Mark your calendars! We’ll be in the D.C. Metro area, June 23-26, for the 2013 National Rural Assembly.
The planning for the next Assembly is officially underway, and this month, we’re asking for your ideas about keynote speakers. Be creative. Tell us why you’re suggesting this person and what they will contribute to the rural conversation.
Over the next few months we’ll use this bulletin to invite your suggestions about programming for the meeting. We’ll pass your suggestions on to the working groups that will design the agenda for the 2013 Assembly. Also in this month’s bulletin are updates about the Rural Transportation Policy Group and the Rural Arts and Culture Group. As always, send your stories and comments to whitney@ruralstrategies.org.
Thank you for all you do,
Whitney Kimball Coe
on behalf of the National Rural Assembly and Center for Rural Strategies
Keynotes: Who should speak at the 2013 Assembly?
The Rural Transportation Working Group of the National Rural Assembly continues to have an impact on the discussion about U.S. transportation policy.
The American Public Transportation Association cited the working group’s transportation policy paper in its publication “Rural Communities Expanding Horizons- The Benefits of Public Transportation.”
The report used information from the Rural Transportation Working Group’s policy paper, which was endorsed by organizations across the United States. And it quoted to the working group’s members, Kathleen Moxon (Redwood Coast Rural Action in California) and Billy Altom (Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living.)
The Rural Transportation Working Group continues to promote accessible, affordable, and sustainable transportation systems for rural Americans. Currently, the group is working on the implementation of the federal transportation bill passed in 2012, MAP-21. More information on the group’s activities and how to get involved are on their website.
What about the rural arts?
Since the first meeting of the Rural Arts and Culture Working Group in Ashfield, Massachusetts, we’ve been tracking articles and essays produced by group members that advance a new frame about the role of the arts in rural communities. Check out some of the latest:
- Writer and community arts advocate Savannah Barrett interviews Patrick Overton for the rural culture site Art of the Rural.
- Professor Scott Walters (University of North Carolina at Asheville) offers these thoughts about The Wal-Marting of American Theater, which appeared last week in Huffington Post.
- HowlRound: A Journal of the the Theater Commons hosted a number of essays from Ashfield participants, including Nikiko Masumoto,Donna Neuwirth, Matt Fluharty, and Scott Walters.
If you are interested in joining this conversation, contact whitney@ruralstrategies.org.
