MONTAGUE — As the “Crossroads: Change in Rural America” exhibit is set to bid Montague adieu this Saturday, program partners say they are gratified with how the experience has gone.

“I am thrilled with the way everything came out,” said Suzanne LoManto, director of program partner RiverCulture. “We had a really talented group of partners.”

The traveling exhibit, produced by the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street program, was accompanied by an event series that began in early January and spanned Montague, Greenfield, Deerfield and Colrain. Available to view at the Great Falls Discovery Center until March 18, the exhibit “offers small towns a chance to look at their own paths to highlight the changes that affected their fortunes over the past century,” according to the Crossroads website. The detailed panels are intended to “prompt discussions about what happened when America’s rural population became a minority of the country’s population and the ripple effects that occurred.”

“It’s been good for the community to see it,” Rich Kuklewicz, Montague Selectboard chair and docent for the Crossroads exhibit, said Thursday. “Today, somebody was leaving and I asked her how she liked it. She said, ‘It’s great. We live it.’”

“I think they gained an understanding about how and why they live in Franklin County and why they live in rural America,” LoManto added before speaking from her own perspective. “I’m not from here. I’m from New Jersey. I can go where I want. This is where I want to be.”

Caitlin Kelley, director of program partner Montague Public Libraries, said “the depth of the dedication” toward the region from its residents was evident from the turnout at Crossroads events ranging from historical seminars to outdoor activities and concerts. Events consistently hosted more than 100 people each, with some attended by more than 300. The diverse crowds included everyone from U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern to local students.

“We don’t have much space at the libraries at all for programming, so it felt great to have the opportunity to work on programs that I wouldn’t be able to host here,” Kelley said on Thursday at the Carnegie Public Library.

Such excellent attendance, LoManto said, bodes well for Montague’s potential to secure further grant funding from Mass Humanities, a nonprofit based in Northampton that sponsored Crossroads. She said she is gathering data that reflects turnout, attendee diversity and attending school groups to present as part of future grant applications. Grant funding could be used to fund similar events as those held through the Crossroads program, as well as any that might be inspired by community discussions held during the program.

“This exhibition is a treasure trove for what kind of programming we’re going to be doing for the next three years because [the public] came and they told us what they want,” LoManto said. “We’re going to be looking at that very closely and thinking about it in terms of, ‘How can we bring more of that?’”

The Great Falls Discovery Center will be open Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. for those who would still like to view the traveling exhibit.

Reach Julian Mendoza at 413-930-4231 or jmendoza@recorder.com.

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