WASHINGTON, March 26, 2002—America has become fascinated with Appalachian culture. The soundtrack from O Brother, Where Art Thou, featuring bluegrass and traditional Appalachian music, earned five Grammys, including the album of the year award, and recently went multi-platinum. As popular culture continues to discover the rich cultural heritage of Appalachia, Appalachians themselves are discovering that old-time music, storytelling, and traditional crafts may be their lifeline to economic revival. The question of how to successfully build a sustainable, arts-based economy using the cultural resources that already exist in a community will be answered at Building Creative Economies: The Arts, Entrepreneurship, and Sustainable Development in Appalachia, to be held in Asheville, North Carolina, April 28–30, 2002. Delegations from the 13 Appalachian states (comprising artists, cultural specialists, businesspeople, and philanthropic and government leaders from Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia) will come together to share success stories and create specific plans for economic renewal in their region.

"This conference will be another wonderful example of how Appalachia's long-term economic development can be furthered by building upon its strengths—in this case, the world-renowned artistic creativity of its people," said Appalachian Regional Commission Federal Co-Chairman Jesse L. White Jr. "Arts and crafts, along with tourism, offer many exciting possibilities for new jobs, new businesses, and new opportunities in our rural communities. To put it another way, this conference will contribute new colors to Appalachia's economic development canvas. ARC is excited to be a partner."

Appalachian communities that have long relied on natural resources and industries such as coal, hardwood for furniture, and low-cost labor pools for the apparel industry are searching for fresh approaches to economic development and renewal. Some of those communities have found success in an unexpected approach. They realized that their answer didn't necessarily lie in newly recruited industry, but could potentially be found in the nearly invisible industry of musicians, storytellers, and craftspeople already working steadily and exceptionally in shops, classrooms, studios, and galleries tucked away on small-town main streets and back roads throughout Appalachia. Western North Carolina, a pioneer in combining craft heritage with the economic benefits of tourism, offers an excellent example. In 1995, its craft industry had an annual impact of $122 million—four times the impact of burley tobacco, the region's largest cash crop. Further illustrations of the economic impact of this industry can be seen in the 2001 CODA Survey*, which found that the total impact of craft sales in the United States is $12.3 to $13.8 billion per year.

Business, cultural, and arts media are invited to hear firsthand from the individual craftspeople and community leaders who personify these impressive statistics. At Building Creative Economies the media will have the opportunity to meet these "cultural resources" (entrepreneurial craftspeople, storytellers, and musicians) in their own environment and to hear firsthand how they plan to create sustainable, arts-based economies in their regions. Delegations from the 13 Appalachian states will critically examine the economic challenges they face and learn from those who successfully met similar challenges by creating sustainable, arts-based economic development strategies. Topics such as music and dance festivals, storytelling gatherings, craft marketing outlets, heritage trails, summer arts workshops, museums, foodways, and tourism initiatives that celebrate and promote Appalachian culture and identity will be examined.

Building Creative Economies is jointly sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts at the North Carolina School of the Arts, HandMade in America, the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, the World Bank Institute, the North Carolina Arts Council, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Heinz Endowments, the George Gund Foundation, the Southern Arts Federation, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, and Americans for the Arts.

(*Statistics from a 2001 survey commissioned by the Craft Organization Directors Association, conducted by the Center for Business Research at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, and managed by HandMade in America.)

A conference agenda is available at the National Endowment for the Arts Web site.

Media who would like more information are invited to contact Cheryl Schirillo at (336) 659-0234 or at cheryl@triad.rr.com.