WKCTC's Paducah School of Art and Design to Open UNESCO Creative Cities Exhibition

Part of First UNESCO Creative Cities of Craft and Folk Art International Meeting in U.S.

MEDIA RELEASE: PADUCAH, KY (09/08/2017) On September 26, West Kentucky Community and Technical College's Paducah School of Art and Design (PSAD) will open Pride of Place, an exhibition of craft objects and art works from member cities of the UNESCO Creative Cities of Craft and Folk Art.

The exhibition will be presented in conjunction with the annual meeting of UNESCO's Creative Cities of Craft and Folk Art to be hosted September 24-27 in Paducah, Ky. This is the first international meeting of UNESCO Creative Cities to be held in the United States.

Pride of Place will open with a reception event for the public from 4 - 5 p.m. September 26 at PSAD's 2D and Graphic Design Building at 905 Harrison Street in Paducah's Lower Town Arts District. The exhibition will be on display in the first floor alcove gallery and will include works of art and crafts representing practices for which each of the participating cities are recognized and renowned. Paducah will showcase contemporary hand-dyed quilts by noted fiber artist Helene Davis. Pride of Place will also be on display in the alcove gallery from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. Wednesday, September 27.

Participating cities include Icheon, South Korea; Nassau, Bahamas; Suzhou, China; Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia; San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico; Hangzhou, China; Jingdezhen, China; Santa Fe, USA; Fabriano, Italy; and Paducah, USA.

"We are pleased to collaborate with the City of Paducah, Paducah Convention and Visitors Bureau, Paducah Economic Development, Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce, and other regional organizations for the upcoming UNECO visit," said PSAD Dean, Paul Aho. "We are particularly pleased to host this exhibition representing Paducah and our sister cities, bringing this unique display of international artworks together for their members to share and regional audiences to enjoy."

During the UNESCO visit, Australia Wide 5 will also be on exhibit at the art school. The juried, touring exhibition showcases the artwork of members of Ozquilt Network Inc., Australia's organization for art quilters. This collection of 39 works reflects contemporary art quilt practice from across Australia and will remain on view through September 29 in association with the American Quilter's Society's new Fall QuiltWeek in Paducah. This exhibition will be on display in the Bill Ford Gallery, also located at PSAD's 2D and Graphic Design Building.

PSAD, a division of West Kentucky Community and Technical College, offers an Associate in Fine Arts degree in Visual Art and an Associate in Applied Science degree and certificate programs in Visual Communication: Multimedia, as well as studio art classes for students of all levels and disciplines. Classes are offered on WKCTC's campus, 905 Harrison Street and 919 Madison Street.

For more information, call (270) 534-3901.

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West Kentucky Community and Technical College (WKCTC) has been recognized four consecutive times by The Aspen Institute as one of the top 10 community colleges in the nation for providing students with strong job training and continuing higher education opportunity, for achieving high completion and transfer rates, and for providing strong employment results for its graduates.