Update

For us, the past month has been all about partnerships - strengthening the current, and building the new. We’ve started a public art and cultural planning partnership with LexArts, Lexington’s United Arts Fund and Arts Council, and Urban Collage, an urban design firm now merged with Lord, Aeck, and Sargent. LexArts and Urban Collage were two of the earliest partners on the LuigART Makers Spaces, and we are thrilled to build stronger partnerships with them. We’ve started construction on our first house, which will be donated to the CKYO NoLi MusicWorks’ Program Director, Rachel Hockenberry. We’re also working with EcoGro, a contracting and consulting group for developing sustainable ecology, to help solve storm water runoff issues in the area.

We’re also in the process of creating a new attraction for the neighborhood - the NoLi Night Market. It will be a monthly music and makers market, where local food vendors, brewers, craftsmen, artists, and musicians come together to build awareness for the local maker culture. The inaugural market is being created in collaboration with Kentucky for Kentucky, WRFL (University of Kentucky’s student and community radio station), and the Chamber Music Festival of Lexington. In addition to food trucks and makers booths, it will feature 3 hours of free music programmed by these groups from 7pm to 10pm, wrapping up with a film from 10pm to midnight.

Recent Wins

1. Lexington’s Transit Authority - known locally as LexTran - recently announced an investment in the NoLi through a $25M headquarters located blocks away from our project. The estimates are that this will bring over 300 jobs into the community.

2. The Old Johnson Elementary School building on 6th Street has been announced as the location for Lexington’s new STEAM Academy. The school will open in August, and in addition to the kids in the nieghborhood, it will bring students from all over the city into the NoLi.

3. After a meeting in Al’s Bar, at the corner of 6th Street and North Limestone, members of the community have come together to form the North Limestone Business Association & District. The NoLi business community has been fragmented and siloed for many years; this move will unite the independent business owners of the area, and build a strong force for positive change in the NoLi.

Insight/Provocation

The main insight we’ve learned this month is the importance of strong partnerships. Without these, our project would not be as far along as it currently is. Building partnerships with organizations that have similar missions brings more people into the neighborhood, and gets more heads around the table.