Making Middlesborough the DIY Capital of Eastern Kentucky

Participants in one of the classes now being held every Thursday night and Saturday afternoon at the Makers Market, 2008 Cumberland Ave. Credit: Donnelly Bryant.

Middlesborough, Kentucky, is making some moves to further strengthen our reputation as the "DIY Capital of Eastern Kentucky." Our two Better Block events and efforts at creative placemaking have transformed the downtown for the better with pop-up parks, pop-up shops, and parklets. The Makers Market that was started in April 2014 now represents nearly three-dozen artists, crafters, and food producers. Most recently we submitted an application to the Levitt AMP [Your City] contest. Online voting starts November 1 for our chance to win $25,000 to put on ten concerts downtown during the summer of 2015.

Here are a few more upcoming events that we appreciate your help getting the word out on:

• November 3, 9am-5pm, Simulcast of Placemaking Convening, Makers Market, 2008 Cumberland Ave. We'll be live broadcasting the placemaking convening being held in Washington, DC, at our Makers Market right here in Middlesborough. Creative placemaking involves artists in transforming places to make them more livable. Throughout the day we'll be building pallet furniture and working with our artists to make Middlesborough better. Lunch will be provided.
• November 18, 6:30pm-8pm, Tri-State Messiah Sing Along Dress Rehearsal, First Baptist Church, 2300 Cumberland Ave. In preparation for Handel's Messiah, we'll have a dress rehearsal at First Baptist. This is your chance to get familiar with the music and be ready for the big event. Cookies and light refreshments will be provided.
• December 6, 3pm, Middlesborough Christmas Parade, along Cumberland Ave in downtown Middlesborough. The Middlesboro High School Band, marching groups, youth groups, churches, and fire companies will ring in the Christmas season. You can easily register online any time before November 25. No late registrations will be accepted.
• December 6, 7pm-8:30pm, Tri-State Messiah Sing Along, First Baptist Church, 2300 Cumberland Ave. We will ring in the Christmas season with selections from Handel’s most well-known work...featuring live musicians and local talent. The best part? The choir is comprised of... YOU! If you love to sing along, or even if you’d like to sit back and listen, we invite you and yours to join us for an evening of Hallelujah’s.

None of these activities and events would be possible without the excellent support of our many partners. The Better Block projects and the Makers Market were funded by an Appalachian Regional Commission Flex-E-Grant through the Kentucky Department for Local Government and administered by the Brushy Fork Institute of Berea College. 

The Fund for the Arts out of Louisville, along with the Humana Foundation and the LG&E Foundation provided matching dollars through the Power2Give.org website. Once again we're partnering this Christmas season. Anyone can make an easy and secure online contribution today to help make our Christmas dreams come true.

http://power2give.org/kentucky/Project/Detail?projectId=8634

In the past month the Kentucky Arts Council released their exciting new Strategic Plan. This is available on their website at http://artscouncil.ky.gov/. Be sure to read it as it fits in nicely with the increasing emphasis on arts and cultural activities in downtown Middlesborough. 

For those wanting more information or with an interest in getting involved, please contact Discover Downtown Middlesboro at (606) 248-6155 or visit http://www.downtownmiddlesboro.org. We're also on Facebook and Twitter @DDMBoro.

Live Webcast of Placemaking Convening - November 3, 9am-5pm

Some of our creative placemakers making a pop-up park during the Better Block Middlesborough event in May 2014. Credit: Rodney Wolfenbarger, Brushy Fork Institute, Berea College.

Arts and community leaders in Middlesborough, Kentucky, are pleased to announce that a simulcast will be provided of the "Placemaking Convening" being held concurrently in Washington, DC. The location for this day long event will be the Makers Market at 2008 Cumberland Ave. Arts leaders from throughout Eastern Kentucky and the Commonwealth will be invited to participate.

Since launching in April 2014 as a pop-up shop, the Market represents nearly three dozen artists, crafters, and food producers. Their work is on display and available for sale. A growing number of classes are being offered to the public every Thursday evening and Saturday afternoon. For more information, please visit the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MakersMarketKY.

Middlesborough has also earned a national reputation as an innovator in placemaking. Two successful Better Block events in October 2013 and May 2014 engaged hundreds of volunteers over a weekend in efforts to make the downtown a more vibrant and welcoming place. Pop-up shops, a pop-up park, and parklets have all given the downtown a new energy. In October 2014 the vacancy rate in the 40 block downtown area reached its lowest point in over three decades at 7.5%. Over the past year the unemployment rate in Bell County has fallen over 2.6%. In September 2013 Middlesborough won the "Successful Communities Contest" held by the Orton Family Foundation and Community Matters and in May 2014 Middlesborough was named "One to Watch" by the National Main Street Center.

Those wishing to participate in the simulcast should RSVP to downtownmiddlesboro(at)gmail.com. Lunch will be provided to those who register before November 3. Throughout the day we'll have fun and exciting events. We may even break out and make a pallet chair together!

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From Our Partners...

Live Webcast of Placemaking Convening

Focus on Performing Arts Organizations

DC Casineros at DanceAfrica DC 2013. Photo © Enoch Chan. FOR ONLINE ONLY 2 (1).jpg

The DC Casineros perform at DanceAfrica. Photo by Enoch Chan.

October 22, 2014

Washington, DC— The multiplatform convening, Beyond the Building: Performing Arts and Transforming Place, will be live webcast on Monday, November 3, 2014, from 9:00 am-5:00 pm ET. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), with support from ArtPlace America, is hosting this event that examines how performance-based organizations, and the artists they engage, transform places through their artistic practices. To register for the live webcast, go to the NEA's webinar page. 

The goal of the event is to create an opportunity for sharing experiences and exchanging key points of view that will benefit creative placemaking practices in the performing arts realm. The onsite participants include 26 representatives from dance, music, theater, and multidisciplinary organizations along with national arts leaders and are listed on the Beyond the Building webpage. The conversation will be facilitated by Barbara Schaffer Bacon, author, teacher, and co-director of Americans for the Arts' Animating Democracy initiative.

As detailed on the day's agenda, snapshot case studies and breakout sessions will punctuate the group discussions. Twitter chats on the convening’s topics will be led by HowlRound's Vijay Mathew at #PerformPlace. The morning's chat at 10:45 will focus on "When is performance placemaking?" while the afternoon chat  at 3:15 looks at "What are the opportunities and challenges to performing arts organizations engaging in placemaking strategies?

Participant bios and other resources will be posted on the convening page in the days leading to and during the convening. The webcast will be archived and posted on the NEA webinar page after the event.

For more information on the NEA's creative placemaking work go to the Partnership section of the NEA website. 

- See more at: http://arts.gov/news/2014/live-webcast-placemaking-convening#sthash.2IUiePTY.dpuf

Downtown Middlesborough Prepared for Halloween 2014, Plans for Christmas

ARH Middlesboro HomeCare Store

 at 1916 Cumberland Avenue handing out candy.

Bell County Chamber of Commerce getting involved in 2011.

Middlesboro, Kentucky - Historic downtown Middlesborough will once again be your destination for thrills, chills, and family fun this Halloween. The popular Nightmare on 20th Street will return again on Saturday, October 25, 2014, starting at 4pm. North 20th Street in downtown Middlesborough will have food, crafts, and bouncy houses.

Bell County Chamber of Commerce is organizing another fun event for the benefit of schoolchildren in our community. On Wednesday, October 31, 2014, students from participating schools will go trick-or-treating from business to business downtown. Participating store owners will be encouraged to wear Halloween costumes as will the kids. If the experience of past years is any guide, this special trick-or-treat is sure to be fun for everyone involved. For businesses or schools that have not already registered, you are welcome to contact  the Bell County Chamber at 606-248-1075.

Promotional shot for Middlesborough Christmas 2014, showing Fountain Square and the original Alexander Arthur building superimposed in the background.

Getting Ready for the Christmas Parade

Middlesborough is planning an epic Christmas celebration for the Tri-State area of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. On Saturday, December 6, 2014, we'll host our popular annual Christmas Parade at 3pm. The theme this year will be "A Child Will Lead Them." Those wishing to register for the parade may do so by Tuesday, November 25, 2014, via an online survey form or by calling (606) 248-6155.

Following the parade at 7pm we'll host the first ever Tri State Messiah Sing Along at First Baptist Church of Middlesboro, 2300 Cumberland Ave. We'll be staging Handel's famous work and invite the audience to sing along. Both events will build on Middlesborough's growing reputation as the DIY Capital of Eastern Kentucky.

2014 East Tennessee Preservation Conference

JOIN US IN THE SECRET CITY AND LEARN HOW TO CAPITALIZE ON THE EXPERIENCE-BASED ECONOMY!
 

As America moves toward a growing “experience-based economy” preservation is more important than ever for communities seeking comprehensive and sustainable economic and community development.  From revitalized downtown's to heritage tourism to new ways of experiencing history interactively, these growing segments of local economies take preservation efforts to new levels of understanding. Preservation enthusiasts have known this for a long time, but now THE SECRET IS OUT ……. preservation secures our heritage while making real dollars and sense.

View the full schedule and register:
www.knoxheritage.org/conference

** EAST TN PRESERVATION AWARDS DINNER **
November 6 at 6:00 PM

** ALEXANDER INN GALA CELEBRATION **
November 7 at 6:30 PM

AIA CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDITS
  

 ** KEYNOTE SPEAKER **
FRANKLIN VAGNONE

THE ANARCHISTS GUIDE TO HISTORIC HOUSE MUSEUMS
“Finding the Poetic In Other People’s Houses”
 

Franklin Vagnone is the Executive Director of the Historic House Trust of New York City.  He has been called controversial, provocative, thought-provoking and inspiring regarding his approach to managing historic house museums. Mr. Vagnone encourages those who love historic house museums to change the way they operate in order to re-invigorate and re-engage with the communities they serve. He has consulted, lectured, and taught nationally for an extensive list of historic sites, museums, historic houses, community-based historic societies, and membership organizations. Seen as a national thought leader in innovative & entrepreneurial non-profit management for historic sites, Franklin has instituted culturally diverse strategies that transform institutions, encouraged innovative thinking that increases operational functionality, engages diverse new audiences, expands relevancy, attendance and fundraising capacity. All of this facilitated with robust partnerships and strong messaging through traditional and social media.
 

Also featuring: Tennessee Tourism Commissioner Susan Whitaker, Real Estate Developer David Dewhirst, Tennessee Main Street Director Nancy Williams, The Brushy Mountain Group, among others.
 

SEE YOU IN OAK RIDGE!

Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Organization, Family Pride Corporation, Merit Construction and the East Tennessee Foundation along with Campbell County, East Tennessee Quality Growth, Gatlinburg Convention & Visitors Bureau, Investigative Services of East Tennessee, Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce, Morristown Area Chamber of Commerce, the City of Sweetwater, and Thomason and Associates.

Selling to the World Training Sessions

Some great opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs follow. Please be sure to take advantage of these resources in our own back yard.