The Creative Coast’s blogspot is Savannah’s sounding board for local thinkers, innovators, wanderers and wonderers. Guest bloggers share their thoughts, opinions and creative noodling from all over the map. This week’s blog is from Kayne Lanahan, CEO and founder of Savannah Stopover Music Festival.  Read on for Kayne’s notes on what it takes to create a mushrooming music scene…..

Photo by Matthew McCully

Just last week the manager of one of Savannah’s Broughton Street retail stores professed a profound desire to get involved in this year’s Savannah Stopover Music Festival because she was willing to do anything to help improve the “crappy” music scene in this town.

I hear this sentiment expressed over and over again in Savannah, primarily from the 18-34 year old demographic. Two years ago I would have stood there shaking my head and nodding “yes, yes, I hear you, I agree” but now I find myself asking the harder questions: What constitutes a “Music Scene” in a city? What if my scene is different than your scene? What if there is a “scene” and we just don’t do a very good job of promoting it across Savannah’s many microcosms of youth?

The Creative Coast’s blogspot is Savannah’s sounding board for local thinkers, innovators, wanderers and wonderers. Guest bloggers share their thoughts, opinions and creative noodling from all over the map. This week’s blog is from Beth Vantosh,  commercial realtor extraordinaire.  Read on for Beth’s strategy for turning lemons into a whole grove of citrus trees….. 

OK, so here’s the deal…the Savannah commercial real estate market has taken quite the hard hit in recent years (and not in a good way, if you know what I mean. And I know you do). Businesses have left our amazing community due to the global economic downturn. This sucks, not only for those gone businesses, but also for those of you (being the concerned Savannahians that you are) who want to see cool, successful businesses influence our economy and lives. We want our creative community to prosper, right?! Right!

Although this downturn may seem like a Death-Eaters’ warning for small businesses (sorry to all you non-Harry Potter fans, but you get the idea), there is a glittering lining: Lower commercial real estate prices, as well as a push from the government, are giving small businesses unprecedented opportunities to shine and prosper in Savannah.

The Creative Coast’s blogspot is Savannah’s sounding board for local thinkers, innovators, wanderers and wonderers. Guest bloggers share their thoughts, opinions and creative noodling from all over the map. This week’s blog is from Harry Delorme, self-confessed tinkerer and Senior Curator of Education with the Telfair Museum of Art.  Read on for Harry’s preview of an upcoming tinkerer’s paradise….

Chippewa Square, 2011 by Shinji Murakami

In an earlier post I wrote about the value of tinkering and do-it-yourself creative activity. I firmly believe that creative doing and making are rewarding and empowering experiences that cut across societal boundaries. Many now think that learning to do things ourselves may even be essential to our future survival.

The DIY movement has been catching on, and has inspired a broad spectrum of people to try everything from backyard gardening to experimenting with all kinds of technology.

Many of us consume technology in the form of gadgets and the content and connectivity they offer, without understanding what’s behind the magic. Some of the creative tools that make the magic possible are easily accessible if one has either the time to explore them, access to computers and the internet, or just someone to open the door to the possibilities.

The Creative Coast’s blogspot is Savannah’s sounding board for local thinkers, innovators, wanderers and wonderers. Guest bloggers share their thoughts, opinions and creative noodling from all over the map. This week’s blog is from Sean Brandon, director of Mobility & Parking Services for the City of Savannah. Read on to find out how Sean thinks “creative growth” advocates can bolster their positioning….

In the discussion about “creative cities” and the policies that may create them, I’ve been struck by the arguments that have often been made that it is an elitist concept that doesn’t particularly benefit anyone except a relatively few people who can afford the comforts that come with being a “creative city”. I’d like to offer a small analogy that I hope will create more discussion.

I’m sure you have, at various points, seen someone biking through a busy street that seems was never meant for a bicycle, usually a four to six lane road where the actual speed is fifteen miles above the posted speed limit. As you struggle to keep pace with your fellow drivers you look over and see a person bicycling either in the travel lane or more likely on the narrow shoulder. “What is that crazy person doing?” is a somewhat natural response for most people. As it turns out, many bicyclists are either in poverty or close to it. Poverty doesn’t give you the comfort of finding a job within walking distance, and in many cases, even a robust mass transit system can often leave gaps for people trying to get to jobs that are at non-business hours.