CROSSROADS: CHANGE IN RURAL AMERICA
October 19, 2024 – December 15, 2024
On View at Karen H. Hunstman Library
In 1900, about 40% of Americans lived in rural areas, By 2010, less than 18% of the U.S. population lived in rural areas. In just over a century, massive economic and social changes moved millions of Americans into urban areas. Still, nearly 60 million Americans live in rural areas. And, since only 3.5% of the U.S. landmass is considered urban, the vast majority of the landscape remains rural.
Header image: Spanish Fork, Trevor Christensen
Americans have relied on rural crossroads for generations. These places where people gather to exchange goods, services and culture and to engage in political and community discussions are an important part of our cultural fabric. The United States needs vibrant and sustainable rural communities. Americans, no matter where they live, rely on the products of the countryside (and the productivity of rural people) for food and fuel.
Crossroads: Change in Rural America offers small towns a chance to look at their own paths to highlight the changes that affected their fortunes over the past century. The exhibition will prompt discussions about what happened when America’s rural population became a minority of the country’s population and the ripple effects that occurred.
Despite the massive economic and demographic impacts brought on by these changes, America’s small towns creatively continue to identify new opportunities for growth and development. Economic innovation and a focus on the cultural facets that make small towns unique, comfortable, and desirable have helped many communities create their own renaissance.
Today’s rural communities often struggle against negative views of rural America. Many Americans considering these areas to be endangered—suffering from dwindling employment, inadequate schools, and a barren, overused landscape. But, the true story of rural America is much more complex.
Revitalizing rural places matters to those who remain, those who left, and those who will come in the future. Rural Americans are taking on that challenge. The future is bright as small towns embrace the notion that their citizens and their cultural uniqueness are critical assets.
Crossroads: Change in Rural America will engage rural communities across the country in a rich and exciting discussion about their futures.
Crossroads: Change in Rural America is presented in tandem with Connected to the Land, on view at Granary Arts October 9, 2024 - January 17, 2025.
Programs and Events
10/9/24 - 1/17/25 Connected to the Land
A group exhibition exploring women’s narratives rooted in the land and rural places. Included Artists: Odette England, Ray Farmer, Carly Jakins, Jane Roberts DeGroff, Elizabeth Stone, Elpitha Tsoutsounakis
Location: Granary Arts, main gallery
10/9/24 - 1/17/25 What’s Your Story?
A collaborative and interactive community exhibition showcasing local stories. Viewers are invited to add their story to the exhibition, responding to the question, “What is Your Connection to the Land?” visually or textually. These responses will become part of our gallery exhibition, displayed on a common wall.
Location: Granary Arts, upper gallery
10/24 Exhibitions Reception / 6 - 8pm
Opening reception of two new exhibitions, the Smithsonian Institution’s “Crossroads: Change in Rural America” on view at Snow College Karen H. Huntsman Library, and “Connected to the Land” a group exhibition on view at Granary Arts.
Location: Granary Arts and Karen H. Huntsman Library
11/1 Community Conversation: Connected to the Land / 7pm
Moderated by Micol Hebron. Come listen to local community members responding to the prompt, “What is Your Connection to the Land?” in a unique and collaborative live event highlighting the experiences of women in rural Utah.
Attendees are invited to bring a simple object that expresses their connection to the land. These items will be exchanged at the end of the event, please bring something you are willing to give away, and plan to go home with something new. This can be a rock, poem, flower, drawing, recipe, dirt, etc. anything that connects you to the land
Location: Granary Arts
11/8 Crossroads Scholar Lecture / Greg Smoak / 11:30am
Come learn more about the tension between the ideals versus realities of life in rural Utah as change – past and present – affects its communities.
Utahns embrace a rural identity despite most of our state’s population being urban and most of its land being public. Come learn more about the tension between the ideals versus realities of life in rural Utah as change – past and present – affects its communities.
Location: Snow College, Noyes Building, Founders Hall
11/16 Scan and Share / Utah Historical Society / 11am - 3pm
This is an open call for Sanpete and Utah history! Community members are invited to bring photos, letters, recipes, and other items of personal and historical significance, past and present. The documents will be digitized and added to the online collection, “Peoples of Utah Revisited.”
Location: Granary Arts, CCA Christensen Cabin
12/4 Art Workshop: Recording Data as Art / Utah Museum of Fine Art / 3:30 - 4:30pm
Join us for a free community workshop, Recording Data as Art with Virginia Catherall. Come learn to track and record data as art at this all-ages family art activity.
Location: Granary Arts, CCA Christensen Cabin
School Tours / Snow College + Granary Arts
Come learn about the exhibitions, “Connected to the Land” and “Crossroads: Change in Rural America,” Docent tours available by request. For scheduling and availability, please contact Carol Kunzler, carol.kunzler@snow.edu.
Crossroads: Change in Rural America has been made possible in Ephraim by Utah Humanities and Granary Arts presented in partnership with Snow College Karen H. Huntsman Library. Crossroads is part of Museum on Main Street, a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and state humanities councils nationwide. Support for Museum on Main Street has been provided by the United States Congress.