January 26, 2006

by Diane Chiddister

A new collaborative project aims to attract more arts-oriented tourists to southwest Ohio by marketing six towns along U.S. 68, including Yellow Springs, as a “cultural corridor.”

The project, called Excursion 68, seeks to present Bellefontaine, West Liberty, Urbana, Springfield, Yellow Springs and Xenia as arts destinations, said Lynda Collins-Pawley, the director of Excursion 68. The towns are located in Greene, Clark, Champaign and Logan counties.

The purpose of the project is to “unify these four counties for enhanced tourism and economic development based on arts and culture and to identify to tourists what rich resources in culture and art the corridor has,” Collins-Pawley said in a recent interview.

Excursion 68, which is partially funded by the Springfield-based Turner Foundation, is in its planning stages. Organizers from participating communities have met several times and hope to launch the project by the summer or fall of 2006, she said.

Karen Wintrow, planning coordinator of the Community Information Project, said she became excited about the venture after Collins-Pawley made a presentation to the Yellow Springs Chamber of Commerce.

“We have so much to offer in Yellow Springs, and everything we can do to get the word out is beneficial to everyone,” said Wintrow, who is on the project’s charter committee, which has 18 representatives from the six communities.

Wintrow said she sees Excursion 68 as not just about attracting tourists but also attracting new businesses and perhaps new arts-oriented residents to town.

The possible benefits from Excursion 68 are twofold, Wintrow said. The increased publicity, which initially will be in the form of a Web site, brochures and perhaps later as ads in magazines, will alert more people to Yellow Springs’ offerings. And the group may at some point begin collaborative events between participating communities that may attract visitors who wouldn’t come to the area otherwise.

“I see this as an extra tool for us,” Wintrow said. “I don’t see it as supplanting anything else we’re doing. It’s another opportunity to inform people about Yellow Springs.”

Collins-Pawley, who works for the Springfield-based Arts Interface Creative Group, said the idea for a cultural corridor came to her when she worked for the Springfield Museum and traveled to area communities. She was impressed with the number of artists and cultural offerings, she said.

“I think this is a unique situation, possibly the only several-county corridor in the U.S.,” she said. “I have done a lot of research and haven’t found another.”

Most often, Collins-Pawley said, cultural corridors can be found in cities, such as the Short North area of Columbus.

The arts and cultural destinations identified so far include the newly restored Holland Theater in Bellefontaine, the Piatt and Mac-O-Chee castles in West Liberty, the Rothchild Raspberry Farm in Urbana, the Springfield Art Museum and Westcott House in Springfield, the artists and shops of Yellow Springs, including Young’s Jersey Dairy, and the Xenia historical outdoor drama Bluejacket.

“Even though they are near each other, each town has a unique look and feel. They are six unique, creative communities. It makes the corridor fun to come to because they are not the same thing over and over,” Collins-Pawley said.

Local artist Lisa Goldberg, who organizes the successful Yellow Springs Artist Studio Tour, said she welcomes the new venture.

“I think it’s exciting,” Goldberg said. “I think Yellow Springs needs to do a better job of marketing itself to get people here. I think it’s another way to set ourselves apart as a destination spot.”

In her regional travels to art fairs, Goldberg said, she is continually impressed with the number of arts-oriented tourists who have already heard of Yellow Springs and express a desire to visit.

“People are interested,” she said. “But they need a hook, a reason to come here.”

Michael Jones of the Shirley/Jones Gallery, who attended an initial Excursion 68 planning meeting, said he has mixed feelings about the project. While he considers the cultural corridor a “good idea,” he said he has concerns that “the definition of culture is very broad.”

Such a broad definition of culture will tend to attract more local people and fewer people from other regions who seek excellence in art, he said.

“The more generic the focus is, the more the audience will be local and near regional rather than far-flung,” he said. “If that’s the direction it’s going, it’s not much impact for us at all,” he said about the gallery he runs with Karen Shirley.

Collins-Pawley said she is excited about the energy around the project that comes from many people from different towns working together.

“Most people are enthused about collaborating,” she said. “It’s a more effective way to reach a larger audience.”

Contact: dchiddister@ysnews.com