June 16, 2010
FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH: A Vision Inspired By Louisville
By Chris Worth
It has been quite a while since I last wrote. I have been collecting and
gathering material, and now I would like to take you on a journey. As you may
remember from previous articles, I have talked about envisioning the Huntington
that we would like to see. Robust movements, music, art, and entertainment of
all types alongside the ringing of cash drawers, the passing of gifts, the
sharing of time. These are things which I have argued we are on the edge of
being able to see; a revitalized community spearheaded by a sense of ownership
shared by all community members no matter what social strata, age, or race, or
economic background they may come from. I have said multiple times that this
vision is indeed possible.
My brother Wayne and I have been in search of community. We have been collecting and gathering and will continue to do this through the summer. What we have seen are wonderful sights, belonging to places that have much of the same struggle that Huntington does. I will talk about one of these places….Louisville, Kentucky.
An Ohio River town, Louisville is 2 1/2 hours from Huntington. When we first
arrived, I was perplexed as to what divided this town from my own, because
besides its size and a few Fortune 500 companies that exist there, I did not get
an overwhelming feeling of prosperity. In fact, within the first 10 minutes, I
asked myself, "Where is everyone?" Louisville encompasses a large metropolitan
area, and the crowds on the street did not reflect the size of the city. Until
we came upon 4th Street, a location with an open air market atmosphere combined
with the attractions normally found in a mall. As we came upon it, I was
immediately struck by its visual simplicity and grace. The bustling crowds of
people, the smell of food wafting up from several high end restaurants, and the
sound of steel drums…all under a glass enclosure which had a very modern
A-framed peak to it. The enclosure stretched via open steel beam the length of
the street, meeting on either end with true art deco era buildings. What
immediately came to mind after my rolodex of art history stopped spinning was
the simple cost of the glass enclosure against these several beautiful
revitalized buildings. How simple this idea was! How applicable for Huntington!
After having dinner at a Hard Rock Cafe, we then returned the next morning to get a better glimpse. What had been a bazaar full of well dressed 30-something year olds was, in the daylight, transformed into an art gallery with tents and their walls lined with original oil paintings stretching the whole length and width of the space. It was an amazing feast for the eyes, and showed another side of this public space. My brother and I went away from there with ideas spinning in our minds about possibilities for Huntington. To my surprise I got a call this Tuesday morning that has furthered my excitement for what i saw in Louisville and how it can be applied to Huntington.
A member of Create Huntington called me this morning to remind me that we had
scheduled a meeting for 9:30 and that it was already 9:39. So, as is par for the
course for this writer, I went screeching out my back door and down my ramp to a
meeting I was already 10 minutes late for. Now, in Pulman square, sitting across
from my friend who is a community organizer, Eve Marcum-Atkinson, we began our
meeting. I had forgotten why we were meeting until shortly into the discussion
and remembered that Create Huntington wanted to find a way to engage the visual
arts in new ideas that they have. Last Saturday, community members began having
a farmer's market/open air bazaar between the visitor's center and Pulman Square
in the alley behind Mac and Dave's. She asked me if I thought CCAMP (Cabel
County Art and Music Project) would be interested in having a tent set up to
display some artwork when they got the full bazaar up and running.
That immediately made me think of the morning Wayne and I spent together walking around 4th Street in Louisville looking at amazing artwork under a wonderfully modern glass enclosure. So, I did what I always do…I began ranting about it. Eve explained that kind of concept is on the drawing board for this space sometime in the very near future. What she was describing to me as the vision for Huntington's open air market didn't quite have this architectural element. I asked her to please go to my brother's Facebook profile and look at pictures of the Louisville space for herself. As I moved away from that meeting today, I decided to go one step further. This article is submitted as my vision for the market for what it's worth. I see an enclosure that may not have to do with high end corporate businesses, but rather highlights small businesses, local restaurants, and creative forces which Huntington is teaming with if one looks hard enough. It's worth thinking about.
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FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH: A Vision Inspired By Louisville
By Chris Worth
It has been quite a while since I last wrote. I have been collecting and
gathering material, and now I would like to take you on a journey. As you may
remember from previous articles, I have talked about envisioning the Huntington
that we would like to see. Robust movements, music, art, and entertainment of
all types alongside the ringing of cash drawers, the passing of gifts, the
sharing of time. These are things which I have argued we are on the edge of
being able to see; a revitalized community spearheaded by a sense of ownership
shared by all community members no matter what social strata, age, or race, or
economic background they may come from. I have said multiple times that this
vision is indeed possible.
My brother Wayne and I have been in search of community. We have been collecting and gathering and will continue to do this through the summer. What we have seen are wonderful sights, belonging to places that have much of the same struggle that Huntington does. I will talk about one of these places….Louisville, Kentucky.
An Ohio River town, Louisville is 2 1/2 hours from Huntington. When we first
arrived, I was perplexed as to what divided this town from my own, because
besides its size and a few Fortune 500 companies that exist there, I did not get
an overwhelming feeling of prosperity. In fact, within the first 10 minutes, I
asked myself, "Where is everyone?" Louisville encompasses a large metropolitan
area, and the crowds on the street did not reflect the size of the city. Until
we came upon 4th Street, a location with an open air market atmosphere combined
with the attractions normally found in a mall. As we came upon it, I was
immediately struck by its visual simplicity and grace. The bustling crowds of
people, the smell of food wafting up from several high end restaurants, and the
sound of steel drums…all under a glass enclosure which had a very modern
A-framed peak to it. The enclosure stretched via open steel beam the length of
the street, meeting on either end with true art deco era buildings. What
immediately came to mind after my rolodex of art history stopped spinning was
the simple cost of the glass enclosure against these several beautiful
revitalized buildings. How simple this idea was! How applicable for Huntington!
After having dinner at a Hard Rock Cafe, we then returned the next morning to get a better glimpse. What had been a bazaar full of well dressed 30-something year olds was, in the daylight, transformed into an art gallery with tents and their walls lined with original oil paintings stretching the whole length and width of the space. It was an amazing feast for the eyes, and showed another side of this public space. My brother and I went away from there with ideas spinning in our minds about possibilities for Huntington. To my surprise I got a call this Tuesday morning that has furthered my excitement for what i saw in Louisville and how it can be applied to Huntington.
A member of Create Huntington called me this morning to remind me that we had
scheduled a meeting for 9:30 and that it was already 9:39. So, as is par for the
course for this writer, I went screeching out my back door and down my ramp to a
meeting I was already 10 minutes late for. Now, in Pulman square, sitting across
from my friend who is a community organizer, Eve Marcum-Atkinson, we began our
meeting. I had forgotten why we were meeting until shortly into the discussion
and remembered that Create Huntington wanted to find a way to engage the visual
arts in new ideas that they have. Last Saturday, community members began having
a farmer's market/open air bazaar between the visitor's center and Pulman Square
in the alley behind Mac and Dave's. She asked me if I thought CCAMP (Cabel
County Art and Music Project) would be interested in having a tent set up to
display some artwork when they got the full bazaar up and running.
That immediately made me think of the morning Wayne and I spent together walking around 4th Street in Louisville looking at amazing artwork under a wonderfully modern glass enclosure. So, I did what I always do…I began ranting about it. Eve explained that kind of concept is on the drawing board for this space sometime in the very near future. What she was describing to me as the vision for Huntington's open air market didn't quite have this architectural element. I asked her to please go to my brother's Facebook profile and look at pictures of the Louisville space for herself. As I moved away from that meeting today, I decided to go one step further. This article is submitted as my vision for the market for what it's worth. I see an enclosure that may not have to do with high end corporate businesses, but rather highlights small businesses, local restaurants, and creative forces which Huntington is teaming with if one looks hard enough. It's worth thinking about.
Share This Story:
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