Experience Nebraska: Grand Island | Good Living Tour 2015

(Editor’s note: the following Good Living Tour video was produced in part thanks to our sponsors — Center for Rural Affairs, Pinnacle Bank, Nebraska Arts Council, Humanities Nebraska and Nebraska Cultural Endowment.)

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In June 2015, a team of Hear Nebraska journalists visited nine Greater Nebraska communities as part of HN’s Good Living Tour. Along the way, we interviewed young residents to hear, in their own words, what makes their community a distinctly attractive place to live, work and play.

Here’s what the residents of Grand Island had to say:


On that same trip, our Good Living Tour storytelling crew interviewed local musicians, venue operators, musical entrepreneurs and young professionals, all dedicated to cultivating the arts in their communities. Our editorial team produced two features from the trip to Grand Island. Read them below:

Making Space: The Chocolate Bar and Fostering Creativity in a Small Town | story by Jacob Zlomke | photos by Nickolai Hammar

Industriousness, adaptability and innovation. From carving out sod houses to raising some of the world’s best beef, these qualities have helped shape Nebraska. Sharena Arriola-Anson, owner of Grand Island’s Chocolate Bar, works in that tradition. But for her, it’s less pulling fences and more reimagining the kinds of spaces small communities can use.

‘You Never Conquer Music’: Grand Island’s DeAundrae Clayton Urges Church Music Culture Forward | story by Chance Solem-Pfeifer | photos by Nickolai Hammar

The position of creative worship arts pastor didn’t exist at Grand Island’s Evangelical Free Church before DeAundrae Clayton took the job fresh out of college in 2014. In a little more than year, Clayton has pushed, reimagined, but most importantly, led, his community into a new, multi-generational place in its music traditions.


Video credits:
Video: Bridget McQuillan, Chris Dinan
Edit: Chris Dinan
Interview: Andrew Norman
Animation: Bryan Findell
Songs: “Be Good Be Careful” by AZP  | “Hear Lightning” by Icky Blossoms