Promoting rural identity and sustained economies utilizing the creative industries : developing creative cluster communities

Abstract: This project seeks to determine the factors that make rural visual creative communities successful. The work examines distinctive trends evident in rural creative communities. It further investigates the contribution visual creative industries based businesses have on the local economy. The project seeks to determine if the characteristics that have made these communities successful can be laid out to aid other rural communities. Two case study sights were chosen: The Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland and The Central Texas Hill Country. Visual creative industries based businesses, educational facilities, museums and support organizations were interviewed. A result of this investigation shows that regionalism is a strong factor in the creation and sale of work. Products are both unique and follow local tradition. A further result confirms that economically these regions rely both on local trade, as well as outside buyers to sustain the large numbers of businesses that form creative clusters in these regions. A final result reveals that the development of these creative communities happened graduall y. They utilized their existing traditions while growing in a modem way allowing for a diversification of the economy, a building of both private and public bodies that help support the creative community and, importantly, harnessed the foresight of local visionaries to develop.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo