The program details architect Samuel Mockbee's founding of the Rural Studio, a design/build program to create striking architecture for impoverished communities in rural Alabama.

In 1993, the late architect and MacArthur "genius" Samuel Mockbee started the Rural Studio, a design/build program in which students create striking architecture for impoverished communities in rural Alabama. Guided by frank, passionate, never-before-seen interviews with Mockbee, the film shows how students use their creativity, ingenuity and compassion to craft a home for their charismatic, indigent client, Jimmie Lee Matthews, known as "Music Man" for his passion for soul music. The Rural Studio provides students with an experience that inspires them to consider how they can use their skills to better their communities. Interviews with Mockbee's peers and scenes with those he's influenced infuse the film with a larger discussion of architecture's role in issues of poverty, class, race, education, citizenship and social change.