Mary Welcome is a multidisciplinary cultural worker and created God Bless the USPS, a long-form photo-documentary project, in 2012. As an artist-organizer, her projects are rooted in community engagement and the development of intersectional programming to address equity, cultural advocacy, inclusivity, visibility and imagination. She brings a nuanced perspective to the contemporary field, as an organizer working in service to small towns, as a cultural producer across American geographies, and as a facilitator of place-based arts programming.
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How Rural Post Offices Sustain Community
The remaining rural postal network serves as a living map of relationships, historical narratives and landscapes across the Midwest. Rural communities rely on the post office for more than just mail: it is a critical space for community news—both by word of mouth in the conversational space of the counter—and through bulletin boards.
September 11, 2025