Lake Worth: City of art, artists

T h e C i t y Commission me e t i n g o n Tuesday was a special one for many residents as two new commissioners — Herman Ro b i n - son and Omari Hardy — were sworn in, ushering what many in Lake Worth hope is a new political era.

Both men thanked their supporters while promising to work for all residents.

They got huge ovations in what has become a newly energized city hall. The buzz was palpable. Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell c alled it one of the greatest days of his life.

The presentations that followed weren’t met with the same fanfare and enthusiasm, but that didn’t make them any less significant.

Jan Rodusky, chief grants officer for the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, for inst ance, gave a 10-minute update on the Arts and Cultural Master Plan for downtown Lake Worth. The idea is to improve Kevin D. Thompson the city’s quality of life, leverage Lake Worth’s strengths and support and promote local artists to lure more infrastructure investment, something the city desperately needs.

The creative corridor program, which the city, the Community Redevelopment Agency and the Cultural Council have been working on for 18 months, will focus on Lake and Lucerne avenues from Federal to Dixie highways.

To make the plan work and to attract more investment, the city, Rodusky said, must step up its marketing effort by highlighting such city accomplishments as the new solar-energy field and the program that replaced more than 4,000 street lights with more efficient LED bulbs.

The city must also continue to promote local artists and events, Rodusky said.

In order to craft an effective branding campaign, the cit y looked at what officials have done in Austin, Texas, known as the live-music capital of the world.

“We looked at their branding and how they leveraged art and culture to develop their own identify and brand,” Rodusky said. “That could be used as a foundation for city’s brand strategy.”

L a k e Wo r t h w a s a l s o impressed with how Glasgow, Scotland, put its citizens at the center of its branding efforts, focusing on how Glasgow is a place where artists want to live, work and play.

That’s how Lake Worth wants to be known.

The city wants to allow artists to create in their own homes, which would result in a minor zoning adjustment and to the existing occupancy permit process, Rodusky said.

The plan aims to expand the amount of physical places for artists to showcase their work downtown.

A few suggestions are city hall, the Lake Worth Public Library, at or near the historic building at 1000 Lake Avenue or Bryant Park’s band shell.