Smaller cities support local artists: mid-sized cities around the country are attracting, housing and marketing artist's communities in innovative ways that benefit both the artists and the towns they call home

Art Business News, March, 2003 by Julie Keith

A Work Space of One's Own

Concerned about the pattern of gentrification that had priced artists out of their lofts in Cleveland's Warehouse district, artist and architect William Gould, along with his wife and a few friends, began discussing ways to protect artists' live and work spaces.

Gould's informal gathering eventually became Art/Space Cleveland, a non-profit organization that, in time, influenced the creation of a new zoning ordinance in the city which allows unused industrial spaces to be used as live/work areas. Introduced by city council members Michael Dolan and Joe Cimperman, the ordinance was adopted in July 2001.

The ordinance is important because although it does not stipulate that loft residents be artists, it does limit the usable living space in each unit to 50 percent, meaning that developers cannot buy the buildings and convert them into higher-priced convened lofts or apartments. Gould also pointed out that a tax abatement is available for people choosing live/work spaces.

Ideal for creative individuals in need of work space, including dancers, potters and performance artists, the spaces will also gather artists together in impromptu communities.

Gould said some of the long-term goals for Art/Space Cleveland are to further specify the city ordinance to ensure protection of the artists and the historic buildings in which they live, as well as developing a large databases of artists, building owners, architects, officials, developers and neighborhood associations interested in live/work residences as other cities have successfully done.

"Artists need a place to live and work together," Gould said. "Older communities look at artists as being wild, having lots of parties, using drugs, that sort of thing. So they're not always supported. We're fortunate that a councilman or two saw the advantages [of the legislation]."

The Crossroads of Art

Capitalizing on the Twin Cities' reputation as artistic and cultural centers and recognizing the changing demographics in their area, administrators at the Walker Arts Center began to connect the public with the arts community in 1999 through their project, Artists and Communities at the Crossroads.

Focusing their efforts on a 10-ZIP code-area around their facility, the WAC staff, with funding from the Pew Charitable Trusts Program for Art Museums and Communities, introduced new artist-in-residence space with exhibition areas and a variety of educational programs to help their highly diverse community better understand contemporary art.

"We concentrated on a deep engagement with the community," said Kiyoto Motoyama, director of community programs at WAC. "For example, one of our programs is Walker on Wheels, which literally brings artistic programs to the neighborhood. People were creating artwork together at the end of the project."

Kiyoto noted that the 10 key ZIP codes around WAC include a large Native American population, established European-American neighborhoods, plus new African-American and Asian-American communities. There is also a wide range of income levels, from the richest citizens to some of the poorest in the city. And like the residents of the focus area, local artists also are a mixed group.