Getting the flavor of... Paducah’s changing palette
The once dilapidated town of Paducah, on the border of western Kentucky and Illinois, has been transformed by an Artists Relocation Program.
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.
Contact: Paducah.travel
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Circus life in Sarasota
Every day seems like a circus in Sarasota, Fla., said Mitch Stacy in the Associated Press. Back in 1927, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus relocated its winter headquarters from Bridgeport, Conn., to the “lovely Gulf Coast city.” Thus Sarasota became “forever linked” with life under the big top, and the circus “became one of Florida’s first tourist attractions.” Today, the city offers a Circus Heritage Trail, a self-guided tour of the region’s circus history. Starting in downtown Sarasota, visitors may feel they’ve stepped onto the set of Cecil B. DeMille’s The Greatest Show on Earth, in which the town was prominently featured. The “marquee stops” on the trail are John Ringling’s “meticulously restored” Mediterranean Revival home and the Museum of the American Circus, which includes such memorabilia as Emmett Kelly’s famous “hobo” clown costume.
Contact: Sarasotacircushistory.org
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Celebrating 250 years of Jane Austen
The Week Recommends From exhibitions to Regency balls, these are the best ways to commemorate the author
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
The pressure of South Korea's celebrity culture
In The Spotlight South Korean actress Kim Sae-ron was laid to rest on Wednesday after an apparent suicide
By Abby Wilson Published
-
Should lying in politics be a criminal offence?
Today's Big Question Welsh government considers new crime of deliberate deception by an elected official
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published