This article originally appeared on Creators.When we think of Americana—things associated with the culture and history of the US—we think of open landscapes, industrial materials, and domestic crafts that conjure a sense of nostalgia. We’re out of touch with artists in the Heartland, Bible Belt, Four Corners, Dakotas, and even the Pacific Northwest, but certain they are present, turning sorrows and desires into glorious manifestations of identity, truth, and liberty.
Today The Creators Project embarks on something new: an editorial journey to learn about creativity across the United States. 50 States of Art is a yearlong editorial investigation into the art, artists, and art organizations that make up the complex cultural landscape of the USA in 2017.
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To better appreciate our country at large, we’ll seek to understand the localized and unique considerations artists are making throughout the country to maintain their practices, foster communities, and uphold their vocations in pursuit of a better sense of self. We want to support artists working in different mediums, ecstatic styles, and emergent genres. Each month we will focus on creative communities within five states as a litmus test to understand local demographics, politics, and cultural dynamics from an artist’s frame. It is our hope that we can celebrate other Ghost Ships, herald other Pulse nightclubs, spark new creative movements, empower new hashtags.
We want to hear from you if you shoot films with your iPhone; see sculptures in shovels; choreograph dances for Instagram; carve objects by hand; manipulate your body as a canvas; acknowledge your gender as a platform; see new worlds in code; find possibility out of trash; use the lens as a mirror; consider data a medium; write memes as poetry; formulate campaigns out of GIFs. That is to say, we’re looking for artists who understand the world more succinctly when it is translated into the visual and sensory realms; who refer to art, rather than politics, to learn about humanity and the state of the world.
As Rainer Maria Rilke wrote in Letters to a Young Poet, “Things aren’t all so tangible and sayable as people would usually have us believe; most experiences are unsayable, they happen in a space that no word has ever entered, and more unsay able than all other things are works of art, those mysterious existences, whose life endures beside our own small, transitory life.”
If any of this resonates with you, tag your work with #50StatesofArt on Instagram and email editor@thecreatorsproject.com. We will be hunting for new American artists to cover and share on our site throughout the year. We are seeking, in earnest, to forge a path of connection.
Every month we are highlighting another five states in the 50 States of Art project. You can check back here for updates below.
Best,
MGV
Editor-in-Chief, The Creators Project
Minnesota
Fleeing Civil War, A Somali Performance Artist Finds Refuge in Minnesota
Portraits of Minnesota’s Somali Immigrants Capture the Ache of Leaving Home
Essay: Is Minneapolis America’s Next Powder Keg for Art?
18 Different Artists Designed a Wondrous Mini-Golf Course in Minnesota
Missouri
Get to Know the Radical Collective Sticking Up for St. Louis Artists
Essay: Open Space, Easy Living Creates Space for Thought in Kansas City
Essay: St. Louis Is Undergoing an Artistic Renaissance
New Mexico
Meet the George R.R. Martin-Endorsed New Mexico Collective Saving America’s DIY Venues
Inside New Mexico’s Body Shop-Turned-Art Gallery
Essay: New Mexico Is a Haven for Indigenous and Xicano Artists
North Dakota
Standing Rock-Born Sculptor Cannupa Hanska Luger Fights for Cultural Survival | #50StatesofArt
Learn Quillwork and Indigenous Culture at North Dakota Gallery Five Nations Arts | #50StatesofArt
Hand-Cut Collages Collapse Modern Disarray in North Dakota | #50StatesofArt
How Art Immortalized #NoDAPL Protests at Standing Rock | #50StatesofArt
Photographer Uses 166-Year-Old Process to Capture the Spirit of North Dakota | #50StatesofArt
South Carolina
The Charleston, SC Art Gallery That Dares to Be Different | #50StatesofArt
A Curator Gives Us the Lowdown on Art in the South | #50StatesofArt
Essay: Planting Seeds of Progressive Art in Trump’s America | #50StatesofArt
Hawaii
Meet Honolulu’s Friendly Neighborhood Art Collective | #50StatesofArt
Essay: Hawaii Blossoms into a Paradise for Street Art | #50StatesofArt
Essay: A Hawaiian Artist Confronts the Lasting Legacy of Colonialism | #50StatesofArt
Animating Endangered Species to Save Them in Hawaii | #50StatesofArt
Indiana
Artists Pioneer a “Fairer Form of Gentrification” in Indiana | #50StatesofArt
Meet the Artist-Run Incubator Empowering Makers in Indiana | #50StatesofArt
Steampunk Puppets Take Center Stage in Indiana | #50StatesofArt
Illinois
Chicago’s 2nd Floor Rear Festival Celebrates DIY Art Spaces of All Kinds | #50StatesofArt
Why an LA Artist Turned an Abandoned Taco Bell into a Midwestern Art Exhibit | #50StatesofArt
Why Is This Tiny Illinois Town Obsessed with Superman? | #50StatesofArt
Wyoming
This Wyoming Art Collective Turned Political in the Wake of Trump
Interactive Public Art Meets Affordable Housing in Casper, WY
This Animal Art Museum Is Like an Art History Zoo
Nature-Loving Artist Translates Wild Encounters onto Canvas
Montana
A Found Fabric Textile Artist Bucks Tradition in Montana
The Wild West Is Alive and Well in these Nature Photos
Montana’s Dinosaur Sculptor is Dr. Frankenstein Meets Dr. Suess
A Plein Air Painter Finds Peace in the Montana Mountains
West Virginia
Charming Ink Illustrations Personify Cute Animals
Arkansas
How One Man Turned an Arkansas Garage into an International Art Gallery
The Best Kid Artists In Arkansas Get A Museum Show
I’m the Only Latina Working in the Arkansas House of Representatives
Kentucky
Female Inmates Bare Their Souls for Emotional Portraits in KY
The Kentucky Derby’s Official Hat Maker Shares Her Secrets
187 Photos Map a Photographer’s Love for Louisville
A Tattoo Artist Embraces His Appalachian Roots
Colorado
100% Sustainable Art Blossoms in Colorado
Colorado’s Digital Archeologist Is Mapping Your Data Doppelganger
Why 160+ Artists Flock to a Printing Studio in Colorado
Washington
In Seattle, Decolonization is a Full Time Gig
POV: Young Artist Fight an Uphill Battle in Seattle
‘Queer Feelings’ Displays Diversity Along the Gender Spectrum
Seattle’s Underrepresented Artists Get Showcased in Vignettes
Tennessee
Ziggy Stardust’s Daughter Is Alive and Living in Nashville
How Real Estate Ate Nashville’s Smallest Art Gallery
Sea Meets Sky in a Tennessee Artist’s Cosmic Collages
We’re the Artists Fighting Racism in Memphis
Darkly Humorous Paintings Critique Society’s Relationship with Technology
Memphis Makes a Bet on Unlikely Philanthropists–Millennials
Delaware
After Getting Sober, An Artist Helps Other Recover Through Creativity
The Oldest State in the Union Has Something to Say About Art
New York Rent Too Damn High? Try Delaware.
‘Fearless Girl’ Sculptor Says Removing Her Work Would Squash Its Meaning
Oregon
Why Portland Needs All-Women Art Spaces
A Free Arts Camp in Oregon Fights Poverty and Nurtures Kids
Oregon’s Steampunk Sculptor Keeps a Collective Afloat
Native American Artist Ka’ila Farrell Smith Bridges Indigineous and Western Culture
Portland’s Able Baker Lets Artists Cook Up Their Own Shows
Arizona
Artist Laura Amphlett Hides the Desert’s Magic in Collaged Boxes
GWAR’s Slave Pit and the Richmond Art Scene from Whence It Came
Artist Brothers Fortual Are Transforming Phoenix with a Nomadic Art Space
A Light Artist Uses Projections as a Conduit to God in Arizona
How Political Art Heats Up a Divided Arizona
15 Years of APACHE Skateboards Links Tribal and Skate Cultures in AZ
[NSFW] ColorOrgy Hijacks Gender Norms with Cheeky Pastel Illustrations
A Mexican American Artist Advocates for Immigrants in Arizona
Cacti, Crows, and Crazy Colors Combine to Celebrate Arizona
How Moving to Arizona Unlocked This Muralist’s Candy-Colored Fantasy Land
Virginia
A Step-by-Step Guide to Staying an Artist While Having a Baby
The Performance Artist Fusing Mayan Rituals, Hip Hop, and Punk
After Going to Jail for Vandalism, a Virginia Muralist Keeps Painting
Nebraska
Essay: Inclusive DIY Space “The Mez” Nurtures Amateur Artists in Nebraska
Finger Painted Self-Portrait by Kids Emulate Chuck Close Paintings
Parallel Visions Makes Space for Nebraska’s Artists of Color
The Nebraska Zine Fests Turning Makers Into Activists
A Skate Park Provides a Creative Haven for Nebraska Teens
Forage for Wild Edibles at Nebraska’s DIO Festival
A Scrappy Volunteer Art Space Draws Creatives to South Omaha, NE
Maine
Essay: An Artist ‘From Away’ Fosters Her Own Tribe in Maine
Piecing Together a Print ‘Visual Creole’ Under the Isolation of the Maine Sky
When Is a Cup Not a Cup? When It’s a Political Statement
Essay: Though Remote, Maine Is a Fertile Ground for Contemporary Arts
Essay: In Maine, If There’s an Artistic Will, Artists Will Find a Way
Mississippi
Essay: Growing Up in the Mississippi Delta Made Me a Musician
And Gallery Is Fostering a Groundbreaking Contemporary Art Scene in Jackson, MI
A Farmer’s Daughter Turned Photographer Learns to Love Her Mississippi Roots
A Quadriplegic Painter Created An Artist Paradise for Artists with Disabilities
Essay: In the Heart of Dixie, Art Is Social Commentary
Essay: In Mississippi, Art = Community
Florida
Florida Womyn Carve Out Spaces for Feminist Voices with “She/Folk” Network
Florida Artist Uses Fabric Scraps and Found Objects to Investigate Race
Utah
15 Years of Utah Arts Reportage, From Sun Tunnels to Outsider Art
How Salt Lake City Became a Modern Dance Mecca
Essay: On the Edge of Zion, Utah Artist Remain Untamed
In Central Utah, a Contemporary Arts Center Puts Community First
[NSFW] This Feminist Ex-Mormon Brings Floral Vagina Paintings to Utah
