Photo: www.facebook.com/groups/artandtech/
This is the latest post about the myriad of people you’ll meet at New Story in Morgantown, June 16 & 17.
It’s a free event hosted by the West Virginia Community Development Hub and our friends at WVU’s Reed College of Media.
Space is limited. Register now at newstory17.splashthat.com
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
This saying was coined by comedians and satirists in order to make them feel okay about doing (not very flattering) impersonations of people. Or by plagiarists.
But to builders, makers, entrepreneurs and people who like to make good things happens, it is a reminder to pay attention to what has worked elsewhere, learn from it, copy what you can, reinvent what you need.
In the practice of our work helping some of West Virginia’s most struggling communities find new hope, theft is one of our most powerful strategies – stealing good ideas and implanting them in new places. We actively coordinate and encourage that whenever we can.
And more often than not, the victims of the crime are more than happy to be willing participants.
For example, it’s why our friends behind the remarkable resurgence of an arts and culture community in Princeton, West Virginia, have made trips to their compadres in Welch and Grafton recently, freely passing around the secrets to their success and sprouting new imitators across the state.
And it’s why the folks behind the nationally-renowned creative industries and maker-culture in Pittsburgh are coming down to Morgantown later this month to spearhead one of the feature sessions at this year’s New Story event.
Learn more about New Story, and register now (it’s free) at: newstory17.splashthat.com
Largely thanks to a college football rivalry, many people in West Virginia have an unflattering nickname for this once downtrodden steel city to the north.
But the reality is that Pittsburgh has well and truly rebounded from its industrial doldrums, and is now widely regarded as one of the best places to live and work in America.
It has done this in no small part by focusing on arts innovation and creative tech.
And so we will welcome to New Story on Friday, June 16, the architects of Pittsburgh’s Creative Industries Network and the locals behind many of the city’s coolest and most engaging creative spaces and maker initiatives.
Here’s some info about the Pittsburgh contingent that will be sharing ideas with their West Virginia counterparts at New Story.
Nina Barbuto, Founder and Executive Director
ASSEMBLE – a community space for arts + technology
Nina’s passion for art, new media and social learning led her to found Assemble in 2011.
Nina works in a variety of media including architecture, film, sound, and installation.
She also co-founded I Made It! Market in 2007. An idea based on urban acupuncture, (using small-scale interventions to transform the larger urban context) this nomadic market partners with community, arts and nonprofit organizations to raise funds and awareness to improve their communities while allowing local artists and crafters to sell their wares.
Nina holds degrees in architecture from Southern California Institute of Architecture and Carnegie Mellon University, where she is also adjunct faculty.
Ashley Cecil
Artist and Creative Entrepreneur
Ashley is an artist and illustrator, and part of the pilot-year cohort of the Pittsburgh Technology Council’s Co-CREATE Business Ignition Program.
She’s a working artist who has grown her passion for art into a thriving entrepreneurial creative business. Before moving to the Pittsburgh region, Ashley studied with accomplished master painters in London while earning her master’s degree at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art.
Kim Chestney, Founding Director
Pittsburgh Technology Council’s Creative Industries Network
Over the past 10 years, Kim Chestney has built Pittsburgh’s Creative Industries Network to a nationally-benchmarked initiative.
Kim has been establishing programs to support creatives at the intersection of creativity and innovation, including: the annual CREATE Festival in Pittsburgh; the Co-CREATE Business Ignition Program for Creative Entrepreneurs; Creative Clash, Design Matters, DIY Creative Business and CMO Insights event series; Innovation City, creative tech party at SXSW Interactive; Inclusion, Innovation and Integrative Design, 2014 & 2016 Creative Industries Research Studies with Carnegie Mellon University and Richard Florida’s research team at the University of Toronto.
Jim Denova, Vice President
Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
Jim Denova is Vice President of the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, and directs economic development projects in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Jim has been part of the Creative Industries Network’s leadership team since its inception in 2009, and has been instrumental to the network’s establishment as a national leader in the creative industries. Jim holds a Ph. D. from the University of Pittsburgh with a concentration in social research, and has over 35 years of experience in nonprofit administration and philanthropy.
Ryan Lammie, Founder
Radiant Hall Studio Environments for Working Creatives
Radiant Hall founder Ryan Lammie was born in Pittsburgh and educated at the Pratt Institute in New York. In 2011 he was selected for the Yale / Norfolk Summer Residency in Connecticut and graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts.
As an entrepreneur, Lammie has built Radiant Hall into a nonprofit venture that supports over 50 Pittsburgh artists at three locations city-wide. Radiant Hall has become a framework for creative community building, and has served as a host for school tours, arts patrons, film/photo location scouts, corporate events, interns, nonprofit leaders, and neighbors.
“The Pittsburgh Session” will take place on New Story Friday at 12:40 p.m.
To learn more about this, and all the other sessions happening at New Story, visit newstory17.splashthat.com
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