Paducah, Kentucky - Contemporary Paducah

Contemporary Paducah

In 1996, the Paducah Wall to Wall mural program was begun by Louisiana mural artist Robert Dafford and his team on the floodwall in downtown. The over 50 murals cover a number of subjects, including Native American history, industries such as river barges and hospitals, local African-American heritage, the old Carnegie Library on Broadway St., steamboats, and local labor unions. In May 2003 photographer Jim Roshan documented painting on the Lewis and Clark Expedition mural during the America 24/7 project. One of the images was used in the book Kentucky24/7 published in 2004. By 2008 the project was in mainly a maintenance phase, with muralist Herb Roe returning to town each year to repaint and refurbish the panels. Roe is the only muralist associated with the project to have worked on all of the panels. A new mural was added to the project by Roe in the summer of 2010. It shows the 100 year history of the local Boy Scout troop. Troop 1 is one of only a handful of troops who share their centennial with the centennial of the national scouting organization itself. The dedication for the mural was held on National Scout Sunday, February 6, 2011.

In August 2000, Paducah’s "Artist Relocation Program" was started to offer incentives for artists to relocate to its historical Downtown and Lower Town areas. The program has become a national model for using the arts for economic development, and has been awarded the Governors Award in the Arts, The Kentucky Chapter of the American Planning Association Distinguished Planning Award, The American Planning Association National Planning Award, and most recently Kentucky League of Cities' Enterprise Cities Award. Lower Town, home of the Artist Relocation Program, is the oldest neighborhood in Paducah. As retail commerce moved toward the outskirts of town, efforts were made to preserve the architectural stylings, restoring the historic Victorian structures in the older parts of the city. The program helped that effort and became a catalyst for revitalizing the Downtown area. The Luthor F. Carson Center for the Performing Arts was also constructed. In September 2004 plans jelled to highlight Paducah's musical roots through the redevelopment of the South side of Downtown. The centerpiece of the effort is the renovation of Maggie Steed's Hotel Metropolitan, where legends such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Chick Webb's orchestra, B.B. King, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Ike and Tina Turner and other R & B and Blues legends polished their craft along what has become known as the Chitlin' circuit. Using this genre as a foundation, supporters hope to advertise Paducah's role in the history of American music.

Another mainstay and regional attraction is the annual OMGcon, an anime and gaming convention held in Paducah since 2006, drawing in attendees from across the United States.