Recently, the 2024 Zhejiang Provincial Artistic Rural Construction Conference was held in Hangzhou, where the first batch of 35 “Artistic Rural Construction” (ARC) characteristic villages, 19 ARC exemplary cases, and the list of ARC promotional leaders were announced, with multiple entries from Wenzhou making the cut.

Standing out with its unique approach, the ARC project integrates art into rural development to empower rural revitalization. Wenzhou, known as the birthplace of the private economy, upholding the Four-All Spirit (explore all paths, go through all troubles, try all means and endure all hardships), has mobilized all possible resources in Zhejiang’s Green Rural Revival Program (also known as the Thousand Villages Demonstration and Ten Thousand Villages Renovation Project) for rural revitalization. It uses the Three Hundreds Cultivation Plan (100 ARC leaders, 100 ARC characteristic villages, and 100 ARC exemplary cases) to promote the practical implementation of ARC in Wenzhou, adhering to the Three Combinations Approach. This effort has so far cultivated 41 municipal-level and four provincial-level ARC characteristic villages.

At the conference, the list of the first batch of provincial ARC characteristic villages was announced and plaques were awarded. Certificates were also presented to representatives of the provincial ARC exemplary cases and leaders. Among them, four villages from Wenzhou were recognized as the ARC characteristic villages, including the Zhangli Village in Qidu Subdistrict, Lucheng District, the Xiashantou Village in Dajing Town, Yueqing City, the Shangrichuan Village in Hesheng Town, Yongjia County, and the Shitang Village in Chixi Town, Cangnan County. Two cases, namely “The Practice of Ningcun Village’s Advancement as Zhejiang Calligraphy Village” initiated by the Longwan District Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the “Nanxi River Rural Music Town: Play the Melody of Common Prosperity” initiated by the Yongjia County Federation of Literary and Art Circles, were selected as exemplary cases. Three people including Zhang Jincheng (chairman of the Zhejiang Qingdeng Cultural Development Co., Ltd.), Wu Chunhua (chairman of the Taishun County Film and Television Association), and Liu Jun (head of the Visual Communication Design Department at the College of Fine Arts and Design, Wenzhou University) were selected as the ARC leaders.