Designing Worlds heads to Arkansas in Second Life for a fascinating lesson in social history

Johnny Cash's boyhood home, photographed by Wildstar Beaumont

 Join us today, Monday 31st March at 2pm at the Designing Worlds studio in Garden of Dreams for a special viewing party of today’s Designing Worlds show as visit a fascinating project at the University of Arkansas region that recreates Johnny Cash's boyhood home, as part of a broader look at the effects of the Depression in the state, and some of the routes from the rural poverty that began there.

The Dyess Colony, photographed by Wildstar Beaumont

 Painter Merriman, the well-known designer, has created many of the builds here, and he takes us through many of these as we explore a really fascinating social history project, learning not only about Johnny Cash's boyhood home, but also about the New Deal community of Dyess and the Southern Tenant Farmers Union (which now houses the Southern Tenant Famers Museum).

The Southern Tenant Farmers Museum, photographed by Wildstar Beaumont

You can read more about it on Painter's own website. But even better - you can join us at 2pm for a really fascinating show!

The cafe in the Dyess Colony,photographed by Wildstar Beaumont

Or – if you can’t attend in person – tune in to the web at 2pm SLT on Monday for a showing on Aview TV or on Treet – or catch it later in the week on our shows page on the Treet.tv web site at http://treet.tv/shows/designingworlds – or on the Designing Worlds blog – our very own version of the iPlayer!

Bedroom in Johnny Cash's boyhood home, photographed by Wildstar Beaumont