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Santa Fe First UNESCO Creative City in U.S. - 2005
It should come as no surprise that UNESCO just made Santa Fe America's first Creative City during a July (7/8/05) ceremony inducting the city into the Creative Cities Network in both Folk Art and Design. For decades Santa Fe has been a center for original thought and enterprise. Walking up Canyon Road, Santa Fe's most visible art district, one can almost feel the creativity vibrating from each of the galleries along the street. While Santa Fe has grown as a center for contemporary art, its most historic and original art forms have never lost their vitality and have also grown in both popularity and dimension. In addition, simply looking around town one finds a distinctive style to seemingly everything; from architecture to furniture to fashion.
Santa Fe caught the eye of UNESCO (the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 2004 when the organization brought 10 artists to the inaugural Santa Fe International Folk Art Market . It was UNESCO's first project with the U.S. since the country re-entered the group's membership, some 18 months ago, after a 25 year absence. That re-introduction to Santa Fe convinced UNESCO staff that there is something noteworthy about the city's cultural heritage, prodigious art industry, extensive scientific community and long history of creative enterprise and led to the the city's induction into the Creative Cities Network.
One of only three cities so designated, Santa Fe joins Edinburgh (UK) and Popayan (Colombia) as the first cities in the world to join the Creative Cities Network. Even though cities are typically restricted to being named in just one category for Creative City status, Santa Fe was designated as a Creative City in both Folk Art and Design, underscoring the extent of the city's artistic accomplishments. Cities may apply to be endorsed by the Creative Cities Network in the categories of literature, cinema, music, folk art, design, information technology/media arts, and gastronomy.
There are few places where art plays as important an economic role as Santa Fe. A recent study by the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of New Mexico revealed 17 percent of all people in Santa Fe county are employed in some fashion in the arts and culture sector. The same study also ranked Santa Fe as the second largest art market in the U.S. behind New York. Remarkable for a town of 70,000 people. While 'creativity' itself is difficult to neatly package, as a UNESCO Creative City the expectation is to work with other centers of creativity and to learn from them, as they learn from Santa Fe, how best to harness creativity for local economic and social development.
Milagros del Corral, UNESCO's Deputy Assistant Director-General for Culture, made the presentation to the city's leadership on July 8. She articulated the organization's view of Santa Fe and what entry into the Creative Cities Network could mean. "It is an honor to share Santa Fe's remarkable achievements and potential in the arts with the rest of the world and to appoint the city of Santa Fe to UNESCO's Creative Cities Network under the framework of the Global Alliance for Cultural Diversity. With a history that traces back to the pueblo cultures of the Rio Grande, abundant spirituality and beautiful landscapes, the city of Santa Fe inspires and nurtures creative talent in a multi-cultural setting that cultivates a unique and organic cultural sensibility and industry. UNESCO's Global Alliance established the Creative Cities Network in order to link cities like Santa Fe that support pluralism of ideas and make creativity an essential element of their economic development. Using this Network as their main platform, appointed Creative Cities can share their experiences and support each other with a view to building local capacity and to increasing the availability of diverse cultural products in national and international markets".
With an established reputation for visual and performing arts, cultural depth, and historic breadth, Santa Fe is poised to become known as a world-wide center for creative enterprise as well. Already visitors to Santa Fe can be creative during their stay through a myriad of art classes, personal spiritual development, and regular literary and photographic workshops. This segment of the city's tourism industry may be one of the first areas to grow under the direction of the Creative Cities Network.
The UNESCO Creative Cities Network was established in 2004 to provide a global platform for local endeavor. The Network connects creative cities around the world as a means of encouraging diversity of cultural products and creating international demand for local offerings. A growing list of distinguished international cities have applied for Creative Cities status including Buenos Aires (Argentina), Salvador de Bahia (Brazil), Ebolowa (Cameroon), Amman (Jordan), and Durban (South Africa).
Santa Fe caught the eye of UNESCO (the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 2004 when the organization brought 10 artists to the inaugural Santa Fe International Folk Art Market . It was UNESCO's first project with the U.S. since the country re-entered the group's membership, some 18 months ago, after a 25 year absence. That re-introduction to Santa Fe convinced UNESCO staff that there is something noteworthy about the city's cultural heritage, prodigious art industry, extensive scientific community and long history of creative enterprise and led to the the city's induction into the Creative Cities Network.
One of only three cities so designated, Santa Fe joins Edinburgh (UK) and Popayan (Colombia) as the first cities in the world to join the Creative Cities Network. Even though cities are typically restricted to being named in just one category for Creative City status, Santa Fe was designated as a Creative City in both Folk Art and Design, underscoring the extent of the city's artistic accomplishments. Cities may apply to be endorsed by the Creative Cities Network in the categories of literature, cinema, music, folk art, design, information technology/media arts, and gastronomy.
There are few places where art plays as important an economic role as Santa Fe. A recent study by the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of New Mexico revealed 17 percent of all people in Santa Fe county are employed in some fashion in the arts and culture sector. The same study also ranked Santa Fe as the second largest art market in the U.S. behind New York. Remarkable for a town of 70,000 people. While 'creativity' itself is difficult to neatly package, as a UNESCO Creative City the expectation is to work with other centers of creativity and to learn from them, as they learn from Santa Fe, how best to harness creativity for local economic and social development.
Milagros del Corral, UNESCO's Deputy Assistant Director-General for Culture, made the presentation to the city's leadership on July 8. She articulated the organization's view of Santa Fe and what entry into the Creative Cities Network could mean. "It is an honor to share Santa Fe's remarkable achievements and potential in the arts with the rest of the world and to appoint the city of Santa Fe to UNESCO's Creative Cities Network under the framework of the Global Alliance for Cultural Diversity. With a history that traces back to the pueblo cultures of the Rio Grande, abundant spirituality and beautiful landscapes, the city of Santa Fe inspires and nurtures creative talent in a multi-cultural setting that cultivates a unique and organic cultural sensibility and industry. UNESCO's Global Alliance established the Creative Cities Network in order to link cities like Santa Fe that support pluralism of ideas and make creativity an essential element of their economic development. Using this Network as their main platform, appointed Creative Cities can share their experiences and support each other with a view to building local capacity and to increasing the availability of diverse cultural products in national and international markets".
With an established reputation for visual and performing arts, cultural depth, and historic breadth, Santa Fe is poised to become known as a world-wide center for creative enterprise as well. Already visitors to Santa Fe can be creative during their stay through a myriad of art classes, personal spiritual development, and regular literary and photographic workshops. This segment of the city's tourism industry may be one of the first areas to grow under the direction of the Creative Cities Network.
The UNESCO Creative Cities Network was established in 2004 to provide a global platform for local endeavor. The Network connects creative cities around the world as a means of encouraging diversity of cultural products and creating international demand for local offerings. A growing list of distinguished international cities have applied for Creative Cities status including Buenos Aires (Argentina), Salvador de Bahia (Brazil), Ebolowa (Cameroon), Amman (Jordan), and Durban (South Africa).