Every rural person and place has a story. Change is part of that story.
“Rural Utah at a Crossroads” is part of the Smithsonian traveling exhibit Crossroads: Change in Rural America, which explores the changing meaning of rural life and identity. Utah Humanities is touring Crossroads to eight rural communities across Utah in 2024. As part of the tour, Utah Humanities and Utah Public Radio are partnering with exhibition hosts to interview local residents about change in their communities.
This interview took place in partnership with the Utah State University Blanding campus.
Richard Russell: I'm Richard Russell, and I'm a local artist. Artworks: paintings mostly, mural work.
Josi Russell: I'm Josi Russell. I am a local author, and I teach creative writing as well at USU, and we live here in Blanding.
Some of the people when we told them we were moving down here, that we knew beforehand, said "Well, you know, there's nobody that likes art in small towns." I mean, not exactly that way, but they'd say, "Well, you need to be in a bigger place to be an artist." And I think that that's something you found —
Richard: That's true. We've really been well supported.
Josi: Some of our best collectors are from this and other small towns, you know. We haven't found that to be true at all, that people don't appreciate art, I think maybe even better, even more appreciative. Maybe partly because you come to know them and they come to know you and they're interested in your work.
One of the really fun things about our marriage and our, I guess, just the way we do things, is that a lot of times when he's painting, I can be writing. And our kids are both homeschooled and so they do a fair amount of their work when we're out as well. So it's kind of—everybody finds someplace that speaks to them, and they can work and find inspiration in what we're doing.
Richard: I think in a small town, it's really fun that, you know, some people don't like everyone to know about them, but we kind of watch over each other, and people look out for our kids. People look out for us. They're always interested in whatever we're doing, which is kind of motivating as an artist, to have people say, "Hey, what are you up to?" And we get to talk about that.
We're always surprised when we come around and someone says, "Well, how's Max and Katie ?" I'm like, "you know them" and "what was your name?" But there's such a community that they really do look out for them, give them opportunities when they know there's something they're interested in, which is really neat.
Josi: Well, and I think that's part of the gift of being involved in the community, is that they know people from all the worlds, from the college world, from the high school world, and so they feel comfortable, and people work to make them feel comfortable in different environments. And so it does open those opportunities up I think a lot.
Richard: We're really, you know, four and a half, five hours away from all the big cities, and so we're just right on the edge of being inconvenient, which is kind of nice for isolation.
Josi: You know, really, it is one of those things that you have to want to live here, because it takes a little bit of effort to get here and even to get housing materials and things like that out here.
Richard: Yeah, it's a really special place where, honestly, getting outdoors, getting out of your home, or even just in your backyard, there's an energy and charging there.
Josi: The red dirt and the red rocks and the blue skies and the deep green pinions always — or cedars even — they all just become a part of you in a way that no other place does. So to me, that's something I probably would say is special about here.
Richard: The more we're here, the more I like it, honestly. In fact, you know, we obviously always think about if you had to change a circumstance, if we need to move to a bigger city or something, and we're always like, no. No, I don't think so. We really enjoy our small town.
“Rural Utah at a Crossroads” is a collaboration between Utah Public Radio, Utah Humanities, and the community hosts of Crossroads: Change in Rural America, a Smithsonian Museum on Main Street exhibition made possible in the Beehive State by Utah Humanities.
Support for Museum on Main Street has been provided by the United States Congress.
