midwest & afar

One of the reasons I named this site Say Hello to the City and not something like Say Hello to Des Moines was because I didn't want to be boxed in geographically.

If I were to move to Chicago or San Francisco, my URL can remain the same and my overall focus doesn't really have to change. Thankfully, I had enough foresight to choose branding that allows me to move around topics of interests easily, while still keeping things Midwest-oriented. 

The East Coast and West coasts have their noted artists and writers, but the middle portions of our  country feel super underrepresented to me. That's why I'm proud of people like Sammy (over at My Midwest is Showing) who are really capturing what it means to be Midwestern, without pretense or stereotype. Then there are events like Hinterland, which seem to embrace the quintessential Iowa landscape and use it to their advantage. 

I try my best, but I often focus too much on Des Moines. I mean, it makes sense, I live twenty minutes from it and most of my friends and fellow creatives live there. But I really want to branch out a bit, hit the road and meet people in the Midwest who are doing cool, interesting things. So hit me up, guys! Who should I go meet?!

Do you know a cool photographer in Nebraska, a chef in Minneapolis, or a carpenter in Chicago? I want to know about them and I want to share their story. The Midwest is a great place, full of unique, original talent. It's time we get the credit that we're due.