Chuck Fluharty and Savannah Barrett participate in National Governors Association Experts’ Roundtable

RUPRI President and CEO Chuck Fluharty and RUPRI National Director of Next Generation Programs recently participated in an invited experts roundtable hosted by the National Governors Association, the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Leveraging the Creative Sector to Strengthen Rural Economic Development took place at the Hall of States on …

Owensboro Gathering a win for Food, Art, and Health in Kentucky!

This week, RUPRI partnered with the Kentucky Arts Council, Owensboro Health, the Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation, and Art of the Rural to host a statewide conversation in Owensboro, KY about the dynamic intersection of food, art and health. More than seventy-five people travelled to Owensboro to attend the event, which offered participants a broad understanding of …

Kentucky Food + Art + Health Dialogue

March 27, 2018  – March 28, 2018 Join us in Owensboro, Kentucky March 27-28, 2018 for a statewide conversation about the dynamic intersection of food, art and health.  The dialogue begins at the RiverPark Center in downtown Owensboro, and includes a series of presentations from exemplars in the field addressing the impact of food + art + health …

Rural Cultural Wealth Lab Digital Exchange Webinar

January 23, 2018 The RUPRI Rural Cultural Wealth Lab is one of four inaugural National Endowment for the Arts Research Labs named last year, following a national competition. This national effort unites the knowledge and lived experiences of a diverse array of scholars and practitioners to explore the intersection of rural arts and culture, entrepreneurship and innovation, …

Wisconsin Creative Summit 2017

November 29, 2017 The Tie That Binds: Telling your story in and through the arts, Wednesday, November 29, 2017, 10 am – 4 pm, at The IDEA Center, Stevens Point: a day-long networking and learning conference for people who are involved in and care about the arts in their communities, featuring Savannah Barrett of The …

RUPRI Rural Cultural Wealth Lab highlighted in NEA press release: New Research Highlights Economic Impact of the Arts in Rural Communities National Endowment for the Arts Releases Rural Arts, Design, and Innovation in America Online Conversation at #NEArural

Washington, DC—Rural arts organizations draw more non-local audiences to their venues and report greater civic leadership and customer connectedness than their urban peers, according to a new research report, Rural Arts, Design, & Innovation in America: Research Findings from the Rural Establishment Innovation Survey. Published by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the report is …

KENTUCKY TASTES, TALENTS, AND TREASURES AT THE RUX FALL FAIR FUNDRAISER

November 11, 2017 On Saturday, November 11, the Kentucky Rural-Urban Exchange comes back to Louisville for the 2017 RUX Fall Fair. The Fall Fair kicks off at 5:00 PMat Louisville’s Fresh Start Grower’s Supply – home to the Flea Off Market, Phoenix Hill Farmer’s Market, and more – with kid’s games until 8 PM and music til’ 10 PM. Kentucky …

Wyoming Arts Summit

November 4, 2017 RUPRI Next Generation leader Savannah Barrett will give the closing keynote for the Wyoming Arts Summit’s 50th Anniversary convening. This event is an opportunity for Wyomingites to come together, learn from one another, and empower the state’s creative sector. The summit offers professional development tracks for arts advocates, administrators, educators, and artists, …

Public Transformation Exhibition Opening Events

October 20, 2017 – October 22, 2017 RUPRI partner Art of the Rural will present Public Transformation, a cross-country documentary art project highlighting how rural-based artists and arts organizations make their communities a more vibrant, healthy, connected place to live, at their Outpost Winona space October 20-22. Ashley Hanson’s little yellow school bus acted as a mobile artist residency to document …

2017 UNESCO Creative Cities of Crafts & Folk Art Annual Meeting, Paducah, KY

September 24, 2017 – September 27, 2017 The 2017 UNESCO Creative Cities of Crafts & Folk Art Annual Meeting will be held in Paducah, Kentucky from September 24-27, 2017. Chuck Fluharty will be speaking at the event on Wednesday, September 27th as a panelist. Each day of the meeting will begin with a plenary session featuring expert speakers …

Digital Exchange Webinar: Arts and Engagement with Community Heart & Soul

August 9, 2017  The Orton Family Foundation’s Community Heart & Soul™ is a process designed to increase participation in local decision-making and empower residents to shape the future of their communities. Join us for this Digital Exchange Webinar to learn about how three diverse examples of arts & creative place-making projects in Heart & Soul …

Digital Exchange Webinar: Knowledge Building in Rural Creative Placemaking

July 19, 2017 Since 2009, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has been targeting investment and technical assistance towards creative placemaking. 2017 marks the fourth cycle of NEA funding supporting projects that “Build Knowledge about Creative Placemaking,” which has sustained “Next Generation: The Future of Rural Arts and Culture Placemaking in Rural America” since our launch. …

Digital Exchange Webinar: Integrating Community Health, Arts, and Culture

June 28, 2017  Join us for this Next Generation Digital Exchange Webinar discussing focused on integrating community health with arts and culture in rural regions. Across the country, new health systems approaches are leveraging multi-sector programs and policies to foster a culture of health in rural communities. Webinar participants will learn from Arkansas, California, Kentucky, …

Delta Regional Authority: Celebrating the Art, Music & Culture of the Delta

African-American influence in American music is widely evident. We know this all too well in the Mississippi River Delta region, where the Blues that were shaped by African-Americans still reign supreme. These musical contributions give us all a richer, deeper understanding of American culture, shaping music that includes rock and roll, rhythm and blues, jazz, …

Digital Exchange Webinar: Advancing Rural Community Arts

May 17, 2017 Imagine paddling down the river while participating in a theatre performance, encountering a mobile arts classroom on the Pine Ridge Reservation, or experiencing a musical composition in a national park that integrates the landscape, culture, history, ecology and art of the park. In this session, artists will share their experiences using community …

Digital Exchange Webinar: The Power of Stories to Bring Communities Together

April 27, 2017 Join community organizers from Minnesota, Missouri, and Tennessee for this Digital Exchange webinar focused on the power of stories to bring people together in community. You’ll hear from the organizer of a national festival, the founder of a regional museum, and a local writer and media artist about their experiences lifting up …

Next Generation Digital Exchange Webinar: Promise of the Promise Zones

April 4, 2017 This Next Generation Digital Exchange Webinar will continue the Rural Creative Placemaking Summit conversation on “Promise of the Promise Zones: Linking Rural Arts and Economic Development,” and includes perspectives from Sandi Curd (KY), Susan DuPlessis (SC) and Jennifer Hughes (DC). Hosted by Art of the Rural and the Rural Policy Research Institute …

Orton Family Foundation Free Webinar: Economic Development for the Next Generation with Zach Mannheimer

March 23, 2017 The day after his 30th birthday, Zach Mannheimer bucked the trend and moved from Brooklyn, New York, to Des Moines, Iowa. Now he’s focused on getting others like him to see the upside of living in smaller communities. Zach’s work takes a fresh approach to economic development in small towns with young …

Next Generation Digital Exchange Webinar: State Innovations in Arts Engagement, Investment and Infrastructure

March 14, 2017 This Next Generation Digital Exchange Webinar will continue the Rural Creative Placemaking Summit conversation on “State Innovations in Arts Engagement, Investment and Infrastructure,” and includes perspectives from John Davis (MN), Anne Katz (WI), Colleen Landkamer (MN) and Zach Mannheimer (IA). Hosted by Art of the Rural and the Rural Policy Research Institute and supported by the National Endowment for the …

Next Generation Digital Exchange Webinar: Reflections from the Next Generation Rural Creative Placemaking Summit

February 15, 2017 The first Next Generation Digital Exchange Webinar offers “Reflections from the Next Generation Rural Creative Placemaking Summit” held at the University of Iowa in October, 2016, and includes perspectives from Matthew Glassman (MA), Nikiko Masumoto (CA), Bob Reeder (MD) and Ryan Taylor (ND). Hosted by Art of the Rural and the Rural …

Next Generation Rural Creative Placemaking Summit, Iowa City

October 12, 2016 – October 14, 2016 We invite you to join us in Iowa for Next Generation: A Rural Creative Placemaking Summit. The Summit is designed to enhance cross-sector collaboration, elevate intercultural perspectives within the field, and build policy presence for deeper consideration of rural creative placemaking. The event will be held  October 12-14, 2016 at the …

Live stream: National Next Generation Rural Creative Placemaking Summit at the University of Iowa

October 12- October 14, 2016 We invite you to join us in Iowa for Next Generation: A Rural Creative Placemaking Summit. The Summit was designed to enhance cross-sector collaboration, elevate intercultural perspectives within the field, and build policy presence for deeper consideration of rural creative placemaking. Held October 12-14, 2016 at the University of Iowa, this …

University of Iowa, College of Public Health: Summit explores role of arts, culture in enhancing rural communities

People living in rural communities need the same access as their urban counterparts, not only to clean water, jobs, housing and other basic standards of living, but art and culture, as well, note the backers of a growing movement called “rural creative placemaking.” Led by the Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) in the University of Iowa College …

Listen to IPR Story: Human-Horse Bond Reflect Rural & Urban Culture

Listen to Radio Story Talk of IowaHuman-Horse Bond Reflect Rural & Urban CultureBy JOHN PEMBLE A fiberglass horse head with mirrored surface eyes is part of the work “Switch” by M12 Studio. This Colorado based organization was commissioned by the Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation to put a temporary work of art at the …

Local food hub sprouts in Little Falls Minnesota: Former Crestliner building takes new roots

RUPRI leader Cheryal Lee Hills, Executive Director Region Five in MN,  is a member of the RUPRI State Policy Panel and Next Generation National Advisory Board.  Cheryal and collaborator Arlene Jones launched “Sprout” on Friday, April 1st in Little Falls MN – with many funders, partners and contributors.   RUPRI was  honored to participate in this …

South Carolina Arts Commission launches rural initiative in six Promise Zone counties: Community teams will explore how the arts can address local issues

As part of its work with the South Carolina Promise Zone, the South Carolina Arts Commission has launched a new initiative, The Art of Community: Rural S.C. This pilot project advances the Arts Commission’s commitment to rural development through the arts, culture and creative placemaking and is supported by funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural …

Matthew Fluharty, Executive Director of Art of the Rural, will be presenting at : Mississippi River Panorama, Minnesota Marine Art Museum

February 18, 2016 Matthew Fluharty will be presenting at : Mississippi River Panorama, Minnesota Marine Art Museum, February 18, 6-7pm. From boat punks to local historians, from Mark Twain to Lil Wayne, Mississippi River Panorama will offer a wide-ranging look at how the river, its economy, and its environment have shaped American culture. From Winona …

Rural Assembly – Washington DC

This year’s focus will be on how we create better outcomes for rural communities by specifically addressing barriers that disproportionately affect rural people and places, such as persistent poverty, disinvestment by public and private institutions, lack of access to quality healthcare, education, and technologies, and the depletion of our natural resources. Convene conversations that focus …

The Rural-Urban Exchange Highlights Kentucky’s Creativity

Imagine a networking project that feels like a matchmaking service. Organizers get to know you and your community, and then find someone somewhere else in the state for you to get to know and collaborate with– based on your interests and work. You meet your match in their hometown alongside dozens of other exceptional young …

Burn The Maps – Matthew Fluharty

The demographics and economic realities of rural America are shifting. The dividing lines between country and city spheres are increasingly fluid. Art of the Rural founder, Matthew Fluharty, makes a case for rejecting calcified notions of “rural art” and redrawing a geography of the cultural center (and periphery) accordingly. It is significant that the common …

Art of the Rural and RUPRI receive one of five NEA Knowledge Building grants for creative placemaking

The Next Generation Initiative : Future of Arts and Culture Placemaking in Rural America. Art of the Rural, in partnership with the Rural Policy Research Institute at the University of Iowa, will expand the potential for rural creative placemaking within broader cultural and development based conversations through a digital learning commons, a national convening, regional …

From the Ground Up: Cultivating Creative People and Places

From remote studios in the woods to bustling downtown theaters, how do arts and cultural experiences contribute to the identity of a rural community or region? What resources, skills or support do rural artists and arts organizations need in order to thrive in these places? How can community and economic development leaders tap into their regions’ cultural assets as they …

Next Generation: The Future of Arts & Culture Placemaking in Rural America

Next Generation: The Future of Arts & Culture Placemaking in Rural America, engages artists, organizations and communities across public and private sectors to advance collaboration, innovative strategies, and “Next Generation” leadership in rural creative placemaking. Through the expertise and networks of the Rural Policy Research Institute and Art of the Rural and the program’s regional and …