CHAPTER THREE

ART IN YORK

York, Alabama

The town of York sits nestled in Sumter County, at the far West edge of Alabama’s Black Belt, well over a hundred miles from any of the state’s most populous cities of Birmingham, Montgomery, and Mobile. The drive to York from the state capital is pastoral and sparse, consisting of vivid green hills with scattered groupings of cows, thick patches of timber, and virtually no homes or shops in sight. In fact, the only visible people sit in front of broken-down, boarded-up stores clustered around one-block towns every twenty miles or so. The radio stations crackle out one by one, except for those with preachers, and the towns eventually give up the battle to farmland.

York is a few blocks long and a few miles off the interstate. Drivers must slow down to bump over the railroad tracks, which is fortunate, because without this momentary pause, they might pass by York completely. This hardly seems the place for a burgeoning art movement, yet that is exactly what York residents are attempting to create. Though some in York still hold out hope for attracting industry, others hope to attract tourists instead, by recreating York as an arts haven. As the current mayor states, “Industry won’t locate here. We need to build on what we already have.”


History of Art In York: 1981 –2001

The origins of York’s art movement trace back twenty five years to the first Cuba Craft Conference, held in 1981 in a barn on the property of two local artists who invited community members from Cuba and the nearby town of York to share and learn art. Tut Altman Riddick, a native of York with long family ties to the area, attended the conference and taught mask-making. The presence of so many local residents making art of whom she was previously unaware convinced Riddick of the need for an art center in York. She states that her “original vision was to show people in the Black Belt contemporary art. York had antebellum homes and antiques, but no contemporary art, and contemporary art wouldn’t compete with anything already in place.” Riddick also sought to “make a place for the artist,” stating “if you’re not into football and hunting, there was no place for you in York.” In addition, Riddick desired to give her own art collection to York, instead of bequeathing it to a bigger city like Mobile which already possessed plenty of art venues. Riddick’s cousin gave her the idea by asking, “Why don’t you give your art to York? No one’s ever given York anything.”

The Coleman Center for the Arts

Riddick began asking local residents for property and donations in order to start an art center in York, a feat a local business owner called “a hard sell” because people in York “are laid back and countrified” and “no one understood the concept of an art center.” Riddick confirms “there was some negativity from local residents, saying York would never have anything like that, but the negativity spurred us on. Come hell or high water, we decided they would have this center. There was determination among a lot of devoted people.”

Interestingly, many of the devotees working to make the art center a reality were also working together in a campaign opposing a large hazardous waste landfill owned and operated by Chemical Waste Management (Alley, Faupel, and Bailey 1995; Bailey and Faupel 1992). In 1985, one of the artists began the group Alabamians for a Clean Environment in order to fight the landfill that was to be placed near York. Three other artists joined the battle, and the experience of working together for a common cause provided these individuals with a background in community organizing which would benefit the art movement.

Riddick secured the building for the Coleman Center by asking the Coleman family to donate it to York. The building was vacant, last used as a tire recapping plant. The Colemans agreed, with the understanding that the Riddicks would donate their art to York. The Coleman Center used tax revenues from the hazardous waste facility to renovate the building and to employ a part-time director. A handful of prominent families in the area also donated funds, and the Coleman Center opened in 1985.

Riddick chose Avenue A in York because its four lots and three buildings would allow the Coleman Center to expand, and the city of York soon bought the buildings down the block, adding a craft room and library to the Coleman Center (see Appendix 2, Figure 1). Riddick placed the gallery in the same building as the library because she says York residents “were familiar with the library. There were lots of readers in York, but not a lot of them could afford to buy books. They had a room in City Hall filled with paperbacks that was well used.” By combining the gallery with the library, Riddick hoped the art would capture the attention of those who came to borrow books. It was also a cost effective decision, as the library and gallery could be manned by one person.

The Coleman Center’s early shows featured the Riddicks’ art collection. Riddick states “people loved coming and looking at our collection. That was the backbone of the museum for years.” She later discovered, however, that local residents wanted to show their own art as well, and decided that the Coleman Center should not be a permanent collection, but a revolving one. Riddick states that “people began bringing paintings out of the woodwork” to show at the Coleman Center. The Riddicks’ collection was taken to the Mobile Museum of Art where it could receive curatorial care, with the intention of bringing it back to York to fill in at the Coleman Center. This was never necessary, however, because local art has sustained the Coleman Center ever since.

Community Response


In describing the response of York residents to the Coleman Center, Riddick states that “people would come in and not say a lot, but just look, but we were excited about the response, that people came to the shows.” She adds that after the Coleman Center had been open for a few years, the gallery featured a three generation show of a local York family. Upon viewing the show, one York resident told Riddick that the pottery done by one of the artists wasn’t as good as her painting. Riddick called this “fabulous because it showed people had become discerning. By seeing good art,” she explains, “you realize what is bad. This was a good sign. People were definitely yearning for this exposure.” Riddick adds that there are a lot of stories in York and its surrounding area about people who saw art for the first time at the Coleman Center and later became artists or art teachers.

Riddick is truthful, however, about the amount of support she received. She states that the Coleman Center never had a lot of community support, and that some residents only supported it because they didn’t have anything else to support. Others supported it because Riddick’s family was popular in York. She adds, however, that only a small percentage of a community supports an art center anywhere, even in New York City.

Riddick is also realistic about the amount of time it takes to cultivate an appreciation of the arts. She believes York residents “don’t realize what they have” and asks, "Where else in the world would you find a world class art center in a small town? For a lot of people, art is not a part of their early culture. You can’t knock people for something they haven’t grown accustomed to. Like, I have no need for a computer. Why should I take on something I don’t need? Art is the same for some people. For example, the principal at the public high school in York had never been to an art gallery or art store when we opened the Coleman Center. There is a difficulty in trying to communicate art in that context."

Some in York, however, believe the Coleman Center did more for the community than Riddick allows. One former fundraiser states that "people all over Sumter County stepped forward and made nice contributions because they were happy about the Coleman Center. Even when we were providing [the director’s] salary, they contributed. There was a good attitude among people. I never would have thought [people would] pay $1000 to pay an art director’s salary. The Coleman Center has been a strong element in the county [which] brought York together when York needed an institution to bring it together. It brought a sense of community throughout the county. People were proud of the Coleman Center. The most amazing thing was how the Coleman Center brought people together I never thought would have come together for the purpose of supporting the arts, especially in an area of hunting and football. But even the hunters and football fans gave money and enjoyed the cocktail parties."

In addition to uniting the community, residents believe the Coleman Center has helped to change local perceptions about where art exists. Previously, Livingston was seen as the place for the arts, since it was home to the University of West Alabama, but the presence of the Coleman Center has helped to change that. One resident calls it “amazing that a town York’s size has had an art center for twenty years.” An artist in residence agrees that “to have an art center that lasts more than twenty years is a remarkable occurrence in a poor, small, rural town.”

A New Phase of Art in York: 2001 – present

The Coleman Center continued its work for over fifteen years, with a focus on regional crafts and artists. It featured gallery shows, book signings, speakers, and workshops. A local 1987 publication states the Coleman Center offered “various short courses to the public” in “china painting, book arts, needlework, and cake decorating” (Avery 1987). At the turn of the century, however, arts in York began a new phase. In December 2001 and April 2002, respectively, two prominent artists, Marilyn Gordon and Amos Kennedy, came to live and work in York, sparking the momentum that would lead to a new phase of the arts in York. Riddick both invited them and laid the groundwork for their arrival.

Artists in Residence

Marilyn Gordon came to York to direct Black Belt Designs, intended to employ local women recently laid off by closed textile mills. Gordon defines Black Belt Designs as “a sewing project and workshop where anyone can come in and improve their sewing skills, and develop skills that are marketable. It’s not a quilting bee. Our goal is to help every person who has an intent in learning and improving their sewing skills to reach the potential they want to reach.” Eight women attended the first sewing workshop in April 2002, where they pieced together worn denim and African cloth to create unique clothing and accessories.

In its first year, Black Belt Designs received funding from a $10,000 building capacity grant from the Alabama Civil Justice Foundation. The funds were intended to jumpstart and expand the Coleman Center, or as one fundraiser put it, to “breathe some life into the Coleman Center itself.” Black Belt Designs received $6,000 of the grant money to obtain sewing equipment and to sponsor the first workshop. Additional equipment was donated or loaned, and blue jeans used in the sewers’ creations are donated or purchased at thrift stores. Because the project is located in a Coleman Center building owned by the city, Black Belt Designs does not pay rent, telephone, or electricity costs. The project also profits, of course, by selling their handmade items.

Amos Kennedy is a well-known print artist whom one board member credits with bringing a “new dimension to the Coleman Center. He is well known in the Black Belt, brought in artists from around the nation, and has a lot of connections in the art world. Because of Kennedy’s presence, other artists started coming to York.” Georgine Clarke, Visual Arts Program Manager at the Alabama State Council on the Arts states that Kennedy is “a key resource, is known throughout the state” and “has had lots of impact on growth in the community.” A York artist adds that Southern Living, Alabama Public Television, and Black and White (a Birmingham newspaper) all came to York because of Kennedy. A local business owner adds, “We get a lot of press because of Amos. He’s a unique man, the only black man I know of doing lead print. He travels and teaches nationally.”

The presence of both Gordon and Kennedy has done wonders to promote York as an arts haven. Clarke states that “a lot of people in Alabama know about York because of Marilyn and Amos, their presence at the Kentuck Arts festival, and newspaper articles about them.” One local artist explains that Kennedy “tells people to come to York and see what we’re doing. He doesn’t talk about his own work. He says, ‘Let me tell you about the Coleman Center.’” She calls him an “ambassador for York.”

The director of the Coleman Center at the time of Gordon and Kennedy’s arrival calls it “incredible” to have these two master artisans in York. When they arrived, she decided the Coleman Center needed a full time director to make use of its newfound talent and enlisted the help of a local woman with fundraising experience. Together they raised the money necessary to employ four full time Coleman Center employees: an executive director, a community arts director, and two employees funded through VISTA grants.

New Directors

In August of 2003, two newly hired full time directors began building on an arts foundation set for them by local residents twenty years before. Amy Horst was hired as the Coleman Center’s executive director. Horst had previously worked as a consultant to the Coleman Center, assisting them in applying for grants through the Alabama State Council on the Arts and through HUD, and reinstating their tax exempt status. Richard Saxton, who first came to York as an artist in residence, was hired as the Coleman Center’s community arts director.

As executive director of the Coleman Center, Horst states her “first priority was to deal with the infrastructure of the organization,” including setting a budget and reinstating board terms and bylaws in order to develop the board’s capacity for setting organization policy. Horst also began what she calls an “organic, strategic planning process.” She developed a written history of the Coleman Center and hired a designer to create a website clearly stating the Coleman Center’s purpose. She also worked to define the Coleman Center’s basic programs, including a description of and literature about Black Belt Designs. As a part of this process, Horst encouraged the board to develop a mission statement. One board member states that when he joined in 2003, the board “was in the process of asking, ‘Who are we? What are we doing? What have we become?’ The Coleman Center was trying to refocus.” The board defined the mission of the Coleman Center as being “to improve the quality of life in the Black Belt Region of the Deep South through creativity and inspiration derived from the arts” (“Coleman Center” 2006).

Funding


In addition to addressing the infrastructure of the Coleman Center, Horst also reached out at the state and federal levels to secure grants for Coleman Center projects. She states that upon her arrival, the Coleman Center was not applying for grants and was receiving funding solely through the hazardous waste facility tax and private donations. Horst secured grants from Alabama Power, the Alabama State Council on the Arts, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

While residents applaud the resources Horst acquired at the state and federal level, some call for increased collaboration locally. The Sumter County Fine Arts Council in nearby Livingston has many members in common with the Coleman Center and funds their yearly photography show, but the president hopes the two agencies “will make new connections and partnerships,” adding, “our door is very open to shared endeavors.” Likewise, the president of the University of West Alabama agrees that “York would be particularly strong if in synergy with the SCFAC.” He is on the Coleman Center board, and states the university has helped the Coleman Center with marketing and publicity, but would like to see the two organizations work more closely. He states that they “can’t afford to be in competition” and “have to play off each other’s strengths.”

In addition, a local fundraising group called the Friends of the Coleman Center disbanded upon Horst’s arrival. The Friends had recruited sponsors and organized fundraising events for the Coleman Center for a decade, often to pay the director’s salary. A former member states that previous Coleman Center directors “had kept Friends alive,” in part by reminding “the Friends of their quarterly meeting.” Upon Horst’s arrival, the Friends of the Coleman Center had $12,000 saved, which they gave to pay Horst’s salary. “We were happy to do it,” one member states. “We turned the money over and that was the end of the Friends.” He believes the new directors and board members were “remiss when they dropped the Friends, because the day will come again when the city or county can’t pay the Coleman Center director.”

In fact, funding continues to pose a challenge to the Coleman Center. One resident states that the money from the toxic waste facility tax “has dried up to almost nothing now.” He believes the movement needs to “work for different sources of funds, both government and private.” Shana Berger, the Coleman Center’s current executive director, agrees that individual contributions need to be focused on and increased. Horst states that the “hardest thing is to find a sustainable funding base. It’s hard to find enough local support,” she states, “because it’s a poor area.” But an artist in residence states that “while Sumter County is poor, it has some very wealthy people who could easily make large donations.”

Community Art

Upon assuming his position as community arts director, Saxton found that
"It was clear that both the bylaws of the organization and the view of the City Council was that the Coleman Center was to be a community directed arts organization and serve the City and the County with cultural stimulation. There was already a history with the Coleman Center and the City; the Coleman Center is the ‘cultural agency’ of the City. This relationship seemed to me to be ideal and unusual, and so I felt that the thing to do was to nurture that relationship and use it to really identify the Coleman Center as a true cultural asset to the community."

To maintain the Coleman Center’s focus on community, Saxton continued the Coleman Center's sponsorhip of craft workshops in quilting, mosaics, and painting, yearly Rooster Day festival, poetry readings book signings, and speakers. Saxton also “tried to bring in exhibitions that were rooted in the region or that directly linked something in the community with art making.” The Handmade Basketry show, for instance, highlighted basket makers from Alabama and Mississippi. It featured work by Mary Jane Everett, who was so inspired by the show she decided to move her studio to York, and by Marilee Keys, “an artist from Opelika, Alabama who introduced ideas of contemporary installation art to the community while working with native materials (pine needles).” Saxton also curated a “Folk Art exhibition which highlighted some of the best contemporary Folk Artists in the State.”

In the spirit of community art, Saxton also began the Municipal Workshop, described as “a contemporary public art laboratory that works in conjunction with municipalities and communities to foster a more creative approach to living” (Durst 2004). For example, Saxton’s Utility Now project was designed to solve the York Department of Public Works transportation problems. The department formerly operated with one truck to accomplish all of the city’s cleanup and maintenance. In an effort to conserve both time and manpower, “Saxton converted Asian rickshaws from eBay into utility tricycles that city workers could pedal to job sites” (Spencer 2004).

The Municipal Workshop also invited artists from outside of Alabama to be a part of the creative problem solving process. Artists lived in York from a few weeks to a few months and were provided with housing and stipends for materials and living expenses. They were required to leave a piece of art behind when they departed and to develop projects which accomplished at least one, but hopefully all of the following goals: actively engaging citizens in the creation of art, beautifying York, and serving a function. These projects have included the creation of a bench at a youth bus stop, the repair of a city park, an audio collection of local music, a bicycle shed where local youth can learn to repair bikes, and several sculptures.

Building on the attention York garnered from the presence of Gordon and Kennedy, Horst and Saxton sought to attract additional well-known artists from around the U.S. through an artists in residence program. The Bank of York building was donated and turned into two apartments, and the renovation of the building was a community effort. Unlike the Municipal Workshop, these artists were not asked to do anything for the city. The Coleman Center provided housing and stipends for materials and living expenses in the hope that their presence would boost interest in York and create community momentum for the arts.

Indeed, the artists in residence program accomplished both of these goals. One local artist states that “getting artists in residence who are better known has helped increase the popularity of York.” A local resident agrees that “York needs to continue pulling in young artists and interns.” A West Alabama resident adds that when artists began locating in York, “the arts took off. It took outsiders coming in for York residents to see what they have,” she states. “That’s the challenge of rural tourism: getting locals to see their towns with new eyes. It’s taken twenty years for York to come to the point of acknowledging what they have.” A local resident states that with the arrival of Horst, Saxton, Kennedy, and Gordon, the Coleman Center “hit a growth spurt. [They] brought the Coleman Center from being a local museum to a center doing things anyone from any large city would see as art. They raised the bar for all of us.”

Horst and Saxton departed York in the summer of 2005, but were replaced by directors who have continued and expanded the Coleman Center’s focus on community art by recruiting new artists in residence and designing new community projects. For example, new directors Shana Berger and Nathan Purath curated a project entitled “The Darkest Hour is Just Before the Dawn,” taken from a quote by Martin Luther King Jr. For the project, two artists in residence collected lamps from York residents to display in a vacant retail space in downtown York. According to the artists, “each day around dusk the lamps turn on one by one, representing the participants in the project, as well as the possibility that collective action can impact our communities in positive and lasting ways” (“Coleman Center” 2006). The exhibit received so much attention over several weeks that the building, abandoned for three years before being cleaned up by community volunteers, sold immediately (“Coleman Center” 2006).

Youth Programming

Berger and Purath also emphasize engaging youth in art, an important aspect of Coleman Center programming in its founding days. Purath states that he “would love to have a permanent group of kids that make art in York,” adding that “there is a real need for youth programming, because there are no art programs in the public or private schools, aside from individual teachers doing art projects with elementary school kids.” Residents confirm the need for the Coleman Center to “have a greater impact in schools.” A board member states that “art and music are non-existent” in the schools. Another explains that the public schools discontinued music and drama after the state refused to pay for them. She sees music as essential, and laments the fact that kids in York have no access to musicians.

Residents in York believe access to art through the Coleman Center would provide youth with a venue for expression which they currently lack. A board member states that “many kids have talent and the Coleman Center gives them an opportunity to express that talent.” Purath believes “it is important for any kid anywhere to have ways to express themselves, but especially in a community that has the challenges York does.” Dr. Richard Holland, President of the University of West Alabama, agrees that although the Black Belt “has been called a third world culture with many challenges…there are a lot of good things about it. The people are our richness,” he states, adding that art can help young people to see the positive things about the Black Belt. A local resident adds that using art to teach children “about the culture of their people and their area [can] give them a sense of hope. We need to lift our children,” she states.

Residents also believe that offering activities in the arts gives youth a new focus, keeping them away from risky activities. One resident states that “if we had more cultural activities in York, it would eliminate a lot of problems, like drugs. It would move [youth] out of the realm of fooling with drugs.” She explains that a cultural center which provides various activities in drama and dance would help reduce drug use by giving “kids an interest in something else and giv[ing] them a sense of pride.” Riddick adds that she is thrilled the Coleman Center is working with teens, because “teens need something to do for God’s sake!"

Efforts to boost youth participation in the arts have proven successful so far. The bike shed Saxton created to teach youth how to repair bikes is always bustling on Saturday mornings. Purath adds that when working with fifth and sixth grade students on a community art project, at first the students were hesitant, insisting they couldn’t draw, “but then started asking questions about how to do things and were excited to find that they could do art.” He adds that “all the kids were eager to participate,” more than any other kids he has instructed. A resident of York had a similar experience instructing children in a chapel program. She explains that “other kids who watched thought, ‘I can do that too.’ When you watch others,” she explains, “you think, ‘I can be somebody, I can be creative.’ It’s contagious.”

Downtown Artists

As the Coleman Center and the artists it recruited continued to build the arts and to generate outside interest in York, another major event boosted the art movement. In January 2004, eight downtown buildings were auctioned to five artists and two buyers who planned to open restaurants (see Appendix 2, Figure 2). The eighth building sold to the city of York, whose mayor hopes to use the building for an art related purpose.

The bourgeoning art movement spurred by the Coleman Center helped to encourage local artists to purchase the downtown buildings. A local reporter states that the “buildings went up for auction at the right time [when things were beginning to happen in York] and were inexpensive.” A local artist adds that Kennedy and Gordon “are both fine artists and as a result of their work, local artists have opened shops on the main street.” Georgine Clarke of the Alabama State Council on the Arts states that the “artists wouldn’t have bought the buildings without the Coleman Center as the driving force. The support of an institution, citizen support, and its longevity got artists excited and willing to buy buildings in York.”
Horst describes how Mary Jane Everett, a West Alabama basket maker, came to buy a downtown building:

"We met Everett at Kentuck [Arts Festival] and curated her into the first show we did at the Coleman Center called ‘Basketry from Alabama.’ Everett met local York artists through the show and became excited about the energy of five artists working on the block (Avenue A). When I mentioned that half of downtown was going up for auction, she decided to bid for a building. And when Linda [Munoz, a stained glass artist], heard, she decided to bid too. All of it centered around the Coleman Center to start. Everett was interested in the energy and activity going on and wanted to be around other art."

According to residents, after the artists purchased the downtown buildings, the York art scene “made a leap and began a flurry of activity.” A local resident explains that at the same time the Coleman Center was generating more art in York, “the storefronts went up for sale. I thought the downtown was dead, but now there’s almost a whole block of artists, plus the blues café. And I know someone else who wants to open an antique shop, and a couple of other interested artists.” Horst confirms that “all of a sudden there was all this activity. There were five artists working at the Coleman Center every day, plus the artists downtown: four glass artists, a music teacher, a sculptor, and a basket maker.”

So for the first time, local artists who had been working independently in their homes now worked side by side on the main street running through town, which served to boost the artists’ cohesion as a group. One artist states that now the artists’ ideas can “feed off each other.” In fact, the artists even use each other’s products in their work. A local basket maker works both pieces of fused glass and printer’s drawer handles from other York artists into her baskets (Durst 2005).

The downtown artists also work alongside the Coleman Center to keep the arts growing in York. A local business owner calls the relationship “very close,” adding that several of the downtown artists are Coleman Center board members, and one is the board president. The mayor of York agrees, stating, “You can’t tell the difference between them.” A local artist states that “one bolsters the other,” explaining that when the artists have visitors, they direct them to the Coleman Center, and vice versa. The downtown artists and the Coleman Center have also collaborated on several community art projects. Although the Coleman Center spearheads the art movement in York in many ways, its work is often directly supported by downtown artists and community volunteers. Thus, for the remainder of this study, references made to the Coleman Center will include the artists and other community members who act in tandem with the Coleman Center.

Effects of the Art Movement

Beautification

Creating art in York has helped to beautify the town. In the summer of 2004, when the downtown artists were moving into their studios, one artist brightened the sidewalk outside her studio with plants and flowers, which another artist says had a “trickle down effect down the block.” Soon, all of the artists had flowers out front, and many of the older stores added them as well. The same thing happened during the holiday season. One artist put up lights outside her studio, and every single store on the block followed suit. Store owners received a big response from York residents about the lights, and left them up until March, when the strands started to fray. One artist states that the mayor was disappointed when the lights came down; she had hoped they would stay up throughout the year.

Many York residents believe the plants and lights improved the town’s appearance. One artist states she has heard more positive comments about the plants than about what she sells inside her studio. She adds that York residents are excited about the change, that the artists have “brought a little bit of pride to the local people.” Another artist agrees that “everybody likes [the change],” and that the artists have heard “lots of positive feedback from the town.” He believes the simple act of adding flowers and lights to the main street in town has “a salutary effect on civic pride.” A visitor to York calls it “a cool atmosphere,” explaining that “around Christmas time there were lights everywhere, people sitting in shops talking, drinking coffee, an exhibition at the gallery. You wanted to move there.” A local business owner cites the Coleman Center’s efforts to beautify York as well, stating that the Coleman Center is now “more active than they’ve ever been as far as the beautification of York is concerned.”

Civic Energy

The art and flowers and lights in York have given residents new energy and hope. In fact, though she founded the Coleman Center over twenty years ago, Riddick believes that in some ways York is “in the beginning” of the art movement. The Coleman Center director states that “York has a spirit, an energy, things are picking up, people are excited about what’s happening.” One York resident states that the energy “has spilled into the whole community and gotten everyone interested. I never thought art could do that, but it has.” A resident who grew up in West Alabama in the 1980’s states that at that time “York was nothing, it was a gas station, a stop on the way to Tuscaloosa. Now there’s something going on, something York needed for a long time.”

New energy in York is reviving town pride and inspiring some York residents to embark on new projects. One resident believes art in York “brought pride back to a lot of people. [York] was a ghost town. Now you see flowers on the street. People see a little bit of revitalization downtown and everyone gets inspired. It has pushed the group creating a new sports complex to get going and pushed the renovation of Cherokee Park.” The art also inspired the beautification board of York to re-organize and encourage residents to clean up their yards by holding a contest for the best looking lawn. The mayor states that prior to the art movement in 2001, York “residents had an ‘I don’t care’ attitude.’ But now people are concerned about the perception of York. They want to know: Are we on the map? Are we recognized?”

To further community momentum, the Coleman Center hired the Small Town Design Initiative, a development agency out of Birmingham, to provide York with community planning sessions and a site plan for York’s revitalization. Community meetings were held in the fall of 2005 to catalogue York’s assets and to discuss goals. Members of the Small Town Design Initiative then used the information from these sessions to create a plan for York’s revitalization. The plan is to be used as a tool for the community, as a road map to help residents visualize what York could be. One of its key recommendations is to continue building on the arts.

In addition to sparking new energy and projects, art in York has also encouraged the establishment of new businesses. One York resident calls the art shops “a boon to downtown.” Indeed, four new businesses have opened since the artists opened their studios, and residents have found employment in the studios, the new businesses, and through Black Belt Designs. A local business owner states that “York is coming back. We’re filling up buildings. Now only a few buildings are empty. We’re getting independent business owners. In the last two years, ten businesses opened, which is unheard of in a town this size. Just about anything you need, short of a shoe store, is here now.” A local reporter believes art in York will continue to “open the door for new small businesses” and states that “the blues café would never have opened without the art movement.”

Outside Attention


As those in the art movement hoped, the growth of art in York has drawn attention from people outside the community. Articles have appeared in several local papers and in two newspapers out of Birmingham, Alabama. Alabama Public Television has visited over a dozen times to film a documentary about the arts in York and Southern Living reporters have also shown interest. One artist reports that when representatives from York go out into Alabama, “people want to know what’s happening in York.” A local resident adds that “a lot of people have been looking at properties [in York].”

In the press, York has been celebrated for its successes despite the odds. The Sumter Record-Journal featured a story which stated that York’s Christmas lights “may foretell a brighter future for the struggling city,” calling them “just one example of how York is making strides toward improvement.” The author added that “those improvements, if successful, could have an impact on the entire county” (“York Lets Light Shine” 2005). Black and White, a Birmingham newspaper, ran two stories about York artists entitled “Rural Renaissance” and “New York” in which the author describes York as “a place where changes that many people once thought impossible are happening in big and small ways everyday” (Durst 2005).

York has also boosted outside attention through First Saturdays: community art days held the first Saturday of every month. Visitors come to walk York’s streets and admire the public art, buy from the shops and studios, visit the Coleman Center gallery, and eat food sold at booths by local residents. They come from nearby towns and from larger cities like Birmingham, Alabama and Meridian, Mississippi. One resident states that “First Saturdays are really taking off” and a local reporter agrees, stating that “tours on First Saturdays attract more and more people every time. On each tour I hear at least one person say, ‘I wish we had something like this in our town.’ York is really unique in the Black Belt,” he adds. “There’s nothing like it around. In fact, a lot of people from Demopolis,” a town commonly regarded as a Black Belt success story due to its high quality, integrated schools, express the desire to have something like the art movement in York.

Perhaps the greatest validation any community can receive is to be regarded as a resource and prototype by surrounding communities, a status York has achieved. The Black Belt Action Committee touts York as a model for other small communities. A publication by the Economic Development Institute at Auburn University cites York as a prime example of a “diverse and innovative economic development strategy” for rural Alabama (Sumners & Lee 2004:27). The authors describe York as a community “open to any opportunities that align with community assets…to new ideas, and [to] new ways of doing things” (Sumners & Lee 2004:28).

York also inspired the development of Black Belt Treasures, an internet site and gallery in Camden, Alabama, which sells Black Belt art and crafts. The founder visited the Coleman Center “because York was reviving its town, giving York a sense of pride and direction.” The director adds, "We looked at York as an anchor. During our planning phase, we benefited from their long experience. We avoided people thinking you can’t do it because we could point to York as an example. York just took what they had and made a product out of it. It’s not a pretty town, it has no architecture or famous social movements, but they now have a national reputation. Their vision set the standard for the rest of us who wanted to improve cultural assets in the area. Black Belt Treasures is an outgrowth of what we saw in York."

Vision for Revitalization through Art in York

York residents are well aware of the upward trend in rural tourism, and several cite it while discussing their visions of York’s future. A local business owner states that money is currently being invested in small towns which are close to the city, but do not have the smog, noise, crime, and traffic. She believes York could be a place for city dwellers to come to get away. A Coleman Center board member agrees, stating that “people in general are looking for little getaways, which is particularly true with local and folk art.” The mayor adds that “art will draw people to York because people like to get away to cozy little places like York.” The director of the Coleman Center believes “people aren’t likely to come to York for an evening art opening and then have to drive home that night, but day trips are more likely,” as evidenced by the popularity of York’s First Saturdays.

A few York residents also cite examples of other communities or programs using rural tourism successfully. One artist in residence points out that “art as a way to generate income and outside interest has a long history. Artists beautify the community, make it hip, and generate interest. Embracing the arts has transformed towns” elsewhere, like Paducah, Kentucky. One York resident describes a bus tour which stops in various towns and cities known for antiques. She believes something similar could be done for the arts, including York as a destination for its art shops and the Coleman Center gallery.

Some York residents go beyond seeing York as a tourist destination, envisioning it as a center for art learning. A board member defines the mission of the Coleman Center as “promoting the arts and developing York as an artists retreat or resort.” A documentary filmmaker believes York “could be a learning place for others, a place where people can buy unique art, take classes, wander around, and be immersed in art.” One artist envisions York as “a mini Penland” (an art school in North Carolina). Riddick also wants York to move in this direction, stating:

"Penland has done so much for Spruce Pine, [North Carolina]. There are now restaurants, galleries, businesses. In forty years, Penland has made that community. Now North Carolina gets big contributions because others know what art can do. We have a very healthy craft nation now. People are doing photography, pottery, papermaking, printing, and painting like never before. There has been a renaissance in our country. The cost of Penland courses is rising and not everyone can afford to go there to learn, and the demand for crafts is rising as well. York could be another kind of Penland. There’s nothing like it in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana or Texas."

As in Spruce Pine, York residents hope drawing tourists to the town will create economic opportunities. The president of the University of West Alabama states he is “extremely interested in improving the quality of life in the Black Belt,” and believes this can be achieved “through the arts.” A local artist adds that “art can’t do anything but help the local economy,” pointing out that if visitors come to see art, they have to eat lunch and buy gasoline too. Another explains that York residents “realize we’re probably not going to get the next car plant, but we can have a community that people will get off the interstate for and they will come to see York and they will start going to businesses and looking around and noticing us and I think York will definitely benefit.” The mayor of York agrees that art will help the community economically by building an economic base on tourism, adding that much of the Black Belt is focusing on tourism through art. Indeed, art has already benefited York economically by sparking new business growth and increasing employment opportunities. In fact, according to its director, the Coleman Center brought $700,000 to the area in the past five years.

Strategies to Achieve the Vision

Many in York believe York is on the right track to becoming a tourist destination. A filmmaker currently researching York states they “need to keep going the way they’re going, with the artist in residence program and improving the community through art. It can only get better,” she states. “You could end up with a whole town filled with mosaics.” Shana Berger, the executive director of the Coleman Center, agrees it needs to “continue going in the direction it’s going” and one of the Coleman Center’s primary donors believes if it can “keep the arts going, York could be a neat little town again.” Richard Saxton adds that “York simply needs to recognize its assets in relation to the arts and support the efforts of both the local artists and the visiting artists that come through the Coleman Center.”

Build on Assets

In fact, many in York do recognize the town’s assets and seek to build on them. A local business owner states that “we have a lot of potentials, if we had some way to pull tourists here.” First, York residents view their location as an asset. With railroad lines and two interstates running through town, one resident calls York “a main thoroughfare.” York is also the first stop in Alabama when traveling from Mississippi, and residents believe the town could be marketed as a gateway from one state to another. In addition, residents cite York’s small town feel. York has a main street with an intact historic downtown, leading one resident to describe York as a “small town in a classic sense.” Another adds, “I love this town, I love living here, I know my kids’ teachers, the parents, I just love the atmosphere.” Residents also cite York’s energy and momentum as assets. As Cheryl Morgan of the Small Town Design Initiative explains, York is in a “state of renaissance: things are happening here.”

Art tops the asset list, and residents agree that success in York means more of it. The mayor “would like to see the Coleman Center really grow and be out at the forefront of the city.” A board member believes the Coleman Center should go beyond the artists in residence program, community art projects, and public art by adding visiting exhibits and workshops. Another agrees that the Coleman Center “needs to set up regular exhibits and exhibit more art to encourage people to stop by on their way through town.” A local artist adds that she hopes the public art scattered around town will increase and Riddick “would like to see York put more art into the town: into benches and sidewalks.” She envisions York as “an artist experience,” inspiring people “to go there just to walk around and see the art in town.” One artist in residence hopes a mural program will develop in York, stating that if York had ten murals, it would help to draw outsiders who would wonder what was going on in this little town.

In addition to more art, many in York agree the town also needs more artists. One local artist hopes for a bigger arts district, with more artists opening shops and displaying their talents and another “would love to see every empty building in town filled with artists.” In fact, an artist in residence calls artists “the building block” of York’s revitalization plan. Another agrees, pointing out that "artists bring in other artists so they can hang out and drink together. If you make space available to artists, you create the buzz and the momentum. That’s all it takes, it’s just that simple. There is an opportunity for towns like York to be revitalized by artists, because artists are looking for cheap space they can do what they want with, without being hassled by planning boards, etc. What’s the difference between SoHo in New York City and rural settings? Not everyone wants to move to the city. Some want to be a good state or regional artist. It can be done in York; it has been done for years in other places. And small towns have cheap and vacant buildings. York could advertise its small, cheap houses, or even give away ten for free in order to attract more artists and create a buzz." A Coleman Center fundraiser agrees, stating that Riddick “always said that artists are looking for two things: a place to work and a cheap place to live. York has so many empty buildings, they could provide both.”

Create a Tourism Package

Echoing Riddick’s vision to make York “an artist experience,” York residents believe the whole town needs to be made attractive and convenient to tourists. Georgine Clarke of the Alabama State Council on the Arts confirms that “you have to market York as an entire experience, package it together.” A Coleman Center board member adds that “York could be another Fairhope, [Alabama]: pretty streets, a tourist town. But before we can draw artists and tourists, we need to build the township aesthetically. If we continue on the route to bring the town up to where it needs to be, York as an artist colony could work.” A local business owner agrees that beautifying the main street is key to encouraging passersby to stop.

Several York residents cite the need for lodging in town. One local business owner hopes to open a bed and breakfast, believing that people would come to York to learn art if they had a place to stay. Many also emphasize the need for good food, calling for more restaurants, better restaurants, and restaurants open for lunch. One artist in residence believes “people would come from other places on the weekends if there were a restaurant in York. They could see five artists and get a good meal at the same time.” He adds, “If you want to see something happen, get someone making good ice cream. They’ll come from Tuscaloosa, [Alabama]. Say you only have five flavors, ‘cause that’s what you make that day. Or be famous for your peach cobbler or your pecan pie. Then people will come to get it and to see the art.” Cheryl Morgan of the Small Town Design Initiative agrees, stating that “people in Alabama will drive for food, especially if it’s something distinct.”

Market It

One local artist wants to “put York back on the map” and “make more people aware of what’s going on here” while another wants “Alabama to realize what York can do for the state.” To accomplish this, residents cite the need to further publicize York. A local business owner states that York has “to reach out to put ourselves in a tourist position to get the extra dollar.” Dr. Holland, president of the University of West Alabama, agrees, stating “you have to decide who you are and what you’re trying to do. You have a niche and you build on it, you promote it.” The mayor adds that York must “let them know we’re out here. Put our information out there. Everywhere I go I tell people we’re ‘New York.’ Come see what we’re doing, come see the Coleman Canter. You build on the cozy community part as a drawing card to get people to come to York: our love for our city, our art, the Coleman Center.” She also believes York needs to promote itself through the internet.

Georgine Clarke of the Alabama State Council on the Arts agrees that “marketing is key” and believes “York has to get the word out. Find a way for people to visit York and stay there. They need to send out press releases all the time.” An artist in residence points out, however, that the “city has nothing in the way of literature to promote York. There are no brochures, no press kit, no website, and no business-starter kit in the whole county.” A local artist adds that creating a map of York art to serve as a walking tour for tourists would be helpful. Another states that because York is the first Alabama exit when traveling from Mississippi, a sign on the interstate could advertise York as the “first little pocket of interest in the Black Belt, as an introduction to the Black Belt.”

Some in York believe publicizing needs to take place on a broader geographic scale. Horst calls the Coleman Center “an important economic asset for the city and the region” and a local resident agrees that “the Coleman Center is no longer about York; it effects the whole county.” Riddick adds that the Coleman Center is “certainly something Alabama and Mississippi need.” Holland states that “York’s advantage is that they’re the only thing going in the region.” He agrees the Coleman Center needs to be marketed regionally, stating that “they undersell it. They keep talking about the Coleman Center for York, but it could have a tremendous impact regionally, throughout the Southeast. The more they reach out to have a broader impact, the more support they will get. It took a great deal of activity to get to this point, but now we need to move to a bigger level, a level that’s greater than York, although York will benefit.”

Holland believes York needs “to promote itself to Atlanta and Birmingham, to both public and private organizations.” He points out that a recent Black Belt Designs exhibit in Birmingham and trip to New York brought a lot of attention to York. A local artist in residence agrees, stating that “if you get publicity in Birmingham, people will stop on their way to the beach or on their way to New Orleans because they’ll see a sign for York and the Coleman Center and they’ll remember hearing about it.”

In order to publicize effectively to the region, both informants cite the need to recruit experts. Holland states that the Coleman Center has a good relationship with the Alabama Folklife Association and the Alabama State Council on the Arts. He suggests the Coleman Center “work with the State Arts Council to bring in consultants who have experience in creating arts colonies in order to raise their horizons. They could point out what York could be doing, and what other communities have done.” The artist in residence adds that “there’s enough to market York now to other artists, but they need someone who knows how to market.” In fact, this need has existed for over a decade. In the 1990’s, fundraisers had hoped to create a gift shop at the Coleman Center, but although artists contributed items, one fundraiser states that it “never got off the ground because we didn’t know how to market it.”

Increase Community Support

According to local residents, the most critical need for the art movement is broader community support. One resident states that “York has gone down over the years. It will be good if it can come back through the arts, if we can just get the community motivated. At meetings you see the same group of people working when you have a population of 15,000 [in Sumter County]. We need some more players.” An artist in residence adds that “there are a lot of plusses with getting more people involved. More support and understanding develop about where the arts can go in this town. It generates fever, excitement, a volunteer base, connections. People that aren’t participating now could have friends or relatives that are folk artists we don’t know about. There are plenty of folk artists in Alabama drawing in the back woods. We may also get people involved who have money.”

Assessing the Movement

York residents have implemented the tenets of rural tourism and community development in several ways. First, they recognize the need for asset based planning and seek to build on an art center and art studios already established instead of looking for outside solutions. York residents remain sensitive to the local environment by seeking to enhance, rather than to change it. They seek to create a tourism package by designing the town as an “artist experience,” and have also created groups of attractions and special events. In addition, residents recognize the important role marketing plays, and cite the need for improved promotion of York to those outside the region.

The art movement in York has reached out to agencies at the state and federal level for funding and support, though some residents cite the need for stronger partnerships with the University of West Alabama and the Sumter County Fine Arts Council. In addition, York art has the backing of the local government through the presence of a very supportive mayor. York also created an organization (the Coleman Center) to move revitalization efforts forward, and has embraced strategic planning. The art movement in York also used small, visible actions, like placing flowers and lights on the main street of town, to boost community support. York residents also recognize the importance of involving youth in the art movement and have taken art into the schools to get youth interested.

York residents also recognize the need for equity in the art movement and seek broad based support. In fact, they view increased participation from a wide range of community members as the movement’s most critical need. Residents do seek to build the movement from the bottom up, with local citizens as leaders in development plans. Though they did not speak explicitly about aiding York’s most disadvantaged citizens, residents’ desire to build an inclusive movement which ameliorates conditions in York and creates economic opportunities will no doubt benefit York’s poorest citizens. Those in the art movement do seek to build the capacity of all citizens, viewing each as a resource, as evidenced in one resident’s statement that in the Black Belt, “the people are our richness.”

Thus, York residents have well wrought intentions for building a community defined and community driven movement which represents and benefits all citizens of York. In a town which is 78% black, however, boosting community involvement means specifically garnering support from the black community. Because the art movement has traditionally been viewed as a white enterprise, boosting black participation in the arts requires redefining the art movement as interracial and inclusive. Though York residents have strived to do this, efforts are often thwarted by a lack of trust and common identity among the black and white communities, sustained by pervasive social and cultural segregation.

Facilitating trust and cooperation between the black and white communities in York is thus a necessary first step toward revitalizing the town. Building this interracial trust and cooperation requires creating bridging social capital between blacks and whites in York. Putnam reminds us that “in any comprehensive strategy for improving the plight of America’s communities, rebuilding social capital is as important as investing in human and physical capital” (Putnam 1993:8). This is a difficult task in York, as segregation seeps into almost every facet of society. Blacks and whites possess high degrees of bonding capital within their communities, but little bridging capital between them.

Though fewer studies demand increased bridging cultural capital, I believe it to be as important as increased social capital. Social capital unites disparate community groups by building trust between them, while cultural capital unites them by establishing a common identity. As Merelman points out, black communities often possess an lternate cultural capital formed as a result of their exclusion from dominant, white cultural capital. Cultural capital in minority communities is often formed to ward off, resist, and actively reject domination by whites. Therefore, many blacks are ambivalent about white cultural capital, viewing it as a device for reproducing oppression (Merelman 1994).

Thus, creating bridging cultural capital between blacks and whites in York must be preceded by an awareness and appreciation of the distinctive cultural capital blacks possess and a possible reticence toward participating in white cultural capital. In York, bridging cultural capital could be increased through an art movement which recognizes unique elements of black culture while joining black and white cultures under a common theme, like the Black Belt. Bennett and Savage confirm the need to broaden inclusive forms of cultural capital by going beyond increasing participation in cultural activities (like going to the theater, reading literature, or listening to opera) which have historically been ranked as high culture and which, in terms of the demographic profiles of their publics, have been markedly socially exclusive (Bennett & Savage 2004).
York residents recognize bridging social and cultural capital as both their greatest challenge and greatest necessity. In order to develop specific strategies to increase bridging capital in York, it is necessary to first understand the segregation which has permeated the town since its inception. To this end, the next chapter investigates both the history of segregation and its current manifestation in the Black Belt and in York.