IU Center for Rural Engagement to collaborate with Traditional Arts Indiana on demonstrations, exhibits in rural communities

Through the Center for Rural Engagement’s rural arts series, arts and humanities faculty are working with Huntingburg, Nashville, and Salem to bring arts performances and exhibitions to those communities, such as music, dance, and theatre; museum exhibits; lectures; creative writing; and strategic initiatives to assist local arts groups and municipalities with community development and capacity building.

Traditional Arts Indiana is dedicated to expanding public awareness of Indiana’s traditional practices and nurturing a sense of pride among Indiana’s traditional artists. TAI identifies, documents, and seeks to understand more fully the many ways in which cultural values are embedded in daily life. It calls attention to neglected aesthetic forms that firmly ground and deeply connect individuals to their communities–from the spoken text to the hand-made object to customary behavior. TAI’s overarching goal is to integrate and connect cultural heritage to educational activities, cultural conservation, arts, and community development at the local, state and national level.