ROLE OF ARTISTS
PODCAST
Inside Our Towns: Tighe Bullock
Evan Sanford catches up with Tighe Bullock, the accountant, lawyer, downtown developer, and construction contractor, on his latest work in Charleston, West Virginia.
LIBRARIES
A Library Garden Celebrates Reading, Art, and Nature
In 2015, Dillsburg, Pennsylvania relocated the town's library to a bigger space to better serve its growing population. A year later, when tragedy struck, the community stepped up to grow the library to include a reading garden.
JOURNALISM & CIVIC NEWS
What Happened at Chautauqua, and Why It Matters
Friday, Aug. 12, an assailant rushed the stage at the Chautauqua Institution. He stabbed Salman Rushdie in the neck and abdomen. Rushdie was not the only victim in this attack.
ARTS
An Outsider Works with Insiders: Examples from Akron and Cleveland
Mac Love, who has spent much of his life outside Ohio, uses new technologies to bring community residents and college students together. That collaborative approach is now helping citizens’ voices be heard and is driving meaningful change in their neighborhoods.
BIG LITTLE IDEAS
Three community leaders come together to tell the stories of American renewal in their towns.
What do Ajo, Arizona; Eastport, Maine; and Charleston, West Virginia have in common? The answer leads down a rural path.
LOCAL HEROES
In Honor of Charly Jupiter Hamilton
A person who became the soul of his community, explains his vision—in art, and in memorable words.
ARTS
Larry Groce welcomes Kathy Mattea to Mountain Stage.
The founder of a popular and influential NPR program brings on a new host.
PUBLIC ART
"Public art has the power to change space.”
“‘The Wonder Mural’ by Charly Hamilton changed an entire community. Through inclusion, Charly made a piece for the community by literally painting the community.”
Arts
THIS IS WHAT WE TRAIN FOR
During our five years of travel around the country, my husband Jim and I often found that artists who revealed the perspectives on their hometowns were the people who stopped us in our tracks.
Arts
Meet Erie: A rust belt region continues to navigate its renaissance through a pandemic
Local filmmakers take to their streets examines the economic, cultural, and social impacts of Covid-19 during the summer of 2020 through this short film series.
Arts
THE ARTISTS OF LEMMON, SOUTH DAKOTA
The role of the arts in a tiny town with its sights set high
Arts
‘This Is What We Train For’
During our five years of travel around the country, my husband Jim and I often found that artists who revealed the perspectives on their hometowns were the people who stopped us in our tracks.
Arts
HOW ARTISTS BUILD THE SPIRIT OF A TOWN
During our travels to towns around the U.S., Jim Fallows and I have come across several artist-in-residence programs, for example in Ajo, Arizona; Eastport, Maine; and Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Arts
AN ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE CREATES A SENSE OF PLACE
We’ve seen artist-in-residence programs in a number of the towns we’ve visited. The first was in Eastport, Maine, where we ran into Richelle Gribble, a young artist based in Los Angeles, whom I consider an resident-artist extraordinaire. Over the past three and a half years, Richelle (as I’ll refer to her) has been an artist-in-residence in 15 different programs around […]
Arts
A RIVER OF WORDS IN PITTSBURGH
As we've traveled around the country with our American Futures and Our Towns projects since 2013, my husband, Jim, and I have evolved from being skeptics to evangelists about the impact of public arts on communities.
Arts
Language as Art in Pittsburgh
Exiled writers use words as art and inspire a community.