What Inspires a Creative Community?

By several accounts the Triangle has become one of the most creative places to live in the country. We boast exceptional talent on a wide field—from pharmaceutical patents to rock bands. But ask a local what the identity of the Triangle is, and you’ll find a creative person struggling for an answer. We believe it is a modest step to claim this area as the “Creative Hub the South.” To claim an identity requires us to adhere to it as well. Furthermore, it should inspire us to purposefully nurture and grow the Creative Hub we claim to be. How do we do that? SPARK CON.
Ignite the Creative Hub of the South

Put lots of creative people together in one room, give them a common mission, and the ideas fly fast and furiously. All told, the four workshops held in September of 2006 filled 60 big pages of flipchart paper. But in the end, some core ideas and common themes emerged as essential for the Triangle to earn the distinction “Creative Hub of the South.” Here are the top ten recommendations from our community on how to do it:

1. Foster a vibrant urban core featuring a diverse mix of interests, ethnicity, and ages
2. Increase focus on green spaces that allows people to enjoy the environment
3. Develop safer pedestrian and bicycle activity to encourage people to explore
4. Create dynamic public spaces where arts and technology can intermingle
5. Support collectives as incubators of creativity
6. Develop an information hub to publicly promote all creative activities from new patents to gallery shows
7. Encourage programs to foster emerging talent of all types—from small shops and restaurants to artists and inventors
8. Regularly exhibit and celebrate home grown talent of all kinds in public projects
9. Improve public transit infrastructure to bring people to public squares, urban cores, and green spaces
10. Promote tolerance and gain insight from our many different backgrounds

See more detailed workshop recommendation from the community on:

How do you make a thriving art scene?

How do you make a thriving Technology Scene?

How do you make a thriving scene of Inclusivity?

How do you make a scene that thrives with Independent Businesses?

or download the PDF of the SparkCon Comment 2006 (3.5MB) as published in the Independent Weekly.

“Creativity can be a new idea. It can be an old idea with new context. It can be a couple of ideas in a different synergy to what people thought before. I can tell you that it not only takes passion, it also takes perseverance to get things done. You can have a great idea, but unless you are willing to pursue it and make it happen, it often doesn’t happen.”
Mayor Charles Meeker, introducing Spark Con keynote speaker, Ping Fu
September 14, 2006