Introduction

Artist Space: The Big Picture

Access to affordable space plays a significant role in the ability of artists to produce artwork and contribute to the fabric of communities. In particular, it is the need for work space—such as studio/rehearsal space for making work, conducting business, gathering to critique work, performing and presenting work, and (for some) storing work— that distinguishes artists from most other occupational groups. Yet, despite research from public policy experts such as the Urban Institute demonstrating that the presence of art, artists, arts and cultural institutions, and other artist spaces is an important and documented indicator of a vibrant, healthy community, access to affordable work space—and affordable living space—continues to be a critical concern for many artists.¹

Non-traditional employment and income patterns coupled with very particular needs for space make consistent access to spaces in which to live and/or work challenging for artists (particularly for lower-income artists) despite research indicating that artists have high levels of education and skill sets.² Furthermore, while numerous information resources currently exist, there is a need among artists, developers, and others to gain more efficient access to information on available space and on artist space development projects and best practices. Artist space development (ASD) has increasingly become an issue of focus in many communities throughout the U.S. as more and more stakeholders recognize that ASD projects not only promote the work of artists themselves. The presence of creative clusters also has the potential to create physical, social, and economic impacts within local communities:³

• Physical Impacts: ASD projects can contribute to reducing blight, animating vacant property, providing multipurpose community facilities, and preserving historical buildings, as well as contributing to placemaking efforts within communities.
• Social Impacts: The presence of artist spaces can lead to increases in access to arts programs for local residents, population growth, demographic diversity within low-income communities, in addition to access to youth development opportunities and increased intergenerational interaction. It can also impact artists’ relationships to the broader community in the demystification of artists and the artistic process, and the increased recognition of artists as workers and professionals.
• Economic Impacts: ASD projects can result in the promotion or catalyzation of creative clusters, development of real estate, an increase in real estate values in the surrounding community, and increased job opportunities brought about by the development process and later programming. Cultural enterprises and cultural workers also play important roles in regional economies.

ASDs also present some challenges for communities, and moreover, formal analysis substantiating and clarifying the impacts of artist spaces is a developing field. This broadening body of research is presented in more detail throughout the Artist Space Development section of LINC’s website.

LINC’s Role

Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC) is committed to increasing the knowledge of how artist spaces are created and sustained, and to demonstrating further the contributions artist space development (ASD) projects and artists can make to communities physically, socially, and economically. To this end, LINC provides ASD-related resources that are designed to be useful for a range of stakeholders, including local municipalities and public agencies, artist-focused organizations, community development corporations (CDCs), developers, and artists themselves. Specifically, LINC is working toward:

• Providing information, examples, and strategies needed by organizations, developers, and artists to make ASD projects come to fruition;
• Supporting research that helps demonstrate the contributions artists make to community life; and
• Stimulating the development of artist space by rewarding innovative ideas and disseminating information about them to promote learning.

¹ Since the late 1990’s, the Urban Institute’s Arts and Culture Indicator’s Project (ACIP) has developed quantifiable measures of Cultural Vitality that have been integrated into community quality of life measurement systems around the country. Case studies made in preparation for a 2003 report revealed that arts space was in a state of crisis in several American cities. For more information, see the Urban Institute, Investing in Creativity: A Study of the Support Structure for U.S. Artists (Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 2003).

² Urban Institute, Investing in Creativity: A Study of the Support Structure for U.S. Artists (Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 2003).

³ All impacts listed below can be found in Jackson, Maria Rosario, Florence Kabwasa-Green, the Urban Institute, Artist Space Development: Making the Case(Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 2007).