Central Illinois is prominently featured in a traveling exhibit highlighting rural innovation.
Illinois Humanities partnered with the Smithsonian Museum for "Spark! Places of Innovation." The exhibit is part of the Museums on Main Street initiative — a 30-year effort to bring the country’s flagship museum into small towns across America.
Through October, “Spark!” is installed at Community Connection of Central Illinois in Chatsworth, a Livingston County farming community 45 miles northeast of Bloomington-Normal. Chatsworth is the third of seven stops on the statewide tour, which previously exhibited in two southern Illinois towns: Equality and Hillsboro.
The heart of downtown Chatsworth is a three-block stretch of Locust Street flanked by at Casey’s at one end and an American Legion on the other. Between those is Community Connection of Central Illinois, a nonprofit aimed at revitalizing the region’s social and economic landscape.
“Because we’re awesome!” said Mary Catherine Carter, executive director of Community Connection. Nearby Fairbury is also part of the exhibit.
“We have done lots of things within our own little communities to improve our town,” Carter said.
“Spark! Places of Innovation” features 30 small towns in all, including three in central Illinois.
“The idea behind Museum on Main Street is to share the wealth of the Smithsonian Institution with people throughout the United States, particularly in small towns and rural areas,” said Matt Meacham, program manager for statewide engagement at Illinois Humanities. Meacham works out of Illinois Humanities’ Edwardsville office; he spent several days in Chatsworth supporting the exhibit’s grand opening on Sept. 9.
“Spark!” will remain in Chatsworth until Oct. 14, then travel to Rushville, Durand, Havana and Marshall, Illinois. Stops are awarded to communities with fewer than 25,000 people, with priority given to towns of 10,000 or less. In addition to the exhibit, each community creates companion programming highlighting local history. Chatsworth Township Library created an exhibit focused on an 1887 railroad accident — one of the 19th century's deadliest.
The "Spark!" exhibit is almost wholly composed of case studies grouped into four themes: heritage-based innovation, artistic innovation, social innovation and technological innovation. Interactive kiosks share stories about Fairbury pioneering the farm-to-chef movement. Atlanta is lauded for its efforts to capture Route 66 tourism. And Community Connection provides vital resources such as recreational programs for people with disabilities and field trip opportunities for schools to visit the center and learn about their local history.
Instilling local pride and investment
Carter was born and raised in Fairbury.
“A lot of people, including me, at the age of 18 can’t wait to get out,” she said. Carter returned to Fairbury after 40 years ago and said she and others who’ve moved back home have a responsibility to revitalize their towns. That is the main reason she agreed to lead Community Connection of Central Illinois.
“Our small towns don’t always thrive,” she said. “Especially we who have gone and come back, we want to say, ‘We’ve got to get our town back.’”
Carter said Chatsworth mayor Richard Runyon is an enthusiastic partner and has been key in keeping Locust Street vibrant. He is regularly seen watering the flowers himself. These small touches make for a welcoming place to visit “Spark!” And Meacham said the response has been overwhelmingly positive.
“All of the communities ‘Spark!’ has visited so far also happen to be featured in ‘Spark!,’” he said. “People were really excited to see their own communities featured in an exhibition produced by our national flagship museum.”
About 25 people attended the Chatsworth opening at Community Connection. Carter hired Bloomington’s Orpheus Mandolin Orchestra to play for the event — a Chatsworth resident told her that was an especially nice touch. Not to mention, 25 guests in a town of 1,300 people is roughly the equivalent of one night of Beyonce in Chicago.
Carter said she hopes “Spark! Places of Innovation” instills young people from Chatsworth and Fairbury with a sense of local pride.
“The biggest thing is, get your town to thrive again,” she said. “So many towns are not thriving.”
Whether they end up staying or going, there is a tendency among people from small towns to say they’re from “the middle of nowhere.” That the Smithsonian Museum would notice these towns means their hometown isn’t nowhere. It’s somewhere.
“They’ve been excited to see their own communities featured and to know that their local efforts are being recognized beyond the immediate area,” Meacham said.
And when the Smithsonian packs up its kiosks and moves on, Mary Catherine Carter will still be unlocking the doors on Locust Street working to connect central Illinoisans in meaningful ways.
“What we do here is host and encourage gatherings of anybody to come and be a part of central Illinois connection,” she said. “It’s connecting. From one town to the next.”
"Spark! Places of Innovation" is on view in Chatsworth through Oct. 14 at Community Connection of Central Illinois, 404-408 E. Locust St., Chatsworth. The center is open Tuesday through Friday 1-7 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m.-4 p.m. To arrange a viewing during alternate hours or to arrange a field trip, contact Mary Catherine Carter at 815-692-9711 and director@communityconnectionIL.com.
