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Our goal from the outset with facilitating and hosting Beyond the Clock was to create connections for rural, place-based cultural workers and artists - regardless of location or physical boundaries - that help them sustain work that often feels physically, socially and emotionally isolating. Our perspective is that rural arts and culture workers often oscillate between the need to belong in their community (to be part of the culture of that place) and the need to intentionally not belong and lead the way in embracing new culture, values and attitudes. Operating in this space requires vulnerability, courage, discomfort, self love, and grace. We invite and model these qualities and approaches when we gather this community virtually. Our objective is to curate and offer a space that gives sustenance to rural practitioners so they can remain in their communities as bridge sitters and can continue to lead rural communities forward towards vibrancy, equity, beauty and love - embracing all that is good from our past with all that we want to become.
The collective gatherings have proven to help practitioners process and express their feelings, share their voice, generate ideas, and solicit breakthroughs for the challenges we face in day-to-day practice of advancing missions and contributing as a vital, valued community member. Hear more from the hosts of Beyond the Clock in this short video created by the Rural Assembly and check out our Beyond the Clock Blog for deeper dive interviews with a number of our featured guests.
For each Beyond the Clock season, we invite a Resident Artist to capture high-level themes in a creative format or graphic harvest illustration. Below are images created by Beyond the Clock resident artists Nhatt Nichols, Molly Gurney, and Jamie Horter capturing key themes and moments of connection in each of our learning exchanges since 2021.
About the 2023-2024 Beyond the Clock resident Artist: NHATT NICHOLS
Nhatt Nichols is a poet and graphic journalist living on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. She uses drawing, poetry, and comics to explore human/animal relationships and how they fit into bigger political and environmental issues. You can find her work in High Country News, Edible Magazine, Civil Eats, and The Daily Yonder. Nhatt is a 2023 Literary GAP Grant recipient. Her first book, This Party of the Soft Things (Bored Wolves, 2022), is in its second printing, and Morels, an illustrated novella, is forthcoming from Bored Woles.
Learn more about Nhatt Nichols at: www.nhattnichols.com
About the 2022-2023 Beyond the Clock resident Artist: Molly Gurney
Molly Marie Gurney is a Vermont-raised visual storyteller with a passion for making the unseen, felt. Over the past decade, she has integrated her art practice into community organizing work, employing creative expression to evoke emotions and inspire political action. Drawing from personal embodiment and collective experiences, Molly has dabbled in various mediums including public installations, community mapping, illustration, graphic design, poetry, and the circus arts. She seeks to explore the edges - between her body and the world, between the seen and unseen, and between comfort and change. Molly has lived in Moab, Utah (pop. 5,317) since 2020.
About the 2021-2022 Beyond the Clock resident Artist: Jamie Horter
Jamie Horter is a rural advocate, small town artist, and community coach based out of Lyons, NE (pop. 851). Her works are inclusive and community centered, often engaging rural citizens in the design process as co-creators. Jamie uses art to create opportunities for everyday citizens to become more engaged in the conversations and decisions impacting their communities. Her work brings community members into discussions and actions around citizen-led community development.