“Crossroads: Change in Rural America” Opens February 2 at the Atlanta Museum
Smithsonian Exhibit in Atlanta through March 16th

 

[January 29, 2019] 

The Atlanta Public Library District is pleased to announce that Crossroads: Change in Rural America will open on Saturday, February 2, 2019, at the Atlanta Museum. The Atlanta Library/Museum was selected in 2018 as one of just six organizations in Illinois to host this new Museums on Main Street exhibit produced by the Smithsonian Institution. The exhibit will be open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 10:00AM – 3:00PM, on Sundays from Noon – 3:00PM, and by appointment. The exhibit will run from February 2 through March 16, 2019 at the Atlanta Museum and the Loft at Union Hall. The Atlanta Museum will also organize guided group outings upon request. More information is available by calling the Atlanta Library 217-648-2112.

Gold Sponsors of the Crossroads exhibit in Atlanta include the Smithsonian, Illinois Humanities, and the Illinois Prairie Community Foundation. Lead sponsors are the Atlanta Betterment Fund, the Atlanta National Bank, Gary Gemberling, and David Kindred. A number of local donors have also provided funds for the project as well as in-kind support for its development and creation.

In conjunction with the Crossroads exhibit—which is coordinated by Illinois Humanities in partnership with the Smithsonian—the Atlanta Museum will unveil a brand new companion exhibit entitled Classrooms and Community: Changes in Rural America’s Sense of Community. This exhibit will examine how the development from one-room rural schools through the centralized town-based school and the larger consolidated school district has affected how communities view themselves. Based on a series of oral interviews conducted in 2018, this exhibit is rooted in an exploration of how a sense of place, common memories, and shared values combine to enliven the school experience and shape a community’s perception of itself.

Also, on February 2, the Library District will unveil a new community mural in its Union Hall Visitor and Welcome Center and mount an exhibit of art work by students of Olympia High School. The mural, created by artist Regan King and painted by King and a group of local volunteers, celebrates the rural community of Atlanta—its history, dreams and visions for the future. The art show is also designed to capture the themes of the Smithsonian exhibit. Students have chosen from one of the following subjects: reflections on rural life; reflections on community; or reflections on school experience.

Museums on Main Street is a program conducted cooperatively by the Smithsonian Institution and state humanities councils nationwide that gives rural Americans opportunities to experience world-class exhibitions in their own communities and enables the organizations that host the exhibitions to enhance their capacities in a variety of ways.

The Crossroads exhibit describes the views of various cultural communities regarding the use and management of land and examines the role of land in the formation of local economies. It also discusses the emergence of rural communities and the evolution of their economic and social structures, especially during the period of rapid change in the mid-20th century. Importantly, it will explore ways in which rural communities are responding effectively to challenges in the 21st century and invite communities to contemplate their own potential paths into the future.

In addition to the Atlanta Museum, the Crossroads exhibit will travel to the Chester Public Library, Chester Illinois; the Old School Museum, Winchester Illinois; Lake Shelbyville Visitors Center, Shelbyville Illinois; the Marshall Public Library, Marshall Illinois; and the Sycamore History Museum, Sycamore Illinois.

For more information about Illinois Humanities, the Museum on Main Street program, and/or the Atlanta Public Library & Museum contact Cathy Maciariello, Atlanta Public Library and Museum.

[Cathy Maciariello
Atlanta Public Library and Museum]