We launched a podcast about making art happen in small towns

Check out episode 1 of our new podcast “Bottleracks & Fountains”.

We’ve spent the last several months planning the next steps for ECA, and part of that conversation has been about ways we can impact the broader conversations around contemporary art practice. One area that we’ve always felt lacking in our region is better media focused on the artists and organizations making culture happen where we live.

We feel that the experience of being an unknown artist in a relatively small town is the common experience for most of us. The narrative driven by the big art capitals may be the dominant paradigm, but the daily experience of trying to make art happen – either in your studio, through a small arts org, or even through civic policy – is by far the most important force driving creative culture in America. There just isn’t much money or press coverage around it. We decided to start recording our conversations and invite others to the table to find out how they are doing it, and how they are doing it. The stories, the tips, the struggles, the wins.

So with that, we are excited to launch a podcast about what it means to make art and culture happen in small towns. Please take some time to listen to “Big City vs Small City” – episode 1 of “Bottleracks & Fountains” – over at bofopodcast.com and shoot me an email and tell me what you think. By the next episode we hope to be available on more outlets. Until then you can follow the podcast on Twitter, and ECA on Instagram.

Special thanks to Drawn Brands hosting the session, and to Pinball Jukebox for the theme music. We hope you will dig it. 
Upcoming episodes

• ep2: Launching a Visual Arts Festival with City of Eugene Cultural Services Director Isaac Marquez
• ep3: Running a Residency Program with Nicholaus Arnold and Ashley Jonas of Blue House Arts (Canton, OH)
• ep4: Introducing Contemporary Art to a Traditional Art Community with Sandee McGee of Umpqua Valley Arts Center
• ep5: Arts and Activism: Running a Space with Tropical Contemporary