Extension
It Starts With Us
Promoting Breathitt County through Arts & Tourism Initiative
Arts and Creativity
Reed Graham & Kayla Watts
4-H Communications and Expressive Arts Core Curriculum
Trail Design
Community Design/Creative Placemaking
With recent budget cuts from business and government, the Breathitt County community has lost businesses, jobs and morale. More so, our local schools have lost various core programming, including music and the arts. There has been a need and interest expressed in engaging our community in arts and tourism programming.
According to a report from "American's for the Arts," "Every day, the 100,000 nonprofit arts and culture organizations that populate the nation’s cities and towns are making their communities more desirable places to live and work. They provide inspiration and enjoyment to residents, beautify shared public places, and strengthen the social fabric." More so, the study demonstrates that "arts and culture industry is also an economic driver in these communities—a growth industry that supports jobs, generates government revenue, and is the cornerstone of tourism." (www.americansforthearts.org)
Arts and tourism programming will enhance creative capacity for Kentucky's communities and encourage and support the inclusion of creative placemaking as an economic development strategy.
Communities are more diverse and resilient due to arts inclusion and creative placemaking, extension agents are confident in arts-related community development practices, communities entice arts entrepreneurs; communities are designated as Cultural Districts
Creative placemaking is incorporated within economic development strategies; arts are identified in more county plan-of-work reports; Kentucky communities engage in creative asset mapping; communities develop pride in local culture; communities collectively increase skill- set within the arts
Increase awareness of existing arts initiatives, agents understand creative placemaking and apply to their local communities; artisan entrepreneurs develop enhanced business practices
Initial Outcome: Community members will learn about various trail, tourism, expressive arts, and design opportunities in Breathitt County
Indicator: Increase in participation in programs provided by the Extension Office related to Arts and Arts Development
Method: Extension record-keeping/Program Evaluations
Timeline: 2019-2020
Intermediate Outcome: Community members will implement things learned at Extension Arts/Tourism programming in daily living; Expressive Arts students will practice public speaking skills
Indicator: Participants will share what they have learned and how they are using those skills as community members
Method: Follow-Up Evaluations, Extension record-keeping
Timeline: 2019-2020
Long-term Outcome: Community members will help maintain trails, raised beds and other expressive arts areas; Expressive Arts students will use public speaking skills in every-day life
Indicator: Maintenance of trails, implement/maintenance of raised-bed designs, youth using public speaking skills as they grow as students
Method: Observation, Evaluation, Participation of youth in advanced competitions and leadership positions
Timeline: 2019-2020
Audience: Youth (9-18)
Project or Activity: Speeches and Demonstrations
Content or Curriculum: Communications & Expressive Arts, Leadership
Inputs: Agents, Educators, Volunteers
Date: 2019-2020
Audience: Youth & Adults
Project or Activity: Annual Canoe Trip
Content or Curriculum: Environmental Science/Water Quality Science, Teamwork
Inputs: Agents, Specialists, Parks and Recreation of Jackson, Breathitt County Tourism Committee, & Agriculture Development Board
Date: Summer, 2019
Audience: Youth & Adults
Project or Activity: Raised-Bed development and maintenance programs as a part of parking lot design
Content or Curriculum: Horticulture, Nurturing Families, Public Space Design
Inputs: Agents, Specialists, Volunteers, Breathitt County Health Planning Council
Date: 2019-2020
