This article originally appeared on Creators.When we think of Americana—things associated with the culture and history of the US—we think of open landscapes, industrial materials, and domestic crafts that conjure a sense of nostalgia. We're out of touch with artists in the Heartland, Bible Belt, Four Corners, Dakotas, and even the Pacific Northwest, but certain they are present, turning sorrows and desires into glorious manifestations of identity, truth, and liberty.Today The Creators Project embarks on something new: an editorial journey to learn about creativity across the United States. 50 States of Art is a yearlong editorial investigation into the art, artists, and art organizations that make up the complex cultural landscape of the USA in 2017.To better appreciate our country at large, we'll seek to understand the localized and unique considerations artists are making throughout the country to maintain their practices, foster communities, and uphold their vocations in pursuit of a better sense of self. We want to support artists working in different mediums, ecstatic styles, and emergent genres. Each month we will focus on creative communities within five states as a litmus test to understand local demographics, politics, and cultural dynamics from an artist's frame. It is our hope that we can celebrate other Ghost Ships, herald other Pulse nightclubs, spark new creative movements, empower new hashtags.We want to hear from you if you shoot films with your iPhone; see sculptures in shovels; choreograph dances for Instagram; carve objects by hand; manipulate your body as a canvas; acknowledge your gender as a platform; see new worlds in code; find possibility out of trash; use the lens as a mirror; consider data a medium; write memes as poetry; formulate campaigns out of GIFs. That is to say, we're looking for artists who understand the world more succinctly when it is translated into the visual and sensory realms; who refer to art, rather than politics, to learn about humanity and the state of the world.As Rainer Maria Rilke wrote in Letters to a Young Poet, "Things aren't all so tangible and sayable as people would usually have us believe; most experiences are unsayable, they happen in a space that no word has ever entered, and more unsay able than all other things are works of art, those mysterious existences, whose life endures beside our own small, transitory life."If any of this resonates with you, tag your work with #50StatesofArt on Instagram and email editor@thecreatorsproject.com. We will be hunting for new American artists to cover and share on our site throughout the year. We are seeking, in earnest, to forge a path of connection.Every month we are highlighting another five states in the 50 States of Art project. You can check back here for updates below.Best,MGVEditor-in-Chief, The Creators ProjectMinnesotaFleeing Civil War, A Somali Performance Artist Finds Refuge in MinnesotaPortraits of Minnesota's Somali Immigrants Capture the Ache of Leaving HomeEssay: Is Minneapolis America's Next Powder Keg for Art?18 Different Artists Designed a Wondrous Mini-Golf Course in MinnesotaMissouriGet to Know the Radical Collective Sticking Up for St. Louis ArtistsEssay: Open Space, Easy Living Creates Space for Thought in Kansas CityEssay: St. Louis Is Undergoing an Artistic RenaissanceNew MexicoMeet the George R.R. Martin-Endorsed New Mexico Collective Saving America's DIY VenuesInside New Mexico's Body Shop-Turned-Art GalleryEssay: New Mexico Is a Haven for Indigenous and Xicano ArtistsNorth DakotaStanding Rock-Born Sculptor Cannupa Hanska Luger Fights for Cultural Survival | #50StatesofArtLearn Quillwork and Indigenous Culture at North Dakota Gallery Five Nations Arts | #50StatesofArtHand-Cut Collages Collapse Modern Disarray in North Dakota | #50StatesofArtHow Art Immortalized #NoDAPL Protests at Standing Rock | #50StatesofArtPhotographer Uses 166-Year-Old Process to Capture the Spirit of North Dakota | #50StatesofArtSouth CarolinaThe Charleston, SC Art Gallery That Dares to Be Different | #50StatesofArtA Curator Gives Us the Lowdown on Art in the South | #50StatesofArtEssay: Planting Seeds of Progressive Art in Trump's America | #50StatesofArtHawaiiMeet Honolulu's Friendly Neighborhood Art Collective | #50StatesofArtEssay: Hawaii Blossoms into a Paradise for Street Art | #50StatesofArtEssay: A Hawaiian Artist Confronts the Lasting Legacy of Colonialism | #50StatesofArtAnimating Endangered Species to Save Them in Hawaii | #50StatesofArtIndianaArtists Pioneer a "Fairer Form of Gentrification" in Indiana | #50StatesofArtMeet the Artist-Run Incubator Empowering Makers in Indiana | #50StatesofArtSteampunk Puppets Take Center Stage in Indiana | #50StatesofArtIllinoisFrom Brunch to Bike Jousting, This Chicago Gallery Does Whatever it Takes to Sell Art | #50StatesofArtChicago's 2nd Floor Rear Festival Celebrates DIY Art Spaces of All Kinds | #50StatesofArtWhy an LA Artist Turned an Abandoned Taco Bell into a Midwestern Art Exhibit | #50StatesofArtWhy Is This Tiny Illinois Town Obsessed with Superman? | #50StatesofArtWyomingThis Wyoming Art Collective Turned Political in the Wake of TrumpInteractive Public Art Meets Affordable Housing in Casper, WYThis Animal Art Museum Is Like an Art History ZooNature-Loving Artist Translates Wild Encounters onto CanvasMontanaA Found Fabric Textile Artist Bucks Tradition in MontanaThe Wild West Is Alive and Well in these Nature PhotosMontana's Dinosaur Sculptor is Dr. Frankenstein Meets Dr. SuessA Plein Air Painter Finds Peace in the Montana MountainsWest VirginiaCharming Ink Illustrations Personify Cute AnimalsArkansasHow One Man Turned an Arkansas Garage into an International Art GalleryThe Best Kid Artists In Arkansas Get A Museum ShowI'm the Only Latina Working in the Arkansas House of RepresentativesKentuckyFemale Inmates Bare Their Souls for Emotional Portraits in KYThe Kentucky Derby's Official Hat Maker Shares Her Secrets187 Photos Map a Photographer's Love for LouisvilleA Tattoo Artist Embraces His Appalachian RootsColorado100% Sustainable Art Blossoms in ColoradoColorado's Digital Archeologist Is Mapping Your Data DoppelgangerWhy 160+ Artists Flock to a Printing Studio in ColoradoWashingtonIn Seattle, Decolonization is a Full Time GigPOV: Young Artist Fight an Uphill Battle in Seattle'Queer Feelings' Displays Diversity Along the Gender SpectrumSeattle's Underrepresented Artists Get Showcased in VignettesTennesseeZiggy Stardust's Daughter Is Alive and Living in NashvilleHow Real Estate Ate Nashville's Smallest Art GallerySea Meets Sky in a Tennessee Artist's Cosmic CollagesWe're the Artists Fighting Racism in MemphisDarkly Humorous Paintings Critique Society's Relationship with TechnologyMemphis Makes a Bet on Unlikely Philanthropists--MillennialsDelawareAfter Getting Sober, An Artist Helps Other Recover Through CreativityThe Oldest State in the Union Has Something to Say About ArtNew York Rent Too Damn High? Try Delaware.'Fearless Girl' Sculptor Says Removing Her Work Would Squash Its MeaningOregonWhy Portland Needs All-Women Art SpacesA Free Arts Camp in Oregon Fights Poverty and Nurtures KidsOregon's Steampunk Sculptor Keeps a Collective AfloatNative American Artist Ka'ila Farrell Smith Bridges Indigineous and Western CulturePortland's Able Baker Lets Artists Cook Up Their Own ShowsArizonaArtist Laura Amphlett Hides the Desert's Magic in Collaged BoxesGWAR's Slave Pit and the Richmond Art Scene from Whence It CameArtist Brothers Fortual Are Transforming Phoenix with a Nomadic Art SpaceA Light Artist Uses Projections as a Conduit to God in ArizonaHow Political Art Heats Up a Divided Arizona15 Years of APACHE Skateboards Links Tribal and Skate Cultures in AZ[NSFW] ColorOrgy Hijacks Gender Norms with Cheeky Pastel IllustrationsA Mexican American Artist Advocates for Immigrants in ArizonaCacti, Crows, and Crazy Colors Combine to Celebrate ArizonaHow Moving to Arizona Unlocked This Muralist's Candy-Colored Fantasy LandVirginiaA Step-by-Step Guide to Staying an Artist While Having a BabyThe Performance Artist Fusing Mayan Rituals, Hip Hop, and PunkAfter Going to Jail for Vandalism, a Virginia Muralist Keeps PaintingNebraskaEssay: Inclusive DIY Space "The Mez" Nurtures Amateur Artists in NebraskaFinger Painted Self-Portrait by Kids Emulate Chuck Close PaintingsParallel Visions Makes Space for Nebraska's Artists of ColorThe Nebraska Zine Fests Turning Makers Into ActivistsA Skate Park Provides a Creative Haven for Nebraska TeensForage for Wild Edibles at Nebraska's DIO FestivalA Scrappy Volunteer Art Space Draws Creatives to South Omaha, NEMaineEssay: An Artist 'From Away' Fosters Her Own Tribe in MainePiecing Together a Print 'Visual Creole' Under the Isolation of the Maine SkyWhen Is a Cup Not a Cup? When It's a Political StatementEssay: Though Remote, Maine Is a Fertile Ground for Contemporary ArtsEssay: In Maine, If There's an Artistic Will, Artists Will Find a WayMississippiEssay: Growing Up in the Mississippi Delta Made Me a MusicianAnd Gallery Is Fostering a Groundbreaking Contemporary Art Scene in Jackson, MIA Farmer's Daughter Turned Photographer Learns to Love Her Mississippi RootsA Quadriplegic Painter Created An Artist Paradise for Artists with DisabilitiesEssay: In the Heart of Dixie, Art Is Social CommentaryEssay: In Mississippi, Art = CommunityFloridaFlorida Womyn Carve Out Spaces for Feminist Voices with "She/Folk" NetworkFlorida Artist Uses Fabric Scraps and Found Objects to Investigate RaceUtah15 Years of Utah Arts Reportage, From Sun Tunnels to Outsider ArtHow Salt Lake City Became a Modern Dance MeccaEssay: On the Edge of Zion, Utah Artist Remain UntamedIn Central Utah, a Contemporary Arts Center Puts Community First[NSFW] This Feminist Ex-Mormon Brings Floral Vagina Paintings to Utah
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