What does it mean to truly open the doors of a performing arts center, not just physically, but for everyone in your community?

Today on Small Town Big Arts, I'm talking with Shannon Kirkpatrick-Daniels, the Executive Director of the Appalachian Center for the Arts in Pikeville, Kentucky, known locally and lovingly as "The App." Situated in the heart of southeast Appalachia, The App is a dynamic home for theater, music, and visual arts that sees its mission as nothing less than championing the stories of their town, their region, and their world.

We talk about what it takes to run a community arts center in a rural region, the programming, the partnerships, the community relationships that make it all work. But we spend real time on something that gets talked around more than talked about in our field: accessibility. The App has made a genuine commitment to making the arts reachable for everyone, from physical access to sensory-friendly performances designed for patrons with autism and other sensory sensitivities. It's the kind of intentional, practical work that reflects what it actually means to serve your whole community, not just the easiest-to-serve part of it.

Learn more by visiting: https://theapparts.org

What does it look like to build a statewide network for rural arts and culture from the ground up? In this episode, Geoff Kershner sits down with Meg Greene, Program Director for Convenings and Collaborations at Mindpop, to explore the Rural Texas Arts and Culture Network — how it started, how it functions, and what it's teaching us about connecting artists and organizations across vast, underserved geographies. As Geoff works to develop Virginia's own version through Small Town Big Arts, this conversation is both a case study and a road map.

Learn more about the Rural Texas Arts and Culture Network at: https://texasruralarts.org/

In this episode of Small Town Big Arts, host Geoffrey Kershner talks with Ash Hanson, Founder and Creative Executive Officer of the Department of Public Transformation (DoPT) — a groundbreaking organization that uses creativity as a catalyst for civic engagement in small towns across America.


From their base in rural Minnesota, Ash and her team have helped communities reimagine public spaces, build trust across divides, and celebrate local identity through the arts. In this conversation, Ash shares how DoPT activates local leadership, nurtures collaboration between artists and civic systems, and helps residents see their towns through a new creative lens.

https://www.publictransformation.org/

Founded in 1961 and now a fully accredited partner of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the American Alliance of Museums, Piedmont Arts in Martinsville stands as one of the few cultural non‑profits serving Virginia’s Southwest region—acting as a vital nexus for visual arts, performing arts, and education in a community with limited comparable resources.


At the helm of this mission is Heidi Pinkston, the organization’s Executive Director, whose leadership has been instrumental in guiding Piedmont Arts through ambitious initiatives such as the $1 million Growth and Restoration Campaign to fortify infrastructure, expand programming, and enhance sustainability Piedmont Arts. Our conversation explores how Piedmont Arts, under Pinkston’s stewardship, is not only preserving regional cultural heritage but also envisioning a dynamic, inclusive future for the arts in Southwest Virginia.

In this episode of Small Town Big Arts, we travel to Bath County, Virginia—one of America’s most arts-vibrant rural communities—to explore how Virginia funding, local and statewide, fuels creative life in a small town. 

Host Geoffrey Kershner sits down with leaders from the Garth Newel Music Center and the Bath County Arts Association to discuss the powerful role of the arts in education, economic development, tourism, and community connection. You’ll hear how modest investments from the Virginia Commission for the Arts help sustain year-round programming, nurture local talent, and turn small grants into big impact. From chamber music in the mountains to new community art spaces in Hot Springs, this episode highlights why rural arts matter—and why public funding is essential to their future. 🔗 Learn more at vaforarts.org

What do old Pizza Huts, small-town entrepreneurship, and the American dream have in common? In this episode of Small Town Big Arts, we sit down with filmmakers Matthew Salleh and Rose Tucker, creators of the documentary Slice of Life: The American Dream. In Former Pizza Huts.

Traveling across the country—from Texas to Illinois—Salleh and Tucker uncover how communities breathe new life into familiar spaces, transforming once-iconic red-roofed pizza parlors into churches, dispensaries, community hubs, and more. Together, we explore how reuse becomes a form of storytelling, how entrepreneurship echoes artistic practice, and what it means to represent small towns on screen with honesty and respect.

Whether you’re an artist making work about a small community or simply fascinated by the ingenuity that defines small town America, this conversation explores how "outsiders" can explore how smaller communities build, adapt, and dream. Join us for a thoughtful look at place, identity, and the creative spirit that turns empty buildings—and entire towns—into canvases of possibility.

You can find the film on Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0DZY4M1XF/ref=msx_wn_av

The RiffRaff Arts Collective is a dynamic creative hub located in the heart of Princeton, West Virginia. Since its founding, RiffRaff has reimagined what arts-led revitalization can look like in an Appalachian town navigating post-industrial challenges. With a bold vision for community transformation, the organization has anchored a vibrant downtown renaissance—bringing together visual artists, musicians, performers, and civic leaders to activate public spaces, support local talent, and cultivate a thriving cultural ecosystem. I had the privilege of speaking with founder Lori McKinney, whose unwavering belief in the power of creativity has shaped RiffRaff into both an arts collective and a movement for community healing. Her insights offer a compelling look at how sustained artistic investment can build pride, belonging, and opportunity in places too often overlooked. To learn more about RiffRaff Arts Collective, visit their website at: https://riffraffartscollective.com/

Geoff takes his annual September visit to Keene, NH for the Radically Rural Conference.
At the conference he took the opportunity to interview two of the conference panelists. The second is Roy Schlieben of the MAXT Makerspace in Peterborough, NH (pop. 6,418). Their vision is that by unlocking the community’s creative potential we feed community vitality and drive innovation in the region.

Geoff takes his annual September visit to Keene, NH for the Radically Rural Conference.
At the conference he took the opportunity to interview two of the conference panelists. The first is Andrew Huckins of the Lupinewood Collective. This queer and trans community of artists have been living and working collectively since 2017 when they moved in to a falling-apart mansion with a dream to transform it into something beautiful and lasting. Out of this sprang the Lupinewood Collective, part collective living community and part arts organization, this unique org saught a space to live and work together and found it in Greenfield, MA (pop. 17,768). 

Celebrating two years of Small Town Big Arts!
Small Town Big Arts is collaborating with the University of Lynchburg on a new online course called Thriving Community Arts: Strategies for Sustainable Success. A limited number of discounted seats will be available to those who work at a nonprofit organization.  Please email [email protected] from your nonprofit account to receive a discount code.
This month we are continuing a tradition. In 2022, Small Town Big Arts was formed out of a strategic planning process Geoff facilitated at Second Stage Amherst in Virginia. Geoff discovered there were few online resources for an organization like Second Stage, a community arts space in a town of 2,200 and a county of 31,000. We check in with Second Stage's Executive Director, Jessy Shipe and see how they are doing. Spoiler: They are doing well.  m