Dixie Transforming

Flying a few thousand miles west to spend Mother’s Day with my favorite lady.  There will be some post interruptions this week, but should resume once I return from the garden isle.

This week we are in Kauai...

Towns of the rural south occupy a special place in the American consciousness.  Our notions about them are based on the depictions provided to us by notable literary figures such as William Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, Zora Neale Hurston and Mark Twain.  Whether it be the quintessential southern courthouse town described by J.B. Jackson — or ideas about responsible land stewardship in essays and poems by Wendell Berry — writings about southern towns and their surrounding landscapes evoke very clear images about the sense of place, history and culture.

With the decline of manufacturing (textiles, furniture) and traditional agricultural enterprise (tobacco) in the south, towns and cities are realizing a need to attract and cultivate new economic drivers for the 21st century.  Some are using arts as a way to invite new talent, people, and ideas into their communities and to rectify the waning sense of culture and place of our modern time.  In Durham, NC, a new performing arts center and the adaptive reuse of the American Tobacco Campus have created new amenities and office space in the heart of a once depressed downtown.  The result is an environment that can attract residents as well as workers with walkable cultural attractions and the appeal of being within the city’s historic district.

Smaller urban areas are also interested in what the arts can offer their communities.  In Louisville, Georgia, a “Friends of” group bought and renovated a defunct firehouse in 2005, turning it into a gallery space and community education venue.  The gallery functions to promote the work of southern artists through its monthly exhibit program.  Area youngsters have opportunities throughout the year to engage with professional artists through talks and workshops.  Such programs help to fill the void that school classrooms cannot address given limited public funding and outreach capabilities.

Mulberry Street, Louisville, GA

I visited the Firehouse Gallery for the second time during my fellowship trip this spring and managed to catch the monthly exhibit opening on April 2.  The featured exhibit was the annual Jefferson County High School’s AP Art class show.  Each featured student artist was provided gallery space to display a collection of work produced during the semester.  Artwork came in a variety of mediums including 3d model, oil paint, pencil, digital photography manipulation, ink, pastel and mix-media.  Students were also given the opportunity to sell their artwork in the setting of a professional gallery.  By the end of the night about 35% of the student pieces were sold, resulting in many proud students.

The Friends’ Firehouse Gallery does a bit more than promote the idea of art to a rural community.  It provides a way into art.  While the gallery venue is more or less traditional in form, it is the slate of innovative of programming which makes it a meaningful community asset.  Potentially more inclusive and flexible than any local church, social club, or civic group, the Firehouse Gallery responds to the talents and creative aspirations of more and more Louisvilleans each year.  The outreach work is a never ending effort.

The presence of Louisville’s Firehouse Gallery adds a sense of prestige and pride to the town’s identity.  Separate efforts to redesign the Broad Street pedestrian facilities and the retrofit of the Jefferson County Courthouse clock tower are other examples of the growing enthusiasm to reshape the experience of downtown Louisville.

I’ve just returned from spending three days in the city of Greenville, SC.  A good friend of mine relocated there last year for work from Hamburg, Germany.  My trip through the South was a perfect opportunity to stop by and do some overdue catching up.  An added bonus was also getting to reconnect with her now 14 year-old cat Pumpkin, who I haven’t seen since 2003, give or take a year.

I lived with Pumpkin between 1998-99.

Greenville surprised me quite a bit.  I didn’t expect to see such a lively, chain-free main street punctuated with comfortable sitting areas, outdoor dining options, fitness businesses, performing arts venues, well-maintained building facades, and an impressive riverfront area complete with a steel and cable pedestrian bridge.  This particular example was executed with great success having the bridge’s midpoint being a perfect overlook spot over the rock terraces and waterfalls of the Reedy River.  Endless streams of family or friends groups travel across the bridge, some continuing for a longer jaunt along the river towards the Cleveland Park trail system.  A seven minute walk in the other direction, you happen upon the city’s minor league ballpark, where tickets sell from between $5 and $8.

I lived with Alyssa between 1998-99, too.

Greenville is by far the most physically active city in the south I’ve come across as well.  There are runners here. You see them everywhere, and especially along the Reedy River trail system.  I saw several older couples (in their late 60s) jogging by at a rather ferocious and disciplined pace.  Someone mentioned the long history of active track groups in Greenville.  Put me to shame!

All in all, the Greenville downtown is a terrific place to spend the day or evening – or both, as I did.  Residents I spoke with agreed that the city’s pride and energies are focused on the downtown experience.  The periphery of Greenville is much like any other urban area, complete with big box shopping, ample parking lots and clogged arterial connector highways (don’t forget your SuperWalmart).  The day will eventually come for change at the challenged urban periphery, but for now it’s a downtown thang.  Simple as that.