Last weekend, CERF+ presented our Ready + Resilient program at Lowe Mill ARTS & Entertainment in Huntsville, Alabama. While on site, we learned about the mill and its transformation from the Genesco Shoe plant to the thriving arts space that it is today. With 148 studios and over 200 artists, Lowe Mill is the largest privately owned arts facility in the United States and the feeling of camaraderie and collaboration as you walk its halls is palpable. Visitors are encouraged to stop into any open studio and the artists we met were enthusiastic contributors to this impressive community and the organic creativity that springs within.
Ready + Resilient brought together artists from the Lowe Mill community as well as the greater northeastern Alabama area to learn about emergency preparedness, asset protection, entrepreneurship, and marketing. Participants left the program ready to take action to strengthen and protect their careers.
CERF+ extends our heartfelt thanks to the dedicated and hardworking staff of Lowe Mill, our fantastic presenters: Kimberly Winkle, Craig Nutt, Jennifer A. Reis, Steve Schlackman, and Chris Berkey; artists Thomas Kite and Robin Luft; the fabulous team on the ground in Huntsville: Marcia Freeland, Matthew Bakula, J. Leko, and Eliah McCutchen; Allison Dillon-Jauken and Arts Huntsville; and sponsors Alabama State Council on the Arts and National Endowment for the Arts; and all the artists who participated!
