Smithsonian exhibition comes to Powell

Examines ‘the ingenuity and tenacity of rural America’

Posted 10/9/24

Over the coming weeks, Powell will play host to a traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian.

“Spark! Places of Innovation,” which highlights how innovation has shaped small towns …

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Smithsonian exhibition comes to Powell

Examines ‘the ingenuity and tenacity of rural America’

Posted

Over the coming weeks, Powell will play host to a traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian.

“Spark! Places of Innovation,” which highlights how innovation has shaped small towns across the country, will open at the Homesteader Museum on Friday and remain on display through Nov. 26.

The exhibition aims to examine “the ingenuity and tenacity of rural America” through stories and images gathered from over 30 communities across the nation.

Through photographs, hands-on interactives, objects, and videos, “Spark!” showcases the leaders, challenges, successes, and future of innovation in each featured town.

The exhibit is organized into four different categories of innovation: social, artistic, technological, and cultural. For example, the Art & Environment Initiative in Meadville, Pennsylvania, collaborates with community members through public art projects that revitalize, beautify, and help transform shared spaces. Meanwhile, the University of New Mexico-Taos’ Hub of Internet-based Vocation and Education (HIVE) brought together educators, environmentalists and local leaders to create coworking space, a small business support center and on-site classes. 

“These places of innovation examined their existing assets, characteristics, people, resources, and history to tackle the challenges of today with creative solutions and chart new directions for their future,” said a release for the exhibit.

Designed for small-town museums, libraries, and cultural organizations, “Spark!” is meant to serve as a community meeting place for conversations about innovation. With the support of the Wyoming Humanities, host towns are developing complementary exhibits, hosting public programs, and facilitating educational initiatives to raise people’s understanding about their own history, the joys and challenges of living rural, how change has impacted their community, and prompt discussion of goals for the future. 

“‘Spark!’ allows us to reflect on Powell’s history, present and future and we are excited to explore what the future may hold for our community,” said Homesteader Museum Director/Curator Brandi Wright. “We want to convene conversations about innovation in our own community and have developed local exhibitions and public programs to complement the Smithsonian exhibition.”

Such free events included partnerships with the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area for a ranch tour over the summer, presentations with Crush It about to purchase a glass crusher for Powell Valley Recycling and an upcoming partnership with Northwest College Professor Amy McKinney in hosting a film series. Additionally, the Homesteader Museum Book Club — which meets the last Friday of every month at 9 a.m. — is currently reading selected books from the exhibition’s education and programing guide.

The “Spark!” exhibition is traveling between six different Wyoming communities on a tour that started May 18 and continues through March 2, 2025.

It’s a part of Museum on Main Street, a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), state humanities councils across the nation, and local host organizations. To learn more, visit tinyurl.com/27y289wc.

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