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Generally, art and visual culture have been narrowly defined as coastal and urban, despite a high percentage of artists and designers who have emerged from the unique population, landscape, and economy of the Midwest. The mission of the Inland Visual Studies Center is to theorize a more authentic and complex cultural identity of Middle America. It seeks out patterns of cultural production that cross disciplines to discover unifying themes and values in visual practice in the region. It examines how Inland identifiers impact the rest of the nation's visual discourse by documenting and broadcasting sponsored research through lectures, exhibitions and publications.   For more information please visit the official site.