I live in Kinston, North Carolina — a small town that knows what it means to be left behind.
For decades, tobacco was the backbone of this region. Not “Big Tobacco” in the abstract sense, but real farmers — people who broke their backs working the land to produce something the world wanted. When that industry collapsed, the damage wasn’t theoretical. It was personal. Jobs disappeared. Identity fractured. Entire communities were told to simply “move on,” without being given anything sustainable to move toward.
Today, we’re told solar farms are progress. Maybe they are in some places. But here, many sit unused or poorly managed, rusting into soil that once fed families. If studies are correct, some of that land may be compromised for decades. We replaced one extractive system with another — and the people still weren’t centered.
What doesn’t extract and leave is art.
Art circulates.
Art invites people outside.
Art creates conversation, pride, and memory.
And most importantly: art creates local economic motion without destroying the land or the people who live on it.
The Belief Behind the App
Small towns are not obsolete.
They are the backbone of society.
There’s a reason people love Hallmark movies. It’s not because they’re realistic — it’s because they remind us of something we’re afraid we’ve lost: community, walkable streets, familiar faces, and places where people still matter.
Artists bring hope into those spaces.
They make people pause.
They make people gather.
They make people care.
Local ARTbeat was built on the belief that when you support artists, you don’t just support creativity — you support place.
Why This Isn’t Just Another Ad Platform
Facebook will always be bigger.
Google will always be louder.
But those platforms don’t care if your ad actually reaches the people who live down the street. I do.
Local ARTbeat is designed so local businesses reach local people, in real places, at real moments — while they’re walking, discovering, attending events, and engaging with their own community.
This isn’t about chasing attention.
It’s about anchoring it.
When a business sponsors Local ARTbeat, they’re not buying impressions — they’re investing in visibility that stays rooted in the town they serve.
The Personal Truth (and the Honest Motive)
I’m an artist. I’m a journalist. I taught myself how to build apps because the tools I needed didn’t exist.
I live paycheck to paycheck.
And I want that to change.
Not because I want to be rich — but because I want to keep building things that matter here, without burning myself out or leaving my community behind to do it.
Local ARTbeat is not a side project.
It’s a long-term vision for how art, business, and community can reinforce each other instead of competing for scraps.
The Invitation
Someone who believes enough in this vision — someone willing to invest — gets more than branding.
They get to say:
I helped art revitalize Eastern North Carolina.
I helped small towns remember why people love them.
I helped build an economic engine that didn’t erase its soul.
That’s the story.
That’s the why.
And that’s what Local ARTbeat is trying to do — one town, one artist, one walk at a time.