Every invention and innovation is someone’s attempt to turn a problem into a solution. The results: Old neighborhoods revitalized, historic business districts rejuvenated, new festivals and cultural attractions generated and much more. “Spark! Places of Innovation,” a traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian, highlights how innovation has shaped small towns across the country.

The exhibition examining the ingenuity and tenacity of rural America opens at the Museum of the Big Bend on the campus of Sul Ross State University in Alpine on July 3. “Spark!” will be on view through Aug. 8.

MOBB and the surrounding communities have been chosen by the Texas Historical Commission to host “Spark!” as part of the Museum on Main Street program, a national/state/local partnership to bring exhibitions and programs to rural cultural organizations. The exhibit will tour six communities in Texas from May 16 through Feb. 21, 2027.

“The Museum of the Big Bend is excited to host the traveling exhibit ‘Spark! Places of Innovation,’” said Dr. Emily Wilkinson, director. “We are also excited to announce that the museum will be free to visit during ‘Spark!’ Thank you to the Smithsonian and Texas Historical Commission for helping to bring this experience to Alpine.”

“Spark! Places of Innovation” highlights innovation in rural America from the perspective of the people who lived it, featuring stories and images from over 30 communities across the nation gathered through a crowdsourcing initiative. These places of innovation examined their existing assets, characteristics, people, resources and history to tackle the challenges of today with creative solutions and chart new directions for their future. Through photographs, hands-on interactives, objects and videos, “Spark!” reveals the leaders, challenges, successes and future of innovation in each featured town.

The exhibit is organized into four different categories of innovation: social, artistic, technological and cultural. Examples of innovation include the Art & Environment Initiative in Meadville, Penn., that collaborates with community members through public art projects that revitalize, beautify and help transform shared spaces. The University of New Mexico-Taos Hub of Internet-based Vocation and Education (HIVE) that brought together educators, environmentalists and local leaders to create coworking space, a small business support center and on-site UMN-Taos classes.

Designed for small-town museums, libraries and cultural organizations, “Spark!” will serve as a community meeting place for conversations about innovation. With the support and guidance of the state humanities councils, these towns will develop complementary exhibits, host public programs and facilitate educational initiatives to raise people’s understanding about their own history, the joys and challenges of living rural, how change has impacted their community, and prompt discussion of goals for the future.

“The arrival of the Smithsonian exhibit has inspired Visit Alpine and people all around the region to participate and put together activities highlighting innovation in the Big Bend,” said City of Alpine Director of Tourism Chris Ruggia. “Visit Alpine is looking forward to hosting a free concert series with great local music every Tuesday night in July at the Kokernot Lodge Outdoor Amphitheatre, a venue with a long history in Alpine, but one that hasn’t been used in recent years. We are also thrilled to welcome Texas Downtown’s Regional Roundtable conference July 9-10. There will be an incredible array of speakers highlighting the creative ways that Alpine’s leaders have made the most of very limited resources to keep our downtown alive.”

The exhibition is part of Museum on Main Street, a unique collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), state humanities councils across the nation, and local host organizations. “Spark!” was inspired by “Places of Invention,” an exhibition developed by the Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation. To learn more about “Spark! Places of Innovation” and other Museum on Main Street exhibitions, visit www.museumonmainstreet.org.

SITES has been sharing the wealth of Smithsonian collections and research programs with millions of people outside Washington, D.C., for more than 70 years. SITES connects Americans to their shared cultural heritage through a wide range of exhibitions about art, science and history, which are shown wherever people live, work and play. For exhibition description and tour schedules, visit www.sites.si.edu.

To see the schedule of events for the Museum of the Big Bend and surrounding Big Bend region, visit https://www.museumofthebigbend.com/spark/.