ST. PAUL, MN.- As some politicians exploit rural-urban tensions to sow discord, 35 artists are taking a different approach. A four-state partnership, led by Minnesota-based Springboard for the Arts, has launched Rural-Urban Solidarity, an initiative supporting artist projects in Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, and Colorado, using the arts to push back against polarization and develop shared solutions.

The pilot initiative launched with four partners: Minnesota-based Springboard for the Arts, Kentucky Rural-Urban Exchange (RUX), CultureSource in Michigan, and RedLine Contemporary Art Center in Colorado. Each brings a wealth of experience and innovative approaches to bridging community divides through the arts. These organizations will distribute small grants to support artist-led projects fostering understanding, interaction, and compassion across geographical boundaries. Over the last three months, more than 35 artists unveiled projects across the four states. Drawing insights from this initial cohort, Springboard for the Arts hopes to expand the initiative in 2025, reaching more states and artists to further the mission of rural-urban solidarity.

“Rural and urban communities need each other, " says Michele Anderson, Springboard for the Arts Rural Director. "Artists are natural connectors and storytellers who can hold space for complex conversations. They offer depth and nuance where media and political narratives often present oversimplified views of urban and rural life."

Laura Zabel, Executive Director of Springboard for the Arts noted that the Rural-Urban Solidarity Initiative launches at a time when there is a growing need for stronger connections between rural and urban communities. Beyond enhancing civic discourse and human connections, this interdependence is evident in pressing national issues. Extractive businesses like payday lending and dollar stores prey on both urban neighborhoods and rural places, food systems link rural farms to urban consumers, water security relies on rural watersheds and urban conservation efforts, and the energy transition requires both rural land and urban innovation.

"By witnessing each other's daily lives, stories, and concerns, we can counter the misinformation that seeks only to divide us and strip us of our power and agency,” Zabel emphasized. “These artist-designed projects are both a signal that things can be different and an invitation to question simplistic narratives and truly learn about one another."

Highlights of the projects that received the Rural-Urban Solidarity grants include:

• "United Tessellations," conceived by artist David Hamlow, connects students from Minneapolis's Northside Elementary with their peers at Hennepin School in an innovative exchange of art and identity. The project began with students collecting non-recyclable materials from their daily lives. Each student then received a photograph and biography of a peer from the other school, along with a custom-designed heart-shaped cell made from recycled paperboard. Within these cells, students created intricate collages using their collected materials, incorporating their partner's photograph into the design. These individual pieces were then combined into a striking large-scale, three-dimensional patterned installation that transformed walls at both school campuses.

• Denver-based artist Libby Barbee's "My Sky is Your Sky/Your Sky" is a mobile installation that toured communities where she grew up in rural La Junta, Colorado. The artwork uses political propaganda aesthetics to prompt viewers to consider shared realities across geographical divides.

• In "Crossing Lines: Connecting Rural and Urban Voices,” artists Maddy Bartsch and Drew Arettia set up two interconnected phone booths: one near rural Northfield and another in urban Minneapolis. Designed to evoke the comfort of home, these private booths will allow participants to engage in honest, anonymous dialogues across geographical divides.

• Rheonna Thornton of Berea, Kentucky, and her poetry collective Lipstick Wars presented "In belll hooks We Trust," a poetry slam honoring bell hooks, the influential feminist thinker from rural Arkansas who taught at Berea College and shaped global dialogues on race, gender, and power. This Lexington event amplified women poets whose voices echoed hooks' fearless critique and boundless imagination.

• Rosa Zamarron's "Day in the Life" zine is a photographic exploration of the daily lives of two individuals—one from Detroit, and one from rural Marcellus, Michigan. The zine will highlight the contrasts and shared experiences between urban and rural life.

“We are excited to be able to support artists working across rural and urban communities in Michigan,” says Omari Rush, Executive Director of CultureSource, “we know that supporting creativity and culture is essential to building understanding, interaction, compassion, joy, and solidarity between rural and urban communities.”

"For a decade, RUX has brought Kentuckians together from 65 counties, proving that meaningful experiences can overcome bias and build durable relationships across geographic, racial, and economic differences,” says Savannah Barrett, Co-Founder of Kentucky's Rural-Urban Exchange (RUX). “Being part of this national network and pilot allows us to demonstrate the critical role artists can play in this effort, and scale up a model of rural-urban connection that has transformative potential for communities across the nation.”