Paducah, Kentucky artist relocation program
9 April 2008 2 Comments
A small town in Kentucky has a program called The Paducah Artist Relocation Program encouraging artists to move to their community. From their website:
“The City of Paducah and Paducah Bank have made this project a front burner priority. The Program, still welcoming artists and arts related businesses, has transformed a down-and-out area of town into an up-and-coming, city supported arts and gallery district. Paducah’s Artist Relocation Program has brought in over 70 artists to date, is nationally recognized for using the arts for neighborhood revitalization and is fast becoming a national cultural destination.”
From what I can tell this program has already been successful, in its own rights, at least to a degree. Why aren’t other communities doing something similar — or are they and I just don’t know about them? I was under the impression at first that the city paid for relocation expenses, which is a good idea, but this doesn’t seem to be the case according to the program incentives:
- Lowertown is dual zoned for commercial and residential use. This enables residents to have gallery/studio, restaurant/café, etc. and living space all under one roof.
- 100% financing for purchase and rehabilitation of an existing structure or the building of a brand new structure.
- Basic loan package is 7% – 30yr. fixed rate up 300% of appraised value.
- Free lots for new construction as available.
- City will pay up to $2500 for architectural services or other professional fees.
- National marketing of Lowertown Arts District and Paducah.
More details about the program on on this page. A number of properties for sale in the city are listed here. I don’t know how affordable some of these structures are for aspiring artists, but enough people have taken the bait to make Paducah a surprising art destination.
Adding: I’ve made some important edits to this post, particularly correcting my statement in the first paragraph suggesting artists’ relocation costs are paid by the town.
A very dear friend of mine, my former boss, took the Paducah bait. He’s up there now, trying to make a living. Yes, the place now has quite a few artists, but not enough customers. Many of the artists have some sort of independent income, according to my friend. Maybe they had rich families, or lucrative jobs prior to moving to Paducah. My friend is a brilliant printmaker; he built a studio there (brokenstonepress.com) and offers workshops and fine art printing, as well as doing his original work. But there weren’t enough buyers/students/patrons, and he had to go back to teaching art basics (at a community college). I don’t know how long he will be able to stay up there. He does like the place, but it is not affordable on his retirement income alone.
That’s easy for me to believe, hence my comment regarding affordability. Seems like the program might be as much a ploy to get the city back in shape — some of the buildings for sale are pretty dilapidated — as an encouragement to artists. It’s hard to believe a city of 25,000 can support so many artists . . . or in the case of the state of Arkansas, Eureka Springs (pop: 2,300) or Hot Springs (approaching 40,000 inhabitants).