The Charleston Area Alliance, a combination "chamber of commerce" and economic/community development organization in our West Virginia capital city, is continuing its series of discussions on the role the arts plays in building the economy and a creative community.
On Friday, July 17, 8:30am - 10:30am at the Alliance building on 1116 Smith Street in Charleston, Mary Margaret Schoenfeld will speak on the topic "Creating the Tools" for developing arts and entertainment districts. Mary is acting director of Local Arts Agency Services with the Americans for the Arts.
A "district" approach has been demonstrated to be more effective at becoming a destination for visitors and citizens alike. Something about having a cluster of innovative galleries, restaurants and other creative establishments in one place just draws more people. Everyone from around the state is invited to attend.
RSVP to Susie Salisbury at 304.340.4253 or ssalisbury@charlestonareaalliance.org.
Arts District
Prior to leaving W.Va, I put the mechanism in place to do this through the Arts Council and the Historic Preservation Council. The arts council has the ability to certify your town and a state-approved "Certified Arts District." Jeff Pierson should know about this. Jeanne Mozier, in Berkeley Springs, was the first to jump on it.
There is a mechanism for a historic preservation district too. In fact, historic preservation is generally the driving factor. Quaint art towns are nothing if not in a historic setting. The historic setting acts as the picture frame that seals the deal.
For example, take all the lovely shops in Lewisburg - put those same exact shops in a strip mall somewhere and you've got nothing special. However, those same galleries in the Historic setting of Lewisburg, take on a special meaning.
Contact Jeff Pierson about the Certified Arts Districts. It bothered me that no one took advantage of those.
Troy
Lessons from Paducah
A prior job took me to Paducah fairly often. Paducah's transformation into an arts mecca has been amazing. I encourage anyone interested in creating an arts district to check out: www.paducaharts.com.
Schoenfeld talk
I hope you plan to record and post this talk online so that those of us interested on the other side of the country might be able to get some ideas, on this subject, which is new to me. Just saw it in a tweet from @jackschultz.
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