We have a vision for Here is Good: every day, small pieces of friendship, contentment, and love for the New Territory will criss-cross the nation. Images capture the dynamic beauty of the Lower Midwest. Each of the 10 postcards features a caption and quick story about The New Territory. There’s space to write your own message.

The Story Behind the Set

Experience Northwest Arkansas through the eyes of New Territory Light Room section and copy editor Dan Holtmeyer. He writes:

Northwest Arkansas was a stranger to me when I landed here after college. I had spent years in Springfield, Missouri, just two hours away, and I knew Tulsa and Little Rock, but I knew nothing about the place in the middle.

I knew the names Walmart and Tyson but not J.B. Hunt Transportation or Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art or the Razorback Greenway. I hadn’t dipped my toes into  Beaver Lake and had no idea this country even had a national river. I couldn’t recognize the silhouette of the Boston Mountains or tell you how to say Ouachita like a local (Wash-ih-tah, if you run into the same problem). I didn’t understand any of the countless, beautiful reasons that earned Arkansas its nickname: The Natural State. I also had no idea that half a million people call this region home, or that it’s growing faster than most of the rest of the country. The secret is getting out. 

The cure for my lamentable ignorance has been walking. I’ve carried my camera down streets and trails and creeksides in every season all around this corner of Arkansas. I found a place not only growing but in metamorphosis. Growing Latino and Pacific Islander populations are increasing Arkansas’ depth and diversity. Urban spread is bumping up against wood and farmland, prompting a regional push to save green places and protect waterways. What once was a cluster of distinct, disjointed cities is more and more one rambling and expanding metropolis. 

In the meantime, places like Devil’s Den State Park and the Fayetteville downtown square have come to feel like old friends. I know them far better than before I moved here six years ago, but still I’ve captured only limited, scattered pieces of the lives and beauty of this region and its inhabitants. The more I walk, the more ground I find needs covering. 

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