Rural art and culture - the key to our economic future

For decades I've worked with scholars, writers, culture-bearers, artists, and business leaders while putting on public events in Wyoming, Nebraska, and South Dakota. I see towns that are committed to their community's cultural arts organizations, and those that are not, and there is a clear and obvious difference. Towns that understand how arts and culture make their community more attractive for people to stop and shop or to move there and set down roots are the towns that will survive and thrive. Towns that believe these businesses--museums, galleries, theater troupes, historical societies, art centers--are "nice to haves" but not core to their community character will continue to wither and die. I believe that if a town, county, or even state, use "no taxes" as their primary selling vehicle for people to move there, they've already lost the race to a vibrant future. I've spent years working with elected leaders, trying to convince them that a dollar allocated to art and culture will bring in as much as four dollars in business to a their constituent communities. I'll spend some time on this blog sharing my thoughts and experiences and ruminating on how investments in art and culture make our rural, small-town way of life better.