Paducah’s changing palette
Paducah, Ky., has painted a “new portrait of itself,” said Josh Noel in the Chicago Tribune. Once a picture of dilapidation, this town of 26,000 could now be called charming, even “sophisticated.” A decade ago, Paducah, a “friendly and gentle place” on the border of western Kentucky and Illinois, launched an Artists Relocation Program. The city invited artists of all kinds to come and live for cheap—or free. More than 70 artisans hailing from Hawaii, Maryland, and points in between set up studios in the transformed downtown. In the city’s oldest residential neighborhood, Lowertown, tree-lined streets are dotted with about 15 galleries, housed in restored late-19th-century brick homes. Schedule a visit for the second Saturday of any month, when all the galleries are open from noon to 8 p.m., or come in late May for the Lowertown Arts and Music Festival.
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