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Paducah, Kentucky is recruiting artists with promises of low cost of living, financing and other benefits.

Paducah, Kentucky wants artists.

And the town’s Artist Relocation Program is offering financial incentives to entice them, including free lots in the town’s historic district, low interest loans with up to 100% financing, and six health care plans to choose from. It’s part of a plan to use culture to revitalize the formerly blighted downtown, according to Mark Barone, who coordinates the Artist Relocation Program. "Artists give back in a lot of ways, they are an economic engine," he says. "We take writers, musicians, painters—we take anyone. We don’t discriminate. If a lady paints wooden chickens, we will take her." So far, the plan is working. The town already has 21 artists and more are packing up to move to Paducah in the near future.

While artists might be sacrificing all that goes along with big city living, Barone says Paducah is committed to giving artists lasting property investments so they stay, along with a growing artistic community. "The difference between New York’s SOHO and here is the artists own it, and they have a piece of it. The arts always make it a cool place to be. Without the arts it’s just another suburb."

Full Story: http://www.acfnewsource.org/art/paducah.html

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