Front Porch Conversations, Spark Festival kick off Smithsonian exhibition opening in Kellogg

KELLOGG – A traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution is coming to the Silver Valley. Spark! Places of Innovation is a Museum on Main Street exhibition focused on touting local stories of innovation across social, cultural, artistic or technical boundaries in rural communities.

To herald the opening of the exhibit, the Silver Valley Economic Development Corporation is hosting weekly Front Porch Conversations beginning at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 12 and Spark Festival from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday July 15, all at 125 McKinley Ave., Kellogg.

The Silver Valley Economic Development Corporation initially applied in April 2022 through the Idaho Humanities Council for a grant to bring the exhibition to Kellogg.

When Kellogg was chosen to host the Spark exhibition, Silver Valley Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Paige Olsen went to Boise to learn more about the details and returned feeling extremely validated by the framing of small communities like Kellogg within the display.

The exhibition is more than just a series of historic items of note installed in a gallery. Spark has a living legacy component. Digital stories, videos, photos and objects create a layered viewing experience meant to celebrate and build up rural communities by identifying unique challenges, successes, and innovative solutions that they have produced.

Being able to adapt to change and obstacles that the area has faced, especially the Bunker Hill environmental cleanup and forging ahead to carve out a dynamic cultural identity as proud residents of the Silver Valley is something highlighted by both the Spark exhibition itself and the Front Porch Conversations that will host talks with notable residents throughout the six-week stay of the Spark exhibit.

“This was meant to be. That’s exactly what Kellogg is. It will be a positive thing for our area and a draw to the Uptown district,” Olsen said. “We decided to have a grand opening for it called the Spark Festival. So we’re going to have vendors, and drinks, and a ribbon cutting for the exhibit.”

After the six weeks on display in Kellogg, the exhibition will be moving on to Hillsboro, Illinois, Winchester, Kentucky, and Three Rivers, Michigan as the next stops on its tour.

During Spark Festival, the business district on McKinley Avenue will be closed off as food trucks, vendors selling wares and organizations with resources to share kick off the celebration of the Smithsonian exhibition coming to Kellogg in style. There is still time to sign up as a vendor for the event, and there are no vendor fees required.

The Front Porch Conversations Series opens with a talk by former Idaho state senator and Silver Valley native Mike Blackbird.

If you go

Front Porch Conversations:

When: 5:30 p.m. Wednesdays, July 12 through August 16

Where: 125 McKinley Ave., Kellogg

Speakers:

July 12: Senator Mike Blackbird

July 19: Mayor Mac Pooler

July 26: Mike Peacock

August 2: Juli Zook and Mike Pierce

August 9: Duane Little and Jerry White

August 16: Paul and Carol Roberts

Spark Festival:

When: 11 to 3 p.m. Saturday, July 15

Where: 125 McKinley Ave., Kellogg

For more information, or to apply as a vendor, email director@silvervalleyedc.com.