry, Public Engagement and Museum Education Director of the Emmett Till Interpretive Center in Sumner, Mississippi.
Read MoreHey, can we start Community New Years Resolutions? Is that a thing? Can we make it a thing?
And more specifically, can those community resolutions be geared on your local art community? Sound good? You with me, here? Great. :)
Behold. 13 Tips to Better Support Your Local Artists.
(I’ve made it easy for you. One for each month, plus a bonus.) And May I suggest you bringing a couple to your next civic meeting to brainstorm? Y’all can do a lot with a little focus.
Read MoreI’m so thrilled to end the year with an interview of Anna Jinja Kees, my friend and all around amazing human being. Anna and I connected this year through our mutual friend, Akwi Nji, and became instant friends. Also Ames-based, Anna’s energy is uplifting, inspiring, and infectious. She’s one of those folks who infuses every conversation, gathering, and organization with connection, creativity, and empowerment. Ames sure is lucky, that’s all I’m saying.
Read MoreI first saw Ames-based artist Kaleb Stevens (known artistically as KUB) perform back in early 2020 at the Black Arts and Music Festival at the Ames Public Library and immediately began following his work. In addition to being a full-time student, and an active community-driven artist, Kaleb also serves as the Planning and Engagement Coordinator for UnEvictIA, a placemaker for Des Moines-based Group Creatives Services, and was most recently an intern for the Center for Artistic Activism, an international organization providing training and support for artist activists. Needless to say, I was really excited when Kaleb agreed to be interviewed as part of For the Common Good.
Read MoreOne of the most hilarious things I’ve ever heard while doing extension work is the concept of the STP. This is not a reference to Stone Temple Pilots or motor oil, but to the Same Ten People.
Read MoreI don’t know how to knit. That is significant for two reasons. First, as a community art specialists and an academic, I’m supposed to know how to do things. Second, and more surprisingly, in 2016, I organized Intertwine, a project involving 125 makers from across the country to yarn bomb ISU Design on Main, a storefront in downtown Ames that was a former satellite studio facility for Iowa State University’s College of Design and included a community gallery space.
Read MoreA few weeks back, I had the opportunity to publicly talk shop about intersections of art and conservation in Iowa with two ISU Extension and Outreach colleagues: Catherine DeLong, program manager, Water Quality, and Adam Janke, assistant professor and extension wildlife specialist. As a once avid hiker, I’m embarrassed to say that I’d never really considered the parallels between natural resource conservation and art until meeting Adam and Catherine.
Read MoreIf you live in Iowa, you likely don’t need an introduction to Des Moines artist Jill Wells. Her creative impact can be found in communities across the state, from her murals in Iowa City to her Artist X Advocacy mentorship program in Des Moines.
Read MoreIf you find yourself in need a off-the-beaten road trip, might I suggest the Porcupine Mountains in northern Michigan? Read on for a weekend’s worth of what to do, see, and where to stay as you head north.
Read MoreSay what?
Artist who?
In a sentence, Artist Relocation Programs attempt to lure artists to live and work in their communities, knowing full well that artists can transform places.
Read MoreI’ve found over the years that those communities making the most impactful, inclusive, and sustainable changes are those places that have a “yes, and” mentality and attitude. “Yes, and” is shorthand for being willing to seek out and listen to different perspectives and to experiment with different possibilities.
Read MoreJennifer Brockpahler is one of the hardest working people I know. Hands down.
This woman gives of herself tirelessly to our community as the director of the Ames Community Arts Council, which is her second full-time job. (It’s no secret that many nonprofit art positions can only offer funding on a part-time basis and usually without benefits, requiring folks to make sacrifices and work A LOT.)
As the Ames Community Arts Council (ACAC) director, Jen oversees a multitude of community arts projects, mentors interns, and builds creative partnerships across Story County.
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