On this episode of Luce Change, Sean Buffington sits down with Ash Hanson—theater artist, rural cultural worker, and Creative Executive Officer at the Department of Public Transformation—to explore why bending the arc of history toward justice has to start locally. Ash makes the case that civic culture erodes the way sandstone does: slowly, incrementally, and at enormous cost to the communities least resourced to rebuild.
With only 3–7% of philanthropic dollars reaching the 20% of Americans who live in rural places, Ash argues that geographic inequity is foundational to the democratic crisis, and that artists and cultural organizers are doing the essential work of shifting community narratives and building civic imagination before traditional engagement can even begin.
Articles & Organizations Mentioned:
Department of Public Transformation: dopt.org
Voices for Rural Resilience: voicesforruralresilience.org
The Mellon Foundation: mellon.org
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson: justmercy.eji.org
SiP Culture: sipculture.org
Blue Sky Center: blueskycenter.org
Cheyenne River Youth Project: cryp.org
No Hate in My Holler: nohateinmyholler.com
Epicenter Utah: epicenterutah.org
Art of the Rural: artoftherural.org
Springboard for the Arts: springboardforthearts.org
Daily Yonder: dailyyonder.com
Center for Rural Strategies: ruralstrategies.org
Rural Assembly: ruralassembly.org
Masumoto Family Farm: masumoto.com
Country Queers: countryqueers.com
Civic Lex: civiclex.org
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