CHAPTER ONE

RURAL TOURISM & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Rural Tourism

A New Strategy

The town of York, Alabama, like much of rural America, is in the throes of change. In recent decades, rural areas have been “buffeted by demographic, social, economic, and environmental changes” (Willits & Luloff 1995:454), rendering it necessary for them to pursue new strategies to remain viable and vital in a new economy. Specifically, rural areas have witnessed the centralization of agriculture, the downturn of manufacturing due to increased offshoring, and the rise of a globalized economy based on technology and innovation.

These changes have caused rural areas to fall increasingly “behind other areas in wealth, job opportunities, health care, transportation facilities, school adequacy, water and sewage systems, and overall well-being” (Willits & Luloff 1995:454). Rural areas experience numerous problems in the new economy, including “the flight of the young from the community, persistent poverty of residents and of government, a lack of employment opportunities, and an overall lack of a stable infrastructure” (Lewis 1998:102). Thus, rural communities must develop new strategies for economic and community success. Wilson states that “since the 1970’s, economic restructuring and the farm crisis have reduced rural communities’ economic opportunities, making older development strategies less viable and forcing many to look for nontraditional ways to sustain themselves” (2001:132).

The Rural Mystique


The town of York has chosen rural tourism as its new strategy in the changed economy, a strategy Wilson calls “one of the few viable economic options for rural communities” (Wilson et al. 2001:132-3), due in part to a rising American interest in rural culture. Bascom explains that as the pace of change in America quickens, nostalgia for rural life intensifies, causing rural identity to emerge as a symbolic value. To some, rural areas represent spaces where things perceived as good are polarized against those considered bad: pure versus polluted, free versus fettered, authentic versus artificial. Historically isolated places thus emerge as authentic, untouched rural spaces. Once considered marginal, rural places have been rediscovered and reassessed as quiet, gentle spaces: welcome reprieves from the pace and complexities of contemporary life. Rural isolation, once considered a bane of existence, is now viewed by some as a blessing (Bascom 2001).

Suburban and urban Americans often view rural spaces as friendlier, safer, and less stressful than other places, possessing both security and well-being. This phenomenon has come to be known as “the rural mystique” and studies have found widespread acceptance of it among urban residents (Willits & Luloff 1995). In some cases, the rural mystique holds true. Sumners and Lee explain that “many city dwellers long for what people in small towns already have, and often take for granted- a slower pace, friendly people who know their neighbors, open space and scenery, quaint shops, historic homes and buildings, parades, festivals, and streets that are safe and free of traffic” (2004:31-2).

Overwhelmingly, non-rural residents view rural values as important aspects of the nation’s heritage (Willits & Luloff 1995) and rural cultures as entities to be treasured and protected (Bascom 2001). Rural areas thus hold a special appeal to outsiders due to their distinct cultural, historic, ethnic, and geographic characteristics (Wilson et al. 2001). In fact, outsiders view a community as “authentic” when it possesses unique local elements, including cuisine, history, traditions, folklore, mythology, or a town hero (Bascom 2001).

The perception of rural spaces as symbolic and quiet spaces has yielded a rising American interest in experiencing them. Cheryl Morgan of the Small Town Design Initiative in Birmingham, Alabama states that “people are looking for places to go on day trips and with families, particularly within an hour’s drive. These days people are seeking out small towns; recreational tourism is on the rise.” Indeed, rural tourism has boomed in recent decades. “Nearly two-thirds of all adults in the nation, or 87 million individuals, [took] a trip to a rural destination” for leisure purposes between 1998 and 2001 (Brown n.d.), making rural tourism a “key facet of community-level development initiatives in many locales” (Krannich & Petrzelka 2003).
In addition to visiting rural areas, tourists seek to purchase local products as symbols of the places they visit. Beginning in the early 1990’s in the U.S., there was a surge of passion for “all things local. For the first time in generations, it [was] popular to buy products based on local color and regional identity” (Aycock & Brannon 1990). In 2000, the Survey on the Impact of Craft on the National Economy revealed the total direct impact from the sale of American craft to be $14 billion (HandMade in America 2006).

Globalization has intensified the popularity of both rural places and rural goods. Bascom states that the more globalized the world becomes, and the more spatial barriers disintegrate, the more people cling to place as a source of identity, seeking out rural spaces (Bascom 2001). Globalization has also increased purchases of rural goods by heightening Americans’ commitment to buying local to support communities struggling to compete in a global market. Buying local also allows Americans to support ethical business practices through knowing the origins of their purchases.

Benefits & Drawbacks

Though rural tourism does present a powerful remedy for communities, both its benefits and drawbacks should be considered. First, rural tourism offers several economic benefits to communities. It is often less costly and easier to establish than other rural economic development strategies; it can be developed with relatively little investment credit, training, and capital. Rural tourism can also create jobs, which often benefit those in the community without advanced training. Because the jobs are often seasonal, they can aid farmers looking to supplement their incomes during the off-season. Rural tourism also adds income to the community through higher tax revenues and helps to diversify the local economy. It supports existing retail and small businesses, like restaurants, hotels, and shops, while simultaneously raising community visibility to attract new businesses (Brown n.d.). Finally, it enhances local property values (Psilos & Rapp 2001).

Rural tourism can also enhance the quality of life in communities. Rural tourism often results in upgrading local cultural facilities and restoring regional historic sites which offer new cultural opportunities for residents. It often spurs beautification efforts, which boost the attractiveness of communities (Lewis 1998). This is particularly true with rural art tourism, which boosts both community amenities and aesthetics (Phillips 2004). Rural tourism is also a clean industry, unlike manufacturing, which produces pollution and other environmental side effects. Rural tourism can therefore enhance both recreation opportunities (Lewis 1998) and conservation efforts (Brown n.d.).

Rural tourism can also create a greater sense of place for rural residents (Brown n.d.). Because tourists view the community as worthy of visiting, residents may develop a new appreciation of their home (Krannich & Petrzelka 2003), as confirmed by a West Alabama resident who states that “it took outsiders coming in for York residents to see what they have.” Rural tourism is also undertaken locally by residents, government, and small businesses utilizing local resources and organizations (Wilson et al. 2001:132-3). Because efforts come from within the community, rural tourism can foster community pride and responsibility while minimizing dependence on outsiders (Lewis 1998). Finally, rural tourism efforts often facilitate improved social and professional relations among diverse populations (Head 2002).

Despite the potential benefits of rural tourism, however, it has some important drawbacks. Brown states that even well designed rural tourism strategies can have negative effects. First, the jobs created by rural tourism are often low paying and seasonal with few benefits or opportunities for advancement. Rural tourism can also result in higher taxes for local residents due to tourism marketing and infrastructure expansion costs (Brown n.d.), including paved roads and increased police, fire, and sanitation services (Lewis 1998). In addition, rural tourism can cause real estate prices to escalate, potentially putting the cost of housing beyond reach of the average local resident (Brown n.d.).

Rural tourism can also damage the quality of life of communities. Creation of new infrastructure and an increase in visitors can result in litter, noise, and air pollution (Lewis 1998). An influx of visitors can also increase sprawl, crowding, traffic congestion, and crime rates (Brown n.d.) while decreasing open space. Residents may be displaced by new developments or by skyrocketing land values (Krannich & Petrzelka 2003). The growth demanded by rural tourism can also degrade natural resources (Brown n.d.), including damage to wildlife and water quality (Krannich & Petrzelka 2003).

Rural tourism has potentially damaging social effects as well. It can radically alter a community’s culture, diminishing longstanding customs and traditions and weakening social solidarity. It can also alter a community’s sense of place, replacing the very essence which originally attracted tourists with a “phony folk culture” (Krannich & Petrzelka 2003:194). Bascom calls it one of the paradoxes of rural tourism that “the celebrated façade of a timeless and tranquil landscape [is] literally leveled and removed to invite more people to the rural experience” (2001:74). Krannich and Petrzelka add that “natural settings valued because of their ability to provide opportunities for privacy, reflection, solitude, communion with nature, and a spiritual linkage with the natural world become less conducive to such outcomes when they are visited by growing numbers of tourists” (2003:195). Likewise, the greater demand for local art and crafts can lower the quality of products (Brown n.d.).

Designing an Effective Rural Tourism Plan

Despite its drawbacks, rural tourism can be utilized as a viable method for community revitalization. In order to use it successfully, scholars cite the need to recognize its limitations and its risks. Rural tourism is not a panacea. It will not solve all the problems of a rural community (Lewis 1998), nor is it an appropriate strategy for all communities (Willits & Luloff 1995). In addition, rural tourism should not be a community’s only strategy, but rather one element in a diversified economic base. Communities which rely too heavily on tourism “can be as vulnerable to downturns as places dependent on more traditional…economies” (Krannich & Petrzelka 2003:192). Rural tourism strategies should also be “consistent with local goals and sensitive to sustaining a community’s character and traditions” (Brown n.d.:5). Growth which “exceeds the carrying capacity of the natural landscape, overwhelms valued traditions, cultures, and interests of established populations, or displaces residents…certainly does not contribute positively to the well-being of rural people and communities” (Krannich and Petrzelka 2003:197).

Several components are necessary to implement rural tourism successfully. The first is a complete tourism package. This includes services which support tourism, as the “the quality of a visitor’s experience depends not only on the appeal of the primary attraction but also on the quality and efficiency of complementary businesses such as hotels, restaurants, shopping outlets, and transportation facilities” (Porter 1998:81). The tourism package should include the community, its surrounding area, and local businesses. Wilson et al. state that “successful tourism involves [both] getting tourists to stay longer than the time it takes simply to visit a major attraction and having repeat tourists” (2001:134). The community must be viewed as a destination rather than a stop off. It is particularly effective when communities build around groups of attractions instead of just one and hold special events. The tourism package must also be promoted and marketed to outsiders (Wilson et al. 2001).

The need for tourism packages which encompass whole areas underscores the importance of working regionally. Sumners and Lee explain that because “rural areas are sparsely populated, they lack a critical mass- of taxpayers, leadership, financial capacity, infrastructure, and skilled labor. So if rural communities are to survive, they must join forces and work together” (2004:26). “Rural advancement,” they state, “requires regional collaboration instead of competition” (2003:9). Thus, successful communities include vertical networks that reach to regional, state, and federal organizations and resources (Krannich & Petrzelka 2003). Rural tourism efforts must also have the support and participation of the local government, as they provide funding, infrastructure, zoning, and maintenance (Wilson et al. 2001).

Rural Art Tourism

The town of York, Alabama is pursuing a specific type of rural tourism which combines rural place and rural art, of particular interest to many Americans. In fact, “arts related events have long been regarded as important components in tourism development,” as evidenced by the longstanding popularity of Broadway plays, summer festivals in the Berkshires, and New Orleans jazz (Psilos & Rapp 2001:1). The arts also played a historical role in community development in the U.S. The City Beautiful Movement of the 1890’s implemented public art, public parks, and architecture for public buildings into cities. This willingness to incorporate public art has since re-merged, going beyond art’s physical dimension by including the recognition of art’s social and cultural impact on communities (Phillips 2004). Thus, “in the U.S., communities are finding that the arts can play a crucial and valuable role in their local community economic development efforts” (Phillips 2004:112).

It is hard to overstate both the popularity of the arts in the U.S. and their salutary effect on communities. Consumers spent $9.4 billion on admissions to performing arts events in 1998. That is $2.6 billion more than they spent on admissions to movies and $1.8 billion more than on admissions to spectator sports. In addition, spending on performing arts increased 16% ($1.2 billion) between 1993 and 1998 (Psilos & Rapp 2001). By the year 2000, the fourth largest expenditure by Americans grossing over $1 million annually was wine and art (Anderson 2005). The non-profit arts industry, which earns $36.8 billion in annual revenue, supports 1.3 million full time jobs, and generates $134 billion in economic activity every year, is a potent force in economic development nationwide (Psilos & Rapp 2001).

Rural Art Tourism in the South

Rural art tourism is an especially potent solution for communities in the American South, which often possess an abundance of bucolic space and longtime artisan traditions. Several rural Southern communities have successfully used rural art tourism as a way to revitalize, and the following descriptions clarify how rural art tourism develops and functions in communities. In examining these success stories, common themes emerge. All of the projects began small, with local citizens’ concern for their communities at the center of the efforts. All of the projects built on inherent cultural assets and on Americans’ interest in rural heritage by attracting tourists to experience a part of the local culture already in place. Finally, all of the projects sparked new growth and the creation of new programs and partnerships in their communities.

Swamp Gravy. Named the official folk life play of Georgia in 1994, Swamp Gravy is performed annually in a sixty-year-old renovated cotton warehouse in Colquitt, Georgia. Swamp Gravy is a collection of real life stories taken from interviews of local residents and adapted for the stage by a local playwright. Each year a new script and original music are written and the stories are re-enacted by an amateur cast in an effort to “bring to life the stories that have helped shape the community,” to “celebrate a culture that is uniquely rural South Georgia,” and to “break down racial and socio-economic boundaries” (Swamp Gravy 2006).

Swamp Gravy began with a budget of under $2000 in 1989 and grew to a budget of $2 million by 2005. It is now the fifth largest employer in the county with an annual payroll of more than $650,000. 120,000 people have seen the play in twelve years, 80% of whom lived outside the county (Kimbrell 2005). In 1996, Swamp Gravy was chosen as a Cultural Olympiad Event and performed at the Centennial Park during the Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. The same year, Swamp Gravy actors performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Colquitt, Georgia has been rated the #2 Small Town to Visit by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and even President and Mrs. Jimmy Carter have attended a performance (Swamp Gravy 2006). All of this took place in the ninth poorest congressional district in the country in a town with a population of 2000 (Kimbrell 2005).

As boasted on the website, “Swamp Gravy has brought a new vitality, unity, and sense of pride and hope to this region of the state” (Swamp Gravy 2006). In addition to its obvious financial and employment successes, Swamp Gravy has spawned new projects, including an arts council, museum, market, mural project, craft center, musical recording, annual storytelling festival, consulting project, and the renovation of five historic buildings (Swamp Gravy 2006).

The Colquitt/Miller Arts Council was formed with the purpose of enhancing rural area growth, and leads a five county regional tourism effort. One of its many projects includes the Museum of Southern Cultures, designed to take visitors on “a stroll through time” in a space reminiscent of an old town square. The Market on the Square features over twenty vendors selling antiques, arts, crafts, and jars of local mayhaw jelly. The Millennium Mural Project completed its tenth mural in Colquitt in March of 2005, making the town Georgia’s First Mural City (Swamp Gravy 2006).

The New Life Learning Center was created with the goal of educating the community and preserving past cultures. It is a public facility where local residents and visitors can receive training in the traditional crafts of Georgia such as quilting, pottery, sewing, and photography. With funding from a 21st century community learning center grant through the No Child Left Behind Act, the center provides after-school art classes, children’s summer art workshops, family field trips, and character education classes. They have a pottery studio and classrooms for quilting, basketry, and children’s art activities. The center also offers scholarships to encourage cultural arts education, giving students an opportunity to learn art while developing self-esteem, social skills, and life skills (Swamp Gravy 2006).

Finally, The Swamp Gravy Institute was created “to catalyze the replication of the Swamp Gravy spirit in other communities and organizations through short-term story-based consults and custom-designed training academies that combine its own unique story-based artistry with planning and reflective methods.” SGI consults are conducted by a core of veteran Swamp Gravy cast members, and involve storytelling circles, role-play, Swamp Gravy vignettes, training in oral-history interviewing, and implementation planning. SGI has conducted programs in Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Ohio, Colorado, North Carolina, California, Mississippi, Georgia, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Swamp Gravy 2006).

HandMade in America. Another project which confirms the potential of rural, Southern art to revitalize communities comes from the Appalachian Mountain region of North Carolina, which saw a loss of 93% of its manufacturing base in the last two decades (Anderson 2005). The organization HandMade in America sought to boost the manufacturing economy not through traditional industry, but through “the already established ‘invisible industry’ of craftspeople working in shops, classrooms, studios, and galleries tucked away on small town main streets and back roads throughout the Blue Ridge Mountains” (Handmade in America 2006).

In order to gauge the impact of crafts on the economy of the region, HandMade in America sponsored a 1995 survey which “measured incomes of full and part-time craftspeople, sales generated by shops and galleries, spending patterns at craft fairs, and the impact of craft-related suppliers and schools.” The study indicated that crafts played a vital role in the region's economy, contributing $122 million annually, which was four times the revenue generated from burley tobacco, the region's largest cash crop (Handmade in America 2006).

The survey also revealed some of the challenges and needs of the craft community, including access to capital, marketing, and business services (Handmade in America 2006). The artisans were isolated from each other by the mountains, and often traveled long distances to sell their products, preventing them from making a steady profit. HandMade in America sought to link these artisans on a craft trail, so that tourists could easily access and purchase local art directly from the artisans (Anderson 2005). To this end, the HandMade in America Craft Registry serves as a directory of artists, galleries, craft resources, and craft events in Western North Carolina. It is available on the web, or in The Craft Heritage Trails of Western North Carolina, a guide of over five hundred listings which also include bed & breakfasts, inns, historical sites, gardens, farms, special attractions, and restaurants. Thus, the local businesses and communities surrounding the artisans also benefit (HandMade in America 2006).

In the decade following the guide’s publication, artisans saw their incomes rise by 28%. They sold 67% of their products to outsiders, 72% of whom spent more than $200 at each studio (Anderson 2005). In 2004, the organization grossed $140 million for its artisans (Riggs 2005). Since its founding, HandMade in America has expanded beyond the craft heritage trail, creating a Farms, Gardens, and Countryside trail, and HandMade Getaway Packages, intended to “offer a new level of engagement in the North Carolina Mountains” by providing studio tours, quilting parties, organic farming classes, mountain walkabouts, and garden-to-table cooking weekends (HandMade in America 2006).

HandMade in America also strives to establish “an academic base to empower crafts throughout all levels of education.” Toward this end, the organization unites teachers with local artists in hands-on workshops. The teachers learn how to utilize craft and the region's craft heritage as a means of teaching math, language arts, science, and social sciences, and the artists receive another vehicle for sharing their craft knowledge. In addition, HandMade in America established The Center for Craft, Creativity, and Design, a part of the University of North Carolina system, with the purpose of incorporating the subject of craft as a valued part of university curricula (HandMade in America 2006).

HandMade in America has sought recognition for North Carolina’s crafts outside of academia as well. In 1996, the organization partnered with The North Carolina Arts Council, The Blue Ridge Parkway, The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and The North Carolina Folklife Institute to form The Blue Ridge Heritage Initiative with the purpose of creating projects to demonstrate how a regional culture can provide a focus for preservation, education, and community and economic development. In 2002, representatives of HandMade in America and Advantage West, a regional economic development agency, introduced a bill into Congress which would designate 25 counties in Western North Carolina as the Blue Ridge Heritage Area. Projects and programs in the area would encompass tourism, education, and economic development, and would focus on the region's distinctive agri-heritage, craft, music, and Cherokee culture. The bill was passed in 2003, along with a provision of $500,000 for the area’s first year of funding (HandMade in America 2006).

Like the Swamp Gravy Institute, the HandMade Institute for Creative Economies allows other communities to learn from HandMade in America’s success through conferences, instructional programs, workshops, training products, and custom consultation. The Institute boasts more than one hundred professionals engaged in agricultural tourism, attraction development and management, craft development and marketing, creative economic development practices, cultural heritage tourism, retail marketing, and small town revitalization. These experts provide strategic planning, practical instruction, and marketing and development in all aspects of creative economies to other communities hoping to revitalize through the arts (HandMade in America 2006).

Paducah Artist Relocation Program. Perhaps closest to York’s vision of a future as an artists’ haven, the Paducah Artist Relocation Program took place in a town much “like many small towns around the country. When the big shopping malls opened up on the outskirts of town, downtowns were devastated and many have never recovered. The difference between Paducah and many of these other towns,” the website explains, “is their vision and love of the arts.” The Artist Relocation Program has “created a self-sufficient, creative neighborhood designed for artists, by artists, perpetuated by artists. The Program has transformed a down-and-out area of town into an up-and-coming, city supported arts and gallery district which is fast becoming a national cultural destination” (Paducaharts 2006).

The art scene in Paducah is located in the Lower Town Arts District. Nicknamed “the SOHO of the South” by Charles Osgood, Lower Town is the oldest neighborhood in Paducah and “the catalyst for a great deal of excitement, economic growth, and community pride.” Located four blocks from the Ohio River, Lower Town is made up of impressively built homes influenced by Italianate, Gothic Revival, Romanesque, Queen Anne, and Classical Revival architectural styles which now house galleries and artists from across the country (Paducaharts 2006).

The Artist Relocation Program began in August 2000 and is now a national model for economic development through art, boasting over 45 artists from as far west as Hawaii and as far east as Germany. The Program owes its success in part to backing it received from the City of Paducah and Paducah Bank. The City of Paducah has committed over $1.2 million to the program with a return private investment from the artists of over $11.5 million. It completed a $1.2 million lighting project in Lower Town and offers several incentives to artists, including providing up to $2500 for architectural services, tax exemptions for all materials for rehabilitation or new construction, discounted web pages, and including artists and their businesses in the city’s national marketing campaign. Paducah Bank also offers incentives to relocating artists, including low interest loans with up to 100% financing for the purpose of rehabilitation or new construction, free lots for new construction, and loan packages with 30 year fixed rates. The bank also financed the construction of three new storefronts, all of which sold (Paducaharts 2006).

In addition to the galleries, Paducah boasts several other art attractions. The city has three museums, two art centers (one of which is a $44 million, 1800 seat performing arts center located on the downtown riverfront), a theater, a cinema which shows national, international, and foreign films, and a symphony orchestra. Paducah also holds Downtown After Dinner every Saturday night from May through September, featuring six blocks of live entertainment, shopping, antique cars, and horse drawn carriage rides. Finally, each Memorial Day weekend, Paducah holds a Fine Art and Music Festival (Paducaharts 2006).

Paducah’s recognition as a cultural and arts destination is growing rapidly. The city has been featured in eighteen national publications and a PBS documentary. They have received national, regional, and local awards honoring the Artist Relocation Program for using the arts for economic, community, and cultural development. As the website states, in four short years, Paducah realized “an idea pondered aloud by optimistic art folk everywhere” (Paducaharts 2006).

Rural Art Tourism in Alabama’s Black Belt

Rural art tourism strategies can be especially advantageous for communities in Alabama’s Black Belt, which like communities across the South, possess an abundance of rural space and native art traditions and a dearth of alternative economic options. Many Americans view the Black Belt as unique, and are interested its culture and heritage. The quilts of Gee’s Bend have traveled to New York City and to Washington D.C. To Kill a Mockingbird, out of Monroeville, Alabama has been performed as far away as Israel.

Black Belt traditions, including culture, art, folklore, and food, have remained intact partly because the area has been bypassed by the highway for so many years, lending to their authenticity in the eyes of tourists. Sumners and Lee confirm that “many of Alabama’s small towns still possess a sense of authenticity and charm that cannot be duplicated in bigger cities” (2004:32). Thus, the Black Belt fits the description of what is now trendy in American tourism: rural, isolated places with particular folk traditions. Two examples of the successful use of rural art tourism in Alabama’s Black Belt serve to shed light on how rural art tourism can be implemented in Alabama communities.

Black Belt Treasures. A local reporter gives this description of Highway 28 in Wilcox County, heading toward the Black Belt Treasures gallery in Camden, Alabama: “Cows lie in the shade near a dilapidated barn, eating and fanning flies lazily. The air is thick and overcast, and clouds part and move together above small white farmhouses and grand plantation homes. Trees line the long driveway of one stately home, its columns a reminder of how time seems to stand still in this place. A rusty sign nailed into a telephone pole swings with each passing car, advertising cattle feed half a mile up the road. The first sign of human life is a small gas station at the end of the highway. One foot up on the wall, the other planted on the ground, old men in baseball caps and cowboy hats lean idly against the gas station, munching candy bars and passing the time. But time in the Black Belt is a funny thing – it passes but nothing much seems to change” (Telehany 2006).

The idea for Black Belt Treasures, a gallery and internet site featuring local art and crafts, developed when the Alabama Tombigbee Regional Commission partnered with the Center of Economic Development at the University of Alabama to begin a tourism initiative. They hired local woman Linda Vice to go into the Black Belt and catalog all of the assets in ten counties, “anything of value,” as John Clyde Riggs, director of the Regional Commission put it. After fifteen months, Vice had discovered an abundance of art in the area. As the website states, the Black Belt is “fertile ground for an amazingly diverse and talented group of artists, craftsmen and entrepreneurs” (“About Us” 2006).

Riggs proposed selling local art, crafts, food, and furniture through a gallery and internet site. Interestingly, he had suggested the idea fifteen years before, but the American interest in rural tourism had not yet taken hold and nothing came of it. Riggs secured funding through the USDA, University of Alabama, Delta Regional Authority, Alabama Power, and the State Bureau of Travel and Tourism. Vice was hired as coordinator, and spent a year cataloging work by 150 artists in 17 west and southwest Alabama counties. A former car dealership in downtown Camden was purchased for the gallery, which opened on September 30, 2005.

Black Belt Treasures adheres to two key rural tourism principles. First, it offers authentic and high quality craftsmanship: “not souvenir-type things” (Telehany 2006). Second, the gallery is marketed as representing a particular culture. The website states: “For more than just a shopping experience, visit Black Belt Treasures and immerse yourself in the history, culture and talent of our region” (“About Us” 2006). In addition to local art, the gallery offers books about the Black Belt, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Quilts of Gee’s Bend.

Beyond marketing Black Belt culture, Black Belt Treasures was also designed to overcome stereotypes of the region, to “showcase a region that is often not cast in the best light” (Pickard 2005). Leaders wanted to “show there's more to Alabama's Black Belt than poverty” (Johnson 2005). Max Joiner, a county commissioner in Marengo County, states that “there's always been a world of talent in the Black Belt…We want to make it a little easier to see it” (Johnson 2005). Riggs adds that "there's been so much [bad] publicity about the Black Belt, we felt we could take that negative and turn it into a positive and say, ‘Look what the people in this part of the state can do’” (Johnson 2005).

Black Belt Treasures was also designed to boost the economy of the region. Riggs views it as “an income and job creating mechanism to advance our economy,” and it has experienced much early success (“Black Belt Treasures” 2005). Two months after opening, the gallery had received visitors from 26 states and 2 foreign countries. Riggs adds that “it’s been well-received by the downtown business owners,” who have experienced increased activity. One local restaurant owner reported averaging 2-3 groups of customers per day who came to Camden to shop at Black Belt Treasures.

The project also intends to increase the earnings of its contributing artists. Riggs hopes to assist artists “in marketing their products to a wider group of potential customers” (“Black Belt Treasures” 2005). Previously, much of the artists’ work could only be found by determined collectors at craft shows or in front yards on rural back roads (Johnson 2005). Artist Sam Williams used to drive eighty miles round trip each day to use the kiln at a junior college before he began selling his work at Black Belt Treasures. After selling 75 pieces in 8 months, Williams plans to open his own studio in Monroeville (Telehany 2006). In fact, two months after opening, Black Belt Treasures had reordered from every one of its contributing artists.

As often happens with successful rural tourism ventures, Black Belt Treasures has generated more ideas and more plans. Director Delia Brand hopes “to develop tourist trails that focus on our artists so tourists can drive around and see the artists’ work in their own settings” (Telehany 2006) while experiencing the history and heritage of the region (“Black Belt Treasures” 2005). Black Belt Treasures has opened the door for new artists as well. “Since we’ve opened,” Brand explains, “we’ve had contact with other artists we had not heard about, so the interest is growing” (Pickard 2005). Riggs sums up the positive results by stating, “This has been more fun than anything I’ve done in thirty years” (Riggs 2005).

Conecuh People. Union Springs is described by one resident as “a small town that looks much the same as it did in the 1950’s. It is anchored by a stately Second Empire-style courthouse and has stores that still close at noon every Thursday” (Forrer 2005). Downtown Union Springs may look unaltered, but the town shares much in common with other rural, small towns in the Black Belt. Once bustling centers of commerce in an agriculture-based economy, Black Belt towns have seen jobs and population disappear. In fact, Union Springs is the county seat of one of the poorest counties in the nation (Litchfield 2005).

The tourism council in Union Springs decided to pursue rural tourism as “a way to stand out and to capitalize on the area’s assets” (Brown 2006). A local reporter points out that “the town hasn’t lost its turn-of-the century charm, and America is a nation of tourists looking for places that offer something different” (Brown 2006). Union Springs leaders decided to create a play to celebrate their Conecuh River heritage. By marketing Union Springs as a particular culture, leaders hoped to sell the play to those outside the county (Litchfield 2005). Indeed, one reporter says the play “resonates with anyone who has ties to the rural South” (Brown 2006).

The play is based on the book Conecuh People by native Wade Hall. The book was the product of interviews Hall conducted in Bullock County when he realized that “the generation which had formed him was dying off” (Brown 2006). Ty Adams, a Clayton, Alabama native and Troy graduate who is now a New York playwright, transformed the stories into a play entitled “Conecuh People…The Experience,” the story of a boy’s coming of age in rural Alabama in the 1950’s (Brown 2006).

Play performances specifically attempt to cultivate the “rural mystique” sought by rural tourists. The play is performed in an Episcopal Church built in 1909 and old fashioned fans are passed out at the door to keep audience members cool. Director Margie Benson states that while watching the play, “you'll feel yourself slipping back in time, to the 1950’s. Listening to the people who lived in that time period is like listening to your mother or grandmother” (Litchfield 2005). The Union Springs website invites tourists to “take a trip back in time and experience life the way it used to be” (Forrer 2005). The website also advertises “an old-fashioned dinner… prepared and served by ladies of the community at a nearby church in the same tradition of years gone by” (Forrer 2005).

The old-fashioned dinner is part of an entire tourism package created by Union Springs. In addition to viewing an old-fashioned play in an old-fashioned church after an old-fashioned dinner, tourists can partake in other activities based on the area’s culture and heritage. A quilt exhibit containing fifty local quilts is displayed in the sanctuaries of four historic churches (Morrow 2006). Self-guided tours of a general store, historic city jail (Brown 2006), Civil War cemetery, 1850’s log cabin, and other historic structures are also available. Finally, visitors can overnight at area hunting lodges (Litchfield 2005) offering Southern breakfasts (Forrer 2005).

The success of the play surprised the Tourism Council, which first wondered how they would sell tickets and then wondered how they would tell people there were no tickets left (Brown 2006). More than 630 people attended four sold-out performances in 2004, the play’s inaugural year (Morrow 2006). 60% of those in attendance were from outside the county (Litchfield 2005). That same year, the play was nominated as the Alabama Tourism Event of the Year. In addition to the sold out performances, all seven rooms at the local hotel were booked for overnight stays and over one hundred people ate supper at the First Baptist Church on Friday night (“Play” 2004). Due to the play’s popularity, two extra performances were added for the 2005 and 2006 seasons (Morrow 2006).

Rural tourism has also benefited the community in ways beyond economics and visibility. Colleen Forrer, the drama project director, states that “the project brought the community together” (“Play” 2004). Wade Hall, author of Conecuh People, adds that the play has sparked new revitalization efforts. He believes the play will encourage both the renovation of the Red Door Theater and the staging of additional dramatic presentations and recitals. He concludes by saying that Bullock County has the potential of being an important tourist destination (“Play” 2004).

Community Development

Though the components, benefits, and drawbacks of rural tourism are crucial to an understanding of the art movement in York, it is also critical to recognize rural tourism as just one strategy in the broader field of community development. Thus, community development must also be examined to fully comprehend the purpose, principles, and requirements of development efforts in communities. Further, community development principles are necessary for the success of York’s rural tourism efforts which rely on building a cohesive community.

Community development exists as an alternative to other development methods which seek to recruit outside companies in order to create jobs and improve the standard of living in communities. It is rooted in asset based planning which looks internally, building on communities’ inherent assets instead of seeking external solutions. Shuman believes a community “can best strengthen its economy when it builds on its internal strengths” (1998:6). Medoff and Sklar state that “effective community development begins by recognizing and reinforcing the resources within the community” (1994:4). Sumners and Lee add that “successful communities ‘think outside the box,’ looking for ways to set themselves apart from the pack. They identify what makes their community special and then work to cultivate and promote those unique assets” (2004:28).

Rural tourism specifically attempts to connect identified assets “in ways that multiply their power and effectiveness” (Sumners & Lee 2003:12). Because social and economic links to other areas clearly affect the viability of rural communities (Willits & Luloff 1995), “if rural areas are to survive, they must figure out ways to connect to each other and to robust urban areas” (Stauber 2001:52). Galston and Baehler state that “a central challenge for U.S. rural development will be to conceptualize, and put into place, new kinds of linkages between metropolitan areas and remote communities” (1995:15). Rural tourism is one way to establish these linkages. However, linking assets to outside areas requires that the assets be seen as authentic by outsiders, as opposed to kitschy or contrived (Wilson et al. 2001).

Once authentic assets are identified, community development practitioners suggest an organization be formed to move efforts forward (Grisham 2005). This organization should develop a mission statement and strategic plan, with specific goals and objectives resulting in concrete actions. Strategic planning develops unity among citizens, aids progress by creating specific actions, and gives the movement legitimacy and momentum, both of which are needed to boost community participation (Sumners 2006). The Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative in Boston provides a good example of a community group which developed and carried out small, concrete actions to address immediate needs. DSNI’s first efforts were aimed at stopping illegal dumping in the neighborhood. In addition to improving the neighborhood, this project bolstered community support for DSNI and helped to establish its reputation as an active, effective organization (Medoff & Sklar 1994).

Strategic plans are also essential for rural tourism specifically. Brown states that many of the risks of rural tourism “can be mitigated if proper planning is employed at the outset of tourism development” and views “comprehensive planning and development [as] one of the key components of successful rural tourism strategies” (n.d.:3-4). Wilson et al. add that strategic planning is required for the efficient and effective use of resources and funds, which are often limited in rural communities. Planning for tourism development should thus be integrated into a community’s overall economic strategy (Wilson et al. 2001).

Community participation is a key component of community development. Grisham and Gurwitt point out that “even the best of plans cannot succeed unless the people it will affect have the ability as well as the desire to make it work” (1999:54). The failure to involve citizens, they state, breeds suspicion and mistrust, “thus preventing the community from accomplishing almost any common action” (1999:10). They add that “meaningful and sustainable community change requires the participation of a large number of citizens” (1999:34), because the “more people [that] bring their individual talents, skills, and time to the solution of community problems, the stronger are the results” (1999:10). It is especially important to include youth in development efforts, as they will be the ones to carry the movement forward in the future (Medoff & Sklar 1994).

Community involvement and support are particularly vital to the success of rural tourism efforts “because of the nature of tourism: the community as a whole and its image must be marketed, not just one attraction” (Wilson et al. 2001:137). Community wide support also ensures a greater commitment to carrying out the tourist idea (Krannich & Petrzelka 2003) and increases the likelihood that tourists are treated well and receive a good impression. Communities also need to be mobilized to promote their area and to obtain funds, as the grant climate is increasingly competitive (Wilson et al. 2001).

Community involvement is central to community development because efforts are built from the bottom up, with citizens acting as experts in their own development. Craig defines the goal of community development as giving “ordinary people a voice for expressing and acting on their extraordinary needs and desires in opposition to the vested interests of global economic and political power” (1998:15). This concept is well illustrated by the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative in Boston, a development group led by members of the community which “turned the traditional top-down urban planning process on its head. Instead of struggling to influence a process driven by city government, Dudley residents and agencies became visionaries, creat[ing] their own bottom-up…redevelopment plan” (Medoff & Sklar 1994:4).

Because community development efforts are citizen driven, leaders emerge from the community. Sumners and Lee explain that “leadership is not confined to elected officials, business leaders, and those with specific titles. It recognizes that a community cannot do its work with just a few people. Rather, successful leadership requires mobilizing the talents of every segment of the community.” Thus, “today’s successful communities tend to be full of leaders” (2004:18).

Community development practitioners insist that efforts must also be rooted in equity. Khinduka contends that community development should actively create equity by realigning power resources in the community (Khinduka 1970). Craig adds that true community development is “concerned with social justice, with respecting the dignity and humanity of all, with the right of [people] to participate in decisions which affect them, with mutality [and] equality” (1998:4).

Giddons points out that “a highly unequal society is harming itself by not making the best use of the talents and capacities of its citizens” (1998:42). Thus, in order to build an equitable movement, communities must view each citizen as a resource. Grisham and Gurwitt state that “effective community development involves, respects, values, and builds the capacity of all the people” (1999:6), who are “the one asset that all small communities have in common” (1999:6) and “the raw material from which an answer [can] be crafted” (1999:17). They believe “each person should be treated as a resource. So the community development process begins with the development of people” (1999:32).

One way community development efforts build the capacity of all citizens is through ameliorating the lives of the community’s most disadvantaged residents. Scholars contend that community success in fact depends upon raising the level of the poor. Community developers in Tupelo, Mississippi believed that the area’s future “depended as much on Lee County’s poorest residents as it did on its most favored” (Grisham & Gurwitt 1999:15). They contended that “community development begins with a bold and clear-eyed examination of who the disadvantaged are and what keeps them in that condition” (Grisham & Gurwitt 1999:23).

In addition to high levels of community participation, community development movements also require broad based participation, involving a wide range of citizens from diverse backgrounds. Sumners and Lee state that if communities “are to survive and prosper, all parts of the community must develop an engrained habit of working together…Economic progress requires the resources of the ‘whole’ community” (2004:17). Broad based participation helps to ensure that community development efforts respect the needs of all citizens and keep communities intact. Without strong community engagement and a participatory approach that includes all voices from the outset of the planning process, rural communities can risk losing their sense of culture and community (Krannich & Petrzelka 2003).

In communities which are divided, however, achieving the broad based participation necessary for successful community development first requires uniting disparate groups. Sumners and Lee state that “communities that are divided- racially, politically, or socially- face near insurmountable barriers to economic advancement” (2004:21). Uniting separate community groups requires building trust between them. The networks, trust, and norms of reciprocity among individuals which allow for collective action are what scholars refer to as “social capital.” While communities may have high amounts of bonding social capital, which exists among like individuals, bridging social capital, which exists among disparate individuals is necessary for community development efforts to succeed.

Community development also demands a sense of collective identity among participants in order to unite them behind a common goal. Scholars call this “cultural capital”: the cultural signals, symbols, and knowledge which identify someone as belonging to a particular group. Like bridging social capital, communities must build bridging cultural capital for development efforts to succeed. Because social and cultural capital are key components of community development, the next chapter examines the concepts in depth.