For those of you traveling to Lexington next week, the city has pulled out all the stops to get spring here in fine fashion. Here are the latest photos from Triangle Park, just outside the Lexington Center. Opening night concludes here with fire dancing from Amalgamation Fire Nation and the “fire cyclone” machine from the University of Kentucky!

One to One – Creative Cities Summit Lexington from Peter Kageyama on Vimeo.

Creative Cities Summit founder and producer Peter Kageyama and Phil Holoubek, Lexington developer and co-producer on KET’s One to One with Bill Goodman.

Kim Huston is the Director of Economic Development for Bardstown, Kentucky and the author of Small Town Sexy.  She will be speaking at the Creative Cities Summit on Friday, April 9th at 11am.

Lexington, Kentucky – March 10, 2010 – Lexington’s own Legacy Center at Blue Grass Community Foundation has agreed to provide twenty five full scholarships for East End residents and others to attend the Creative Cities Summit (CCS) 3.0 scheduled for April 7-9 in Lexington, Kentucky.

“We are pleased to be able to provide an opportunity for more residents of the East End neighborhood and north side to attend this informative event,”  noted Legacy Center Director  Steve Austin.  “The content planned for this event is very relevant to the initiatives we are all focused on, specifically the revitalization of the East End, including the Lyric Theatre and the  Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden, as well as the Legacy Trail. Bill Strickland’s speech in particular has the ability to be transformative for our community, especially if we are able to have a critical mass of  East End residents in attendance.”

Legacy Center scholarships will cover the full $199 registration fee for the event. Those interested in receiving one of Legacy Center’s twenty five full scholarships should contact Commerce Lexington’s Angela Carlos at 859.226.1631.

Topics included at the Creative Cities Summit will include the role and value of public art in a community’s quality of life; economic development; the Black Creative Class; Women & Entrepreneurship;  how to develop environments supportive of innovation; best practices in young professional development; innovations in transportation; sustainability; adaptive reuse and the built environment; and developing social innovation.

Summit organizers anticipate a diverse audience, ranging from economic development professionals and arts and cultural advocates to urban planners, architects, business leaders, government officials, young professionals, and college students.  The common thread is a desire to make their communities better places to live, work and play.

The full conference package is available with early bird registration for $199

Lexington, Kentucky – March 8, 2010 – Local arts funding organization LexArts has agreed to provide partial scholarships for local artists and staff of local arts organizations to attend the Creative Cities Summit (CCS) 3.0 scheduled for April 7-9 in Lexington, Kentucky.

“We are pleased to be able to provide an opportunity for more members of the local arts community to attend this summit”  noted LexArts President Jim Clark.  “The content planned for this event can translate to quickly moving forward various arts initiatives in our community, especially if we are able to have a critical mass of the local arts community in attendance.”

LexArts will be providing twenty partial scholarships to the Summit.  The scholarships will cover $100 of the Summit’s $199 registration fee, with remaining costs to be paid by the attendee.

Up to twelve of these scholarships will be available for local artists, with the remainder available for staff of local arts organizations that are currently funded by LexArts.  There is a limit of one scholarship per organization, and they are available on a “first come, first served” basis.

Those interested in receiving a scholarship should contact Commerce Lexington’s Angela Carlos at 859.226.1631.

Topics included at the Creative Cities Summit will include the role and value of public art in a community’s quality of life; economic development; how to develop environments supportive of innovation; best practices in young professional development; innovations in transportation; sustainability; adaptive reuse and the built environment; and developing social innovation.

Summit organizers anticipate a diverse audience, ranging from economic development professionals and arts and cultural advocates to urban planners, architects, business leaders, government officials, young professionals, and college students.  The common thread is a desire to make their communities better places to live, work and play.

The full conference package is available with early bird registration for $199.

Co-producer Phil Holoubek showcases the new public art piece dedicated to the Creative Cities Summit by Lexington artist Rod Lindauer.  For more information, read the full story in Business Lexington.

Phil Holoubek, President of Lexington’s Real Estate Company (LRC) and Co-Producer of CCS speaks about the Summit.

Creative Cities Summit Lexington – 30 Second Spot from Peter Kageyama on Vimeo.

30 second TV spot for the Creative Cities Summit in Lexington, Kentucky April 7-9, 2010. Speakers include Richard Florida, Charles Landry, Rebecca Ryan, Ben Self, Tonya Surman, Mike Lydon and Bill Strickland.

This multi-disciplinary conference will bring together leading thinkers and practitioners who are changing cities and communities all over the world. Areas of focus include talent attraction & retention, innovation, developing entrepreneurship, community design and civic engagement.