Monday, August 9, 2010

Introducing The Rural Arts Map


Today we're introducing a feature to The Art of the Rural that has been a long time in the making: The Rural Arts Map. This interactive Google Map offers links to the artists and organizations we've discussed, as well as to specific posts from our site.

A cursory glance at the distribution of blue pins will speak to the areas of the country where we need to do more work. Appalachia (my home-region) is neatly outlined in blue markers, while whole swaths of the west and the plains are woefully under-represented.

As The Art of the Rural has developed over the last few months, we've greatly valued the feedback of our reader-collaborators -- and we could really use everyone's input here. We are looking to expand the map, to begin linking to artists, organizations and sites that we've yet to cover explicitly on our site. We would like this map to be a resource, and a gateway, for people to learn more about the wide range of art-making in rural America.

When inspiration strikes, please feel free to drop us a line via email or on our Facebook page. Thanks again to everyone who's spent time reading and commenting on The Art of the Rural, and who's passed our site along to friends. We're excited for the kinds of collaborations that this map promises.