Crossroads: Change in Rural America
Crossroads: Change in Rural America is a Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibition drawing on the history and culture of rural America to provoke fresh thinking and spark conversations about the future and sustainability of rural communities.
Crossroads: Change in Rural America offers small towns a chance to look at their own paths over the past century and to highlight the changes that affected their fortunes. The exhibition will prompt discussions about what happened when America’s rural population became a minority of the country’s population and the ripple effects that continue today.
With support from Colorado Humanities and the Smithsonian, the Crossroads exhibition gives Colorado communities the chance to explore how their community has adapted to change. Host sites will develop a complementary exhibit and programming that tells their community’s unique Crossroads story and sparks important conversations about local issues.
Ten Colorado communities have been selected to host the Smithsonian exhibition for six weeks each, beginning in August of 2023.
Congratulations to our local hosts! Please visit the exhibit as it tours Colorado.
View the local posters as they become available by clicking on the town name.
| August 26 – October 9, 2023 | Walsenburg [1] | Museum of Friends [2] |
| October 16 – November 25, 2023 | Alamosa [3] | San Luis Valley Museum [4] |
| December 4, 2023 – January 13, 2024 | Trinidad | Corazon de Trinidad Creative District [5] |
| January 22 – March 2, 2024 | La Junta | Otero College [6] and Southeast Colorado Creative Partnership [7] |
| March 11 – April 20, 2024 | Yampa | Yampa-Egeria Historical Society [8] |
| April 29, 2024 – June 8, 2024 | Ignacio | Ignacio Creative District [9] |
| June 17 – July 27, 2024 | Paonia | Blue Sage Center for the Arts [10] |
| August 5 – September 14, 2024 | Sterling | Overland Trail Museum [11] |
| September 23 – November 2, 2024 | Burlington | Old Town Museum [12] |
| November 11 – December 21, 2024 | Gunnison | Gunnison Arts Center [13] |
To learn more about Museum on Mainstreet, and other Colorado Humanities history programs, please contact program coordinator Jennifer Macias at jennifer@coloradohumanities.org [15]
About Museum on Main Street
Museum on Main Street (MoMS) is a partnership between the Smithsonian Institution and Colorado Humanities to bring traveling exhibitions, educational resources, and programming to small towns through their own local museums, historical societies, and other cultural venues. The exhibitions are designed to engage communities and become a catalyst for conversations.
Made possible in Colorado by Colorado Humanities. Crossroads: Change In Rural America is part of Museum on Main Street, a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and the Federation of State Humanities Councils. Support for Museum on Main Street has been provided by the United States Congress, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the Hearst Foundation.