Spark! Places of Innovation Exhibition comes to Mt. Sterling

The Smithsonian comes to Mount Sterling in the SPARK! Places of Innovation exhibition!

Celebrate the creativity and resourcefulness of the people and ideas that emanate from Small Town America. Learn about the pioneers who carved a community out of the hills and hollers of the Gateway area, as well as the innovation of Ruth Tharpe Hunt and her world-famous cream candy business.

A special feature of the exhibit is our participation in the Youth Innovation in Rural America Initiative, which will showcase the ingenuity of our young people to be the leaders of tomorrow - and today.

This exhibition features stories gathered from diverse communities across the nation. Photographs, engaging interactives, objects, videos, and digital stories bring a multilayered experience to reveal the leaders, challenges, successes, and future of innovation in each town. Technical, social, cultural, or artistic– every sort of innovation story is as unique as each community and will be represented in Spark! Places of Innovation.

The story of human history is written in inventions and innovations. People are problem solvers. Sometimes we invent. More often, we innovate, introducing a fresh idea or an invention into use in some way that creates a new way of doing or thinking. Rural Americans are creating new products, processes and experiences that change local life and sometimes reach far beyond. Yet, invention and innovation truly flourishes in some places and not others. Why? 

Spark! Places of Innovation will be the springboard for diverse local programming in the humanities, sciences, and arts. Visitors will be inspired to learn about innovation has shaped their own communities and how they may be innovators themselves. This exhibition will be an opportunity for community members to come together in conversation around their community’s history, present, and future with innovation.

Join us at the Gateway Regional Arts Center to discover the stories of the people who helped shape our community, and experience the “spark” that made Mount Sterling the special place it is today.