Spring Green, Wis., will host the 2003 Midwest Rural Arts Forum, a gathering of people from across the Upper Midwest who care about the arts in rural communities.

The Forum will take place Oct. 23-25 (Thursday through Saturday) at various locations in Spring Green, Wis. The Forum will bring together artists and organizations from small towns and rural areas stretching from South Dakota to Ohio. The focus will be on issues vital to the rural environment, including the profound influence on the arts on our nation's changing rural communities.

The title of the Forum is "Potluck Panache: nourishing the roots of the rural arts community," highlighting the Forum's charge to celebrate the community connections that are the foundation of rural life. The Forum will feature inspirational and artistic speakers, workshop sessions, and receptions--all of which will address community knowledge, awareness and assessment and help to provide the practical tools necessary to achieve these goals of knowledge and integration. And of course, local and regional performing, visual and literary artists and arts organizations will shine in this exciting event.

Partners presenting the Forum are the Spring Green Area Arts Coalition; University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Liberal Studies and the Arts; Wisconsin Assembly for Local Arts; Wisconsin Arts Board; Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters; Robert E. Gard Foundation; Illinois Arts Alliance; and the Michigan Association of Community Arts Agencies.

Sponsors of the Forum include the Sauk County Arts, Humanities and Historic Preservation Committee and the UW-Madison Ira and Ineva Baldwin Endowment Fund. Rural Arts Forums have taken place since 1994 in various locations throughout the Upper Midwest, including Amery, Wis., and DeKalb, Ill.

The Robert E. Gard Wisconsin Idea Foundation will present a Thursday, Oct. 23, pre-conference related to the Rural Arts Forum titled "The Arts and the Wisconsin Idea: New Vigor for Local Arts." The pre-conference will take place on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus and feature special guest appearances by some of Wisconsin's most beloved historic political and cultural figures.

The registration fee for the Forum in Spring Green is $50 per person; a limited number of partial scholarships are available. Spring Green, 40 miles from Wisconsin's capital city, Madison, is an area long acclaimed for its scenic beauty and artistic offerings, which include Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin, the Fall Art Tour of outstanding area artists and craftspeople, and American Players Theatre.

For more information on the 2003 Midwest Rural Arts Forum, and the "Wisconsin Idea" pre-conference, contact the Wisconsin Assembly for Local Arts by phone at 608-255-8316 or via e-mail at info@wisconsinarts.org, or consult its Web site.