The Observation Deck

Ivor-

Nickie Antonio has been having some meetings with artists and others
If districts are going to work, (one more time with feeling) the districts need to grow from artists and unofficial districts that we already have.

What LakewoodAlive did was get a group of experts (three are artists) to talk about the generalities of the issue.

dl meckes wrote:Ivor-

Nickie Antonio has been having some meetings with artists and others
If districts are going to work, (one more time with feeling) the districts need to grow from artists and unofficial districts that we already have.

What LakewoodAlive did was get a group of experts (three are artists) to talk about the generalities of the issue.

I will find out when LakewoodAlive is replaying the meeting on Channel 74. Maybe we can get a copy to post here.

I do think something very interesting might come out of that meeting. Stumbled into a very interesting discussion at Phoenix this week, between three people. All three have a solid record of delivering the goods. Had a very interesting view of Lakewood, Arts, Districts, and What needs to be done. Missing a couple needed players. Who knows.

The only thing tougher than herding kittens is herding artists!

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Attracting artists: a capital idea!

I’ve been trying to follow various plans by various cities to attract various demographics. It seems that the demographic of choice is the baby boomer, or increasingly called the “empty nesterâ€Â

Why talk with Tremont, when we can sister city with a true arts town.

Ironically they are in the center of the universe just like Lakewood.

http://www.fremontseattle.com/center_frameset.htm

Time to move some out of the way and let thee fun people have a crack at running this town.


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And Jim O' Bryan wrote:

"Time to move some out of the way"

Sorry Jim,

I don't want to take your words out of context, but I for one, don't want anyone to feel they have to move out of the way for some bright shiny new Lakewood day.

Pete Seeger likes to take Yip's great song "Somewhere over the Rainbow" and change the last line.

It's a wonderful song, made a lot greater by the insight Pete provides:

"If happy little bluebirds fly above the rainbow, WHY CAN'T YOU AND I?"

See, we all have to help each other get over that dad-burned rainbow.

All of us together, that is...or none of us will make it.

Gary maybe we should disclocate all the elderly in the Westerly and turn it into subsidized housing for art students?

Doug

I interpreted the "move some out of the way" to refer to those who wish for Lakewood to look and feel more like Westlake, who desire to tear down the structures that make Lakewood Lakewood, and who desire to build a "bright shiny" new Lakewood which is history, flavor and soul-free.

My DH, Bill Grulich, was one of the intrepid youths who came under the spell of Ray Shepardson and worked to restore the theatres at Playhouse Square. Bill worked on everything from restoration to filling seats.

While he was doing that, he was on one of the early boards of Cleveland Public Theatre (he's pictured in the dome). He has a long history with theater restoration and building. CPT's space was an Irish Meeting Hall and the third floor office was a bookie joint. It was fun to listen to him swap stories with Tom Mulready about the old days.

Look at Playhouse Square now. That's what restoration does. Look at Gordon Square. That's an amazing transformation for those of us who remember when.

The Reinberger Foundation gave the West Side Ecumenical Ministries millions of dollars for a shiny new theater that sits empty most of the time. The theater is right down the street from CPT.

It's essential to renew and revive what we have. It's essential to utilize people with vision and experience who have been through these processes before and we are rich with these human resources in Lakewood.

We can't clear a field and land a spaceship. It won't work.

ehhhhh I'm still not sold on the idea.

I just can't see how this will impact the city in a more positive way.
I think that artist's perform better as starving artists, not as in the limelight artists.

look at van gogh.. the mastermind of some of the most celebrated and admired paintings mankind has ever seen, never sold a painting in his lifetime. His brother had to supply him with paint, canvas, brushes.

Warhol, went nuts when he found out what fame was. after his art became commercialized.
"A lady friend of mine asked me,
"Well, what do you love most?"
That's how I started painting money."

we have to let art be art.

I'm all for the city celebrating our wealth when it comes to art. I just feel there's more to worry about in our city than forming an arts district. Like the six inch deep pit that sits right in front of my house that the city never fixed since October when they fixed some pipe 10' underground.
*sigh*

Some starving artists (and others) were able to afford some homes or property in Tremont a long time ago.

They're still starving artists, but they are also homeowners with a lot of equity in their homes.

They used a lot of "sweat equity" to fix and restore their homes. They moved into houses that had been empty. They moved into houses that needed more work than most people were willing to deal with. They moved into houses they could afford, and they couldn't afford much.

The Warehouse District started with a lot of squatters and illegal occupants (no occupancy certificates). Now nobody can afford to live there. Artists couldn't buy a house there.

An awful lot of artists have to have jobs so they can support themselves that have nothing to do with their art. Those jobs might also help qualify them to buy a house. They couldn't buy any of the commercial buildings by themselves.

Places like Tower Press are now live/work buildings that have reserved space for low income artists. That's great, but it isn't owning a place.

Does Lakewood have any homes that are for sale, in foreclosure, etc.? Is it possible for Lakewood to attract (more) people who are creative? Why not?

Why are you thinking along the lines of "limelight" artists? Why not find a way for a young photographer who is just building a portfolio and has a job to buy a house and stick around? Don't we benefit as a community when an artist like Ivor Karabatkovic is part of it?

Rhonda is engaging us by seeing with different eyes. We are appreciating things about Lakewood that our eyes never saw. How do we all benefit from that? We appreciate the unique qualities of what we have.

Ivor Karabatkovic wrote:ehhhhh I'm still not sold on the idea.

I just can't see how this will impact the city in a more positive way.
I think that artist's perform better as starving artists, not as in the limelight artists.

Warhol, went nuts when he found out what fame was. after his art became commercialized.
"A lady friend of mine asked me,
"Well, what do you love most?"
That's how I started painting money."

we have to let art be art.

I'm all for the city celebrating our wealth when it comes to art. I just feel there's more to worry about in our city than forming an arts district. Like the six inch deep pit that sits right in front of my house that the city never fixed since October when they fixed some pipe 10' underground.
*sigh*

Ivor

All very good points.

However VanGoh would have still needed his brother's support had he not been a painter, and Warhol, would have still been er ah er eccentric, yeah that's it.

Ivor, money does not drive artists mad, it is the lack of patrons or then finally the abundance of patrons that drive that bus. Most artist I have known, really need very little actual driving to the land of dillusion.

As Salvador Dali once said when asked what he dreams of, "I dream of cheques, and commissions." This was after his two museums had been built, his castle acquired, a separate castle for his wife Gala, and the purchase of the apartment building he used to paint from when he was broke. It had his favorite view of the harbor that appears in much of his work. Also the same view his castle had!

But they are still valid points.

DL/Gary, what I meant by move them out of the way was. It always seems to me that many in this town can't see the forest for the trees. "How do we attract artists?" Sounds like my one client that loves to hunt. "Well put some cigarettes, coffee, vodka, and colored pencils down and hide in the bushes and wait." Or as Bugs Bunny used to say, "Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh we're hunting artists today."

Boring tale of woe 397b, When I had my "the Jerk" moment, and was finally listed as a designer in the yellow pages, I grabbed the book, looked up designers and there I was! Wait, five other designers on my street also in the book! Damn.

This city is so full of artists, musicians, writers, poets, photographers, illustrators, sculptures, knitters, fabric sewers, orators, videographers, etc that it is almost impossible not to see one in any semi crowded view of the city.

A couple examples:


Young country blues guitarist from Tennessee, who stopped in Lakewood because he knew of our rich music history. Can you name him or ten bands in Lakewood right now?


One of 5 local poets we have highlighted that has at least one book out. Can you name him, or any of the other 5?


One of many National Art award winners from Lakewood High. Can you name him, or how about a certain Lakewood Observer photographer that has set this community on fire with his work. Rumor has it that this high school photographer now gets over $200 a session for A photo of your pet.(well worth it by the way)


One of the best artists I have seen sell his wares on the streets of Lakewood pictured here working on the only commissioned work he got in two years of working the gallery/coffee shop scene in Lakewood. Can you name him?

Which brings us back to Ivor's comment and a very valid one. One that plays into the talk from DL Meckes as well. Sustainable arts. We do not need another group that needs the city's dollars, or government dollars to stay barely above water while escaping tax burdens. We need semi-successful artists, and hobby artists that add to the community.

We do not need and art's district, the idea is ludicrous. We need to celebrate the art most are too blind to see. We might also have to wake up and smell some very strong coffee.

While driving around this city this weekend with a woman that supports the arts as much as anyone I know mentioned, "They is no free standing art anywhere." Finally we drove by the Beck and I pointed out the only statue in town, her response was, "Pitiful." I said well art is in the eye of the beholder, her response was, "No that art is mediocre, but would be much better if it was not left alone like an unwanted child. That the city needs to spend millions getting outdoor art out and around. when I mentioned the only art this city was buying in the near term was sewers, she chuckled.

She then asked how are the galleries doing? I replied, just getting by two of my favorites had closed in the last year, Deadhorse Gallery and Scents and Accents. She then asked, can we afford to support the arts? I told her we could, we have it in our blood and hearts.

It was an interesting drive. Just over the border into Cleveland we saw art everywhere. It made Lakewood look like a desert for the arts. Very troubling, as I knew Lakewood is an oasis for the arts.

Yesterday I got a call from a member of "Lakewood Is Art" asking for an opinion. They had seen the link to Freemont, a true art community and wondered if Lakewood was ready for art? They read the story of the larger than life Lenin statue a good neighbor had acquired in Freemont, and against much anti-Lenin protests finally put up, the city embraced and now have a "Lenin Day." Will the city allow someone to make a 60' bridge troll under the Detroit Bridge?

So I wondered, will City Hall support art in Lakewood, or was this much ado about nothing more than trying to breath life into the Beck. Will Lakewood make room available and ease restrictions for art in Lakewood, or will it become a nightmare to get things approved and put up.

I thought back to a Lakewood man that bought a huge dolphin spitting water out of his mouth, and placed it in his front yard for the kids in summer only to be told. No, no, no. No fun art in front yards.

This city has artists, but will the city relax and let them work, breath and cover the area with their wares?

Mayor George, I ask you to put this art district talk to rest. Save the energy, the money and the hard work of more than 5 groups trying for their version of cool. Declare the entire city ART, make the entire town an arts district, then let's get on with the hard work Ivor mentions, and the silly fun work on the easels of "Lakewood Is Art."

This should be a no brainer.


FWIW




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Jim, you are making an excellent point. Can we be funky?

I made a comment about “hearing from the folks in Tremontâ€Â

Mark Timieski wrote:Jim, you are making an excellent point. Can we be funky?

The point that I?m trying to make is that the city can make the place inhabitable for artists by doing little (and in the case of Cleveland doing nothing), but it?s the artists that actually need to create the arts district.

Mark

You have to realize that the Literary Cafe was purchased for $30,000 including liquor license. Homes, even doubles for $25,000 and less. The area like East Cleveland now had bottomed out. It attracted squatters and artists.

Thankfully Lakewood has not bottomed out. Now many developers would love to see that. Many regionalists would love to see that. But for some reason our property values remain high, our city remains full.

At the same time the city is filled with artists, many of them very successful six figures or more a year. Many of them are hobbyists, as they end to work for money and create for fun. So we are past needing an art district, we need to take claim to the ART CITY, our ART is so big, it's city wide.

This is why I asked from day one. Artists or Patrons?

Two complete different critters, complete different habitats.

When people see Tremont, Little Italy and other "art districts" they see it 20 years down the road from the start. I used the quotes as these are not ART DISTRICT, these are cool areas, that were hip, and are now about to become hep.

The Beck is the perfect example of an art district, a black hole with 432 seats that needs about $5 million a year to fill half those seats. Hopefully Cindy Einhouse can change this.

This is why I am so excited by this new group that realizes that Lakewood is ART. One plan they spoke of is a census to see just how deep in artists we are and what kinds.

As for the city, every problem I have had with them was my fault. Usually by not asking. Let's be honest all cities get money from permits, so that is not a big deal. The city in the end gets sued for any trouble that they should have approved. How often have we seen a city named in a lawsuit over shoddy building? When the hanging sign falls off the wall and hits the passerby, the building owner sued, bar owner sued, sign maker sued, city sued. I am sure if the paper mentioned the sign was safe we would get sued. This is the nature of life today.

Can we get funky?

Heck Mark, you know us. Can we not be funky?

Those of us who came from the mother-ship connection where George and Mr. Wiggles rules, are stuck in the funk.

Saw one plan that would Lakewood on the map worldwide, become a destination city lasts for decades and costs less than the study of Hogsback Road. Cost to the city $0.00. But is the city funky or in a funk.

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We do not need and art's district, the idea is ludicrous. We need to celebrate the art most are too blind to see. We might also have to wake up and smell some very strong coffee.

THANK YOU.