Paducah to Host Global UNESCO Cities in 2017

Representatives from more than 20 cities and 11 nations across the globe will be descending upon Paducah in 2017 for a first ever annual global meeting of Creative Cities of Crafts & Folk Art.

Paducah representatives Mary Hammond, Executive Director of the Paducah Convention & Visitors Bureau, and Bonnie Browning, Executive Show Director of the American Quilter's Society, recently participated in the tenth annual meeting of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Creative Cities' Network in Östersund, Sweden.

Paducah presented an invitation to the fellow UNESCO Creative Cities of Crafts & Folk Art to meet in Paducah in September 2017 to share strategies of incorporating the arts in building identity and strategic development. This first formally-designated annual meeting of the thematic area will be hosted by the City of Paducah in partnership with the Paducah Convention & Visitors Bureau, Paducah Economic Development and the Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce.

Laura Oswald, Marketing Director with the Paducah Convention and Visitors Bureau, tells West Kentucky Star that further details regarding the length of the meeting, and locations that will be used to facilitate the meetings are still being worked out.  Oswald says they will be working with local businesses and vendors to make sure the representatives from around the globe will get a full view of what Paducah has to offer.

In addition to the 20 global cities being invited, Oswald says the U.S. art cities of Austin, Detroit, Tucson, Iowa City, and Sante Fe will also be invited to attend the meeting.  Paducah was designated as a UNESCO Creative City in 2013.

"We are excited to host ambassadors from Creative Cities around the world in 2017," said Mayor Gayle Kaler in a written press release about the event. "The relationships we have formed within the UNESCO Creative Cities Network have opened up doors into other cultures, promoted international cooperation and allowed us to expand and promote our own creative initiatives. We look forward to this unique opportunity for Paducah to showcase its innovations on a global platform."

"Every Annual Meeting of the Creative Cities Network represents an opportunity to strengthen the ties between its members," said Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO in a written press release about the event. "The network today comprises 116 cities in 54 countries and its diversity enhances its cooperation potential. The network is a unique platform that helps place culture, creativity and innovation at the heart of sustainable urban development in the spirit of the 11th Goal of the 2030 Agenda." 

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network was created in 2004 by the United Nations to promote cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development.