Ashley Hanson knows rural Minnesota.
She grew up in Aitkin (pop. 2,165) and, like a lot of small town kids, was eager to escape. But her adolescent experience in rural Minnesota might’ve been different if she’d had her own Ashley Hanson around—someone who would meet Aitkin where it was to build pride and strengthen community through applied theater.
Together with playwright Andrew Gaylord, Ashley launched PlaceBase Productions in 2012.
Through partnerships with local organizations, individual interviews, historical research, and story swaps, PlaceBase starts envisioning the futures of the small and mid-size towns they visit by first learning their pasts.
From there, PlaceBase creates a sweeping production, featuring a cast of 40 to 60 locals and a play that moves through a designated space in town (say, on a river or on the grounds of an old hospital) while moving through the story of the town.
After the show’s over, PlaceBase doesn’t say goodbye. Ashley and Andrew come back after the show for a half-day brainstorming evaluation session. They urge attendees to think about what happens next and help form artistic leadership teams to execute that vision.
“The outsider coming in, if you do it right, it can be a huge asset,” Ashley says in this Creative Exchange profile. “If you do it right,”
In addition to Lanesboro Arts, Ashley told us her favorite organizations that are also doing right in and by rural Minnesota.
PHOTOS VIA RAIL RIVER FOLK SCHOOL, VAGRANT USED BOOKS, FOILED ROTTEN FOOD TRUCK FACEBOOK PAGES
“Rail River Folk School is a repurposed train depot turned eclectic arts center. This community gathering place is home to an incredibly diverse list of artists, small businesses, and collectives that one might not think of finding in the North Woods, including Vagrant Used Books, Foiled Rotten Food Truck, Shifting Gears Bike Shop, Gypsy Rain Bellydance, Indigenous Environmental Network, a crew of independent artists, and more.
“Rail River saw a need for a home for all kinds of organizations, interest groups, and individuals that don’t neatly fit into any one category—and for this, they are truly answering a need and cultivating a creative community. Walking through their door, you are never sure what or who you are going to see, but you are guaranteed to be welcomed.”
PHOTOS VIA NORTH HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL FACEBOOK
“The mission of North House Folk School says it all: to enrich lives and build community by teaching traditional northern crafts in a student-centered learning environment that inspires the hands, the heart, and the mind. North House serves Grand Marais and the surrounding communities by offering hundreds of traditional craft classes, led by hundreds of skilled artisans, appealing to both the sentiments of the local trades and craftspeople, as well as the growing artist community. Amazing classes and incredible wood-fired pizza parties on the harbor—what’s not to love?!”
PHOTOS VIA SPRINGBOARD FOR THE ARTS – LAKE REGION FACEBOOK
“Yes, this organization is a branch of a Metro-based Springboard, however, the staff and artists of Springboard’s Lake Region office are truly committed to answering the needs of Fergus Falls and surrounding rural communities. The Lake Region office is a hub of thought and action around mobilizing artists as leaders in rural communities. As the key organizing entity for the Rural Arts and Culture Summit, along with countless artist workshops and resources, they are committed to strengthening the rural arts eco-system in our entire state—providing skill building for emerging and established artists to ‘meet communities where they are’ and utilizing arts as a tool for economic and community development. My heroes!”
PHOTOS VIA DREAMERY RURAL ARTS WEBSITE + DREAMACRES FARM FACEBOOK
“The Dreamery Rural Arts Initiative underscores the ‘culture’ in agriculture. A working organic (pizza!) farm, performance space, arts summer camp and artist retreat, The Dreamery serves Wykoff and surrounding communities by providing a picturesque space to discover, harness, exercise, encourage, and celebrate the creativity that is essential to rural life through the development and presentation of high-quality, unique arts experiences in rural spaces. Their work addresses both the beauty (and sometimes challenge) of rural life in an honest, thoughtful, and incredibly inspired way. Coming here, you can’t help but want to create rural art.”
PHOTOS VIA EDGE CENTER FACEBOOK
“Located, quite literally, on the edge of the wilderness, The Edge Center for the Arts brings an amazing range of performance groups from all over the country to their small community. They also provide a great range of opportunities for the community to be involved in art-making classes, or to express themselves on stage or on gallery walls. Being one of the only cultural organizations for hundreds of miles, The Edge serves many of the small communities in the far north with incredible high quality arts experiences. Without the Edge, there would be an incredible cultural void in the great North Woods.”
Thank you to Creative Exchange for providing background on Ashley and PlaceBase Productions in their April 28, 2015 feature.
HEADER IMAGE VIA SPRINGBOARD FOR THE ARTS – LAKE REGION