Santa Fe 1st UNESCO Creative City in U.S.

In 2005, Santa Fe became the first city in the U.S. to be designated a UNESCO Creative City for Crafts & Folk Art.  This group of renowned international cities are chosen by application for innovation, investment and community in a range of arts and creativity.  Read more about Santa Fe's designation at SantaFe.org & at the UNESCO Creative Cities: Santa Fe page.

From UNESCO: What is the Creative Cities Network?

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) was created in 2004 to promote cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development. Almost 300 cities around the world which currently make up this network work together towards a common objective: placing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of their development plans at the local level and cooperating actively at the international level.

By joining the Network, cities commit to sharing their best practices and developing partnerships involving the public and private sectors as well as civil society in order to:
 
•  strengthen the creation, production, distribution and dissemination of cultural activities, goods and services
•  develop hubs of creativity and innovation and broaden opportunities for creators and professionals in the cultural sector
•  improve access to and participation in cultural life, in particular for marginalized or vulnerable groups and individuals
•  fully integrate culture and creativity into sustainable development plans

The Network covers seven creative fields: Crafts and Folk Art, Media Arts, Film, Design, Gastronomy, Literature and Music

In 2015, Santa Fe was joined by Detroit for Design, Austin for Media Arts, & Tuscon for Gastronomy.

In 2017, Seattle was added for Literature, San Antonio for Gastronomy, & Kansas City for Music.