What small cities have artist communities that will explode in popularity?

Interested in cities that have strong artist communities and good public art awareness. Great places for an artist to relocate.

Public Comments

1. Ann Arbor, Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 114,024. Ann Arbor has a number of cultural attractions and events, many sponsored by the University of Michigan. Numerous performing arts groups and facilities are located on the university's campus, as are museums dedicated to art, archaeology, and natural history and sciences (see Museums at the University of Michigan). The Matthaei Botanical Gardens, located on the northeastern edge of Ann Arbor, is operated by the university. Performing arts groups not associated with the university include the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre; the Arbor Opera Theater; the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra; the Ann Arbor Ballet Theater; the Ann Arbor Civic Ballet (established in 1954), which was Michigan's first chartered ballet company[20]; and Performance Network, which operates a downtown theater frequently offering new or nontraditional plays. A number of annual events – many of them centered on performing and visual arts – draw visitors to Ann Arbor from around the state and the region. The Ann Arbor Folk Festival, an annual benefit concert held in late January for the Ark, features many folk musicians. The Ann Arbor Film Festival is held for six days in March at the Michigan Theater. EdgeFest is a multi-venue festival of avant-garde and progressive jazz, held each autumn since 1997. The Ann Arbor Art Fairs, a set of four concurrent juried fairs held on downtown streets, began in 1960. Scheduled on Wednesday through Saturday in the third week of July, the fairs draw upward of half a million visitors from across the nation. The oldest and most competitive of the four fairs is the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair. Other summertime events include the Blues and Jazz Festival (established in 1969), which is usually held in mid-September at Gallup Park. The Dexter-Ann Arbor Run is a running race from Dexter to downtown Ann Arbor along the Huron River. In late August the Shopping Cart Race, an unofficial and somewhat underground competition, has been held since 1998 as part of the annual Seize the Week series of events, known through 2004 as "Punk Week".