“When have you felt a sense of belonging?”

That’s the question we asked in a small rural town in Minnesota. I’ve worked with the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center in the past. They hosted one of my earliest exhibits there a decade ago. I spent a couple weeks there for an artist residency while I was editing our American Stories book. So, when I had in mind a deep dive of community storytelling, I reached out in the hopes that they would be a willing partner, and they were.

Over the course of a few weeks, I visited schools and community groups. We gathered stories from senior centers, the VFW, Lions Club meetings, library talks, memory care groups and at the cultural center. I ventured to nearby towns and to the White Earth Nation. I spoke to social studies classes and sat for community radio interviews. We did what we could to draw from a wide range of experiences and perspectives.

Folks answered the question in 25 words or less and we did a black and white portrait. By the end, we had produced 178 stories. We printed them out 24″ x 36″ and filled the walls of the cultural center. Those prints will be up through the end of December if you happen to be passing through town.

But we also leaned in to the projections we have been doing in communities. New York Mills is a farming town and has a set of grain elevators right along the main street. The owner was on board, and the night of the town Christmas party, we projected the community stories on the side of the grain bins so they could see themselves billboard sized as they were coming to the party, right across the street.

There are some lovely benefits to working in a small town. Over the course of a few weeks, I crossed paths with some of the residents multiple times. I started seeing familiar faces. Participants brought their friends to our other engagements and studios. When it came time to project, there was a streetlight that was shining too much light on the side of the grain bins. We just made a phone call to the power company, and they turned that street light off for the night. In the big city, we’d still be trying to locate a human to talk to.

The town made room for me. They shared sweet and personal moments in their stories. And by the end of it, they made me feel like I belonged, too.

When have you felt a sense of belonging? How can we share that with others?