We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Matthew Regier. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Matthew below.

Matthew, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

Predictably, earning living has proved one of the most challenging things choosing creative life. Our decision to live in a very rural area means that we are removed from other potential sources of income. However, rural life also allows a measure of independence and resourcefulness (and cheaper housing). We grow and preserve much of our own food, and our entertainment usually entails going outside, visiting a neighbor, or organizing a community event.

I have also stayed home with our to kids while my wife has worked outside of the home. This has naturally made it harder to create new work, but has saved money on childcare and created more opportunities for our children to be integrated into the fabric of our community which, I believe, has positively impacted our non-profit work at The School for Rural Culture and Creativity.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My work is intimately connected to the land on which I live. I am an artist and printmaker living in a town (Matfield Green, Kanas) of less than 60 people inside a county with less than 3,000. This county is located in the heart of the Flint Hills, an ecoregion widely known as the “last stand of the Tallgrass prairie,” perhaps the most threatened ecosystem in North America.

In my studio artwork, I aim to explore the intricacies and nuances of this rare but overlooked landscape. My prints are created by carving complex patterns of line and motion that evoke the complex plant communities which make up the prairie.

My wife and I also cofounded a non-profit arts organization in Matfield Green, called The School for Rural Culture and Creativity. We believe that conservation must take place at the community level. “The School” seeks to support creative practices that strengthen rural communities and integrate the arts into everyday life.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Rural communities often lack resources and infrastructure to support and sustain entrepreneurs. Our friend Wes Jackson, founder of The Land Institute, says that “highly dense energy limits human imagination.” In other words, easy access to energy and wealth may allow us to create shortcuts and avoid the hard work of creative problem-solving that takes place within a community.

The School for Rural Culture and Creativity was started without any operating budget, or paid staff. One of our earliest events was a fundraiser involving a community wide “rummage sale” and art exhibition with kids activities, homemade pie, a food truck, a gym full of garage sale items, and an exhibition of work from some of the finest artist in the state of Kansas and beyond. The event not only helped raise money for necessary renovations, but also served to blur the boundaries between the arts and the ordinary rituals and routines of life in a rural community.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Our organization believes that culture should be created from the ground up. In order to foster mutual respect and diversity at the society level, we must have neighborliness, mutuality, and a sense of local identity at the community level. In our experience, we have seen that political and cultural differences can be overcome by creating strong neighborly relationships based on common purpose and work.

Rural communities in particular were built on agriculture, with local businesses, schools, and churches following close behind. As that economy fails and local identity fades, people are cut loose from their collective bonds to the land and to each other and are often sent to corporate substitutes (social media, cable TV etc) to fill the void that is left.

We believe that the arts, when integrated into common life, can generate local identity and a sense of belonging and pride that may help stitch communities back together and build resilience for the future.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.schoolforruralculture.org; https://www.matthewregier.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/schoolforruralculture/

Image Credits
Derek Hamm, Matthew Regier