Creative Building Reuse

(Image Parade.com)

Yesterday, Parade magazine published an article on a creative building transformation that has taken place outside St. Louis, where a struggling enclosed shopping mall has been turned into a thriving arts center. If you haven't read it yet, check out Can Art Save a Mall?

It's a good example of how an existing building, and once popular destination, can be reinvented instead of torn down. One of my other favorite creative building reuses is the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, VA. Once an actual torpedo factory during the early part of last century, the building now houses three floors of working artist studios, galleries, an art school, and a museum.

As the economy struggles and more buildings become and remain vacant, I wonder what other creative building reuses will emerge.

• Has anyone read Retrofitting Suburbia, as it might hold some answers?

Cleveland is Creative

(Image Courtesy of Fast Company)

Although, I have known this for awhile, the rest of the world is just catching up and realizing that Cleveland is creative. Featured as one of Fast Company's most creative cities, Cleveland joins other national cities like San Francisco and New York and international cities Taipei and Vancouver.

While the article focuses on the creative reuse of land in the city, there are so many other things here that make Cleveland creative and just a cool place to live.

• Check out Cleveland.
  

Art Bar: Part II

(Image courtesy of Ithaca Fine Chocolates)

In a previous post I gushed about Art Bars never even having tasted one. Their concept of combining fair-trade chocolate bars and fine art seemed to be the perfect pairing.

Well, while I was in Los Angeles and visiting the gift shop at the Huntington Library I bought one: dark chocolate with coconut. Not only was the chocolate yummy, but the artwork inside was captivating: a miniature reproduction of an original sepia-toned silver gelatin print by Meg Birnbaum. The tiny little artwork also included a brief and well-appreciated interpretation.

Finally, a portion of the proceeds from Art Bars goes toward art education, including the International Child Art Foundation.

• Interested in submitting your art work?

Who's Your City?

That's the question that Richard Florida asks in his latest book entitled, Who's Your City?: How the Creative Economy Is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life.

It's a question I've asked myself. Early in my career, I chose to move to our nation's capital because I was looking for work in museums and with the plethora of cultural institutions dotting the Washington, DC area, I figured I was bound to find a job. And, I did.

Ultimately, I realized that my family was more important. After attaining my career goal in DC, I decided to move back to Ohio to be closer to my loved ones. Although Cleveland has some amazing arts organizations, I decided to take a different path, one in the corporate world.

If you are asking yourself similar questions about your career and your location, and you live in the Cleveland-area, I encourage you to attend the next Business Book Talk with Tim Zaun and Friends on this subject. One lucky attendee will also win a copy of the book.

Where: Lakewood Library, Lakewood, OH
When: Thursday, November 20th
Time: 7 pm to 9 pm

• So... who's YOUR city?

Creative Tourism

Are you like me and seek out learning experiences when you travel or do you want to make your city a creative destination? If so, the Santa Fe International Conference on Creative Tourism may interest you.

It will be held from September 28 - October 2, 2008 in Sana Fe, New Mexico, which has recently been named as the first UNESCO Creative City in the United States.

Some of the program topics include Artist’s Tours: Generating Sales for Artists Through Creative Tourism and Keeping it Real, “Authenticity in the Creative Industries”. There's also a keynote by Eric Maisel, my creativity teacher.

• Plan your next creativity trip today.

Who Wants to Be the World's Creative Hub?

The United Kingdom recently unveiled their largest government attempt to bring the arts and the creative sector to the forefront: Creative Britain: New Talents for the New Economy.

• Read more about it here.

Art Bar

(Image Courtesy of Ithaca Fine Chocolates)

What do you get when you combine two of my favorite things: art and chocolate? Art Bars. Created by Ithaca Fine Chocolates, Art Bars contain fair-trade certified organic chocolate and a collectible card featuring an art reproduction. Plus a portion of the profits support art education. Brilliant!

• Find out where to buy them here.

Changing the World Through Design

This is an impressive goal, but a creative non-profit is trying. Nest, based in St. Louis, was founded to support women artisans in developing countries. It does this by selling products, including clothing, accessories and home goods by an exclusive group of designers. The profits from these sales are used to create micro-loans offered to international artisans, who in turn sell their goods on the nest website. It's a creative approach to supporting global communities.

• Find out how you can volunteer. (It doesn't matter where you live)!

Lakewood Arts Festival

Art festivals are a staple of summer in Northeastern Ohio. Normally, the endless jewelery and photography booths bore me and don't even get me started on all the pottery! But Lakewood's festival usually contains a few creative surprises and even some interesting artists.

• Check it out this Saturday, August 4 from 10 am - 6 pm

USA: United States Artists

(Courtesy of United States Artists and the Urban Institute)
I think this graph says a lot about how we view the arts in this country. From this statistic, USA, United States Artists was created to support artists. Their goal is to inspire innovation at its source by investing in artists. Last year, they awarded grants to 50 artists totalling $2.5 million. The organization is funded by foundations, arts patrons and corporations and awards $50,000 grants in the following disciplines: Architecture & Design, Crafts & Traditional Arts, Dance, Literature, Media Arts, Music, Theater Arts and Visual Arts.

• Learn more about becoming a fellow here.

China's Creative Class

Hoping to transform the country from a manufacturing hub, the Chinese embrace creativity.

• Read about it here from Fast Company.

Art Inspires Volunteerism

According to the National Endowment for the Arts, if you patronize the arts, no matter what your education level or income is, you are more likely to do volunteer work and give back to your community.

• Look for volunteer ideas here.

Are You Using Your Whole Brain?

I attended a library sponsored book discussion on Dan Pink’s latest book A Whole New Mind thinking it would motivate me to read the book. Well, I certainly didn’t need the motivation. Pink’s book reads in a breezy style and is full of thought provoking ideas.

The book is based on 3 questions that organizations and individuals need to ask themselves in the new economy:

1. Can someone overseas do it cheaper?
2. Can a computer do it faster?
3. Is what I’m offering in demand in an age of abundance?

These questions lead into his main arguments based on Asia, Automation, and Abundance, claiming that in order to flourish in an age of abundance, we must enhance our creative thinking skills that can’t be outsourced overseas or done by a computer.

The skills are as follows:

"Not just for function but also DESIGN. It’s no longer sufficient to create a product, a service, an experience, or a lifestyle that’s merely functional. Today it’s economically crucial and personally rewarding to create something that is also beautiful, whimsical, or emotionally engaging.

Not just for argument but also STORY. When our lives are brimming with information and data, it’s not enough to marshal an effective argument. Someone somewhere will inevitably track down a counterpoint to rebut your point. The essence of persuasion, communication, and self-understanding has become the ability to fashion a compelling narrative.

Not just focus but also SYMPHONY. Much of the Industrial and Informational ages required focus and specialization. But as white-collar work gets routed to Asia and reduced to software, there’s a new premium on the opposite aptitude: putting the pieces together, or what I call Symphony. What’s in greatest demand today isn’t analysis but synthesis – seeing the big picture, crossing boundaries, and being able to combine disparate pieces into an arresting new whole.

Not just logic but also EMPATHY. The capacity for logical thought is one of the things that makes us human. But in a world of ubiquitous information and advanced analytic tools, logic alone won’t do. What will distinguish those who thrive will be their ability to understand what makes their fellow woman or man tick, to forge relationships, and to care for others.

Not just seriousness but also PLAY. Ample evidence points to the enormous health and professional benefits of laughter, lightheartedness, games, and humor. There is a time to be serious, of course. But too much sobriety can be bad for your career and worse your well-being. In the Conceptual Age, in work and in life, we all need to play .

Not just accumulation but also MEANING. We live in a world of breathtaking material plenty. That has freed hundreds of millions of people from day-to-day struggles and liberated us to pursue more significant desires: purpose, transcendence, and spiritual fulfillment."

• Which one of these can you add to your work?

Have An Inspired Stay

Looking for a creative place to stay the next time you are in Louisville, KY?

• Check out this new hotel that features contemporary art and even has a museum shop.

Artists Coming to Save a Town Near You

The discussion surrounding the economic impact the arts have on communities has always fascinated me. Recently, ABC News got on the bandwagon by featuring the success that artists have had reviving the economy of sleepy Paducah, KY. I've been following other communities as they transform themselves and their economy through the arts. It's such an interesting process.

It always makes me think of my hometown of Cleveland. It's such a cliche to keep talking about Cleveland's potential to turn around it's bleak economy through the arts, because the fact is that the area's existing cultural institutions already rival those of any larger city. To me, it's more about building a lasting appreciation for those institutions while creating new ones.

• See how your city ranks in terms of its creative potential.