Redwood’s Better Farm, betterArts featured in traveling Smithsonian Exhibition

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A traveling exhibition highlighting innovation in rural communities features prominently Redwood’s own Better Farm and sister nonprofit, betterArts.

The exhibit, Spark! Places of Innovation, kicked off in early May and will last six years, traveling exclusively to small town rural museums, libraries, and cultural institutions in communities across the country. 

Spark! explores the unique combination of places, people, and circumstances that sparks innovation and invention in rural communities from the perspective of the people who live it. Inspired by Places of Invention, an exhibition developed by the Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, Spark! features stories gathered from diverse communities across the nation in a massive crowdsourcing campaign stretching from coast to coast. Photographs, engaging interactives, objects, videos, and augmented reality bring a multilayered experience to reveal the leaders, challenges, successes, and future of innovation in each town.

Redwood was selected for the artistic innovation and work of Better Farm and its sister organization, betterArts, which collectively provide cultural opportunities to the community through sustainability education, farmstays, artist residencies, a low-power FM radio station, and cultural events throughout the year including gallery exhibits, music festivals, art fairs, and retreats. Their collective location on Cottage Hill Road also features an animal sanctuary, bed and breakfast-style accommodations, and organic farm.  

The installation includes a video interactive highlighting themes of creativity, originality, collaboration, and inspiration. The video portion was shot and edited by local Kara Dry Photography. 

Spark! Places of Innovation will be the springboard for diverse local programming in the humanities, sciences, and arts. Visitors will be inspired to learn about how innovation has shaped their own communities and how they may be innovators themselves. 

Spark! venues are booked via state-level partnerships, usually with the state humanities council. Locations are being continuously updated at https://museumonmainstreet.org/content/tour-schedule. 

Learn more about Better Farm and betterArts at www.betterfarm.org.

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Nicole Caldwell

Nicole Caldwell is a self-taught environmentalist, green-living savant and sustainability educator with more than a decade of professional writing experience. She is also the co-founder of Better Farm and president of betterArts. Nicole’s work has been featured in Mother Earth News, Reader’s Digest, Time Out New York, and many other publications. Her first book, Better: The Everyday Art of Sustainable Living, is due out this July through New Society Publishers.