dl meckes wrote:Doug -
You bring up valid considerations.
Ms. Cerveny was quite clear about the idea that districts should grow organically, that you probably aren't making a good decision to build something new instead of rehabbing what you have, and that you need to be able to keep the artists - so they still have to be able to afford to live and work in the district/community.
DL, Has a pretty good angle on this one. Her and DH have worked hard for the arts as long as I have known them. She has been pushing this subject through the city harder than anyone I know.
We spoke the other night, in depth, we both have different views as to art, art districts and how they should be done, but her thought process is very solid in using the term sustainable.
We must not get into the "fondue" war. In other words, a decade ago it was malls and mixed used living centers, today it is "art distracts." As Doug points out "In some arts districts, you have gentrification, leading to displacement of average working stiffs or elderly who can not afford the higher rents. They are replaced by yuppies (to some people, this is positive)."
The truth as it stands is pretty much the way Thomas Mulready laid out at the beginning of the discussion the other night. Artists discover low rent "good areas," word goes out, and friends move in. Soon galleries pop up, and patrons come, patrons then move in as artists begin to creep out(literally), then the influx of dollars attracts corporates which generally makes the artists stampede to the next "ripe area."
What amazes me is the need for buzz words. Artists the true seed in the process can find these areas in the middle of the night. It is as if they can feel, comfortable, good inexpensive living. DL and I were talking if the entry level to living in Lakewood is low enough. In the warehouse district before it was "discovered" a young Irish lad could get 6,000 square feet for about $860 a month. Today that is probably $5,000 a month or more for the same space.
Homes in Tremont were all but giveaways with high crime and crumbling infrastructure. Today entry level is over $150,000 and climbing, or is it. During one of our field trips into other neighborhoods, we see developments on the south end of Tremont, where rent and purchase price with be pretty cheap in new buildings being built by CMHA. To quote Kenneth Warren, "This will be hard for Lakewood to compete with."
So for a moment let's go back, to the vision we have always held as the core issue in Lakewood, and what we have always hoped to achieve through the Observer. Let the city work for safe and clean, we will work with groups to bring fun and enjoyment. If we build the community as we have been and work a little harder, we will continue to attract the "art crowd." Matt Fish owner of the Melt and culinary artist summed it up in his Cool Cleveland Interview "Tremont is played out, Lakewood is where it is happening." What Matt meant was, the corporates has arrived, time for artists to move on.
Justine, there is no real downside to attracting artists and art districts. It is a very green meme cause and action. Like recycling, trying to recycle is generally a good thing. It only gets bad if it is hijacked by people that do not understand and try to force a "Disneyland" like setting, then has to hire artists to act like artists(tax abatements). Problems would occur to push the process heavily. In other words, try to go from discovery to corporate in a couple years or months as some think it could happen.
The first person I remember heading to Tremont was Joe Warren a Lakewoodite in 1974. He had found a mansion with hand painted murals for $27,000. Next through the door would be Chick Holkamp, another Lakewoodite who bought up huge chunks of Tremont and Ohio City. Chick was recently featured in the fight to save his family's home on Detroit opposite from the YMCA. The first to live the Warehouse District were also two Lakewoodites in 1978 or 79. I did find it slightly amusing when Lakewood again turned to outsiders to help with an art district.
In the end, we have all we need here right now. DL champion for art since Kindergarten, really. Justine Cooper, who made room in her small store for artists that could not get shows. When I met Justine while doing a story about Scents and Accents, an fine artist herself with jewelry, had packed everything into her shop real tight, to make room for more artists. As she was closing her doors, she was more worried about where the art would be shown than moving her cabinets. Kim Shoals, owner of Deadhorse gallery that was ready at one time to buy McKinley elementary School for a large gallery and art lofts. The Pop Shop, a place where artists can go and create on the cheap. Bela Dubby, owned by the Crinos, both very fine artists in their own right giving walls to artists who are looking for space. Julie Hutchinson, a dancer who has also turned her walls into gallery space, Wobblefoot gallery, Local Girl, 3 recording studios, 42 bands with 2 CDs or more out for sale, hundreds of artists and designers that work in everything from electrons to clothing, which brings us to the East, Phantasy Theater a place where new talent is allowed to prepare for the HiFi or the House of Blues, The Winchester where Jimmy Mileti and his wife barely break even to bring national acts to town, and finishing with Lakewood's only accredited college, Virginia Marti school of Art and Design. Lakewood is already an art district, now let's clean it up, and amplify it. It is so odd what Lakewoodites have a blind eye for.
Justine's and DL's art walks, second hand walks, bar crawls will all help as will the Arts Festival and Lakewood Hospital's Starry Night will help bring in patrons. We are on the right path.
In the end most most artists I know, and that might be too many, live in the world of anarchy. If you tell them THIS IS THE ART DISTRICT, they will move anywhere but there, just to make a point.
Supporting the arts is not about a sign or even a district, it is about writing checks and buying art. I watched painfully as Deadhorse died a slow death, with opening after opening filled with people, everyone drinking wine, no one buying.
Soapbox put away for now.