Stephen Sugg

Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, is ground zero for showcasing the power of arts-led economic and community development in rural communities. The 2024 CIRD local design workshop, hosted in this small town where the distinct cultures and landscapes of eastern and central Kentucky come together, is already informing the national rural design conversation. Gateway Regional Arts Center and their partnerships in Mt. Sterling offer insights for any community that wants to anchor the future of public space in arts, culture, and design.

Grenada, Mississippi’s CIRD design challenge could better be described as multiple design challenges, reflecting several ambitious plans to engage the community toward the design of a permanent open-air facility in Chakchiuma Swamp along with preserving a WWII-era airplane hangar at Grenada’s airport. Drawing a connection between these two disparate places reflects the creativity, passion, and civic interest of community leaders in Grenada.

When the Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design (CIRD) team speaks to thought leaders in rural design across the country, there is unanimous and emphatic praise for Emily Roush-Elliot’s work over the last decade in the Mississippi Delta.

CIRD’s August, 2022 local design workshop in Spring Grove, Minnesota coalesced efforts toward a community and cultural space facility reflective of the town’s robust support for the arts and education. The proposed facility will go up across the street from the Spring Grove School and it would literally and figuratively bridge the school and community—a physical manifestation of Spring Grove’s top priority: creating a one-room schoolhouse for the 21st century.

The Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design recently partnered with the community of Keene, NH, to reinvigorate an arts corridor initiative that drives broader downtown economic development. And while the arts have long bolstered rural economies, CIRD’s work in Keene comes with a twist. Arts Alive!, a non-profit organization working to sustain the arts community across the Monadnock region, developed a close-knit and diverse project steering committee to partner with CIRD’s local design workshop team. Together they marshaled local resources around the Arts Core concept, aiming to generate an economic development plan that goes way beyond a typical rural arts strategy.

Partners of Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design (CIRD) across rural America wanted an opportunity to hear from their peers at the intersection of rural planning, design, and ultimately, resilience. The “CIRD in the Time of COVID” webinar sought to provide that very opportunity.

Mara Mintzer spoke with the Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design about her award-winning work at the intersection of design, education, and community engagement with one overriding theme: youth voices matter, and they matter right now. 1.6 million people have viewed Mintzer’s How Kids Can Help Design Cities TED Talk. We suggest a listen, too, as it buttresses CIRD’s recent conversation with Mara. And don’t let “cities” get in the way; Mara notes the utter rural applicability of her approach.

Meet Calvin Phelps, a CIRD cohort community leader who is renovating a former community jail into an arts-centered space. By preserving the jail, the soon-to-be Pike School of Art will give new life to the community’s rich culture and history.