Culture & Performance

Ghost Towns With Good Bones: Diagnosing the Death of a Local Arts Scene — and the People Bringing It Back to Life

Something happened to your city's creative scene. Maybe it was slow — a beloved venue closing here, a rent hike there — or maybe it felt sudden, like one day the murals were fresh and the next the coffee shop that hosted open mics was a smoothie franchise. Either way, the creative pulse dimmed. But across the country, grassroots organizers are proving that what gets lost can be rebuilt — if the community decides it's worth fighting for.

Sep 16, 2026

Curtain Call for the Mainstream: Why Your Town's Scrappy Little Theater Is the Most Important Stage in America

Community theater has a reputation problem—and it doesn't deserve it. Across mid-sized American cities, volunteer-run performance spaces are experiencing a genuine renaissance, staging bold work, launching careers, and doing something no Broadway tour can replicate: making theater feel like it actually belongs to the people watching it. We talked to the directors, actors, and stagehands keeping the lights on—and found out why this moment matters.

Sep 16, 2026