Columbia Theatre and LowerTown Arts District

The festival is juried and focuses on artists; nonprofits are invited to set up an informational booth in order to inform the public of the mission.  There will be FAQ booklets, tee-shirts and donation boxes at the booth, as well as volunteers who can answer questions about the progress of the restoration and future plans. Paducah Art House Alliance (PAHA) will have a dual booth highlighting the restoration efforts as well as the programming taking place at Maiden Alley Cinema. As partners in the Columbia Theatre Restoration, Maiden Alley Cinema has been in operation since 2001 and serves as a programming model for the space once it is restored. The opportunity presented at the festival is to educate the public regarding the 4 main goals:  1) Historic Preservation; 2) Economic Development; 3) Creative Placemaking; and, 4) Multi-use space for cultural/educational events using Maiden Alley Cinema as a programming model. The programming potential will far exceed what MAC is able to do presently with a single screen and limited use of the shared space, but offers a precedent for what the market can support. As an art house cinema, the primary focus is creating cross cultural awareness, promoting visual literacy and advocating for filmmaking as an art form; however live music, panel discussions, film festivals, lecture series and more have become part of the programming model and will expand into the Columbia Theatre space.

Paducah Art House Alliance

McCracken