Americans for the Arts Annual Convention kicked off unofficially on June 12^th with the preconferences and their related field trips. The Public Art Preconference included a tour of repurposed artist studios and enclaves in Nashville, Tennessee. The tour, “Reclamation as Transition - From Factories to Churches: Creating Artist Spaces and Places,” illustrated ways cities can engage the creative class for a more vibrant community.

“There’s all sorts of research...on the positive impact that having a creative class can have on the community," says Clay Lord, Vice President of Local Arts Advancement at Americans for the Arts. "One of the core ways that communities can do that—and that Nashville has really piloted in a way—is to create affordable places for artists to live and work."

Sites throughout the city included the Track One building in Wedgewood-Houston, the historic Downtown Presbyterian Church, and the Isle of Printing letterpress shop.

Read Nashville Business Journal’s article on the tour at the link below, and read more about Americans for the Arts’ 2014 Annual Convention here.

Photo Credit: E.J. Boyer, Nashville Buisness Journal