Rural Arts Coop

Thanks to Fifty Forward Bellevue for coming to visit our little patch of dirt yesterday! Jennifer and I tag teamed a local tour giving them lots of behind the scenes at Rabbit Circle, the Bell Cabin and in progress festival grounds and Shade Tree Farms! We enjoyed plenty of great conversation and a delicious lunch at Adams Station. The breeze made the heat almost bearable until I could acquire an apple c***r slushie to cool me down. From the Bell Witch Haunting to the Black Patch To***co Wars- Adams is fire cured just like the to***co they grow. There is plenty of history to share and we do love telling these tales!

Second Convening of the N Tennessee Arts Coalition is in the books! We were excited to officially introduce ourselves and present what we’ve been up to this year and what we have coming up in 2027! Supporting rural artists, organizations and connecting them with businesses, government officials and their communities was the inspiration for us. We’re here to create, promote and preserve fine and folk arts opportunities in new and impactful ways.

Thanks to Dr. Swafford and Kevin from CECA for organizing this day, to Grayson Nicholson for giving us lots of food for thought on social media practices for our organizations and for our fellow arts leaders for lots of great fellowship and conversations. There is a lot of heart and passion for what we do in our area! ♥️

What are some of your favorite arts organizations in Tennessee and neighboring states beyond the metro areas? Tag them in the comments!

Opportunity for local up and coming storytellers! We can’t wait to see you flex your creativity and spin your best yarn in the new Tall Tale Teller Competition at The Bell Witch Fall Festival!

Think you can spin a tall tale? ✍️

Folklore and history go hand in hand in Robertson County. From the Bell Witch Haunting to the Carr Creek Critter, the stories told around our campfires seem to get more incredible with every telling!

Now, we’re inviting up-and-coming storytellers ages 10-18 to write a tall tale of their own for the Tall Tale Teller Competition.

Three winners will be selected to have their stories featured during Red River Tales at the Bell Witch Fall Festival!

Entries must be between 13-3,000 words and received by October 1.

Submit entries to: [email protected]

A little plug for the final three shows of Making Hands this weekend. You don’t want to miss out! ♥️

Making Hands production shares 230 years of Robertson County history The Night Riders. The Bell Witch. 230 years of Robertson County history make up a show called Making Hands. It's gearing up for a weekend of performances at Innovation Academy Auditorium in Springfield.

The voices that weave through this show on both original and traditional songs are the literal music to our ears in Making Hands. From folk to blues, atmospheric Americana to bluegrass and holy hymns, these vocalists are leaving it on the stage every show.

In uncertain times, we could all use a little Good News and it is delivered by Bel Stuart and Morgan Brady with a humble prayer for serenity.

Cole Gardner’s mournful rendition of Wayfaring Stranger as Campbell Clay is hypnotic and emotive with dual harmonies by Bel Stuart and Morgan Brady rounding out the tone.

Neena Wix and Morgan Brady’s dissonant harmony on A Song for Peace paints a portrait of the isolation and torment of Betsy Bell during the Bell Witch haunting of 1817-1821. It’s beautifully dark with rich imagery straight from our local folklore.

RJ Comer, Rocky Lane and CJ Grooms performance of Wondrous Love is part plea and part rousing boot stomper that harkens to the days of tent revivals.

These men also each share verses of our original theme, Tennessee, making it their own through powerful delivery filled with conviction. One chord riffing drives the melody and musings that define what makes the land here in T-T-T-T Tennessee.

Robertson County has always been a song that generations and congregations gather to sing as a community. It’s an honor to bring that beat to you in our production of Making Hands.

You have three more opportunities to see this very special collaboration between Community Spirit Inc., Robertson County Players, Robertson County Historical Society & Museum and Rural Arts Cooperative.

Performance Dates:
• July 17 & 18 at 7:00 PM
• July 19 at 2:00 PM
📍 Innovation Academy, Springfield, TN

🎟 Get your tickets here:
https://www.robertsoncountyplayers.org/events/making-hands

I’m Bel Stuart, founder of Rural Arts Cooperative, and I am the Music Director for Making Hands. The hard work that goes into writing original songs as well as choosing and arranging period accurate music for a multi-generational, historical production like this is no small feat! It’s been 1.5 years of listening to dozens (sometimes more) versions of traditional hymns and folk songs to find just the right fit for the scenes they support.

There were miles spent driving all over the land we represent to soak it in so that I could find the words and notes to craft these original compositions- mediations and prayers, conversations with folks on locations where the real history took place. I can tell you the exact point where the blues lick from our theme, “Tennessee” hit me driving down Port Royal Road. I can feel the coolness of water running down the walls of The Bell Witch Cave, recall the sunsets and scent in the air of smoking barns during to***co season. I can imagine the rich chestnut and mahogany in historic homes like The Beeches and Glen Raven as I remember hawks swooping through the miles of corn. There’s no single process to bringing a creative project to life. It’s the culmination of senses, experiences and a little bit of the unexplainable at play. And maybe that’s why I found my way to Robertson County much like my ancestors did not long after the scene where I portray Elizabeth Campbell in this production. The wilderness still lives here and in my own heart. I don’t fear it, I respect and revere it.

Now let’s talk about this photo- these fellas on stage with me are some of the finest multi-instrumentalists and men I know. Nick Bryant, Aaron Holman and Rocky Lane have been knocking audiences out with their traditional bluegrass chops for several seasons now at The Bell Witch Fall Festival for SMOKE: A Ballad of the Nightriders. Seasoned musicians who have played every kind of stage, they take this soundscape to another level. I could not have done this without them. I love the instrumentation behind our talented singers in this show but they bring nuance and new life to the classics too. Thank you, gentlemen! It’s an honor. ♥️

Matinee at 2 PM for Making Hands today wraps our opening weekend and concludes our seventh day straight of pouring ourselves into this show!

Thank you to our audience members so far who have come to experience our telling of the history of Robertson County. It’s been a great weekend and we love the buzz!

Tickets are available online (good for any performance) or at the door. It’s a rainy forecast but the auditorium is cool and dry! Hope to see you there.

🎭Performance Dates:
• July 10, 11, 17 & 18 at 7:00 PM
• July 12 & 19 at 2:00 PM
📍 Innovation Academy, Springfield, TN

🎟 Get your tickets here:
https://www.robertsoncountyplayers.org/events/making-hands

📷: Stratton DV Imaging

The curtains rise in just a few hours. ❤️

Tonight, the Making Hands cast will bring the stories, memories, and history of Robertson County to life. We can’t wait to share this meaningful story with you.

Join us tonight at 7 PM for an evening filled with history, heart, and moments you won’t soon forget.

📍Innovation Academy Auditorium - Springfield, Tennessee

Performance schedule:
July 10, 11, 17, 18 at 7:00 PM
July 12 & 19 at 2:00 PM
Tickets: https://bit.ly/44409cp

Stratton DV Imaging
Robertson County Historical Society
Robertson County Players
Rural Arts Coop