Rural America
Open through September 26, 2026
Rural communities across America face unique hardships, such as limited access to healthcare, education, and broadband services. Yet they also possess strengths, such as close-knit social networks, natural resources, and cultural traditions that contribute to their resilience and character.
The artworks in this exhibition highlight the challenges rural communities have faced and the unique qualities that have sustained them. The works offer a lens through which to consider the struggles and assets of today’s rural communities. Through prints, drawings, and paintings, artists explore themes such as the decline of small farms, school consolidation, grocery store closures, and the fading of local journalism. These are balanced by depictions of rural vitality such as tourism, community events, local cooperatives, faith institutions, and efforts in historic preservation.
Featured works in the exhibition include Brush Fire by Ernest William Watson, Rural School in Moonlight by Mary Huntoon, Meeting House by Thomas Hart Benton, Destruction of the Family Farm by Brian Maxwell, Fourth Estate by Jeremiah Ariaz, and Youth Helps Rebuild a World by John Steuart Curry.
The exhibition will be in two parts, aligning with the fall and spring semesters of the 2025-2026 academic year.
Special feature:
Share your stories of rural communities or thoughts about the works in the exhibition in the comments book. We would love to know!
Related events
Beach Museum of Art | Free and open to the public
Let’s Talk Local Newspapers with Photographer Jeremiah Ariaz
Thurs., Oct. 2, 2025, 5:30 p.m.
Hungry Heartland: Exploring Food Deserts in the Breadbasket
Thurs., April 16, 2026, 5:30-7 p.m.
Conversation with K-State Faculty and Students in the art department, A.Q. Miller School of Media and Communication, and social transformation studies department.
Major Sponsor: Greater Manhattan Community Foundation’s Lincoln & Dorothy Deihl Community Grants Program
Sustaining Sponsors: Dan and Beth Bird
Contributing Sponsor: The Beach–Edwards Family Foundation