A movement to bring attention and respect to contemporary art created throughout the rural United States will be discussed from 4 to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Blanden Memorial Art Museum, 920 Third Ave. S.

The presentation will feature information on RACA, Minnesotan artist Brian Frink and the many other arists associated with the online association.

Rural America Contemporary Art, or RACA, is an idea based on the premise of connecting and promoting the great many serious and productive contemporary artists that live and create in the open spaces of rural America. It is essentially comprised of an online community, digital gallery, Facebook page and magazine called RACAonline.

The point of RACA is to recast the image of rural art and promote its value and quality. It aims to develop community among contemporary artists who live and create in rural America, and to be a positive, vibrant, stimulating voice for the evolving identity of the rural contemporary artist. Members and participants in RACA seek to contribute to American contemporary art scene through a culture of discourse, inclusion, and aesthetic engagement.

Frink, editor-in-chief for RACA, is featured in an exhibit in the East Gallery of the Blanden called “Memory of Place.” He is one of three artists in the exhibit, and his work focuses on water, a main theme for his current body of work. Frink is the department chair and instructor of painting at Minnesota State University – Mankato. Originally from Plainfield, Illinois, he attended undergraduate school at Illinois State University in Normal.

In 1979 he moved to Brooklyn, New York, becoming an “urban pioneer” in the then-nascent artist community of Williamsburg. In 1984 he moved to Madison, Wisconsin, to attend graduate school at the University of Wisconsin. He and Wilbur, with their two children Blake and Annakeiko, moved to Mankato, Minnesota in 1989.