Road Trip Through Creative America

In the midst of the 2009 global economic crisis, I took a three-week road trip to interview my colleagues in the arts communities of Pittsburgh, Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, Denver, Albuquerque, Flagstaff, Jerome, and Phoenix.  The itinerary included time for meetings, a tour of cultural projects, and a night out in each town.  My question was simple.  “What’s working?” I asked.  “What seems to be resonating with the times we’re in?”

What I found was an expansion of creative life that seems counter-cyclical to the larger economy.  Artists were strangely rejuvenated by the social upheaval, getting back to their studios and the core of creative practice. Citizen artists were busy learning and experimenting with new expressive technologies. There was a conceptual tug-of-war between scarcity and abundance, as many people both grappled with and reveled in very real changes in their circumstances. An ethical shift was underway, from the egocentric scarcities of consumer culture toward more humane forces like generosity, curiosity, and humility, along with a complementary return to a neutral gaze upon nature.

The following essays were developed from the 2009 trip, and are being released this summer at Arts in a Changing America. Many thanks to the following contributors and supporters. I’d love to hear more of your stories so please do comment and share!

Pittsburgh
Mitch Swain, David Seals, Ryan Freytag, Renee Piechocki, Mary Navarro, Terri Baltimore, Evan Frazier, Justin Laing, Robert Reed, Jara Dorsey, Kerin Shellenbarger, Ellen James

Detroit
Kim Dabbs, Steve Horn, Scott Hocking, Brian Widdis, Zeb Smith, Jodie Svgar, Eric Novack, Luis Croquer, Aaron Timlin

Chicago
Jennifer Armstrong, Ra Joy

Minneapolis
Erin McLennon, Julie Carver, Katie Hall

Omaha
Deb Bunting, JD Hutton, Suzanne Wise, Tim Barry, Eddy Santamaria, Hal France, Heike Langdon, Ree and Jun Kaneko, Nainsi Houston, Rachel Jacobson, Daniel Munoz, John Munoz, Magdalena Garcia

Denver

Ginger Brunetti, Erin Trapp, Jason Otero, Adam Lerner, Christopher Wineman, Deborah Jordy, Tony Garcia, Ivar Zeile, John Gustafson, Hadley Hooper, Tracy Weil, Shannon Daut

Albuquerque
Sherri Brueggemann, Estevan Rael-Galvez, Joe Wasson, Shelle VanEtten de Sanchez, Suzanne Sbarge

Flagstaff
JT Tannous, April Saylor, Joan Pevarnik, Chris Scully, Robert Breunig, Michael Vincent Joe Boles, Molly Munger

Jerome
Lisa Petty, Anne Miranda, Jet Tennant, Liz Gale

Phoenix
Gregory Sale, Michael Tucker, Bob Booker, Jaime Dempsey, Greg Esser, Cindy Dach