Minnesota Children's Press and Johnson Post Heritage Art Gallery are excited to host the Blandin Foundation and Springboard for the Arts on Thursday, October 24, 4:00 - 5:30 pm for the launch of a new publication, Heartland, Heartwork: A Field Guide to Place and Possibility for Rural Leaders. The event will take place at the Johnson Post Heritage Art Gallery, located at 115 West Wisconsin Street in Grand Marais, Minnesota.

Developed in partnership with the Blandin Foundation, this comprehensive field guide is designed to empower rural leaders in planning and executing effective place-based projects centered in arts, culture and creativity. 

Featuring case studies from over 30 communities across Minnesota and original essays from rural creative leaders, the field guide offers valuable insights and practical tools for fostering creative leadership in rural areas.

“Place-based work starts with being grounded in our personal values and asking ourselves critical questions about our connection to place and our intentions for impact,” says Michele Anderson, Rural Director at Springboard, who wrote and edited the field guide. “Getting clear on what drives us as individuals, and knowing our own capacity and limitations, is a unique focus of this book.”

The book is organized into six chapters: Place, People, Intentions, Centering Creatives, Action, and Ripple Effects. Each chapter is packed with prompts for personal reflection, project planning worksheets, team-building activities, and thought-provoking essays from creative rural leaders.

Heartland, Heartwork was born out of a year-long Community of Practice facilitated by Springboard for the Arts, aimed at supporting rural placemaking grantees through the Blandin Foundation. Over the course of 10 months, participants engaged in shared learning, peer support, and site exchanges, all of which contributed to the development of this resource.

“Rural people know art is one of many activities that build community pride,” said Mary Magnuson, grants program officer for rural placemaking at Blandin Foundation. “The tools and success stories in the book get people looking at the role of art in community more holistically. If a community is looking to create a mural, for example, it’s not just about painting a pretty picture. It’s also the process a community uses to understand what’s meaningful to people, then depicting those things in the mural, so it creates a sense of well-being and belonging, as well as being beautiful.” said Mary Magnuson, Blandin Foundation. 

The event will feature a conversation and remarks from Anne Braatas, Founder of the Minnesota Children’s Press; Mary Magnuson grants program officer at the Blandin Foundation, Michele Anderson, Rural Director at Springboard for the Arts, and Jack Forinash, Executive Director of Blue Sky Center in New Cuyama, California.

Books will be available at the event on October 24th. Free copies of the field guide can also be downloaded by visiting https://springboardforthearts.org/books/.