If you are of the "Creative Class"...

Spread the Word

In traditional societies, the creators were held in honor and were supported by the community. Others grew the food, they fed the creators. Others made garments, they clothed the creators. The creative class gives life and vibrance to the community; they add the color, the variety and hold up the mirrors to society that stimulate thought and reflection.

In our time, the creative class often struggles to get by. Artists, actors, musicians, inventors, designers, scientists and poets, all find their passion pays poorly, and many must hold down other jobs to pay the bills. This impoverishes us all, as life becomes more mundane, and creativity becomes canned... on TV rather than live.

In valuing artistic and intellectual growth, the VillageTown recognizes the need to invest in the Creative Class. Based on the principal that it is cheaper to save a dollar than earn one, the VillageTown makes a capital investment in the beginning that is then able to support itself without additional funding from the community. It does this in two ways:

• On each plaza, each village has an artists guild hall. This building is designed for 25 guild members, who have come together around their art. The guild is provided with the facility, appropriately outfitted; designed to enable the members to pursue their art.
• Each guild member is provided with free-base housing: a small, single-floor apartment with trapazoidal walls - solving a design challenge where townhouses bend around a curved road. The guild member may live in the unit rent-free, or may sublet the unit and keep the rent to cover living elsewhere in the village.

The guild hall and flats belong to the VillageTown, and there is a built-in checks-and-balances system to assure that the guild maintains a level of creativity that contribes to the vitality of its host village. The guild halls will have visitor accomodations and other revenue-generating designs that enable the guild to cover the operating expenses. In this way, the financial cost of creating is lower; it allows the artists to focus on their passion.

The decision as to what type of guild is a dialogue between the people who found the village and the creative group that is attracted. For example, in an entrepreneur's village, the guild hall may be for inventors. In another, the village may want music, dance, theater or the visual arts. The process of this selection is not overly-controlled. The future artists and the future villagers are adults, and they are expected to sort out what they want and how to achieve it. The funds come out of the VillageTown profits that otherwise would have been taken by a developer, so the organising company has an obligation to assure that the investment in cultural enrichment truly does enrich each village.

If you are a member of the creative class and love the idea, spread the word... tell other artists and tell potential patrons. Click here to spread the word.