HOUSTON -- Many U.S. communities with bustling downtowns were better prepared to weather economic fallout from the pandemic, thanks to a decades-old revitalization project.

The Main Street program was founded by Mary Means in the 1970s when she worked at the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Means said regional shopping centers and suburban lifestyles were draining downtowns, leaving behind shabby buildings and vacant storefronts that once lined vibrant main streets.

"What we were doing with the Main Street project, it turns out, is creating another story: 'Hold on, you can stay. You can do some things about it and here's how to get started, and here's what to do,'" Means explained.

Now known as Main Street America, the program continues to help communities transform their economies and improve residents' quality of life. Means was about to publish a book about her life's project called "Main Street's Comeback" when COVID-19 hit. She revised the title to include: "And How It Can Come Back Again," with advice to businesses about staying afloat during the pandemic.

After a pilot program in three cities, Means said Texas was one of the first states to apply for grant money, promising to choose five towns a year for 10 years, and back them to do Main Street revitalization.

"Nobody made a claim like that. We just thought it was Texas," Means recounted. "But by God they have, and it's been long beyond 10 years that Texas has been entering new towns in the program and providing the kind of support that enabled Texas towns to survive, and many of 'em to thrive."

Means said it's helpful 40 years after the project began, there are investment tax credits for historic buildings that make revitalizing downtown areas more doable.

"Not only do communities need to take a look at the usually hidden or undiscovered asset of their historic downtown buildings, they need to really keep them up, and bring them back and keep them up," Means urged.

A new three-part documentary film series examines the intersection of sports and identity within a community.

"Outlier" looks at what it means to be a Latina woman and a backcountry snowboarder. Danielle Reyes-Acosta, the film's executive producer and co-director, said the inspiration for the series was looking at how she, as a Latina, fit into the predominantly white mountain areas she calls home.

Skiing since she was a child, Reyes-Acosta went into marketing - but after some personal tragedies, decided to become a backcountry skier. She described one possible misconception about the film.

"I think that it's that these worlds can't coexist, and I do think they can," she said. "And so, I challenge anyone that says, 'A storytelling piece can't also have adrenaline in it,' to watch it - and vice versa. You think that adrenaline pieces can't also have plotlines and character development that leans into the core essence of our humanity?"

The film's title is a reflection of how Reyes-Acosta identifies as an "outlier," much like the mountain ranges where she snowboards. Those mountains provided some challenges in making the film. It will be screened at the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival, and released on Vimeo next spring.

In making the film, Reyes-Acosta said she felt anxious about confronting the vulnerabilities of action sports and her cultural identity. But she said it's just one part of a journey of self-discovery. She added that it also is intended to provide a different perspective on what it means to be Latinx.

"The Latinx community is certainly overrepresented in low-wage, service industry jobs," she said, "and we haven't been seen as leaders; whether it's in the outdoor space, corporate America and the creative world."

She was afraid about whether the film would be accepted or erased, but she's found an outpouring of support in the Hispanic community. Reyes-Acosta said she hopes people who see the film take away the impression that being "different" can be beautiful.


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Artists in Montana have recently immortalized the state's national monuments on canvas.

At "Pint Night" events put on by the Montana Conservation Voters, two artists finished live paintings of the Upper Missouri River Breaks and Pompeys Pillar, two of the state's three national monuments that were both designated in 2001.

Terri Porta in Billings painted a landscape of Pompeys Pillar, a rock formation that was significant to Native Americans and also the Lewis and Clark journey west. Porta said it's important to keep all aspects of history in mind - both good and bad.

"We have to remember our history," she said. "We need to take better care of our land, and these kind of places that become a national monument - that helps to contain it, to bring it into a place where everybody's accessing these memories too, and we won't forget what happened."

Since the Antiquities Act of 1906, presidents have had the power to designate national monuments - and presidents from both parties have wielded that power to preserve culturally significant landscapes. Montana also is home to the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.

Stella Nall, an artist who "live-painted" the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument in Missoula, said her work, which incorporates beadwork, is designed to challenge stereotypes about indigenous art. Her painted landscape was positioned in the belly of an imaginary animal with three legs.

"My intention with this piece is to hopefully draw more viewers into the landscape who might not necessarily automatically connect with landscape art," she said. "So, that's why I incorporated this imagined creature."

National monument protections are popular with the public. According to a recent poll, nearly 80% of Montanans support a president's power to protect existing public lands as national monuments. Paintings of all three national monuments in Montana will be featured at the Montana Conservation Voters' annual gala in October.

The beauty and inspiration of Maine's coastal wetlands soon could be hanging on a wall near you.

Twenty-seven plein-air painters will be creating outdoor scenes at wildlife sanctuaries this weekend, during Maine Audubon's second annual Brush with Nature event. The public is encouraged to come watch the artists capture breathtaking scenes from the state's salt marshes, coastal forests, freshwater ponds and more.

Jenn Schmitt, strategic audience engagement manager for Maine Audubon, said visitors can enjoy the outdoors and take some of it home, too.

"We have eight beautiful sanctuaries, and we want people to visit them," Schmitt urged. "Maine is known for its beauty and for its art, and so we thought, Why not invite artists to come to the sanctuaries and paint and then have a fundraiser and auction off the artwork afterwards?"

Art from the Brush with Nature event will be available for online bidding Sept. 18, with in-person live and silent auctions for selected paintings on Sept. 29. Proceeds will benefit Maine Audubon's education, conservation and advocacy programs.

Schmitt noted in addition to watching the artists at work, members of the public are invited to create their own works -- paintings, poetry, drawings, movement -- during their visit. Docents will provide mini-journals, pencils, and ideas for nature sketching. She added the event is designed to introduce Audubon's sanctuaries to people who may think they are only for research.

"It's another access point into what we do for some people who may say they're not science-focused," Schmitt explained. "But there's a lot of ways to be involved with nature and conservation that aren't necessarily directly science related."