Art of the Rural

This episode was produced in partnership with 5 Plain Questions and Eleven Warrior Arts. Hosted by Joe Williams , 5 Plain Questions is a podcast that proposes 5 general questions to Native American and Indigenous artists, creators, musicians, writers, movers and shakers, and culture bearers. In this episode, meet Holly Doll.  Holly Doll lives in Bismarck, North Dakota, and is a citizen of the Stan...

This episode was produced in partnership with 5 Plain Questions and Eleven Warrior Arts. Hosted by Joe Williams , 5 Plain Questions is a podcast that proposes 5 general questions to Native American and Indigenous artists, creators, musicians, writers, movers and shakers, and culture bearers. In this episode, meet Penny Kagigebi. Penny is a Two-Spirit queer artist, curator, and community collaborat...

Meet Donna Neuwirth and Jay Salinas, co-Founders of Wormfarm Institute, a cross-sector arts and culture organization rooted in Sauk County, Wisconsin, in the heart of the Driftless region of the Upper Midwest. Over thirty years ago, Jay and Donna made a leap of faith, leaving behind Chicago, and the city’s vibrant arts scene, for a forty-acre dairy farm in Wisconsin. Out of this experiment grew on...

This two-part episode was produced in partnership with 5 Plain Questions and Eleven Warrior Arts. Hosted by Joe Williams , 5 Plain Questions is a podcast that proposes 5 general questions to Native American and Indigenous artists, creators, musicians, writers, movers and shakers, and culture bearers. Suzan Shown Harjo is a Cheyenne citizen of Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes and Hodulgee Muscogee. Sh...

This two-part episode was produced in partnership with 5 Plain Questions and Eleven Warrior Arts. Hosted by Joe Williams , 5 Plain Questions is a podcast that proposes 5 general questions to Native American and Indigenous artists, creators, musicians, writers, movers and shakers, and culture bearers. Suzan Shown Harjo is a Cheyenne citizen of Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes and Hodulgee Muscogee. Sh...

In this episode, meet Annie Humphrey and Shanai Matteson of Fire in the Village, a collective of artists and cultural organizers that build and sustain spiritual fires of connection where they live in Anishinaabe territory, or rural northern Minnesota, and with arts and music communities around the region. As we learn, Fire in the Village isn't what we might conventionally call an organizatio...

This episode was produced in partnership with 5 Plain Questions and Eleven Warrior Arts. Hosted by Joe Williams , 5 Plain Questions is a podcast that proposes 5 general questions to Native American and Indigenous artists, creators, musicians, writers, movers and shakers, and culture bearers. Dr. Kate Beane is a public historian, the Executive Director of the Minnesota Museum of American Art, and t...

On this episode of the Art of the Rural podcast, meet Autumn Cavender. She is a Wahpetunwan Dakota midwife, artist, and community leader focusing on the intersections of art, birth, and storytelling. Raised amidst community historians, Autumn initially focused on Dakota language and cultural revitalization. This background brought a unique perspective to her birth work, first as a doula, and then...

On this episode, meet Brian Harnetty, an interdisciplinary sound artist, composer, and author. Brian is known for his archival recording projects, socially-engaged works, sound & video installations, live performances, and writings, including his book, Noisy Memory: Recording Sound, Performing Archives (University of North Carolina Press, 2025). Brian works with sound archives and the communit...

This episode was produced in partnership with 5 Plain Questions and Eleven Warrior Arts. Hosted by Joe Williams , 5 Plain Questions is a podcast that proposes 5 general questions to Native American and Indigenous artists, creators, musicians, writers, movers and shakers, and culture bearers. Episode Summary In this episode, meet Marina Cristina “Tina” Tavera, a Minneapolis-based Latinx artist whos...

On this episode, meet Mary Welcome, a multidisciplinary cultural worker and rural avant-garde artist.  For close to 20 years, Mary's life and creative practice have radiated out from her hometown of Palouse, Washington, toward an immense web of rural communities and partners across the continent. Few artists in our field articulate both a sense of deep respect for local community and a belief...

This episode was produced in partnership with 5 Plain Questions and Eleven Warrior Arts. Hosted by Joe Williams , 5 Plain Questions is a podcast that proposes 5 general questions to Native American and Indigenous artists, creators, musicians, writers, movers and shakers, and culture bearers. Mali Obomsawin stands at the forefront of contemporary Indigenous music, embodying a diverse range of genre...

Independent artist & educator Erika Nelson discusses her two-year journey living in a vehicle and exploring Outsider Art across the United States - and creating her own. In this episode, independent artist and educator Erika Nelson discusses the communities, places, and artworks that tell the story of her two-year journey living in a vehicle and meeting people who built Outsider Art Environmen...

This episode was produced in partnership with 5 Plain Questions and Eleven Warrior Arts. Hosted by Joe Williams , 5 Plain Questions is a podcast that proposes 5 general questions to Native American and Indigenous artists, creators, musicians, writers, movers and shakers, and culture bearers. Joseph J. Allen , a Minnesota-based photographer, Art of the Rural Fellow , and returning guest to 5 Plain...

In this episode, Matthew Fluharty visits writer, curator, & activist Lucy Lippard in Galisteo, New Mexico. Lucy discusses the publication of her local newsletter El Puente de Galisteo , which she began editing & distributing in January 1997, in collaboration with local residents & community organizations. She reflects on her involvement in the Galisteo community & how the village h...

This episode was produced in partnership with 5 Plain Questions and Eleven Warrior Arts. Hosted by Joe Williams , 5 Plain Questions is a podcast that proposes 5 general questions to Native American and Indigenous artists, creators, musicians, writers, movers and shakers, and culture bearers. In this episode, Xavier Tavera brings his unique perspective as a Minnesota-based photographer and cultural...

Faye Dant joins Matthew Fluharty to discuss Black history in Hannibal, MO, and the inspirations behind Jim's Journey and her book Hannibal's Invisibles . In this first episode of the new Art of the Rural podcast , meet Faye Dant. Faye is the founder and director of Jim’s Journey: The Huck Finn Freedom Center , an organization with a mission to build cross-cultural understanding by docume...

In this trailer, hear from Art of the Rural Executive Director Matthew Fluharty about our new podcast, bringing together artists & culture bearers from across rural America and Indian Country. Learn more about each episode at artoftherural.org/podcast , and stay in-the-know by following us on online: Instagram & Substack @artoftherural Facebook : theartoftherural As new episodes roll out,...