Creating A Thriving “Public Square” In Rural Illinois

Illinois’s rural and small towns are hubs of influential cultural creation and keepers of invaluable history and heritage. In every corner of our state, small nonprofits and humanists invest time, heart, and resources to ensure their communities can gather, connect, and grow. 

In Cairo and Southernmost, Illinois, Lynne Chambers, executive director of Legacy Training, Inc., is known as a prolific community gatherer and cultural creator. Illinois Humanities has been fortunate to partner with Lynn to produce public programs and resources that continue to make a lasting impact on Southernmost, Illinois. Lately, she has spearheaded many public programs with her community partners in the Foreground Rural Initiative.

On April 26, 2025 she and her Foreground partners produced Confluences, a conference about the geographic and cultural convergences that enrich our understanding and appreciation for Cairo and its surrounding area. Confluences attendees included curious residents of Cairo and neighboring towns, educators, historians, and Illinois Humanities staff. They were rapt through a guided bus tour of historic sites like the Ward Chapel A.M.E Church and the Cairo Public Library, and united through live performances by local musicians. They shared lively conversations in presentations about local culture, history, art, and civics, such as “Reporting from Rural America,” a project by the student-journalists of the Saluki Local Reporting Lab at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, which examined the effects of public policy on rural communities.

Illinois Humanities executive director Gabrielle Lyon reflected: “For two days I was in community with dozens of people–historians, musicians, folklorists, teachers, students, journalists, environmentalists, artists–who are fascinated by and passionate about the region formed by the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Together, we made a real ‘public square.’”

Programs like Confluences are essential opportunities for connections that may not otherwise happen: between professionals, neighbors, lifelong learners–all members of Illinois’s public square whose lives are enriched by the opportunity to gather, connect, and grow. In rural communities and small towns like Cairo, Illinois, it is often educators, librarians, curators, craftspeople, and organizers–like Lynn–who are using the arts and humanities to make these opportunities a reality.

We may also look to humanists like educator and musician Chris Vallillo and his Foreground collaborators in Western Illinois to see this in action. For many years, Chris has dedicated his music to celebrating Illinois' heritage and uplifting its future with projects like Forgottonia, An Intimate Portrait of Rural Illinois. In 2024, he debuted a new live show using his Forgottonia-inspired music to tell the story of the famed movement that drew national attention to systemic disinvestment from rural communities. Chris is also a dedicated Foreground partner. When his show premiered at the Center for the Performing Arts at Western Illinois University in Macomb, his Foreground collaborators all came out to attend. For more on the Hickory Ridge Series, visit: www.hickoryridgeconcerts.com

Chris’s work is an important representation of how vital the arts and humanities are for preserving rural history and culture for future generations. In gathering to celebrate the achievement, this Hub of educators, small nonprofits, and other humanists were a part of a ripple effect helping their local economies to grow.

This is our cultural infrastructure: The people, places, and ideas that sustain cultural creation, preservation, and potential for all Illinoisans. Cultural infrastructure is why Illinois Humanities is here, to ensure that the public humanities remain accessible and for the public. 

It is also too often at risk. 

"Rural communities, especially communities of color, are often limited in access to the humanities,” said Lynn Chambers, executive director of Legacy Training, Inc. “The Foreground Rural Initiative has increased programming such as the Colp Community Festival, an important opportunity to strengthen community connections, enhance social interaction, and experience the gifts and talents of local artists."

Three years ago, Illinois Humanities doubled down on our commitment to supporting the humanities in rural Illinois when we launched the Foreground Rural Initiative. In 2022, this first-of-its-kind program began its initial three-year mission to provide targeted funding and network building for cultural workers and small nonprofits using the arts and humanities to better their communities.

As grantee partners coalesced around these resources, we began one of the most valuable strategies to the initiative’s sustained impact: Foreground Hubs. The cultural workers and humanities nonprofits that Foreground supports are already trusted cultural and economic anchors that connect their communities, towns, and counties. The foundations for a thriving, sustainable rural cultural infrastructure already existed; it was our job to help make it stronger. So we designed Foreground’s system of support in collaboration with our local partners on the ground to mirror and strengthen these enduring networks our grantee partners have forged.

“The HUB Arts and Cultural Center in Rushville serves as the anchor partner for the Western Hub, and the center’s executive director, Erin Eveland, coordinates its activities. It has facilitated significant collaboration among its participants,” said Matt Meacham, Program Manager of Statewide Engagement, who helps support our Foreground partners. “For instance, The HUB and Fulton County Arts have exchanged knowledge about organizational management. Musician and cultural historian Chris Vallillo has performed at the theater maintained by the Historic Ellisville Restoration Organization and has visited educator Joe Brewer’s social studies classes.”

First in Western Illinois, then Southern Illinois, and now growing into Northern Illinois, three Foreground Hubs have been established to serve as anchors for the public humanities. Each Hub is helmed by an anchor organization, like The HUB Arts and Cultural Center, connecting a network of individuals and nonprofits in each region with a shared commitment to culture, connection, and growth through the arts and the humanities (you can view the full list of Hub members below). Hub members collaborate to produce public events, conferences, and resources to boost humanities activity in their region.

The relationships and public programs nourished in these Hubs are galvanizing cultural infrastructure on a local level, creating sustainable networks of support for the public humanities. In close collaboration with their Hub partners, organizations and individuals like Lynn and Chris are doing important work to create public programs, unite neighboring communities, foster civic engagement, and boost local and tourism economies.

Our mission is to ensure that everyone in Illinois can access the transformative power of the public humanities. This especially means partnering with our rural and small-town residents, not only to expand access to the public humanities, but also to celebrate, sustain, and amplify the rich cultural assets and traditions that have thrived in these communities for generations. We won’t stop looking for opportunities to continue the work Foreground started.

There are ways you can help. 

You can call your representatives and tell them you want tax dollars brought back to Illinois’s cultural sector. Let them know that Illinois won’t leave rural communities behind.

You can donate to Illinois Humanities. The cuts to the NEH represent about one-third of our budget. We have taken on the difficult task of cutting our budget and carefully reducing the impact on grants and public programs, but there are hard decisions to be made. Your support helps us protect funding for statewide grants and programs like the Foreground Rural Initiative.

We know we are not alone; we hear from many grantee partners and concerned Illinoisans who want to know what DOGE’s cuts mean for their local library, historical society, and after-school programs. Maybe you have attended an event hosted by a Foreground Hub partner and want to see more opportunities like it. We’d love to hear from you, too: Send us an email and share what the arts and humanities look like in your rural or small town, or let us know how you’ve been contacting your representatives. Our actions, together, can help restore funding for the public humanities, for all, for good.