DEVELOPING A STRATEGY

for Collaboration and Funding

Clearly, the region is home to an abundant culture and history in the arts. These resources are already contributing to the local economy, but expansion will require an organized and concerted effort to promote local arts and artisans across the region. A Regional Arts and Artisans Plan would support community development by leveraging existing arts efforts for economic rural development across the region. Appendix C contains case studies and brainstorms building on activities that are already occurring in the region.

Flint Energies

Flint Energies, an energy cooperative in Reynolds, Georgia, not only advances clean energy within the region but also supports the arts and economic development. Murals have the potential to increase economic development by providing aesthetic beauty in rural communities. In 2019, Flint Energies started the Rural Murals Program, a project that grants $10,000 to a community to support a mural project. Flint Energies sees murals as a catalyst for economic development, celebrating the people, history, environment, and culture that make communities distinctive. Each mural is custom-made to celebrate the community’s unique history and provides a sense of place. It serves as a focal point in the community, drawing travelers off main interstates to explore and appreciate new areas while dining and shopping in local communities.

Flint Energies has supported eight murals throughout Georgia and has a vision to have a Rural Mural Trail across a 17-county area.102 Flint Energies has supported murals in three of the six participating communities in the River Valley Region, specifically two in Butler and one in Buena Vista. Future aspirations of the Rural Mural Program include the development of a Rural Mural Trail, a trail for visitors across multiple rural communities to see murals representing each community’s unique identity.

Flint Energies has received feedback from some of the communities participating in the project indicating that the murals have already generated private-sector investments and supported increased property values.

Talbot County

David and Katherine Johnson

Katherine Johnson, a retiree from the Muscogee County School System, and her husband, David, professor emeritus in American literature and creative writing at Columbus State University (CSU), are leading efforts to restore and preserve Zion Episcopal Church. The couple discovered Talbotton in 1966 for its beautiful historic buildings. They became involved in the preservation of Zion Episcopal Church through their membership in another episcopal church responsible for refurbishing Zion. Today, they are committed to raising funds for promoting and conducting routine maintenance for Zion. To date, they have raised over $300,000 for the exterior restoration, $100,000 in a Historic Columbus Foundation Public Participation Grant, and additional funds to restore the church’s 1850 Pilcher organ. In the future, they would like to continue to develop their relationship with CSU’s Schwob School of Music (as well as other departments), provide a spotlight for local musicians and artisans, help preserve Talbotton’s history, and design programs for local youth.

Fred Fussell

Annie

Stewart County

Moye

Annie Moye began the Reimagine Home Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose mission is to create a sense of place in Stewart County by restoring public access to arts and arts education, and preserving and documenting local history. Moye has written and received grants for over $50,000 from the Georgia Council for the Arts. These grants led to the creation of two murals in Lumpkin, Georgia. She also served as chair of the Pasaquan Preservation Society, dedicated to the conservation and care of St. EOM’s Pasaquan.104

Radio efferson Currie, a

Fred Fussell, a prominent figure in the arts of the River Valley, is a writer, curator, artist, and documentary photographer whose work focuses on the traditional folk culture of the American South. Fussell was also a leader in the restoration and preservation of Pasaquan, artist St. EOM’s 7-acre artscape. He wrote several grants and received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Knight Foundation, and the Kohler Foundation. He was a friend of Precious Bryant, a prominent blues musician, and even used his home as a recording studio.103 The entire Fussell family is very talented. Fred’s wife Cathy and his daughter Coulter are quilt and textile artists. His son Jake Xerxes Fussell is a successful blues musician who also hosts “Fall Line Radio” with Jefferson Currie, a station exploring music of the American South.

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