|
 Friday, June 3, 2005
CONCURRENT PANEL SESSION
10:30 A.M. – 12:00 P.M.
Community Development
Panelists: Mark
Barone, City of Paducah Artist Relocation Program Coordinator; Ken
vonRoenn, Jr., Architectural Glass Art, Inc./Glassworks; Scooter
Davidson, Mellwood Arts and Entertainment Center; Randy Stone, City of
Berea
Moderator: Lori Meadows
Each of the
panelists was asked to give an overview of their programs.
Paducah Artist
Relocation Program
Project encompassed
30 square blocks in historic district of Paducah known as Lower Town.
Program Coordinator was already a resident of the area who saw his
community in decline and wanted to do something about it. The success of
such a project often times depends on initiator having a vested interest
in the outcome. Demographics from the 1990 census showed that 51% of the
community was living in poverty. 14% of the inhabitants were minorities.
Property values in Lower Town were one-half to one-third less than other
areas of Paducah.
Because 70% of the
properties were rental properties, it was necessary to obtain a
rental-licensing ordinance. This ordinance required that all structures
be brought up to current building code. This project was not about
gentrification, but rather making it possible for existing residents to
stay.
To date, 144
historic streetlights have been installed for safety of inhabitants.
Annual code enforcement is necessary for 350 structures. More than 60
artists have been relocated to Paducah. The city of Paducah spends $2500
per relocated artist to cover professional design services of their
studio space.
Paducah Bank offered
100% financing to the artists as incentives to bring new people to the
area. The Urban Renewal Board was an important partner in the project.
Because it was necessary to market the project on a national level to
artists across the country, it was very important to coordinate these
efforts with the Kentucky Department of Tourism. The project required
15.2 million dollars in private investment from socially conscious
people.
Glassworks
The project began
out of a simple need for additional studio space. The general concept
was to combine a variety of mixed uses for the building. These uses are
working studious, galleries, educational component, café, and loft
apartments. Glassworks employs 8 resident artists and supports 3 glass
studios and 2 galleries.
In 2005, Glassworks
chose to partner with the University of Louisville, which brought in a
nationally known artist to run the facility. Vital hands-on activities
were designed to keep visitors involved. This first phase of the project
cost $15 million. To initiate the 2nd phase, an additional 4
city blocks, 7 acres of land, were recently purchased. This will add 40
urban studio apartments to the project.
Mellwood Arts &
Entertainment Center
The project received
private funding from Louisville developer, John Clark. Mr. Clark saw the
need for space for emerging artists not just established artists. The
Center is ideally located in downtown Louisville and is an adaptive
re-use of existing industrial space. Mellwood has been up and running
since September 2003. It is both a performing and visual arts center. An
on-site café offers space to emerging culinary artists as well.
There are no
restrictions on what type of art related space can be located in the
Center or how artists are to conduct business. The Center supports
retail businesses that support arts, i.e. framing, fitness, etc. Costs
to rent space in the Center are very reasonable. The Center works
because artists like to commune with other artists and because the
artists don’t have to go out and peddle work. Clients come to them.
Louisville’s First
Friday gallery hops draw between 3,000 and 5,000 visitors.
City of Berea
The City has been
designated the folk arts and crafts capitol of Kentucky. Over 800
teachers work in Berea and over 4000 industrial jobs in the city. Berea
College is a great partner to the city. It has been chosen as one of the
Top 10 places to retire in Kentucky. Berea has a property tax of
.00034%. It is a progressive city with officials that are willing to
take steps to be at forefront. Several years ago the city purchased
municipal utilities rather than have revenue go to an outside company.
Berea city council saw the need to help keep the Kentucky Guild of
Artists and Craftsmen in town by purchasing a building for their
permanent home.
The idea for the
Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea came about when a devastating tornado
leveled several artist studios in Old Town. The mayor established a
committee to help the artists that had lost their studios. The committee
worked with the community to define the desired outcome. The city
received a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission to do a
feasibility study for the building of an artisan center.
The Berea city
council realized the importance of the Kentucky Department of Tourism
becoming a vital partner in all plans for the city and the artisan
center. The Berea city council has contributed $300,000 to a tourism
budget.
QUESTION TO
PANELISTS: Did you address the needs of the local community, not just
the needs of local artists?
Mark Barone – Lower
Town needed renovation and revitalization. We used the arts to bring
this about. The local tax base went up. All economic multipliers went
up.
Scooter Davidson –
Center was built from an abandoned meat packing plant. The Center
revitalized an existing space.
CODA Notes –
Friday, June 3,
2005
PEER GROUPS BY TOPIC
2:00 P.M. – 3:15
P.M.
Community Development
Moderator: Steve Loar
Artists appear to be
the common denominator in most community development projects. Healthy
partnerships between community, artists, and local government are vital.
Successful projects are only successful with all three partners playing
vital roles. Progress does not happen easily or quickly. Financial
incentives often help speed the process.
Is there a trick to getting the
community inspired?
It is important to
create a community within a community. For example, build an arts center
to tie studios together rather than individual business ventures.
Craftspeople and
artists are entrepreneurial by nature.
Community needs to
be educated; especially if they can’t see that this will be a viable
venture. It is important to measure success and profit in ways other
than just dollars.
Stress that group
will benefit as a whole, rather than measure success of just one
business within the project.
Some community
development projects can start at the government level, as in the case
of the city of Berea. It is always important to target all energies in
one area to gather momentum. Seeing assets as opportunities is key, even
though sometimes the assets are disguised as blights, as in the case of
run-down structures in Paducah.
A good community
development project allows the community to become the best it can be.
The project needs to be particular to that area, rather than copying
other successful projects.
|
