Mary Welcome
WORK SAMPLES︎REPORTS + PUBLICATIONS
Heartland, Heartwork: A Field Guide to Place and Possibility
︎ RURAL CULTURE, NATIONAL, NON-PROFIT︎ FIELD GUIDE for Springboard for the Arts (2024)
︎ Comprehensive guide designed to empower rural leaders in planning and executing effective place-based projects centered in arts, culture and creativity.
︎ 181 pages, full-color, print
Rural Assembly 2025
︎ RURAL CULTURE, NATIONAL, NON-PROFIT︎ ANNUAL REPORT for Rural Assembly (2025)
︎ Report outlining the key moments of 2025 for Rural Assembly, a program of the Center for Rural Strategies, which strives to lift up the voices of people working at the local, regional, and national level to improve life in rural communities through digital and in-person platforms.
︎ 18 pages, full-color, digital
Moveable Monument
︎ RURAL CULTURE, ARTS︎ PUBLICATION for Rock Paper Feather Press (2025)
︎ A tale of civic pride, industrious and influential women, and the celebration of the amplitude of Kansas agriculture. Come for the civic engagement that created the corn-shaped monument for the 1893 Columbian Exposition, stay for the euphoric completion of a piece of public art that has fallen in and out of public excitement and view for the last 132 years.
︎ 54 pages, full-color, print
Creating a New Way Home
︎ NON-PROFIT, HOUSING︎ REPORT for Anthos Home (2025)
︎ Policy white paper concerning innovative strategies, research methods, and impact of housing justice work by Anthos|Home in New York City.
︎ 12 pages, full-color, digital
Engage Rural Impact Report
︎ RURAL CULTURE, NON-PROFIT︎ REPORT for Department of Public Transformation (2025)
︎ This report highlights the value of the intersection of rural creativity and civic engagement, shaped by feedback, reflections, surveys, and interviews with participants and partners in DoPT programming.
︎ 43 pages, full-color, digital
Activate Rural Atlas
︎ RURAL CULTURE, NON-PROFIT︎ RESOURCE GUIDE for Department of Public Transformation (2025)
︎ A collection of stories, tools, and resources designed to guide and inspire those creating vibrant community spaces in rural towns. The Atlas builds on lessons learned through Activate Rural, a program that supports artists, small business owners, and local leaders reimagining “third places” — public gathering spaces that foster connection and creativity.
︎ 64 pages, full-color, digital and print
Transportation Artists-in-Residence Report
︎ NATIONAL, ARTS, TRANSPORTATION︎ FIELD REPORT for Smart Growth America (2024)
︎ The TAIR report offers key recommendations for DOT staff and artists to implement future artist programs, including strategies such as in-person convenings, program readiness assessments, initial implementation strategies, peer-to-peer mentorship, professional development, and clear expectations to support artists to address any unexpected challenges that may arise.
︎ 22 pages, full-color, digital
The Blue Skies are Smiling
︎ RURAL CULTURE, NON-PROFIT︎ ANNUAL REPORT for Blue Sky Center (2023)
︎ The 2022 Annual Report from Blue Sky Center used creative program spotlights, financial disclosures, community interviews, and staff perspectives to tell the story of Blue Sky’s work in rural New Cuyama, California.
︎ 96 pages, full-color, digital and print
The Community of Practice
︎ NON-PROFIT, NATIONAL︎ COHORT HANDBOOK for Trust for Public Land and 10-Minute Walk Program (2022)
︎ Created as a reference document for a cohort that included over 100 US cities, this document pulled together research, challenges, learnings, strategies, and spotlights about the integral role of shared green space in our communities. This project was done with the team at Flannel & Blade.
︎ 10 pages, full-color, digital
Under the Umbrella
︎ NON-PROFIT, ARTS︎ RETROSPECTIVE CATALOGUE for Umbrella Collective (2022)
︎ After ten years of collaboration and performances the Umbrella Collective sunsetted their collective practice. This retrospective catalogue documents the stories, screenplays, reflections, and interviews from the creative community.
︎ 62 pages, full-color, print and digital
Cuyama Valley Farmworker Housing
︎ RURAL CULTURE, NON-PROFIT︎ RESEARCH REPORT for Blue Sky Center (2022)
︎ In order to raise awareness of local housing issues for the farmworker community in New Cuyama, t his report presented the results of a door-to-door survey administered by Blue Sky Center in late 2020 into early 2021. Through narratives and comparison, the results of these housing-focused questions are contextualized within the broader Cuyama Valley community.
︎ 32 pages, full-color, print and digital
The First Four Years
︎ RURAL CULTURE, NON-PROFIT︎ ANNUAL REPORT for Department of Public Transformation (2022)
︎ This document told the story of the Department of Public Transformation, an artist-led nonprofit organization that works to develop creative strategies for increased community connection, civic engagement, and equitable participation in rural places. The report includes milestones, narrative by numbers, artists supported, and lessons learned along the way.
︎ 36 pages, full-color, print
Event Feasability Study
︎ RURAL CULTURE, NON-PROFIT︎ RESEARCH REPORT for Blue Sky Center (2022)
︎ This report served as a data and resource guide for clients and visitors of Blue Sky Center that were interested in putting on an event in the Cuyama Valley. Beyond giving perspective on the existing culture and community of the Cuyama Valley, it also detailed venues, facilities, capacity, images, prior events, and case studies from other rural communities.
︎ 52 pages, full-color, digital
The Cost of Costa-Hawkins
︎ NON-PROFIT, HOUSING JUSTICE︎RESEARCH REPORT for San Francisco Anti-Displacement Coalition (2018)
︎ This report examines the impacts of The Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act, a statewide law that limits rent control. Featuring a history of the context in which the law passed and stories from tenants who have been impacted by the legislation, the report also contains in-depth analysis of data detailing the impact that this state law has had on San Francisco and other cities’ ability to stabilize rents and stem displacement of long-time residents.
︎ 36 pages, full-color, print and digital
Winter 21/22 Program
︎ CULTURAL INSTITUTION︎ EXHIBITION GUIDE for Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (2021)
︎ Calendar, features, film introductions, and exhibition guide for the seasonal content at BAMPFA
︎ 32 pages, full-color, print and digital
School of the Arts
︎ CULTURAL INSTITUTION︎ RESIDENCY CATALOGUE for ArtStart Legacy Program and Arts Wisconsin (2018)
︎ This catalogue featured writings, artworks, and photo documentation of the ArtStart program, to be printed as a supplement for the local newspaper. Graphics and typefaces were developed from the historical collections at Treehaven, where the residency was held.
︎ 8 pages, full-color, newsprint broadsheet
Healthy Housing Handbook
︎ RURAL CULTURE, NON-PROFIT, HOUSING JUSTICE︎ COMMUNITY HANDBOOK for City of St. James and Southwest Minnesota Housing Partnership (Year)
︎ The Healthy Housing Handbook functioned as a workbook for city officials, community organizers, and community leaders to tackle housing equity issues in St. James, Minnesota. The Handbook is broken into four sections: Engagement Tools, Implementation Strategies, Handyman and Advocate Programs. The St. James Housing Committee strategically worked through the implementation strategies and engagement tools to build a robust housing program for their community.
︎ Bilingual, 56 pages, full-color, print and digital
Housing Resource Guide
︎ RURAL CULTURE, NON-PROFIT, HOUSING JUSTICE︎ COMMUNITY HANDBOOK for City of St. James and Southwest Minnesota Housing Partnership (Year)
︎ The Housing Resource guide connects tenants, landlords, and home-owners to available assistance, services, programs, and resources at a local, regional, statewide, and national level. The guide was designed in both Spanish and English, and with the St. James immigrant community in mind, specifying deliniations for resources that required proof of citizenship.
︎ Bilingual, 36 pages, full-color, print
Community Advocate Program
︎ RURAL CULTURE, NON-PROFIT, HOUSING JUSTICE︎ COMMUNITY HANDBOOK for City of St. James and Southwest Minnesota Housing Partnership (2018)
︎ The Advocate Roadmap is a bilingual workbook that outlines a detailed timeline for a pilot year of a focused advocacy program in St. James, mobilizing neighbors to connect neighbors to available resources. It includes estimated budgets, roles and responsiblities, funding strategies, instructions for how to facilitate future workshops, and an appendix of like-minded prorgams across the country.The handbook is broken into four sections: Facilitation Strategies, Implementation Strategies, Program Administration, and a Research Appendix.
︎ Bilingual, 46 pages, full-color, print and digital
Seeing the Stone
︎ RURAL CULTURE, ARTIST︎ EXHIBITION GUIDE for Cara Despain (2016)
︎ An exhibition guide designed as a field guide and map for audience members exploring public lands in Utah.
︎ 52 pages, full-color, print
The Land of Here and Now
︎ RURAL CULTURE, ARTISTS︎ RETROSPECTIVE CATALOGUE for Shared Space Studio (2016)
︎ This book documented four years of artists-in-residence in a rural beachside community of west Michigan. It tracks creative projects, local history and relevant events in Pentwater, reflections from the creative community, and photographs of the retrospective exhibition.
︎ 185 pages pages, full-color, book
Tracings
︎ RURAL CULTURE, ARTIST︎ RETROSPECTIVE CATALOGUE for Chris Watts (2022)
︎ This book is a retrospective catalogue of the life’s work and research of Chris Watts, a painter and mathemetician. It includes scholarly articles, early sketchbook processes, finished paintings, and reflections on five decades of work.
︎ 72 pages, full-color, book