Community Building Panel Discussion, July 4, 2023

Panel discussion about community building in the Ozarks on July 4, 2023 at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C. Panelists include (l to r): Brooks Blevins, panel leader and the Noel Boyd Professor of Ozarks Studies at Missouri State University; Beverly Meinzer, manager of the Rockwell Gospel Music School in Brockwell, Arkansas; Sasha Daucus, Ozark bioregional herbalist and director of the Golden Light Center in Doniphan, Missouri; and Maile Auterson, farmer and founding executive director of Springfield Community Gardens in Springfield, Missouri.
“The Ozarks: Faces and Facets of a Region” was a program of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, which took place June 29-July 4 and July 6-9, 2023. The festival brought Ozarks-based musicians, artisans, cooks, performers, and others to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to celebrate and share their culture. Presented through two weeks of performances, workshops, demonstrations and other participatory experiences, the program highlighted diverse populations from across the region, encompassing parts of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Illinois.
The Ozarks program was produced in partnership with Missouri State University. The program was supported, in part, by Missouri State University, Missouri Division of Tourism, Arkansas Tourism, University of Arkansas, Experience Fayetteville, Windgate Foundation, Committee of 100 for the Ozark Folk Center, Ozark Beer Company, Crystal Bridges Arts and Social Impact Accelerator Partnership, and the Missouri Folk Arts Program. The program received federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the National Museum of the American Latino; the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center; and the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative Pool. In-kind support came from Montana Cans and Mountain Valley Spring Water.
For more information, visit the Smithsonian Folklife Festival Ozarks program website at festival.si.ed....