Rust Belt to Artist Belt II Conference In Cleveland

Join the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC) for a two-day examination of how community developers and artists are partnering in neighborhood revitalization efforts throughout the industrial Midwest. Learn how each partner can benefit in the Artist Belt movement. Hear from artists and national and international experts on artist-based community development. Get more information from an exhibition of artist space resources.

Thursday, September 17th (8am-6pm, including evening reception) and
Friday, September 18th, 2009 (9am-4pm), in Cleveland’s Detroit-Shoreway Neighborhood. Conference sites include: Capitol Theatre, Cleveland Public Theatre and 78th Street Studios.

Featuring a keynote presentation by Ralf Ebert, Director of STADTart and Culture and Planning Consultant for the City of Dortmund, Germany.

Other speakers include

Jay Williams,----- Mayor Of Youngstown, Ohio

Matthew Galluzo, ----------Arts District Manager, Penn Avenue Arts Initiative

Terry Schwarz -------------- Senior Planner, Kent State University, Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative

Robert Brown, --------------------Director, Cleveland Planning Commission.

Esther Robinson ----------------- Founder, ArtHome

The ability to line up big league speakers at a conference about artists in the Rust Belt is impressive.

But Artists must not be fooled. For the most part this interest in artists as "assets" comes from desperation as well as sincere concern-- a power we need to exploit. I will get back to this when I can.

I found out about this through Rust Wire.

The conference was put together By CPAC

"Cleveland, Ohio. While not everyone realizes it, the city is home to one of the largest concentrations of artists in the country. Greater Cleveland’s diverse group of over 100 arts and culture organizations, plentiful industrial warehouses, distinct neighborhoods, and low cost-of-living produce an extraordinary quality of life that has drawn a massive concentration of artists to live and work in Northeast Ohio.

At the same time, Cleveland has a nationally recognized network of high-quality community development professionals. Every day, these individuals are working to revitalize the neighborhoods that give our city and our region its unique character.

But CPAC believes that we can do even more to position the city as a national creative hub and an urban laboratory for reinventing “Rust Belt” cities through arts and culture. In 2007, we launched Creative Compass, a multi-year initiative to increase artists’ access to affordable home and business space and to make them more active partners in revitalizing our urban neighborhoods. In the coming years, Creative Compass will educate artists about obtaining affordable space and will educate community development professionals about the unique roles artists can play as neighborhood residents."