Living Locally

Finding, Supporting, and Becoming Artists for Your Community

By Amanda Opelt

“There’s as many styles of pickin’ banjo as there are hollers in these hills!”

Appalachian Tradition

My Aunt Rhonda says this sometimes. She knows a thing or two about pickin’ the banjo. She’s a well renowned Appalachian musician and folk historian who grew up at the foot of Roan Mountain. She knows as much as anyone about local music and folklore traditions, the songs and stories that grew up in our small mountain communities and served as unique reflections of the values and traditions embodied in those places.

She’d talk sometimes about how a particular style of playing the fiddle or dulcimer would take shape in one valley. Or how a regionally known murder ballad would take on an alternate ending on one mountain, while the melody and names of the main characters would vary from county to county.

There’s something really special to me about the local arts. Place has a way of shaping workmanship. Songs, poetry, and visual arts reverberate with the home geography and culture of the artist. When I absorb art local to where I live, I ingest sentiments and sensibilities that are familiar to me at a very deeply physical level.

Our experiences are inextricably linked to people and places, specific spots of earth that we inhabit in community with one another.  

Unlimited Access to the World

But the advent of the internet and globalization has brought sweeping change not only to the arts, but to community and consumerism. Everything about our world today seems hell bent on pulling us away from fully occupying the time and space God has, in His wisdom, confined us to. The internet gives us access to images, ideas, products, art, news, and people from all over the world. And in many ways, that's an enormous privilege and blessing. 

But lately, I've wondered what that excess and access to global goods for unlimited consumption has done to our ability to invest in our actual physical communities. How are we to really grow roots in a place when our attention is always being diverted elsewhere?  

We experience a gluttony of information and experience, gorging ourselves on whatever shiny object pops up on our social media feeds or television screens. But, as Julia Ormond’s character in the movie Sabrina says, “More is not always better, Linus. Sometimes it’s just more.”

Firmly Rooted in Home

I, for one, am tired of feeling far flung. I’d like to get back in my body somehow. I’m tired of being pulled in so many different directions. I’m tired of how weary choice and excess has made me. I’d like to feel my feet firmly rooted again in the geography of home.

Understanding this about myself has led me to become a huge advocate of supporting the local arts. Not just supporting existing artists, but also encouraging people to become artists for their own communities. Many gifted people out there sometimes choose to keep their talents hidden because they fear they can’t compete at the global stage.

But must we compete at the global stage? What if artists aimed to start by simply serving their communities? 

The cultural values of the 21st century can make a person feel like unless they “make it big” then they have failed. Not only is this mindset unsustainable for artists today, it is also counter to the way of Christ, who embraces humble service as a pathway to exaltation.

I hope we can come to a place where we rethink how we measure success as artists. I’m blessed to have a small group of songwriters I meet with monthly to share new work, offer critique, and confide in one another about the joys and struggles of the creative life. This community of artists is a gift to me because they keep me grounded. We hold concerts in one another’s houses, lead worship in our local church, and support one another in our music productions. Their encouragement and affirmation are received through face to face relationship and investment of time, not through meager social media “likes” and “shares.”

I’m not saying an artist should never utilize the internet or social media. It’s an incredible tool for getting your music out to a broad audience. And visibility with a broad audience helps with sales, leading to the ability to produce more music. I’m only advocating that the investment in our local, physical presence be equal to or greater than our investment in our online brand.

Monetarily sustaining local arts requires the attention and generosity of local patrons. So, I’d advocate that we all simply pay attention to what’s close to us. What is near to you, geographically, experientially, and relationally? What can you do to support those who labor to bring to life art reflecting the shared values, practices and wisdom of your local community?

Let’s be present where we are, in this beautiful spot of earth we call the high country.