How Does this Artist Space Reflect Your Community's Voice?

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Photo courtesy of International Sonoran Desert Alliance.

Why is it so essential to seek support from existing communities?

Acceptance:  Community members’ acknowledgement of artist space’s positive impact on the neighborhood is the first step towards a successful project. When a project is misunderstood by the community members as the source of gentrification or as an alien object affecting the harmony of the existing neighborhood, resistance from the community can not only hinder potential projects but imperil the sustainability of existing artist space. 

Information: Community stakeholders can help artists/ developers keep track of local development trends and access information of local funding opportunities.

Support: (a) Community support is essential when the project competes for various tax credits, government grants, subsidized loans, property acquisition with favorable terms, etc. (b) Community support is required when the project seeks zoning variance and building code change. In fact, zoning regulations, building codes and funding for ASD are all highly locally-based; working with neighbors and local players is key to the financial and legal viability of artist space projects.

Nurturing: Artist space has the potential to contribute to the life-long nurturing and interaction between artists and the geographic and/or cultural communities of which the facility is a part.

Who are your allies?

Residents:  Artist spaces that facilitate positive interactions between artist tenants and their surrounding neighborhoods can familiarize local residents with an art world to which they have not had prior access, as well as generate support for the value of art.

Local artists:  As the potential tenants of the project, artists’ support legitimizes any ASD project. Their input may also inspire support from the broader community.

Local art councils and art organizations:  For artists, working with art councils or organizations may open up potential funding resources. For developers, working with local art organizations can help identify potential markets for the space project, which is critical in securing funding from lenders and other financing programs.

Local officials:  These officials may include local council representatives, the mayor or personnel in the mayor's office, or a local planning director, who can provide information on recent development trends and direct your development team to other key resources.

Community Development Corporations (CDCs):  Collaborations between artists and local CDCs is fairly common in ASD, as CDCs usually have extensive connections with their local community, lenders, and officials. Their connections to and experience with community members can help generate confidence in artist space projects, especially among those with limited experience working with artists.  

Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs):  CDFIs have proved to be one of the main funding sources for artist space development, especially in the predevelopment phase. Besides direct financing, CDFIs provide various consulting services that can help structure financial packages. Their own extensive local networks can help development teams identify additional funding opportunities for artist space projects.

How can artist spaces benefit geographic and cultural communities?

There are more than 2.5 million artists in this country, most of them contributing dynamically to our creative economy without the benefits of regular employment or standard benefits. If we want access to the ideas, products and services of artists in the future, we need to address their needs today, which includes the need for affordable places to live and work. However, the value of artist space is not internal to the sector or to the lives of individual artists. It is broadly understood that the substantial impacts creative spaces have on the communities of which they are a part range from the:

Physical
  • reducing blight
  • making “places” and animating neighborhoods with greater activity and pedestrian traffic
  • preserving historic buildings or revitalizing neglected properties
Social and Cultural
  • contributing to cultural equity and creating opportunities for neighbors across cultures and class to connect
  • providing both formal and informal opportunities for accessing arts and culture at the neighborhood level
  • fostering community pride
  • facilitating youth development and intergenerational activities
  • increasing artists’ mobilization and activism around affordable space and broader community issues
  • sustaining creative professions by facilitating opportunities for networking, professional development, and peer learning
Economic
  • diversifying community development strategies
  • contributing to regional economy because of artists’ high rates of self-employment, direct export activity, cross-sector collaboration, and stimulation of innovation
  • catalyzing an increase in real estate value for the neighborhoods in which artists live and work

To learn more about the critical benefits Artist Spaces generate for the communities of which they are part, see Understanding ASD Impacts: Physical, Social, Economic, Cultural in the Artist Space section of www.lincnet.net.

Further Reading

Jackson, Maria Rosario, and Florence Kabwasa-Green. Artist Space Development: Making the Case. Washington D.C.: Urban Institute, 2007. 

Markuseun, Ann, and Greg Schrock. "The Artistic Dividend: Urban Artistic Specialization and Economic Development Implications." Urban Studies, 43.10 (2006).

Sources

Jackson, Maria Rosario, and Florence Kabwasa-Green. Artist Space Development: Making the Case. Washington D.C.: Urban Institute, 2007.

Markuseun, Ann, and Greg Schrock. "The Artistic Dividend: Urban Artistic Specialization and Economic Development Implications." Urban Studies, 43.10 (2006).

Understanding ASD Impacts: Physical, Social, Economic, Cultural. Leveraging Investments in Creativity. Date of Access: Oct 30, 2009. www.lincnet.net/artist-space/understanding-asd-impacts

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